Morning
I've finally got round to reading Starship Troopers. Interesting...not so much
a book on future warfare as an social observation on the state of the human
race.
Was a thought provoking and enjoyable read, but is that it? Is there more on
the M.I. and the war with the bugs? Other books, short stories?
And why is it that we always have the Bugs as close combat only in our
wargames. The book says the fighting bugs have something like in built lasers
as well as sharp claws!
[quoted original message omitted]
On Wed, 20 Feb 2002 09:50:59 +0000 Jeremey Claridge
> <jeremy.claridge@kcl.ac.uk> wrote:
> Morning
> I've finally got round to reading Starship Troopers.
Interesting... not so much a book on future warfare as an social observation
on the state of the human race. <
Or, according to some "commentators", a book describing a war that is a
thinly-disguised re-hash of WW2 interspersed with right-wing
propaganda. I don't necessarily agree with that (and I enjoyed the book
anyway), but ST is nothing if not controversial and has spawned a lot of
"rebuttals" (Forever War being probably the most famous) and even a few
imitations.
> Was a thought provoking and enjoyable read, but is that it? Is there
<
None that I'm aware of. Remember, ST dates back to the late '50s
(1959?), when SF novels were mostly stand-alone books rather than part
94 of 2-bl**dy-many. <g> And the Bug War is just about over by the end
of the book. I don't think Heinlein ever went back to that universe.
> And why is it that we always have the Bugs as close combat only in
Don't think they're in-built, IIRC; they're _weapons_ -- y'know,
tool-users and all that? <g>
Phil
----
"Sic Transit Gloria Barramundi" (Or, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!)
> > Was a thought provoking and enjoyable read, but is that it? Is there
> more on the M.I. and the war with the bugs? Other books, short
Wasn't there a Japanese cartoon series of Starship Troopers that went into
depth about the bugs? So that was all artistic licence then?
> Don't think they're in-built, IIRC; they're _weapons_ -- y'know,
Great. So assaulting a bug position means being shot at on the way up and
getting your limbs ripped off when you get close:)
On Wed, 20 Feb 2002 10:42:29 +0000 Jeremey Claridge
> <jeremy.claridge@kcl.ac.uk> wrote:
> Wasn't there a Japanese cartoon series of Starship Troopers that went
Almost certainly -- along the lines of what was done to the Lensman
series. In what little I saw of the Japanese version, there was hardly
anything common to the books except a couple of names. Now watch all the fans
tell me how much I missed... <g>
> Don't think they're in-built, IIRC; they're _weapons_ -- y'know,
> Great. So assaulting a bug position means being shot at on the way up
Hence the PA, and the flamers, grenades, mini-nukes, "tanglefoot", etc.
ISTR MI and bugs mixing it up in melee a few times, and the bugs tended
to come off the worse on an individual basis -- but then, they could
afford to.
Phil, who was really P.O.'ed to see they left the armour out of the movie.
That's why I never saw it; that wasn't ST, it was a travesty.
----
"We gotta get out into Space / If it's the last thing we ever do!"
-- Return to the Forbidden Planet
> Wasn't there a Japanese cartoon series of Starship Troopers that went
Hey Ho!
The animated Starship Troopers was based on the movie Starship Troopers which
is not very much at all like the book Starship Troopers.
Never saw the animated show. Loathed the movie the first time I saw it (was
comparing it to the book), loved it the second time (was thinking of it as
wargames material), and enjoyed the book immensely (but didn't care for it
from a wargames perspective)!
Love the smell of run-on sentences in the morning.
> Phil, who was really P.O.'ed to see they left the armour out of the
Firstly can I just say that I AM NOT GETTING INTO A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE FILM!
(we've done that here already).
But the film is in my collection. No it's not the book. But the film did stir
up interest and provide lots of visual material for us gamers. Mind you I'm
not sure you could make that exciting a film if you followed the book exactly.
At one point I'm sure there are 5 M.I.'s holding an area of 20-40
square miles. Not exactly thrilling viewing:)
> At 08:05 20/02/02 -0500, Bob wrote:
Are you referring to the computer animated show 'Roughnecks'? or the Japanese
cel animated show?
For those interested in all things (not just the movie) 'starship troopers'
check out this site:
http://www.trooperpx.com/
Cheers
> Are you referring to the computer animated show 'Roughnecks'? or the
Derek,
I was thinking of 'Roughnecks'. I was not aware of the cel animated show! Had
cruised the Trooper PX before but never noticed. Thanks for the head's up.
Oh well, better get more coffee.
Bob
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> > > Wasn't there a Japanese cartoon series of Starship Troopers that
ARACHNIDS WERE VERY DIFFERENT IN STARSHIP TROOPERS (THE BOOK) FROM THE WAY
THEY WERE DEPICTED IN STARSHIP TROUPERS (SUPERMODELS IN SPACE!).
ARACHNIDS BUILT STARSHIPS, USED NUCLEAR WEAPONS, MADE A N ALLIANCE
WITH ANOTHER ALIEN RACE (THE HUMANOID SKINNIES) TO WAGE WAR AGAINST HUMANITY.
