How do you get them down?

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How do you get them down?

Unread post by ArmySGT. »

Ok besides the obvious, Quiltra Queleul landing ship, Horizont drop ship, the Re-entry pod, ...............

How do you get your players from space to the ground? What is cinematic and awesome............ While plausible it is the 4-6 players that are the heroes of the mission?
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Pouncer »

Depends on the team and what their rides are.

I've been working on a Sentinals eara scenario. For a recon insertion true fliers have it easy coming in (non Betas may need a pick up on the way out however, another reason for better use of Betas).

The grounders have a little different ride, I use Horizons with "drop" pods, pods specially modified to allow mecha to be dropped in atmosphere. Condors, Bioroid Interceptors and Cyclones have it easy, jetting in on their own power. Destroids, NT battloids and hovertanks use an upgraded version of the drop packs from Southern Cross.

I'm still conisdering some tweaks for an orbital drop system, though this could be problematic against natural fliers like the Invid.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Seto Kaiba »

ArmySGT. wrote:How do you get your players from space to the ground? What is cinematic and awesome............ While plausible it is the 4-6 players that are the heroes of the mission?

Oh, I just punt them out the airlock after telling them to watch that first step... (No, not really.)

Depending on the situation, Macross offers a decent array of options. They can fly down on their own if time is not an issue*, take a reentry sled** if they need to get down there ASAP (like riding down in an ICBM until they reach the target altitude), they can come down on a troop lander like the Queadol Magdomilla's assault block, or their entire carrier can enter the atmosphere and deploy them either while flying itself or after a water landing (for most classes of carrier, like the Uraga-class).

As virtually every fighter in Macross can also reach orbit under its own power, I tend to favor launching them in space and letting 'em make reentry on their own or the reentry sled approach. I only ever have the carrier itself come down for major planetside ops.

* As seen in several titles, but most notably in Macross Plus.
** As seen in Macross 7 during Operation Stargazer.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Tiree »

I used a group of Alpha/Beta combo's. I had the Beta's equipped with cargo pods that are inserted into the bomb bay. I had an initial group of 8 players, each PC had one of the A/B combo and those that couldn't fly either were stuck in a single drop pod that could fit 3 people and their Cyclones. The pod also had built in weapon systems and comm systems for additional firepower as needed.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jedi078 »

Tiree wrote:I used a group of Alpha/Beta combo's. I had the Beta's equipped with cargo pods that are inserted into the bomb bay. I had an initial group of 8 players, each PC had one of the A/B combo and those that couldn't fly either were stuck in a single drop pod that could fit 3 people and their Cyclones. The pod also had built in weapon systems and comm systems for additional firepower as needed.

I did quite a bit of research regarding the Beta's bomb/cargo bay.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=126935
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

My question is this: Does the UEEF even have an army since it was all spaceborne (disregarding the allied Sentinel races), and all infantry OCCs are Marines or SEALS (with Recon, etc)?

Scott identifies the fliers at Reflex Point (Ep84) as "Army Flyboys" in dialogue to Lancer just before the two switch to Battloid mode.

The use of "Marines" seems more of a recton from that viewpoint.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Tiree »

jedi078 wrote:
Tiree wrote:I used a group of Alpha/Beta combo's. I had the Beta's equipped with cargo pods that are inserted into the bomb bay. I had an initial group of 8 players, each PC had one of the A/B combo and those that couldn't fly either were stuck in a single drop pod that could fit 3 people and their Cyclones. The pod also had built in weapon systems and comm systems for additional firepower as needed.

I did quite a bit of research regarding the Beta's bomb/cargo bay.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=126935

My pods held quite a bit more gear. One pod could fit 3 soldiers, Cyclones, and had weapon systems on the outside (Pop out turrets). The people could move from the pod to the bomb bay and up to the Beta Pilot as needed. But it was meant for long distance travel. The other pods were big enough to store a AAT-30 or other 4 wheeled vehicle easily.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

ShadowLogan wrote:
My question is this: Does the UEEF even have an army since it was all spaceborne (disregarding the allied Sentinel races), and all infantry OCCs are Marines or SEALS (with Recon, etc)?

Scott identifies the fliers at Reflex Point (Ep84) as "Army Flyboys" in dialogue to Lancer just before the two switch to Battloid mode.

The use of "Marines" seems more of a recton from that viewpoint.


keep in mind the that at least some, if not most, of the troops there were troops already on earth.. meaning members of the Army of the Southern Cross still on earth or carried along by the UEEF in the previous invasion fleets would have been a major, if not majority, part of that force.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Seto Kaiba »

ShadowLogan wrote:Scott identifies the fliers at Reflex Point (Ep84) as "Army Flyboys" in dialogue to Lancer just before the two switch to Battloid mode.

The use of "Marines" seems more of a recton from that viewpoint.

's probably legacy dialogue, held over from the original Genesis Climber MOSPEADA.

In the original version of the story, the forces sent by Mars Colony to liberate Earth were treated like an Army with its own flying corps. The units were designated as "Armored Battle Companies" (機甲戦闘中隊, Kikō sentō chūtai), and our lad Bernard was a 1st Lieutenant. (The whole thing is loaded with D-Day homages.) The reference to "army flyboys" might be leftover dialogue nuance from the adaptation process. Of late, Harmony Gold seems more keen on making them marines, in keeping with the Macross OSM's UN Spacy having its own Marine Corps separate from the UN Navy's.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Sgt Anjay »

Please, everyone knows that only W40K has space marines. That's why GW bullies authors who use the term. :lol:
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Chris0013 »

Tiree wrote:
jedi078 wrote:
Tiree wrote:I used a group of Alpha/Beta combo's. I had the Beta's equipped with cargo pods that are inserted into the bomb bay. I had an initial group of 8 players, each PC had one of the A/B combo and those that couldn't fly either were stuck in a single drop pod that could fit 3 people and their Cyclones. The pod also had built in weapon systems and comm systems for additional firepower as needed.

