by NamagomiMk0 » Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:35 pm
As it is, we have things for mecha, but anyone with half a mind is not going to expect pilots to tolerate with running for a day and a half just to get to the combat zone. Additionally, Armors and mage battlesuits are still not going to be the only things on your standard battlefield. As such, I have thought about other forms of vehicles, not to mention structures, that would be involved in any MAC RP in question.
First off, long-range transportation:
Walking/Flying: Admittedly the LEAST favorable of the options, and with good reason. Though some Armors may be able to move up to over 200 miles an hour in speed, this speed is limited to flight-capable types ONLY. And sorry to say, not everything is able to fly, and especially not at those speeds. Even with particularly high flight speeds, long-range travel in this manner will be BORING, and particularly tiresome for the pilots. Teks will be even more frustrated, as their Armors' constructs have their own minds, and though physical fatigue may not apply in the same manner as it does to a living creature, mental fatigue will affect them all the same. This is the particular reason why alternate methods of deployment exist--there are only a few reasons that warrant such a form of transportation over alternate routes. One's base might have been destroyed while one was off fighting, forcing one to relocate to another afterward; this could take days, or even weeks if a transport carrier doesn't find the Armors. Additionally, one might be scrambled to defend one's base against attack, or the conditions would make an aerial deployment or extraction dangerous, if not impossible, to perform. In the latter case, there would be a relay point to which the pilots are to return on their own at a certain point of time.
Aerial deployment exists in a few forms. The first is one of the most infamous--aerial transport carriers, or as many like to refer to them as, dropships. UNLIKE what is referred to as dropships in Battletech parlance, these dropships are not meant to be a space-to-land transport. Instead, these ATCs are VTOL aircraft that can fly at high or low altitude at high speeds. The craft primarily boasts a high-capacity hangar, which is used to carry a minimum of four Armors to a site. Though pilots may desire to wait inside their respective Armors, they may also prefer not to--as such, there is a room inside the ATC for them to sit and wait to be told to board their Armor. Comfort is not a priority as safety, cost-efficiency, and quickness are with military craft; while some may have "waiting rooms" with more comfortable seats and a few other accessories, others tend to have a more spartan setup with only the essentials. When the Armors are to be deployed, there are two typical ways to drop them onto the battlefield, pending on setup; either out the back, or through the bottom. In the former case, the Armors' safety restraints are released, and the back gate opens--usually downward. Out of this, the Armors jump out toward the battlefield. In the latter case, the Armors are suspended to the ceiling of the aircraft, and the floor opens, revealing nothing. After this period, the suspensions are released, and the Armors are dropped. In both cases, flight-capable Armors are capable of slowing their fall easily. Jump-capable and air-incapable Armors, on the other end, are outfitted with a disposable automatic-deployment parachute in order to allow them to survive the descent. Aforementioned parachutes have a built-in altimeter at which it opens--a failsafe is also included in case of malfunction of the altimeter. ATC deployment is preferably when a group needs to be deployed to a very specific area, or to a location that is extremely far away. Some groups favor it over the faster Rail Launch deployment system. ATCs are de rigeur for extraction of a group for almost any Armor or squad of Armors, without exception.
The Rail Launch system is a newer method of deployment, and though not as precise as flying an ATC over, it can allow more Armors to be sent onto the battlefield at a faster rate--though only within a reasonable distance of the area. Effectively, it is a giant gun of sorts that shoots the Armor to a location. The launch ramp is aimed for both linear path and trajectory, factoring in environmental conditions. Once the path has been determined, the Armor(s) is placed within the firing chamber via elevator, facing the exit ramp. At this point they are launched through the "barrel" in one of many methods, pending on the design used. Older models utilize a platform on which the Armor stands as it is launched, while most standard builds utilize a magnetic current, turning it into a sort of "mecha railgun." Newer models eschew this in favor of a form of gravitic acceleration, utilizing a direct alteration in gravitational current to achieve a high launch speed. Regardless of the make, most bases that are equipped with this system utilize multiple such accelerators, given that most are built to accomodate a single Armor--the size of a larger one to transport a small squad would increase the cost and power draw beyond what one would imagine to be feasible. Flight-incapable Armors here are equipped with parachutes for purposes of breaking the fall velocity--these work similarly to the ones given to such Armors delivered by ATCs. Additionally, to extend the effective range, the parachute system may be accompanied by a disposable pair of large folding wings and a disposable rocket--these extend to full span after launching, allowing the Armor to "fly" to its intended destination after launch. These can and typically are jettisonned when a specific location is reached. Regardless, this system is for deployment only--one obviously cannot use this to extract Armors from the battlefield.
For speedy land-based transportation, nothing can beat a mag-rail freighter. The supply trains are typically very fast, and are extremely reliable under most circumstances. Though typically not used for deployment or recovery, the trains are a godsend for base-to-base transportation, and have made reassignment of resources to different bases a much less frustrating thing--much to both the relief and dismay of all not in the command group; relief because it's become far easier, and dismay because the process is no longer so frustrating--it's easier for COs (or at least the ones who gave too much of a damn about how their people felt) to decide to reassign someone to a different base, regardless of how far away it is. However, such things are, and should be based on strategic and tactical necessity, not how many friends will be lost upon the person leaving. Regardless, the trains are argued to be one of the more enjoyable and reliable forms of transportation for both Armor and pilot alike. While no luxury train, the passenger cars on-board are comfortable, typically with a high enough capacity for whoever is needed to be on-board. Luggage is stored in its own car, as are the battlesuits. Each Armor is stored in an individual car--occasionally, two may be stored, but that is a rare case. Regardless, these are used for noncombat transportation, as well as, very occasionally, sneaking Armors into areas that would get ATCs and Armors shot down out of the sky.
Last, but not least for forms of transportation for Armors, is that of the water-based variety. Freighters and Carriers both haul Armors--the difference is that the former only carries them for the purpose of transportation. The latter carries them for the purpose of either attacking, or in case of attack. Freighters tend to be very basic things--simply carry the Armors in individual airtight containment cells, either inside or outside the ship, amongst other things. Carriers, on the other hand, have a more elaborate setup. All Armors are held inside the ship, inside a hangar until they are needed, either for the purposes of combat or just to be moved elsewhere. Each one is situated on an elevator, which raises to the surface of the ship. Extremely strong, high-tensile tow cables are present for the typically more ground-based Armors--or basically, anything that doesn't want to sink to the bottom of the ocean, or the Val'ri, or whatever. This allows Armors to not have to worry about falling into the water. Some ships also include a VERY simplified version of the Rail Launch system--fixed angle and trajectory. Regardless, ships are more favorable than ATCs by far for transportation overseas, and a few serve as mobile bases.
However, no Armor pilot is perfect, and no Armor is perfect. A pilot is not going to be able to simply park his Armor in the middle of nowhere and rest. Armors, however impressive they are, are still machines. They need maintenance, lest they break down. This is where, of course, your bases come in. To simply say that the modern military base is large is an understatement--in this day and age, such installations are massive, as they must be to contain the various implements and the number of people used to fight. The exact layout of these structures varies wildly--though trends may be shared between bases developed by the same group around the same time. Needless to say, bases require many functions to be fulfilled--for these reasons, at a MINIMUM, it hosts a mess hall, a hangar, dormitories, recreation facilities, an armory, command facilities, bathrooms, a hangar, and some sort of entry for Armors. This is assuming a minimum, in opposition to the very real possibility that there are also resources for combat jets, tanks, infantry, and all sorts of other units employed in warfare. In addition, these places often have defensive measures taken--sometimes extreme ones. As an example, Valth's Aurukazei, Saiurzhe, Renkaanu, Kurvizel, and Lanariivu bases are built far, far underground, unreachable by almost all forms of attack imaginable. Some installations are built above ground, some into existing terrain features, and others, well...you saw.
