From: Brian Bell <bkb@b...>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 09:02:21 -0500
Subject: RE: [DS, SG] Walker and Power Armor Agility (was: daleks (All Wal kers)(prone))
You have never seen a person on their stomach firing a rifle? Also I have seen sharp-shooting contests. Often the shooter will lie on his back to fire. Part of it would be how the Walker is designed. If it has the weapons in the arms/hands or as a handheld weapon, it should work wonderfully (examples would be the Robotech Valkyre, Battletech Phoenix Hawk, Stinger, Wasp, etc.). If the walker has chest mounted weapons it would not work as well (just as hull mounted weapons cannot be fired from a tank that is hull down). If the walker has shoulder mounted weapons, they could be designed to swivel back on the back for firing prone (Battletech Shadowhawk). If it is crab/dog like (Battletech Scorpion, AT-AT). Another part of it would be how maneuverable/agile the walker is and how much dexterity it has. I envision them as overgrown powerarmor. As fast as the human inside of them. Others picture slow, plodding, monoliths (Mechwars, Star Wars AT-ATs). If it is agile, it should be able to do almost anything a human in power armor could do. If it is plodding, then it is good only for a fire-magnet. DS2 states that Combat walkers are as fast as Fast Tracked or Slow GEVs (12"). But speed is not the same as agility/dexterity. Another question is how maneuverable/agile is Power Armor? For speed, DS2 has Power Armor (does not differentiate between Slow and Fast Power Armor) as not quite as fast as Slow Tracked. SG2 has Slow Power Armor move at the same rate as standard Infantry and Fast Power Armor move as fast as Vehicles. How dexterous are men in power armor? Obviously, anything requiring small fingers could not be used. But if tools/controls were scaled up, would a person wearing Power Armor be able to do the same manual tasks that an unarmored person would be able to do?