ARACHNID WARRIORS WERE B-I-G, FAST, FEARLESS, CLOE COMBAT MONSTERS WHO
ALSO USED MANUFACTURED WEAPONS IN RANGED COMBAT.
BUGS, AS MOST FOLKS VIEW THEM NOW, CAN TRACE THEIR ORIGIINS TO "ARMOR" AND TO
THE MOVIE "STARSHIP TROOPERS".
OOOPS! FORGOT TO SWITCH OVER FROM ALL CAPS EMAIL TO MY AUNT!
SORRY!
DAWGIE
> > Was a thought provoking and enjoyable read, but is that it? Is
IIRC, there was a (not very good) programmed-paragraph type gamebook
based on ST released years ago in the US; the same series also had one in the
Hammer's Slammers Universe called (again IIRC) "Slammers Down".
> Wasn't there a Japanese cartoon series of Starship Troopers that went
There have been two animated versions - the Roughnecks (CGI) series
which was spawned from the movie, and a much earlier Japanese anime version
that predates the movie. AFAIK neither has much connection with the book....
> Don't think they're in-built, IIRC; they're _weapons_ -- y'know,
The book bugs aren't anywhere near as nasty in close-combat as the movie
ones. Individually, PA can rip them apart. They're portrayed as
weapon-users with a reasonably high tech (they have stardrive, for a
start)
- and IIRC, they also think as individuals, though the Brain Bugs do the
overall command and strategic thinking.
> On Wed, Feb 20, 2002 at 02:43:11PM +0000, Ground Zero Games wrote:
"Shines the Name", Mark Acres, Ace Books, 0-441-11535-7, 1987.
I suspect I should shut up now before I reveal my total lack of a life. Oh,
too late.
> Phil, who was really P.O.'ed to see they left the armour out of the
Moby Dick with the whale deleted as the SFX were too expensive.
> At one point I'm sure there are 5 M.I.'s holding an area of 20-40
Oh, I dunno. The "I am a 30-second bomb" bit would be interesting. You
could even split-screen, with one side showing SFX straight out of "The
Matrix" only on a larger scale, the other showing a HUD of the action.
> Jeremey Claridge wrote:
> Message-ID: <EXECMAIL.1020220140236.K@Nhhse02.kcl.ac.uk>
Its been to long since I read the book to say whether the Roughneck Chronicles
faithfully reconstructs the mood. However, I can say that within the
limitations of a half-hour show, it is rather well written. There are
situations involving "Treknology", but they are better used.
One episode had AP mines that did not detonate until you stepped off of them,
which allowed the Combat Humanoid Artificial Sentient (Chas) to save a major
On Thursday, February 21, 2002 1:56 AM, Roger Burton West
> [SMTP:roger@firedrake.org] wrote:
*****
On Wed, 20 Feb 2002 10:42:29 +0000 Jeremey Claridge
> <jeremy.claridge@kcl.ac.uk> writes:
Got it in one.
Why would I *want* my bugs (Hordes of the Things) also armed with effective
weaponry? I can't win with plain old HTH bugs!
Gracias,
In the CG series (Roughnecks; I'm just DVDing it now with the kids), the bugs
only use a very few biological weapons, but basically just swarm. Very
effective, actually. The trooper weapons take out bugs very quickly, but there
are always a LOT of bugs, and continuous shots of
hundreds of bugs converging on our 6-man hero squad which is running out
of ammo...
> Glenn M Wilson wrote:
> Glenn wrote:
Our group has tried several DS2 battles with bugs versus mecha and armour, and
the HTH bugs win all the time.
[quoted original message omitted]
Hi,
FWIW, the CG animated show was much better than the movie.
Cheers,
T.
> On Wednesday, February 20, 2002, at 05:05 AM, Robert Minadeo wrote:
> Wasn't there a Japanese cartoon series of Starship Troopers that went
> (was
In message <3C74530C.6633B1BD@intercomltd.com>
> Edward Lipsett <translation@intercomltd.com> wrote:
[re-ordered]
> In the CG series (Roughnecks; I'm just DVDing it now with the kids),
IIRC among the 'ranged weapon' bugs in Roughnecks there were:
The big plasma bugs from the film - usually used as artillery or
anti-ship.
'Rippler' improved flying bugs, could 'spit' an acid-coated serrated
blade that could penetrate mobile suits.
'Blister' bugs that had a short-range acid spit.
'Blaster' bugs, looked like the blisters, but spat a long-range 1000
degree fireball, they also generated a 'heat field' that acted as a
counter-missile defence!!!!!
And of course the souped-up 'tank' bug, that was IIRC virtually
grenade-proof :-)
Been there, been 'et....
Dreenoi on steroids... shudder.
Gracias,
Glenn/Triphibious@juno.com
This is my Science Fiction Alter Ego E-mail address.
Historical - Warbeads@juno.com
Fantasy and 6mm - dwarf_warrior@juno.com
On Thu, 21 Feb 2002 10:53:17 +0900 Edward Lipsett
> <translation@intercomltd.com> writes: