Mechs in traveller idea
- Thread starter slyen2002
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JustinThyme
SOC-10
Then you may enjoy a stroll down a particular Memory Lane. Try a web search for Metagaming Microgames, or pbem.brainiac.com
Classic Microgames Museum
Ogre resources page on sjgames.com
There's at least one cyberbox to play it online and SJG has a free Ogre Lite pdf.
I remember Ogre (SJG version tho) back in the early 80's but only had some of TSR's minigames and one or two of Avalon Hill's booksized games.
Casey
Ogre resources page on sjgames.com
There's at least one cyberbox to play it online and SJG has a free Ogre Lite pdf.
I remember Ogre (SJG version tho) back in the early 80's but only had some of TSR's minigames and one or two of Avalon Hill's booksized games.
Casey
JustinThyme
SOC-10
I was an SPI customer, and bought the occasional Yaquinto product. I was living in Dallas at the time, and Bob was a local boy. I also worked on their (Yaquinto) materials handling equipment. But no discounts. Microgames, for me, were just a novelty at the time. But ya gotta love that Ogre and GEV!
lightsenshi
SOC-12
That's nothing. Try pulling out the old red box (D&D) and start talking about "in my day".Originally posted by Nurd_boy:
oh, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd i feel oooooooooooooooold.....
There is nothing wrong with enjoying the classics; I wish my current PC would run some of the first games I ever bought (like Starflight, the two Trav games, Zork, etc.). I loved those games!
Atleast you can play the Micro's today without an emulator or dumbing down your computer, and they still haven't lost there charm.
Atleast you can play the Micro's today without an emulator or dumbing down your computer, and they still haven't lost there charm.
Red box? Bah! How about blue box Holmes edited or the Otus cover versions? Pre-Elmore cover goodness. Okay I was way young and it was a cousin’s set but I still like those editions. First character was a hobbit^H^H^H^H^H^H I mean a halfling.Originally posted by lightsenshi:
That's nothing. Try pulling out the old red box (D&D) and start talking about "in my day".
Now though when I try to go through Otus cover Moldvay edited edition chargen I keep wanting to houserule so much I might as well use d20. The C&C boxed set has potential. Sounds like d20 meets Basic D&D and tweakable.To bring this back on topic, personally this thread has IMO shown something I’ve suspected for a while. The bias against humanoid mecha is largely due to what a person’s familiar with and likes. Ogres are *just* as implausible and unwieldy on a "realistic" future battlefield (whatever that means considering it will likely resemble Forever Peace or the Culture novels than updated modern or WWII games) as most humanoid mecha are. But they both look cool. Me, I grew up with Robotech and played Battletech instead of reading the Bolo novels and playing Ogre, though I’ve since read some Bolo and have and enjoy Ogre/GEV.
As for joints, one word: Treads. Anything has weak points. And if grav tanks can have contra-grav, so can a humanoid mecha. I’ve already stated my personal opinion of viable humanoid and non-humanoid mecha for Traveller (mainly Shirow/Votoms/Heavy Gear types with Patlabor sized ones for labor).
Right now I think the Tachikomas from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex are very viable. And kawaii! ^_^
link 1, link 2, link 3
Of course being basic AI constructs they'd likely be like TL14 or something in Traveller and just coming into service in 1105 but that's Traveller TLs for you. >.<
Casey
[EDIT]cleared up the C&C lines[/EDIT]
^ Hey, I had that Blue Box set! Now you're making me feel old and I haven't aged a bit since I was 18!
That's nothing. Try pulling out the old red box (D&D) and start talking about "in my day".Originally posted by lightsenshi:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Nurd_boy:
oh, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd i feel oooooooooooooooold.....
That's nothing. Try pulling out the old red box (D&D) and start talking about "in my day".Originally posted by lightsenshi:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Nurd_boy:
oh, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd i feel oooooooooooooooold.....
Chainmail the first wire ring bound book that pre dates D&D........All of which I still own!My copy of 3rd edition, 7th printing Chainmail is one of the few game books I still have my original copy of from back then.
Chainmail is the key ancestor to D&D but if you have a silver cover wire bound copy like mine your copy was printed after OD&D was published. Sand tables and firing dowels. <shudder>
I like the jousting matrix even though I normally can't stand matrixes in RPGs. I've seen games at Origins and CapCon using Chainmail though they hide the units behind index cards, ruining the look. Nowadays I'd use DBx / a derivative or Piquet for Medieval / Fantasy.Chainmail entry at acaeum.com
Casey
My copy of 3rd edition, 7th printing Chainmail is one of the few game books I still have my original copy of from back then.
Chainmail is the key ancestor to D&D but if you have a silver cover wire bound copy like mine your copy was printed after OD&D was published. Sand tables and firing dowels. <shudder>
I like the jousting matrix even though I normally can't stand matrixes in RPGs. I've seen games at Origins and CapCon using Chainmail though they hide the units behind index cards, ruining the look. Nowadays I'd use DBx / a derivative or Piquet for Medieval / Fantasy.Chainmail entry at acaeum.com
Casey </font>[/QUOTE]Mine is a 3rd edition 5th printing January 1978
That's plenty old enough .....
Heh, aye.Originally posted by Redleg:
Mine is a 3rd edition 5th printing January 1978
That's plenty old enough .....
FWIW I've started a thread hashing out the Tachikoma mecha in Ship's Locker.
T20 Tachikoma thread
Casey
M
Malenfant
Guest
Be interesting to see if you can do this in T20 - I mean, Tachikoma have the walker mode, then they have the wheeled mode, then they're also sentient AI, but they can also be piloted by a human.
^ Transforming should be differentiated from articulation.
There is no room on the battlefield for a mechanism that transforms; to much opportunity for mechanical failure that results in a large pile of immobile metal, stuck in mid transformation.
By articulation I mean to imply vehicles that are able to reconfigure their structure (hydralics, memory metals, etc.) based on the mode of operation (i.e. mobile howitzers deploy stabilizers when firing that must be retracted to maneuver). This does not mean to imply I forsee Volkswagens articulating into robots or robots articulating into high performance aircraft; these types of vehicles have always seemed absolutely ridiculous to me.
But this goes back to my initial arguement against walkers; they present too large of a silhouette, have joints that are inherently less armored and thus weaker than the rest of the vehicle, and can not carry the equivalent amount of weapondry as a ground vehicle of the same tonnage.
Think about a Gundam with all those flat surfaces, being pummeled by high explosive anti-armor rounds. Then think of a tank of equivalent size, presenting only angled armored surfaces, deflecting the same rounds.
There is no room on the battlefield for a mechanism that transforms; to much opportunity for mechanical failure that results in a large pile of immobile metal, stuck in mid transformation.
By articulation I mean to imply vehicles that are able to reconfigure their structure (hydralics, memory metals, etc.) based on the mode of operation (i.e. mobile howitzers deploy stabilizers when firing that must be retracted to maneuver). This does not mean to imply I forsee Volkswagens articulating into robots or robots articulating into high performance aircraft; these types of vehicles have always seemed absolutely ridiculous to me.
But this goes back to my initial arguement against walkers; they present too large of a silhouette, have joints that are inherently less armored and thus weaker than the rest of the vehicle, and can not carry the equivalent amount of weapondry as a ground vehicle of the same tonnage.
Think about a Gundam with all those flat surfaces, being pummeled by high explosive anti-armor rounds. Then think of a tank of equivalent size, presenting only angled armored surfaces, deflecting the same rounds.
