6 replies to this topic

[SuperPuppy]

Just wondering if anything in Battletech Lore described Mechs as having independently movable arms (depending on the chassis of course).

The video game franchise has always showcased Mech arms as little more than movable turrets. But in the actual universe, are the arms more flexible? Could they blind fire around corners or shoot at multiple targets at once?

Because if they couldn't, I see little point in giving Mechs limbs at all.

[Vlad Ward]

They could.

Canonical Mech movement was more like what you'd see in an anime than a WW2 re-enactment. Not quite Gundam level flexibility, but they were definitely able to manipulate their limbs in a close approximation to the human body.

Edited by Vlad Ward, 01 November 2012 - 06:56 AM.

[Monkey Bone]

Yeah. The Axman needs this in order to chop people.

[Zypher]

Well you can blind fire with the arms, but both arms follow the same reticule. There are also bugs with arm reticule convergence, but overall the addition of independant limb movement to the mechwarrior titles is a good move, once the convergence problems get resolved they will be awesome. The short answer, yes limbs, at least arms have a purpose.

[AlexEss]

most came slave the arms to the torso to avoid forcing people to have three different control inputs. (left arm/right arm/mech body) as this can be fairly complicated without a dual joystick and rudder pedals.

[Wrayeth]

They can move their arms independently in both fiction and tabletop. For instance, you can never hit a target directly behind you with any torso-mounted weapons (unless they face to the rear), but, if you torso twist and then extend one of your arms, you can fire that arm's full weapon complement at an opponent in the hexes directly behind. You or even make a melee attack if the mech is adjacent. Also, mechs lacking lower arm and hand actuators can flip both arms to face directly behind them.

I was running a Banshee BNC-8S in a tabletop game a few months ago, and a Firestarter FSO-1B jumped behind my mech to try and take out its rear armor, then knock it down with a kick. I could've torso-twisted right then pointed my right arm directly behind me and fired a snub-nosed PPC and an ER medium laser into it, but I instead chose to do the opposite. I torso-twisted left instead, bringing my left arm into play. While it the BNC-8S doesn't have any guns in that arm, it does have a gigantic axe; worse, the -8S has TSM and it was active. The Firestarter didn't enjoy it much when the axe hit it for 38 points.

[Kyle Hawkins]

Yeah in normal Battletech lore they can move their arms more freely and much more. The Cicada can even make a functional jump without jump jets. It's mostly just through the Mechwarrior video game series that people have gotten this idea of "walking tanks" which they really aren't (sparing perhaps lots of the assault mechs). We even had this ridiculous thread a while back debating whether or not mechs could make side steps or not, which is pretty much an essential part of bipedal balance. It's all down to the early days of the video game series where limited gaming technology and control schemes shaped the game play, and it's simply stuck since.

I was really happy to see PGI implement distinct arm and torso aiming in MWO. It's one of the parts of the game that they did really get right. Being able to aim each arm independently would be novel, but I can't see a purpose for it in the game without some revolutionary new control method.

But yes, mechs are more nimble than the Mechwarrior series or it's fans give them credit for.