Your earlier comment on the rockets were right in that they're limited in quantity. So while they hit hard, that's all they get. And the Walkers count their cannons as heavy weapons, but these are slightly older models so they're stuck with what they have (i.e., it was more than good enough in the Walkers' early days, but they're fighting a core super robot unit).
I'll keep the recommendation to reduce their hit chance for future encounters, however. (And do keep those comments coming please)
Your earlier comment on the rockets were right in that they're limited in quantity. So while they hit hard, that's all they get. And the Walkers count their cannons as heavy weapons, but these are slightly older models so they're stuck with what they have (i.e., it was more than good enough in the Walkers' early days, but they're fighting a core super robot unit).
I'll keep the recommendation to reduce their hit chance for future encounters, however. (And do keep those comments coming please)
First Tank-Mobile group ready Disposable Rocket Tubes. Despite the complications, they attempt to fire at Ichiro!
Rolling: 1+1!
Critical failure! The launchers completely fail to hit Ichiro - one explodes in the user's hands, inflicting 1 HP further to the group.
Second Tank-Mobile group Configures!
Rolls: 1!
No complications! The second group's configuration is much more dignified.
The Tank-Mobile prototypes are glitchy, hence Malfunction. I set their threshold for 5-6 to Malfunction, so 1-4 would be fine.
In hindsight, I do agree this isn't quite consistent. This sounded better on my notes when I planned this out. :/ I'll try to do better with that next time.
I have a feeling that, if you declared a Malfunction on a roll of 1-2 (with 3-6 being fine), or 1 and 6 (with non-extremes being fine), many people wouldn't see any problem. I don't quite believe that it's a matter where it's possible to "do better", because mechanically, even if Malfunction happened at 3 and 5 (at "inconsistent odd times"), it would mean the same "two out of six times". It's just that, conventionally, people have pre-concieved expectations from "ends-of-scale" numbers like "1" or "6" (or "20"), and might get confused by unexpected behaviours.
One thing that I could see as "doing better" is having a Malfunction only one time out of six, because I don't quite expect Westfallian technology to run on make-believe orkish collective hypnosis. There must be some physical principles holding them together, not just duct tape and strong ideology. But well, that's a question of ballance, and I'm not too confident in that.
Of what I am confident: if I got a "20" on a 1d6, I'd be very confused by this unexpected behaviour.
I have a feeling that, if you declared a Malfunction on a roll of 1-2 (with 3-6 being fine), or 1 and 6 (with non-extremes being fine), many people wouldn't see any problem. I don't quite believe that it's a matter where it's possible to "do better", because mechanically, even if Malfunction happened at 3 and 5 (at "inconsistent odd times"), it would mean the same "two out of six times". It's just that, conventionally, people have pre-concieved expectations from "ends-of-scale" numbers like "1" or "6" (or "20"), and might get confused by unexpected behaviours.
One thing that I could see as "doing better" is having a Malfunction only one time out of six, because I don't quite expect Westfallian technology to run on make-believe orkish collective hypnosis. There must be some physical principles holding them together, not just duct tape and strong ideology. But well, that's a question of ballance, and I'm not too confident in that.
Of what I am confident: if I got a "20" on a 1d6, I'd be very confused by this unexpected behaviour.
That's fair. I'll try to be more consistent with that - again, for some reason this made sense to me when I was planning this out. I'm probably likely to make a few more gaffes like this in the future, so do keep calling those out please.
Also, if you somehow got a natural 20 on a d6, I'd be both really impressed and possibly on stable ground to accuse you of witchcraft.
Is this the longest non-turn non-option post I've written?
It might be.
This started as something I began on my lunch break, and then it swiftly morphed and grew into something much larger. I was never quite satisfied with earlier drafts, so I kept writing and writing.
Is this any better? I'm not sure. I hope you all enjoy regardless.
1732, 27 July A.D. 2072 <ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>
"Arrow 1 moving in. Be advised, engines are acting a little strange."
"Arrow 2, no issues so far."
"Arrow 3 here. Be advised, target identified...tank."
