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Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?


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lurker

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Oh boy, this one's gonna be a doosy.

In the existence of fiction, the giant robot unit is by far one of the most badass weapons of destruction available to any modern to high Sci-fi army. Whether it's a ponderous war machine, or darting around like a Dragonball Z character on acid, any combat with giant mechs usually results in some epic rending of steel-like metal and explosions.

However, there's predominantly three 'breeds' of mechs in popular fiction, and truely it is time for them to duke it out. WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME!

1: Anime-Style Mechsuits

As seen in: Almost any Eastern-style anime ever, Exteel, Metal Gear, Hawken, Airmech

By far one of the most common mech types in animation, these humanoid robots tend to work mostly on 'Rule of Cool/Awesome', and act more agile then you would expect a multi-ton robot to react with real-life physics applied.


For a series based off giant fightan robots, you sure spend a lot of time staring at spandex-covered chicks.

For more reachable examples, I turn to video games I've ran into before, in this case, starting with Exteel. These half-skyscraper sized robots acted mostly on boosters, only standing still when using a cannon or locked in melee combat. For the most part though, these mechs are extremely agile, but low-equipped- only armed with two sets of weapons that are swapped out with some sort of Portable Hole system, and then sometimes with ability-based equipment loaded into the backpack.


BRB, Nostalgia Boner

Metal Gear's titular vehicles also featured primarily from the anime design, although the original REX was much closer to a weapon platform in design in the long run. RAY, however, is not only designed for aquatic travel, but is also extremely agile and combat-ready, though once again is much lighter armed then most other mechs in fiction for it's size. And also apparently REX, if MGS4 is anything to go by.


Snake! Try a somersault!

In a similar vein of Exteel, Hawken's robots are much smaller then most the others on this list, but as a result are much more agile, and much less armed then other mech types. In fact, the size of Hawken's arms and weapons is closer to a armored exo-suit, only standing about the height of several football players on each other's shoulders.

Did somebody order a dose of Boltgun Metal and Modern Warfare Brown?

Airmech's reasoning for going the anime style comes from the factor of thier mechs being part of the oft-used subtype of mechs, the Transformation Mech. All Airmechs come equiped with some form of main cannon, as well as a couple special abilities depending on their ground or air forms. For example, the Chopper can launch a salvo of slow-seeking rockets no matter what form it's in, however the Tomcat-inspired Striker uses fast seeking missiles in the air and a energy blade/shield on the ground.

As you can see, Airmechs may look a tad silly, but they sure know some good style.

2: Weapon Platform Mechs

As seen in: Battletech franchise, Star Wars, Warhammer 40k, Starcraft

Weapon Platforms make up for combat capabilities with sheer amount of dakka. Though they can hit up to a decent pace, most mechs of this type spend most of their tonnage on stuffing as many guns, lasers, and guided missiles their series allows on these metal monsters, or compensates with enough armor to protect them from nigh-on apocalyptic explosions.


Oh, I am going to liberate the shit out of you.

The Battletech franchise is by far the king of the walking weapon platform. The biggest difference between mechs comes more from the options it has available, it's hardpoints, and it's body shape, as all mechs in this series equip the same type of armaments in one grade or another. Whereas lighter mechs in the series may reach a max speed of a brisk 110 Km/h, it's more common for heavier chassises to be carrying a Light's weight in armor and bristling with more weapons then your average trailer park.


Man, what an idiot. The radar clearly said there was two enemies and instead of waiting you ran right into the second. Dramatic tension my ass.

Another popular example comes from the forested moons of Endor, more specificly the All Terrain Scout Transport, otherwise referred to as AT ST. These things are equipped not only with turbo lasers, but with grenade launchers and rocket tubes, though it's a small wonder why they didn't use those during the invasion of Endor...


Or, yaknow, against this guy.

Warhammer's Grimdark Future of the Grimdark Grimdark also have it's share of mechs, from the clearly-anime inspired Tau to the graceful Eldar. However, for this section, we're looking at the Imperial Guard's choice of mechs, more specifically the Titans. Equipped with powerful vortex shields, these things can take shots from weapons specifically designed to take them down and still have a chance to shrug it off, and even if they do get past the shields they have to pierce armor thicker then most battleships.


Ya know what they say, there's no kill like gratuitous overkill.

Even Starcraft can get away with these. The standard-issue walker for much of the Terran Confederacy, and even a few of the pirate fleets in the second game, still use the Goliath walker, a mix of bullet hell for ground forces and a deadly anti-air phallenx against the skies. Hordes of these could rip apart air targets with ease, but they are not sturdy enough to handle a true Zerg Rush on the land unaided.


This variant of the Goliath seems more geared for ground-based encounters. As if from an abandoned project...

Fuckin cockteasing Blizzard.

3: Non-Human Walkers

As seen in: Many a RTS, Zoids, Warframe, Iron Grip franchise, IRL!

Multilimbed Mechs seem to be the most physically sound of all the variants. More limbs equate to more stability, right? It also means more stress can be put on the chassis, equating to more weapons that can be heaped onto the mech in question.


For example, this one clearly screams 'Endorsed by Cobra Command'.

For an anime point of view however, these types of walkers tend to be outright ignored, or if not, only reserved for the obviously evil faction. Zoids is one of the few of my personal recollection that bucked that trend, using mostly-animal teamed mechs for both sides of the conflicts involved.


I am amazed that the lot of them aren't immediately chasing after the squirrel.

Multilimbed walkers are also a favorite for the steampunk and deiselpunk scenes, due to both the plausibility of these vehicles in real-physics as well as the designs of multilimbed mechs better fitting the world involved. Iron Grip Marauders has a specific faction almost entirely devoted to walker tech, the Confederacy of Nallum, although it's not just the Confederacy that creates these terrifying weapons.


The ST-38 'Motherfucking' Warweaver Arach. It's so awesome, but so utterly painful to run into...

These walkers don't always have to be huge, however. Sometimes, just slightly bigger then a human will do, as the Jackal from Warframe proves. This Corpus-designed defense proxie is equipped lightly in comparison to some of the other quad-walkers previewed, however it's effectiveness comes from a mix of slam attacks, the addition of several mine-laying Ospreys, and a body shield that keeps active as long as it's legs are standing.


Threat level update. Current threat level: Impotent.

I mentioned before that this was probably the most soundly logical mech design to find in the real world. Well, this is a bit old-news, but say hello to the Legged Squad Support System (or LS3) Big Dog, a robot designed to act as the next generation of pack mules, and eventually heavy weapon support. The design's going through rigorous testing, however the concept is sound, and it's a good chance that this may become the first militarized robots in the history of ever to see full production.


Today, the Metal Gear cosplaying contest. Tomorrow, the WORLD!!!

So, which of these three contenders do you think deserve the best effectiveness, to your own opinions, or tell me if there's a specific branch I didn't cover well enough.
 

Termite

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

I'll go with Anime-Style Mechsuits. When it comes to any sort of battle I've always felt that mobility and versatility are far more important than anything else.
 

Unknown Squid

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

I ended up voting all of them, since really I like them all in their appropriate settings, and the setting also defines which would be the most effective.

Most "Anime-Style Mechsuits" often rely on very hyper futuristic high technology to do what they do, and would typically be the obviously superior machine if placed next to the others.

However if you try and build an Anime style mecha in the wrong setting, where the technology doesn't exist to allow them, you end up with an awkward Battle ASIMO vs a comparatively very functional and deadly legged tank.

(Spoiler cuz pics)
/ VS /



On the other hand, if the setting does allow uber tech, then things are going to end up getting more similar to flighty anime mecha one way or the other. Taking the example of Armoured Core, the technology used in the "Nexts" of the series instantly made all previous military technology obsolete. Being so deadly and effective that a gigantic 2400m wide walking aircraft carrier/battle ship, is actually considered an easy target.

/ VS /





Overall, I think the types of mech/a I favour the most personally, are the more military styled types, and the ones that attempt to appear more realistic or plausible. I've never been a fan of the brightly coloured samurai themed ones in Gundam and similar series. Likewise my favourite mechs in the Battletech (Mechwarrior) series are often the reverse legged and non humanoid bodied mechs as opposed to the more imbalanced looking humanoid ones.

That's not to say I don't like the zippy fast stuff still. Armoured core being the example again, with how it actually maintains a surprisingly gritty military style to most of it's designs, and explains the effectivness and abilities of the machines with specific tech that sets them apart from the rank and file military of yesterday, or "Normals" as the game calls them.

