History Main / DefenselessTransports

* Spoony complains about this phenomenon in his review of ''VideoGame/{{Privateer}} 2: The Darkening''. In the game you have to hire and escort cargo ships. Often the cargo ships will jump ahead and you will be detained, leaving them to go ahead to be destroyed while defenseless.

** In the literature [[DropShip UNSC D-77 Pelicans]] are fitted with a chin-mounted 70 mm chaingun, wing-mounted missile pods, and a door gunner with a heavy machine gun, but these are never seen in the first two games. ''Literature/HaloTheFlood'', the novelization of ''[[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Combat Evolved]]'', explained it as them having run out of ammo off-screen: the ''Pillar of Autumn'''s crew didn't have time to grab a whole lot of ammunition for their heavy weapons during the evacuation, and there's an extended sequence in the novel of the Marines taking a convoy out to the crash site to restock. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' they get put to use [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in cutscenes]], and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' introduces a gunship variant that the Master Chief gets to fly in one of the missions.
** Averted by Covenant Spirit and Phantom {{dropship}}s from the first game onward, which carry belly guns useful for clearing landing zones of pesky UNSC Marines (though they don't work as well against the Master Chief's PoweredArmor). These ships are also almost indestructible, though the guns can be destroyed with weapons fire, and in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' the ship itself can be shot down with several shots from the Scorpion tank's main gun.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' literature [[DropShip UNSC D-77 Pelicans]] are fitted with a chin-mounted 70 mm chaingun, wing-mounted missile pods, and a door gunner with a heavy machine gun, but these are never seen in the first two games. ''Literature/HaloTheFlood'', the novelization of ''[[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Combat Evolved]]'', explained it as them having run out of ammo off-screen: the ''Pillar of Autumn'''s crew didn't have time to grab a whole lot of ammunition for their heavy weapons during the evacuation, and there's an extended sequence in the novel of the Marines taking a convoy out to the crash site to restock. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' they get put to use [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in cutscenes]], and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' introduces a gunship variant that the Master Chief gets to fly in one of the missions.

!!Examples

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' literature UNSC D-77 Pelicans are fitted with a chin-mounted 70 mm chaingun, wing-mounted missile pods, and a door gunner with a heavy machine gun, but these are never seen in the first two games. ''Literature/HaloTheFlood'', the novelization of ''[[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Combat Evolved]]'', explained it as them having run out of ammo off-screen. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' they get put to use [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in cutscenes]], and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' introduces a gunship variant that the Master Chief gets to fly in one of the missions.

* Several [[EscortMission Escort Missions]] in the ''VideoGame/XWing'' series are built around protecting troop transports on their way to or from an objective. While these transports ''are'' armed, the AI often seems to conveniently forget about this, leaving the player to do all the work.

** Spoony complains about this phenomenon in his review of ''Privateer 2 The Darkening''. In the game you have to hire and escort cargo ships. Often the cargo ships will jump ahead and you will be detained, leaving them to go ahead to be destroyed while defenseless.

* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' the Space Marine and Chaos Marine Rhino APC doesn't have guns, but it does have a smoke grenade launcher. Note that in the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} source material]] Rhinos are armed with a Storm Bolter (an SMG with exploding rounds). And even in ''Dawn of War'' there are other, armed [=APCs=] (for example, the Space Marines' Land Raider super-heavy tank doubles as a troop transport).

* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' doesn't even have marine combat, galleys are only useful for moving armies over seas.

* ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'': Varies by game and by ship, but generally the base model freighter is unarmed and frequently only lightly shielded. However, players will often use mass expansions to turn part of bigger freighters' cargo bays into room for weapons, a process nicknamed "mass-modding".
** The Polaris Sprite light freighter and Cambrian heavy freighter in ''EV Nova'' are {{justified}} examples due to the Polaran FantasticCasteSystem. Freight transport is the responsibility of the worker caste, the Tre'pira, while combat is solely the responsibility of the Nil'kemorya, the warrior caste (and they're so good at it that the Tre'pira lacking weapons is a non-issue).

[[AC:FanFiction]]
* In ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'', after the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]] is damaged, a lot of its personnel is evacuated on such transports. For the Rebellion, [[SinkTheLifeboats attacking these]] is an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Empire with minimal risk. Of course, their [[Franchise/StarTrek Federation]] allies consider it [[WhatTheHellHero meaningless slaughter]] and turn on them.

* The C-47 Skytrain was completely defenseless while taking Allied paratroops over enemy territory.

* In ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'', after the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]] is damaged, a lot of its personnel is evacuated on such transports. For the Rebellion, [[SinkingTheLifeboats attacking these]] is an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Empire with minimal risk. Of course, their [[Franchise/StarTrek Federation]] allies consider it [[WhatTheHellHero meaningless slaughter]] and turn on them.