The last word from the third group's lead pilot was practically dripping in confusion even over the radio. Wallace couldn't blame him - what should have been an isolated Intelligence team and an easy and substantial victory was already packing an unusual surprise. These damned things had better work, he thought to himself. But even if he had the finished models that Pak had promised to deliver on, asking them to take on a freaking tank, giant robot edition or not, was still a very tall order. "Rush in and overwhelm it," he decided, relaying that order to his aides. "Don't give them any breathing room to fight back." The alternative - which was one Wallace did not want to think about - was the possibility that there were more hiding nearby.
Combat - Round 1
Wallace tuned out the chatter as he focused on the battle, the Tank-Mobiles of Arrows 1 and 2 already screeching towards the tank opening fire. Even if Westphalia's usual tricks of smuggling in heavy weaponry beneath the Union's noses was being turned back on him for once, between the prototypes and the Walkers, he should have enough to overwhelm the tank without committing his reserves. Or Bruce. He didn't want to commit Bruce, even if he was ready to. Some of the rounds from the autocannons were already pinging off of the Centurion's plates, some scoring some minor gouges along the edges...
"Hurry up and finish it off," he ordered. "Before the intelligence team can get away!"
1735, 27 July A.D. 2072 Combat
"Somehow I don't think they realize we already got away," Anna commented cheerfully over the radio link.
"Little. Busy!" Ichiro growled, wincing slightly as he felt the fired shells ping off of his plates. For all that the Legion was making energy blasters look like the next big thing, conventional weaponry still stung. "Hold still," he muttered to himself as he rushed forward, plowing through the miniature dust plumes kicked up by the many, many rounds that were aimed his way. The Walkers - we need a better name for those - was walking slowly towards him from further back, arm-mounted rotary guns spinning constantly as they spat out round after round in one, long unending burst, literally leaving a trail of shell casings that scattered all around it as it continued moving forwards.
But they weren't doing much, not yet. No, his attention was towards the armored buggies. They really, really looked that much uglier up close - anywhere from conventional-ish looking armored cabs all the way to what almost looked like a patch job that might have started life as an SUV frame. All mounted with heavier autocannons, and the ones that were actually scoring hits. "Hold still," he growled again - the turret whirred as it turned about slowly, attempting to lead the target group as he felt his internals load a high explosive round. "and-!"
Ichiro felt his whole frame kick back slightly and shudder as the turret spat fire, a fiery, yellowish bolt hurling towards the group of cobbled together vehicles. Yet before the shell could impact onto the ground and release its high explosive energy, the vehicle pilots scattered almost immediately, one vehicle even somehow still operating despite the force of the impact having flipped him pot over tea kettle. Even through the scattered debris and the fire of the explosive impact, the vehicles kept plodding on through, their cannons still aimed and firing annoyingly at him.
"Okay, that's it."
Already accelerating towards the fight, and already at ranges that a traditional main battle tank might find less than healthy, Ichiro charged.
1736, 27 July A.D. 2072 <ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>
"What-?"
That was the only word Wallace could muster as he saw the next few seconds unfold through Arrow 1's video feed. He knew, intellectually, that the new Union tanks could transform.
But this!?
Before his eyes, honest to god rockets below the chassis ignited, sending the tank upwards in defiance of gravity, and with the chassis tilting forwards as if it were about to roll over. Yet instead of having the decency to simply collapse and crumple to spare them the trouble, the goddamned tank changed. The front of the tank unfolded, forming into arms that the damned cannon had latched onto whilst the back extended and unfolded into legs. A humanoid head emerged, and its fist was already reared back, oddly tinted forearms glinting in the setting sun as it was about to land onto the nearest concentration of Tank-Mobiles. "Arrow 1, evade-!"
1736, 27 July A.D. 2072 Shade Command Vehicle
"Ouch." Anna winced as she saw the utter carnage that was on display. With a really impressive jump and forward momentum, Ichiro's first battle configuration saw him slam into the formation. Ichiro's fist smashed through the first Tank-Mobile, barely even meeting any resistance. Without missing a beat, Ichiro just kept going, his fist flying through the scattering debris as the Zirvitium-lined fist then slammed into another of the improvised machines. Anna just barely caught the fist leaving behind an impact crater right outside where the engine block might be, moments before it simply shattered, sending parts and debris flying all about him.