And here's some other pictures/designs I like, cuz why not.
(A very pure yet stylish "Walking Tank".)


(Two Anti Infantry/Light Armour, Skirmisher Mechs.)



(The Catapult. Designed specifically to jumpjet about difficult terrain to provide missile cover from hard to reach places.)


(Kinda has a stealth look to it jah? Assassin like.)


(Something from Steel Battalion. Purposeful looking weaponry, with a sleek forward profile to reduce upper target area and deflect shots. Combined with floating armour panels to counter armour piercing explosives and causing AP rounds to tumble before hitting the main body.)


(And one more picture too high res to post as image.)
 

maikochan

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

I've always liked the Anime-style mechs. They're just cool. However, for me, there's two that stand out, one because of the sheer awesome factor, and the other because it is semi-realistic, if you allow for one 'superhero' clause.

The first has to be the Mobile Fighters from Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Throw science and laws of physics out the door, add over-the-top anime martial arts, and possibly the greatest special attack ever devised (I am, of course, talking about the (Yes, that's even it's name in English)), and you have G Gundam. If awesome were a weapon, anything from G Gundam would stomp anything else. Except maybe the windmill Gundam...

As for the more realistic anime mecha, first I need to lay out that 'superhero' clause. This is something used when talking about unrealistic things in realistic contexts. Basically, you give whatever you're talking about one thing that can be anything, but only one thing, that makes everything else possible. For example, Wolverine's would be his healing factor. With that he's able to have adamantium grafted onto his skeleton, live long and so on. Another example where it's not a superhero specifically, is Mass Effect's Element Zero.

For this one, it's something called Metatron, a metal that manipulates gravity when bombarded by high energy particles (If I'm remembering correctly). What this does is allows mechs to fly free of gravity, create pockets of compressed space, even compress space to shorten space flight or what appears to be teleportation. Metatron is the superhero clause of the Zone of the Enders series, my personal favorite mech based game ever.

So yah, full of bias and opinion, but that's what you wanted, right?
 

GargantuaBlarg

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

PUT IN ALL OF THEM

The second breed and/or the third are probably the bestest in my opinion. I actually just saw a lil' 6-legged spiderbot on youterb that could like, climb, and pick stuff up autonomously. The "Lower to the ground/profile and more stable" argument for robets makes fancy fast animu robits silly to me, but I won't deny the raditude of Evangelion. They're giant people, though, not full-on robits, and when I think robits I think big fat stompy heavy things.

Also >no Votoms or Sakura Wars Koubus
 

Shrike7

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

I think my current favourite flavour of mech is still from Steel Battalion. I havent played the newer one, but the original felt great, like you were actually driving i giant hunk of death machine.
 

GargantuaBlarg

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

You actually got to play that?

Dammit. Stupid sexy awesome peripherals I never had
 

Shrike7

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

i did, yup. still have it, though my xbox crapped out, so I can't play it. On the downside, it was a fairly difficult game, I only ever got about four levels in, and each level had about a ten to fifteen minute loading time.
 

Shrike7

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

Yeah, I brought a book... XD
 

Host

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

We're missing a category, and it's my favourite. Super Robots. Not quite monsterous weapon platforms that try to convince you there’s no such thing as a square-cube law, not flighty little wangsty gundumbs... but giant mecha that cannot possibly exist, owning things up on what, despite any flimsy explanation that might be given, is essentially the hot-bloodedness of the pilot themselves.
 
OP
lurker

lurker

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

We're missing a category, and it's my favourite. Super Robots. Not quite monsterous weapon platforms that try to convince you there’s no such thing as a square-cube law, not flighty little wangsty gundumbs... but giant mecha that cannot possibly exist, owning things up on what, despite any flimsy explanation that might be given, is essentially the hot-bloodedness of the pilot themselves.
Not personally experienced those types, care to cite a few sources? I'm not disagreeing, just curious.
 

Host

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Re: Mech Wars: Anime-style, Weapon Platform, or Nonhuman Walker?

The quick answer is .

The quicker answer is Mazinger Z, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Dai-Guard, Getter Robo, and anything else in the Super Robot Category of the Super Robot Wars games.
 
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