[gurps] A spaceships Mecha - the Chessmaster

[Onno Meyer]

> I hadn't bothered to think too much about it.  Early on I had envisioned 
> them as an entrenching tool and debris clearing tool.  But after that I 
> mostly just put them there because I only used two legs.  The multiple 
> limbs has always struck me as one of the few advantages "mecha" have over 
> tanks.  If you blow a limb off the mecha it can still move, if you track a
> tank however it is done until you can get out and fix it.  And fixing 
> track-type undercarriage outside of a repair bay is not fun believe me - 
> it isn't even much fun inside of a repair bay.  Quad track vehicles 
> somewhat mitigate this advantage - but these have problems of their own.

I can see the engineering use, but is that really worth 10% of 
your mass (and much more of the payload)?
 
> I've been working on another drone.  This one intended for direct combat. 
> Almost half its mass is dedicated to the best armor available - but it 
> still looks like a thin-skinned APC.  Unfortunately I haven't had time to 
> finish it.  Maybe next week.

The best a 10-ton TL9 vehicle can do is DR 180, and that would be
an almost solid chunk of armor.

Have you tried dropships and carriers? The Spaceships rules work 
much better at that scale.

Onno