Ichiro was far from done - in fact, despite some of the battle damage showing in his humanoid form, he seemed to have a grin on his face as he laid waste into the machines with every evidence of glee - but Anna's mind was already moving on. Why do those components look kind of familiar? she wondered, fingers already scrambling across the keyboard as she sought to bring back footage from just seconds ago. "Freeze frame, magnify on point of impact after impact," she muttered to herself...
Wait a minute. On the freeze frame, bits of vehicle and ammunition were scattering, yes. But those were...hands. Joints. What might be a head mount. "Well, shit," she muttered.
"Anna? You, uh, noticing something about these guys?"
"The humanoid bits?" she replied grimly.
"Yeah...was kind of hoping you were gonna say I was-"
"-joking, but no. You're seeing it. They're prototypes for configuration-!"
Combat - Round Two
As if realizing that the cat was out of the bag, the exteriors of the machines began to explode off of them, plating simply falling off as limbs began to unfold. The machines were still rolling along, but the machines were rearing upwards, entire chunks of the former cars simply being shed like a second skin and left behind on the field. A blocky, bulky 'head' unit was revealed mounted on the top, just simply a square metal block with a large camera unit mounted atop it as the drivers' compartments righted themselves. It was...eerily similar to the footage of the old CRX models that Wilde and Henry had shown them-
The moment ceased as the configurations abruptly halted midshift. Here, one arm simply refused to unfold, the beginnings of what looked like a rocket launcher peeking out before folding right back in. Another's leg was seemingly stuck, leaving it with one leg extended and the other still stuck in wheeled form. All around, the group that Ichiro had smashed into were having difficulties configuring, even if the one left untouched had unfolded their mecha forms without too much difficulty. "They're not finished," Anna noticed, filing that thought about the similarities for later, for future mulling. "They can't be - they're leaving too much of themselves out behind to go back to car modes..."
1738, 27 July A.D. 2072 Combat
"Yeah, kinda noticed that too," Ichiro noticed. This was...well, it was a nasty surprise. He'd grown so used to the Institute having the monopoly on these things - but with the Major so deadset on ensuring the Union also had access to these machines, he supposed it was inevitable that the Westphalians would get their hands on some of them. As it was... "There's not enough car left to turn back into-"
If Ichiro could have blinked, he would have at that moment. One of the Tank-Mobiles simply exploded, a fireball from the inside simply immolating the poor machine before it collapsed. The driver frantically dove out of the machine, miraculously surviving whatever had triggered the explosion. But even as the small figure risked broken limbs over sure death by barbecue, more of the machines were launching what looked like disposable launchers. Ichiro was already running through as fast as he could, barely noticing that the rockets that did manage to fire and detonate around him were of a particularly powerful punch, military grade even. But they couldn't have that many of them, not with those kinds of frames. He just had to-
*SLAM*
What felt like the world's largest basketball slammed into Ichiro's left shoulder, knocking his sense of balance off and sending him sprawling to the ground. Gritting his nonexistent teeth, Ichiro looked up from having eaten dirt to see the Walkers had decided to change tactics, large shoulder cannons firing solid slug rounds his way. His vision shifted suddenly, as another targeting window through his optics surfaced - Anna's own target telemetry of the Walkers, the trajectories of their next few salvos highlighted around him. "Thanks," he muttered with a slight smirk. At least, for however long Anna could keep this up, it was less likely he was going to get bludgeoned in the face again. He liked his face the way it was, thank you very much.
Ichiro curled himself up - and abruptly he was no longer lying down face first, but he was already rolling back along as a tank, ignoring as best he could the few rounds that did connect and simply ricocheted off of his natural armor. "Come on," he growled to himself. A moment later, the volume increased to a challenge. "Come on! You think you're all that!?"Just like that, the calm veneer slid away to reveal the simmering anger that was kept beneath a lid. He didn't even bother with loading a round this time - the malfunctioning, scattered survivors of the first group were desperately attempting to ready their weapons at him. Ichiro wasn't going to give them the time.