* Downplayed in ''Videogame/PlanetSide 1''. While none of the logistics vehicles were armed or even had spare seats for a friend, most ground transports had weaponry but were usually pretty helpess; the Harasser dune buggy had a pathetic 12mm machine gun that could hit nothing and did little when it did, and the Sunderer BigBadassRig [[ScrappyWeapon was so bad]] at everything that it was replaced with significantly up-armed and armored empire-specific variants geared more towards combat and breaching than transport, which the airborne Galaxy did ''far'' better. The sequel gives weapons to every vehicle, and the two ground transports - the [[CoolCar Harasser]] and [[BigBadassRig Sunderer]] - can take on tanks with the right weapon and a competent crew.

* Zigzagged in ''Videogame/PlanetSide 1''. None of the logistics vehicles were armed, nor was the Lodestar, a massive aircraft that could transport any ground vehicle or the stealth-capable Phantasm aircraft. The Harasser dune buggy had a pathetic 12mm mounted gun that could hit nothing and did little when it did, and the Sunderer armored truck [[ScrappyWeapon was so bad]] (slower, weaker and more vulnerable than its airborne counterpart, the Galaxy) that it was removed from the game and replaced with three empire-specific derivatives that carried significantly more dakka and armor, making it less of an APC and more of a battle wagon. The sequel gives weapons to every vehicle, and the two ground transports, the [[CoolCar Harasser]] and the [[BigBadassRig Sunderer]], can take on tanks with the right weapon and a good driver.

* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' the Space Marine Rhino APC doesn't have guns, but it does have a smoke grenade launcher. Note that in the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} source material]] Rhinos are armed with a Storm Bolter (an SMG with exploding rounds). And even in ''Dawn of War'' there are other, armed [=APCs=] (for example, the Space Marines' Land Raider super-heavy tank doubles as a troop transport).

* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' the Space Marine Rhino APC doesn't have guns, but it does have a smoke grenade launcher. Note that in the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} source material]] Rhinos are armed. And even in ''Dawn of War'' there are other, armed [=APCs=] (for example, the Space Marines' Land Raider super-heavy tank doubles as a troop transport).

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in the ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series. TP- and TS-class cargo ships are basically defenseless against any combat ship; their only recourse is to [[HyperspeedEscape jump out]]. TM- and TL-class ships are tougher and carry fighters but they're still quite vulnerable due to their size ([[MileLongShip particularly the TLs]]) and mediocre-at-best weapons loadout.

In real life, most vehicles intended to be used on the front lines have at least a machine gun mount. But there is some TruthInTelevision to this trope (see below).

* In ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'', all military units turn into landing crafts when transporting over water. Whether they're tanks or infantry, they have very low hit points and can be sunk with a few shots from a naval vessel (particularly destroyers). Caravans become cargo ships, though even on land, they're just as weak.

* Most cargo ships of the world wars were unarmed, making them easy pickings for submarines; during the early years of both wars, German U-boats would use their deck guns to take out lone ships. During the latter years of World War II, the armaments of cargo ships improved, though these still meant nothing to an incoming torpedo.

* The official definition of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armoured_personnel_carrier Armoured Personnel Carrier]] includes the line "is armed with an integral or organic weapon of less than 20 millimeters calibre." Which, of course, means that practically every one of them has a mounted Browning machine gun or a grenade launcher.

* Zigzagged in ''Videogame/PlanetSide 1''. None of the logistics vehicles were armed, nor was the Lodestar, a massive aircraft that could transport any ground vehicle or the stealth-capable Phantasm aircraft. The Harasser dune buggy had a pathetic 12mm mounted gun that could hit nothing and did little when it did, and the Sunderer armored truck was so bad (slower, weaker and more vulnerable than its airborne counterpart, the Galaxy) that it was removed from the game and replaced with three empire-specific derivatives that carried significantly more dakka and armor, making it less of an APC and more of a battle wagon. The sequel gives weapons to every vehicle, and some like the [[CoolCar Harasser]] and the [[BigBadassRig Sunderer]] can take on tanks with the right weapon and a good driver.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in the ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series. TP- and TS-class cargo ships are basically defenseless against any combat ship; their only recourse is to [[HyperspeedEscape jump out]]. TM- and TL-class ships are tougher and carry fighters but they're still quite vulnerable.

* In ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'', after the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]] is damaged, a lot of its personnel is evacuated on such transports. For the Rebellion, attacking these is an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Empire with minimal risk. Of course, their [[Franchise/StarTrek Federation]] allies consider it [[WhatTheHellHero meaningless slaughter]] and turn on them.

* Avalon Hill board games

* Several ships in ''TabletopGame/StarRealms'', such as Scouts and other low cost transports, do not provide Combat points. Higher cost transports could do damage, and even the low-cost Explorer could do damage if you trash it.