Of course, not everything in wars, even nowadays, is fought with only battlesuits and Armors. Other vehicles haven't quite been phased out yet. While an Armor is indeed a formidable opponent, it isn't the only thing that is used, vehicle-wise--and likewise, not all of the infantry utilizes the mage battlesuits.
To start, the subject of infantry is one that's still applicable to an extent. No matter what people attempt to develop to remove the human element from war, infantry, amongst other things, will still be essential part of any conflict. That isn't to say that they're using outdated equipment. Today's infantry utilizes light, low-profile armor--though this doesn't quite matter as much protection as it could, given the weaponry in comparison. Portable mana beam projectors, personal laser rifles, compact railguns, and man-sized particle cannons are amongst the varied guns seen wielded by those without vehicles. It will be admitted that, though the weapons in particular aren't that useful on the battlefield proper, infantry is still the only thing that can, at most times, go INSIDE bases--where more often than not, Armors can only get so far. So as such, infantry still works for the purposes of invasion, whereas other units fail in this aspect.
A unit equally associated with warfare is the tank--and they have generally fallen into disuse, for again, good reason. Armors generally exceed tanks in most aspects, except cost, and maybe size. Faster, more mobile, generally more heavily armed, more heavily armored, and able to traverse terrain that would hinder them. As such, they are no longer useful in directly attacking a target. This does not necessarily make them useless, though--as they are comparably VERY cheap, one can use them as support-defense easily; strength of numbers still does apply in this case, and equipped with more modern weaponry, they still stand a chance at overwhelming an Armor when in groups. Weapons designed to rip groups apart will defeat this tactic to an extent, however.
As for aerial units, the helicopter is known to have been rendered, ever since the further development of Armors, obsolete for all combat-related purposes. As many flight-capable Armors can effectively do so in a VTOL fashion, and have roughly equal speed and maneuverability, its inferior weapons mounting and armor shows. At best, it's not unlike a tank--compared to an Armor, it is relatively cheap, and to boot, with the right weapons, a large number can still prove to be deadly--a large number of smaller rockets will still overwhelm most Armors, albeit slowly. It still functions as a transportation for the rich and high-class, though, when a jet doesn't fit the bill. Fighters, on the other hand, are still effective in thsi day and age. Given that Armors cannot approach the speed that they can, one can only imagine the difficulty in targeting one even with most missiles. Add that to the fact that their missiles are still able to get through the heavy defenses of most Armors, and even though they can't take one down in one shot, they are still amazingly effective hit-and-run attackers--and thus still see use on the battlefield today.
Of course, then there are the naval forces. Though some may alter an Armor's configuration for marine combat, ships--albeit very altered from what one would imagine--still do exist. More common in actuality are submarines in various configurations; traveling under the water provides its own bonuses. Submarines may be loaded with missiles for airborne or maybe even land-based targets, but more often than not, they'll be equipped with torpedoes to take out other sea-based forces; namely, other subs and large ships. Larger ships, say, battleships for example, tend to be deadly threats to anything within its firing range. Being supported by water, this allows them to carry more weight than is typically possible and still move, and this weight is used on the varied deadly armaments that it carries. Their durability, for the most part, lends more to their large size than anything else. Regardless, woe befall those, even in the biggest Armors, that face such a dire threat; you're not going to have much luck living if you stay to fight at all. In addition to this, some of these may act as mobile bases--though this could be a bit more dangerous than usual. After all, when you're on something feared by all who oppose you, that something is more likely to get blown up. With or without you on it. Some have been rumored to have designed airborne variants of these, which may be even more terrifying. However, if they do exist, they would be particularly rare, what with the costs and technology involved to put them in the air, and keep them that way for long periods of time.
(Done for now) <p>"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT US? OUR TREASURE MAY BE HEAVY, BUT WE ARE LIGHT AS WIND. ONLY MAGICS MAY HURT US, BUT ONLY WE KNOW WHICH ONES." --Omoikane, Digital Devil Saga 2</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=namagomimk0>NamagomiMk0</A] at: 8/1/06 0:24