With a loud crunch, Ichiro simply slammed into one of the Tank-Mobiles, slapping it aside with the force of his mass and momentum without even looking back. Even as the remains of the vehicle came apart at the seams, Ichiro slammed into the remaining machine. To its credit, despite missing a functioning leg the Tank-Mobile attempted to hold its ground. Foolishly maybe against something that outmassed it so considerably - the machine held for one second before it simply collapsed, pinned to the ground.
Ichiro's fist configured back to humanoid first, and with a sound that resembled torn paper rather than screeching metal, Ichiro's fist slammed through the engine block, the fist using itself as a crutch to stabilize the rest of his form as he configured back to humanoid mode. Kneeling, and crouched next to the 'cockpit,' he said to the pilot, "I think you should leave." His optics, glowing a brighter purple, flared slightly to emphasize the point. "I'm not going to ask twice."
Combat - Round Three
Already dismissing the pilot (and leaving him to be picked up by Anna's crew, wherever the hell they were), Ichiro abruptly stood his ground as more rockets screamed in from the direction of the other group. The various debris and shrapnel pinged off of Ichiro's metal hide - he hoped the ungrateful pilot that had just ejected the glass shielding of his 'cockpit' appreciated the gesture long enough to be grabbed by Intelligence. A mess of projected rounds superimposed themselves between Ichiro and the Walkers, but he continued to walk through - it still stung, but more like how a human would react to having to walk through a heavy rainstorm. Unpleasant, but not harmful in actuality.
"Okay, I've had enough of you bastards," Ichiro growled. Unaware that he was subconsciously imitating Galbinus's firing posture, Ichiro braced his legs as he raised one arm towards the remaining Tank-Mobiles desperately firing their weapons at him. "Go away!"
Ichiro's vision was immediately obscured in smoke as the supercharged shot roared, even more exhaust billowing from the rear of the weapon...
1743, 27 July A.D. 2072 <ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>
"Good god."
Wallace ignored his aides' shock, his own hand squeezing tightly on his command throne's armrest until his whitened knuckles were probably bending into the soft metal outright. The damned machine - and that had to be a machine, not a human in that thing - hadn't even waited for the smoke to clear. By the time it had dissipated, it was already charging towards Arrow 3, the ruined wreckages and scattered, defeated pilots left in his wake. They'd dealt it damage, certainly...but what kind of monsters were the Union creating!?
"This is Arrow 3. We need backup! Right now!" For a moment, Wallace didn't even notice the screaming coming from the usually calm pilot. "Now!! Do you hear me!? I need backup now or we'll all gone!"
"...dammit." This was not how the operation was supposed to go. The Intelligence team wasn't supposed to find anything about the acquisition. They weren't supposed to be guarded at all. And they were certainly not supposed to have the Union's best imitation of a Kaus tearing apart his vanguard. This was not what was promised...
...something he was going to have to talk to Koenig about. At least I'm in the right, here, he thought glumly. But I still have more. I can commit them all, and withdraw with honor. For whatever comfort that was worth. "Bruce!"
A trio of voices replied immediately. "Bruce standing-by, aye!"
"You are cleared to launch." Wallace just knew he was going to regret this...
1745, 27 July A.D. 2072 Combat
"Apologies for the delay." Ichiro looked up from the remains of the Tank-Mobiles he'd just wrecked. Or, more accurately, he looked down. He could do that safely, as the Walkers were desperately attempting to gain some distance - and for the moment, Ichiro needed the breather.
More of the pilots that had bailed out of their destroyed rides were already being rounded up - by Steeds. The armored compartments were unfolding long enough for the drivers to simply yank the dismounted Westphalians inside, presumably into custody from that point on. One machine had slid to a stop next to Ichiro's foot, and immediately configured into power armored form. I wonder if this is how Galbinus sees everyone else, Ichiro wondered - the smaller machines barely came up to his knee. "Westphalian intrusions here were more...intense than we expected."
"About time you all made it here!" Anna's voice chimed in. "What kept you?"
"Very militant records keepers. Westphalian strike teams were neutralized."
"The historians were Westphalian?"
"No, just very dedicated to their jobs, and irate to unscheduled walk-ins. The Westphalians were just a convenient excuse."
Before the conversation could get any stranger, the Shade rolled up, and Anna's head poked out of the driver's seat. "Paddy wagon's here!" she announced cheerfully. "Also, Ichiro - here!" The side door slid open, revealing a black rectangular case. "Katarina insisted I bring some just in case something like this happened!"
"Perfect." Ichiro opened the case, and his face immediately was illuminated with the bluish-green glow of processed Energy Shards. The shapes looked slightly different from the ones Galbinus and the Legion toted around, but they were Shards all the same, and made from the base's (relatively) new generator! With a practiced ease he didn't realize he had, he grabbed one immediately and slid it into the chest cavity that had opened. Indescribable, yet soothing - guess it's my caffeination - the shard dissolved as its nourishment spread along his circuits, with some of the damage mending itself as the Kaus-like body fixed the worst of it. He closed the lid, satisfied that there were at least two more Shards in there, and attached it to his hip. "Thanks, Anna."
"Thank your sister later." Her eyes narrowed, even if the smile remained on her face - a dangerous combination. "Someone thought they could round us up and take us out like we were tonight's takeout menu. This was a smash and grab, with maybe some follow up in case the first wave failed. This is going to require some more investigations, but...for now, we still have a job to do."
"Indeed." The agent piloting the Steed - Ichiro never caught his name, and Anna never bothered to introduce him - agreed. "Agent Smith and two of us can secure the pilots. The rest of us are at your disposal, Banner."
Before Ichiro could grow annoyed at his involuntary 'surname,' Anna's smile vanished as she read something on her console. A moment later, Ichiro learned why as the data was shared with him - additional contacts about to enter the battle space.
Including a big one.
"Clear out," Ichiro said. "Our turn again."
1749, 27 July A.D. 2072 "The Brute"
"Oh, we got ourselves a lively one, we do, Bruce!"
A giant metal foot slammed into the ground, leaving a shaped crater in its wake. A nearby tree unfortunate enough to simply be growing where it was abruptly uprooted, tilting to the side as the metal monstrosity simply passed by.
"Well, if you could hurry up and get a targettin' solution, Bruce, then he won't be so lively now, would he!?"
All about them, almost like hyper active asteroids or planets orbiting a star, more of the new fangled Tank-Mobiles were cruising along, making sure to stay well away from the footsteps of the mighty metal monster that led their charge. The unshackled beast, finally allowed free to play.
"Now, listen here, lads. You too especially, Bruce, you hear? All I'm saying is that this was all so very unnecessary. We were all doing just fine without some poncy gits on a floatin' tub tellin' us what to do." Another titanic crash heralded another step, with large chunks of earth and vegetation sent flying. Giant, boxy, and metallic. Weapons pods lining its flanks, no considerations made - or wanted - for a humanoid aesthetic like its smaller charges. Even the cockpit seemed stylized along the lines of a giant metal monster, jagged lines mimicking a wicked set of jaws as a single monocular camera glowed menacingly, scanning this way and that as it visibly cast its baleful glare along the battlefield - and towards its targets. "But then they have to go regulating, giving us rules, and when they don't like us complainin' about 'em, making posh and fancy super robots to put us all down. Well, I say no more, Bruce!"
"Aye, Bruce! Engines at maximum capacity so Bruce can close in with the proper weapons!"
"For the last bloody time, Bruce, I'll fire the weapons appropriate for the situation!"
"Settle down, Bruce." As one, three grime-encrusted faces inside of the jury rigged cockpit grinned as their respective stations lit up to life. "Alright, lads! One good charge, then! Westphalia!"
"Westphalia!" With a mighty groan of metal, one that almost sounded like a roar, the Brute strode forward, ready to enter the fray...
Arm Cannon: Has an arm cannon as part of his chassis. Can make a Heavy Weapon Strike as a free action at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6, deals 2 HP) every three rounds - refreshes on Round Six. Strikes:
Counts as One Action (Notable Bonus may apply).
