ReHistory: Warwalker: The Mechoning: The Conversation

Or Death from Above if some of the light mechs manage to get higher than it and jumpjet on top of it.

Combined arms can lay low anything!

Proud member of the IAA What's the point of being grown up if you can't act childish?

Oh, another thing that I'm not sure that I have to mention, or if you've all assumed this already: all your mechs have radar/nightvision/whatever, so anyone can comment on the dots.

Well, there's also the issue of how the mechs actually get close without being obliterated. I can sort of explain it with small vehicles, but something humongous won't just hang around waiting to get boarded.

@Nman: I know. Again, I was just waiting to let other people the chance to take it if they wanted to, but I'll step in and post later today/tonight if nobody else has by then.

As for the boarding? Well, I'm not sure if you're talking about a Halo scarab sized thing or battleship sized thing, but for the latter I see one way probably being the best to get on board: Dive-bomber style.

Something that big isn't going to be moving terribly fast for starters. In conventional warfare the best ways to take those things down are typically the high approach of dive bombers or the low approach of torpedo bombers. But if the cargo we want to deploy is piloted mechs instead of bombs/missiles, then the low approach won't work, leaving the high approach.

The idea would be to get a very high altitude then get as directly over the target as possible, and come in at a very steep angle. AA guns actually have a difficult time shooting straight up, so the only problems would be missiles and the act of landing on the deck itself.

No matter what the method, trying to successfully board and take down something that big would be incredibly difficult and probably a suicide mission. But then again, wouldn't that be the point?

edited 14th Jun '12 6:51:11 PM by FirockFinion

You are reading this.

Ah, no hurry, I was just afraid that I might have worded my post to make things seem narrower than they are.

And yes, that would be the point of that mission

It's just that the way things are set up, something like that would be more for a war scenario, rather than a typical mission (don't worry, I've got a war in my sleeve). I'd expect a 1500-foot-long ship*

to have enough countermeasures*

railgun turrets, for one thing

to prevent you from simply dropping mechs from above. I have one idea on how to do that, for one specific faction, though .

I also have to think about the old question: "Why go through the trouble of getting a mech onboard, when they can just Nuke 'em?" Something covert lets me answer that, but if it's an actual war where huge ships are involved, it gets tricky.

edited 14th Jun '12 7:04:23 PM by nman

Maybe we find it fresh off the construction line, in a secret factory or hangar?

Proud member of the IAA What's the point of being grown up if you can't act childish?

That's what I had planned for some stuff, but it seems like a waste - I'd prefer having a big, badass, Dynamic Entry where it blows shit up.

Same reason no nukes were used offensively since the end of WWII: To avoid escalating the engagement into an End of the World as We Know It scenario. Dropping a nuke could incur other factions to launch their own nukes, and next thing you know, everything is nuked.

As for why not use smaller bombs to blast it into oblivion? Well, you could say that between countermeasures and thick armor, trying to blow it up from the outside would take too much time while it's still marching on its way towards whatever its target is.

You could also say that sending in just commandos wouldn't be bringing enough firepower to the situation. In fact I imagine that this mission would have to be a joint effort between a mech squad and commando unit. I picture the mechs doing the 'heavy lifting' while the commandos make sure any doors blocking the mechs' path get open and such.

EDIT: Oh! And to avoid countermeasures, probably launch a full air assault during the boarding attempt. Railgun turrets and missiles wouldn't be as effective at shooting down the mechs specifically while there's also planes shooting up and bombing the deck. If they're lucky, the planes might even disable some of those turrets.

edited 14th Jun '12 7:25:06 PM by FirockFinion

You are reading this.

You could launch a cruise missile or ballistic missil with a non-nuclear payload and get similar results if you're targeting a single unit. You don't need a big boom, just a big enough boom, one you can achieve with conventional explosives at the same standoff range.

Not sure if anti-aircraft or CIWS technology is good enough to intercept, but even in the 21st century we cant take down a full missile cruiser's payload. If one of these monsters comes out you'd probably have several cruisers firing off at it.

edited 14th Jun '12 7:41:59 PM by SOCR

How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?

Hmmm...

'!'

Say, Nman, didn't you say that this setting has drill tanks? If so, are they the burrowing kind?

Proud member of the IAA What's the point of being grown up if you can't act childish?

No, there are no drill tanks, and there certainly aren't any secret Soviet weapons labs churning them out.

edited 14th Jun '12 8:23:09 PM by nman

Can the tanks that are must certainly not being cranked out by the hundreds behind the Iron Curtain burrow?

Can any vehicle in this setting burrow?

Proud member of the IAA What's the point of being grown up if you can't act childish?

Shit man, I've got to have some surprises up my sleeves

Can any vehicle burrow? Well, how else do you clear out the space for an Elaborate Underground Base? There's bound to be commercial drilling tools that can be re-purposed.

edited 14th Jun '12 8:42:53 PM by nman

Question...

Does the mech have to have legs? Or could it be a mecha torso bolted to a tank chassis built by an American Tank Firm?

Then that's your answer to hiding such a behemoth.

...I think.

(And yes, you are allowed surprises)

Proud member of the IAA What's the point of being grown up if you can't act childish?

Well... the RP is kind of called Warwalker.

edited 14th Jun '12 8:54:35 PM by nman

Well...I figured it couldn't hurt to ask!

And supporting railgun artillery is much easier when you have tracks to absorb the recoil. Plus someone has to keep those tank builders in the news!

Yeah, that's why a mech has to brace for the shot instead of just firing whenever they want. And tanks are still practical - hell, I would expect a 1960's Tesla-brand MBT to be able to utterly destroy a state-of-the-art mech if they were simply shooting each other.

Now that I have the place to point the drone... can I get a more detailed visual description of these contacts?

I'm not sure what the drone is capable of in terms on onboard systems like radar, so I'm sort of just using it as a flying camera with a gun mount.

How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?

To be honest, I'd have to know where your mech is to know what it could see. I don't even know where half of the mechs are, only the lead three mechs, so for now, it's just dots in the distance that every mech's picking up. If one of your characters was really close, I would write up a visual. But since they're in a forest, I doubt the light mechs move fast enough for the heavy mechs to fall behind, so unless one of you posts that, for some reason, your character stayed behind while their teammates went two miles ahead into unexplored territory, I'd assume that your mechs are somewhat close together, like within a few hundred feet.

That RP post was really just me strongly encouraging you all to post how your characters are moving. I asked way back here, but you all wanted to keep talking about Russia

Or are you all on strike until something explodes?

edited 15th Jun '12 6:06:29 PM by nman

Ah yes, the Michael Bay clause.

Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.

Hey, wait a minute, while I've still got my pointin' finger out, I might as well mention that you and Rabbit still need to finish up your signups

What needs to be done? I thought we were all approved and set up for next mission unless we actually need to punch in that clause about the body guard thing being an unofficial arrangement.

Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.

Oh, I didn't know if you and him were actually okay with that, or wanted a different arrangement. In that case, then I guess things are pretty much good to go, though the Solomon's got a shoulder-slot rocketry pod installed to an arm.

I missed the shoulder slot part. I'll give that a fix in a bit.

I can't think of many work around for it since we need to be in the PMC. I thought it'd be okay to have a bit more of a leash during the conception of the characters so it's sort of the best quickfix I could think of.

Mé féin ag daṁsa faoin ngealaċ seanrince gan ċeol leis ach ceol cuisle. DS FC: 4141-3472-4041, feel free to add me.