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| 1/144th scale models by Takara. USMC Abrams MBT next to a Scopedog from A.T. VOTOMS. |
Back here I did a post about the size of the combat armour I feature in my books.
Being a science fiction fan, for as long as I can remember, I've had a penchant for playing wargames with models. It's my hobby. One of the arguments against using walking armour suits is their size, which you can see from one perspective is a thing, but from another maybe not so much.
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| USMC Abrams MBT next to an Armored Trooper VOTOMS Scopedog. |
If, and the if is important, one can accept humanoid tanks that can move like humans can, then there will be trade off between being compact and low slung like a tank versus mobile and able to change posture to take advantage of the terrain.
And that in a nutshell is what drives my stories.
Working out when and where mecha (a term used to describe walking vehicles in Japan, for any reader who is puzzled by the term) would make sense.
Do you count low-slung legged vehicles as mecha in this taxonomy? They seem to me to offer the mobility advantages of legs with the low-profile advantages of conventional vehicle design. (Though leg joints are always vulnerable, of course.) They don't get as much love as humanoid mecha, though I don't know whether that's a wish to identify with the weapon or just that it's what people expect mecha to look like.
ReplyDeleteI would, because why wouldn't you.
DeleteI also agree that mecha has come to be seen as two legged walkers, but Fang of the Sun Dougram, one of my touchstone mecha series has four and six legged walkers.
So, two, four, and six legs are cannon for #RealRobo