Roll 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 1+1 HP on success. Zirvitium-Plated Gauntlets: Adds +1HP damage to Strikes. Equipment will last for this battle only. Shard Kit: Consumable. Restores +3HP per use as a Free Action. Two Charges remaining. Relentless: If about to take a mortal strike, roll 1d6. A 4-6 will negate that damage. Upgrade Slots: 1 (Unslotted at this time)
SAI-01 Ichiro Banner
Actions per Turn:
- 1 Notable Character:
- Can make two attacks per turn at 2d6 for 1 HP each. Counts as a single Action. Hot Headed:
- Major Devin's calm nature is normally the personality that's reflected. However, this AI understands rage, and tends to bottle it up until he's had enough. Once every three turns, he may activate "Rage." For one turn, the AI will inflict twice as much damage, but also take twice as much incoming damage.
Alert! Defense Force airwaves indicating clearance of ground and airspace around battlefield. Protocols align with standard practice for MSS cooperation, additional support inbound. Exact arrival unknown. CR-04 Steed-class (Intelligence Team) Actions: 1 Strikes:
- Counts as One Action. Roll to Strike at an enemy at Disadvantage for 1d6 Three Times, Threshold of 4-6. Can inflict 1 HP per Strike. Can target multiple enemies if desired.
Flares:
- Counts as One Action.
- Can launch distracting flares to divert enemy attention. Will force the enemy to re-roll any Action of the Steed's choice.
- Guarantees the targeted enemy will dedicate next attack or Action towards the Steed.
- Can be used once every three combat turns.
Super Agile: May roll to avoid a successful enemy attack at 2d6, Threshold of 4-6. Diminishing Returns do not apply. Support: Has no HP value. However, if Super Agile roll is failed, Steeds withdraw for two Combat Rounds before returning. Anna Smith
Intelligence
Call Out: Can reduce an enemy's attack rolls by 1d6. Effect lasts for three rounds of combat. Refreshes after six rounds of combat - refreshes at Round Five. Linked Telemetry: Can allow Banner to completely re-roll one failed roll (players indicate what type of re-roll this would be applied to). Refreshes after nine rounds of combat. Banner must keep the new result. Tactical Analysis: Will reveal additional details of enemy forces over time. Passive skill.
"Walkers"
Formations: 1 remaining
HP: Unknown
Rotary Cannon: Can strike 2d6 for up to 2 HP (exact figure unobserved). Additional traits unobserved.
Main Cannon: Heavy Weapon Strike. Success deals 2 HP.
"Tank Mobiles +"
Formations: None Remaining (Additional groups arriving on Round Five, suspected two additional groups)
HP: 5-7 (Exact figure unknown)
Conventional Weaponry: Can strike 2d6 to inflict 1 HP.
Lesser Agility: May re-roll a successful enemy attack at 2d6, Threshold of at least 5-6).
Configuration-capable
Malfunction? - The machines are not fully ready, seem to suffer in transition from vehicle to mecha...exact consequences unknown.
Disposable Rocket Tubes - Can strike at advantage (3d6), Inflicts 3 HP.
"The Brute" Capabilities Unknown
Arrival estimated Rounds Five-Six
Ichiro is back to 13 HP because Ichiro already used one charge out of three. He has two remaining.
Well shit, this is reminding me of early days of mobile suit development in Gundam or something. Everyone getting access to giant robots without enough firepower to take on small armies.
You have the Intelligence team as a support unit now. But for the more substantial one, you don't know yet. You just know they're coming. *points to the Support Tab*
Well shit, this is reminding me of early days of mobile suit development in Gundam or something. Everyone getting access to giant robots without enough firepower to take on small armies.
To be fair also, the DFRI has raised the bar a bit. The Union went from not having anything to having a viable super robot with more on the way, and the Westphalians were inspired to improve. You can expect more from the other factions as well.
(Also, I adore the earlier bits of the UC Gundam era when both sides are just trying to figure out their Mobile Suits at their respective stages of development)
Let's hope MSS comes soon I don't think Banner can take on the brute if he keeps taking damage or is unable to clear the rest of the walkers. And jeez these separatists sure are annoying we really need to find there mole(or moles) in the government so they stop getting away with this. But I assume that's a quest chain and one we're doing right now with this mission. Heck us taking some captives is a major score since they'll give us a lead to there operations.
The rationale behind these votes is to strip "The Brute" of its support first, then bring everything to bear against it, although Ichiro should be using his arm cannon against the Brute only.
