At 10:31 PM 5/16/96 -0400, you wrote:
To solve the problem you could:
Have (some of) the Macross pilots become Newtypes.
You could pull some super-science out of a hat and get around the problem.
But it would be hard to make either convincing.
I agree...it could get really dicey to get those into the plot. I find the
technology aspect more possible than explaining everyone as newtypes.
You would think so, but no one seems to use heat seekers in the Gundam
universe. My *guess* is that the Minovski particles, which come
straight out of a suit's reactor, are hot enough to make precise
targeting useless.
Actually, Minovsky particles aren't on Mobile suits. They are only dropped
by capital ships. Also, if you drop a hot particle into deep space, it still
experiences rapid heat loss, unlike a drive system for a Mobile Suit which
must constantly work in order to keep the 'Mobile' Suit mobile.
This is not far from the Sparrow, or Pheonix (sp.) systems; the former
is 100% launcher radar guided, and I think the latter may also depend
on the launcher initally painting the target.
Actually, I was thinking more of the 'Longbow' Apache system for firing
Hellfire missiles. They literally use a camera on top of the rotors to view
the area, and use a laser to 'paint' the target. They fire the missile,
which follows the laser. You need to keep the laser on the target until the
missile impacts. The sparrow is like this, but is radar guided from
launcher, and the Phoenix missile is a 'fire-and-forget' weapon which is
radar guided.
That certainly helps, but ... it's little use if you don't see the
enemy before he gets you. Historicly most planes are downed by
someone the pilot never saw. Of course, heroes by definition have
sufficiently good situational awareness they never get hit.
True, but in most situations, the Valkyrie would be confronted/confront
the Mobile suits before the particles would be deployed, making the
fight line of sight, in which they could deal with it...
Erik L. Schweitzer writes:
While I am unsure about Minovski particles effects on IR, (And I am
highly suspicious of the claim they interfere with IR; but I guess if you
are going to be able to screw with part of the spectrum, there's no reason
you can't screw around with the rest of it. Which make me wonder why they
can not screw around with visual wave-lenghts.) I *know* they have no
effect on lasar guided systems. And use of such a targeting system is not as
suicidal as some would make it out to be, either. It is just much more
difficult to use.
How would the particle be able to dampen both IR and heat seeking? I'm assuming
the theoretics of the Minovsky particle are loosely based on stealth
technology and masking/absorbtion of radar waves. The primary means of
difficulty in stealth is heat. They haven't found a way yet to mask heat
signatures of fighter jets, and the problem expounds with the added heat put
out by a Mobile Suit drive. Honestly, I haven't seen any evidence that they
mask heat signatures...
I think that the New Types will be the biggest asset that the Gundam
people have. (And numbers; the Macross people seem to be outnumbered by
a bit.) However, I do not think the melee weapons will be much of an
asset. The best melee weapon available is a big gun; while the New Type
is waving his sword or axe around looking impressive, the Valkyrie will
just blow it away.
Well, remember, Mobile Suits do have many other long range weapons. They do
carry missiles, and gun cannons, and if we deal with Newtypes you have funnels.
They aren't totally outmatched. Besides, I'd love to see a Valkyrie pick up
a sword and duke it out with a Mobile Suit!!
I also have a questions. Can a Mobile Suit emit Minovski particles, or
does it require a larger ship? How large a field is generated?
As above, nope, only cap ships can deploy Minovsky particles.
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