[X] Ichiro to take down the Walkers and Tank Mobiles first, but save the Arm Cannon to use against "The Brute" when possible. Use Shard Kits at Ichiro's discretion.
[X] Anna saves Call out to use against "The Brute", saves Linked Telemetry for whatever appears to be The Brute's strongest attack.
[X] Steeds focus on lesser enemies (Walkers first, then tank-mobiles). Use Flares when the reinforcing Tank mobiles use their disposable rocket launchers. Once Tank Mobile's Disposable Rockets are used up, use Flares on the Brute whenever it is not affected by Anna's Call out.
To be fair also, the DFRI has raised the bar a bit. The Union went from not having anything to having a viable super robot with more on the way, and the Westphalians were inspired to improve. You can expect more from the other factions as well.
(Also, I adore the earlier bits of the UC Gundam era when both sides are just trying to figure out their Mobile Suits at their respective stages of development)
This battle actually reminded me of episode in Origin of the Red Comet where the Zakus faced off against Guncannons. Despite being outnumbered the Zakus absolutely wrecked the Guncannons and Char himself brought down a whole dropship.
I don't expect we will hold the vastly superior mechs and pilots forever, but still a good comparison I think.
Hmm, So The Tank Mobiles are capable of Configuration and have Disposable Rockets. Would it be Possible to acquire said Rockets to use on the Brute if we disable the Tanks before they can fire them? Probably not, but hey if it works!
Edit: Looks like if we can Ichiro might have been able to pick up a set from the first squad of Tanks that he wiped out before they could fire them.
Mechanically no reason, narratively the Westphalians don't know that Ichiro has a Healing Item. Using it in obvious sight let's them know that Ichiro can self-repair in combat, which could have "fun" knock on effects down the line. Now realistically they're going to see it at some point, so it's not going to stay secret, especially since they've seen the Union Kaus. Also never underestimate the surprise factor of your enemy suddenly coming back from the brink, especially when you know you had them dead to rights.
Yeah, this feels like a situation both combatants agree to withdraw from after knocking each other about a bit. Still. An enemy superheavy walker will be no joke.
It's a good thing they put a giant glowing weak point on it by way of having one massive optic. If they have transparent materials strong enough to not be marred into uselessness by gunfire, I want chips of it blown off for later analysis in case it flees successfully.
It occurs to me that with the tendency to make our achievements mass-produced, the DFRI is on some level turning the military forces into a Real Robot organization in a mostly-Super Robot setting. This is, of course, still rather hairy for the Defense Forces, but it's vastly better than a conventional military would ever be in either genre.
Yeah, this feels like a situation both combatants agree to withdraw from after knocking each other about a bit. Still. An enemy superheavy walker will be no joke.
I can see a few scenarios:
-If the fight is a dragged out stalemate, they'd commit fully when reinforcements arrive.
-If they're losing, they'd use the reinforcements to bog us down and withdraw.
-If we break them entirely, the reinforcements are either going to turn tail OR commit to destroying/extracting evidence.
Well, if we lose we get fucked too but thats self evident
It occurs to me that with the tendency to make our achievements mass-produced, the DFRI is on some level turning the military forces into a Real Robot organization in a mostly-Super Robot setting. This is, of course, still rather hairy for the Defense Forces, but it's vastly better than a conventional military would ever be in either genre.
It occurs to me that with the tendency to make our achievements mass-produced, the DFRI is on some level turning the military forces into a Real Robot organization in a mostly-Super Robot setting. This is, of course, still rather hairy for the Defense Forces, but it's vastly better than a conventional military would ever be in either genre.
I mean, there's lots of Super Robot settings that have MP Versions of the Titular Super. MP Getter Robo's in Getter Robo Armageddon for Example, or the Ichinana in Mazinger Infinity.
It's a good thing they put a giant glowing weak point on it by way of having one massive optic. If they have transparent materials strong enough to not be marred into uselessness by gunfire, I want chips of it blown off for later analysis in case it flees successfully.
If The Brute doesn't have smaller backup camera's scattered around I'll eat my non-existant hat. Even the Zaku supposedly had multiple auxiliary cameras, and I remember either one of the GMs or Zaku's in 8th MS navigating via Aux cameras.