I did quite a bit of research regarding the Beta's bomb/cargo bay.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=126935

My pods held quite a bit more gear. One pod could fit 3 soldiers, Cyclones, and had weapon systems on the outside (Pop out turrets). The people could move from the pod to the bomb bay and up to the Beta Pilot as needed. But it was meant for long distance travel. The other pods were big enough to store a AAT-30 or other 4 wheeled vehicle easily.



Tiree....The Pics that show the interior layout of the bomb bay are no longer coming up from the links in the thread jedi linked to....but the size of the bomb bay is not large enough to hold all that gear....IIRC from the episode it was shown in Annie and Marlene/Ariel are huddled together in the back of it and it is only wide enough for them...you would need a massive redesign for what you are suggesting and the Beta may not even be able to transform after that.

As for the original question....a purpose built, non-transformable carriage that mounts to the Alpha like the Beta does which can drop a cargo pot would be a way to go....an Alpha pilot flies in, drops the pod with the infantry/special forces types and flies out. Keeps from tying up a whole Horizon for a small team insertion
I know it is a little extreme to advocate the death penalty for stupidity...but can't we just remove all the warning labels and let nature take it's course???
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Seto Kaiba »

Sgt Anjay wrote:Please, everyone knows that only W40K has space marines. That's why GW bullies authors who use the term. :lol:

Yeah, the UEEF "Marines" are more like Imperial Guardsmen anyway... right down to the criminal stupidity, mistrust of xenos, and the laser small arms! :lol:




Chris0013 wrote:Tiree....The Pics that show the interior layout of the bomb bay are no longer coming up from the links in the thread jedi linked to....but the size of the bomb bay is not large enough to hold all that gear [...]

Yeah, it's not large enough for that. If you look at the line art and footage, the bomb bay is barely large enough for Aisha (Ariel) to lay down in, and she's one of the shortest members of the cast. Even sitting down, her head almost touches its ceiling, and even Mint's barely got enough room to stand up. All told, you'd have enough room for four unarmored infantry assuming they sit VERY friendly, but because egress is by a very narrow access crawlspace and ladder, down to a ramp on the underside that has only about three feet of ground clearance, nobody in a Ride Armor would even be able to get out...


Chris0013 wrote:As for the original question....a purpose built, non-transformable carriage that mounts to the Alpha like the Beta does which can drop a cargo pot would be a way to go....an Alpha pilot flies in, drops the pod with the infantry/special forces types and flies out. Keeps from tying up a whole Horizon for a small team insertion

That would probably have problems too... the Legioss (Alpha) engines are blocked off when it's docked to the TLEAD (Beta), so a cargo pod that docks to it the same way would leave the fighter carrying it with zero usable engines... which means it wouldn't be so much flying as crashing.

Actually... that's not a bad idea. Instead of docking the pod to the Alpha, make it a towed glider unit that the Alpha can guide into the area of operations and release, allowing the cheap, disposable craft to either land on its own or crash after the troops it's carrying bail out. It fits real well with the rest of the World War II motif they've got going on there.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Chris0013 »

Seto Kaiba wrote:
Sgt Anjay wrote:Please, everyone knows that only W40K has space marines. That's why GW bullies authors who use the term. :lol:

Yeah, the UEEF "Marines" are more like Imperial Guardsmen anyway... right down to the criminal stupidity, mistrust of xenos, and the laser small arms! :lol:




Chris0013 wrote:Tiree....The Pics that show the interior layout of the bomb bay are no longer coming up from the links in the thread jedi linked to....but the size of the bomb bay is not large enough to hold all that gear [...]

Yeah, it's not large enough for that. If you look at the line art and footage, the bomb bay is barely large enough for Aisha (Ariel) to lay down in, and she's one of the shortest members of the cast. Even sitting down, her head almost touches its ceiling, and even Mint's barely got enough room to stand up. All told, you'd have enough room for four unarmored infantry assuming they sit VERY friendly, but because egress is by a very narrow access crawlspace and ladder, down to a ramp on the underside that has only about three feet of ground clearance, nobody in a Ride Armor would even be able to get out...


Chris0013 wrote:As for the original question....a purpose built, non-transformable carriage that mounts to the Alpha like the Beta does which can drop a cargo pot would be a way to go....an Alpha pilot flies in, drops the pod with the infantry/special forces types and flies out. Keeps from tying up a whole Horizon for a small team insertion

That would probably have problems too... the Legioss (Alpha) engines are blocked off when it's docked to the TLEAD (Beta), so a cargo pod that docks to it the same way would leave the fighter carrying it with zero usable engines... which means it wouldn't be so much flying as crashing.

Actually... that's not a bad idea. Instead of docking the pod to the Alpha, make it a towed glider unit that the Alpha can guide into the area of operations and release, allowing the cheap, disposable craft to either land on its own or crash after the troops it's carrying bail out. It fits real well with the rest of the World War II motif they've got going on there.


the carrier would actually have engines like the Beta on either side of the cargo pod. The pod can be dropped or you can have a ramp at the rear that drops for the troops to disembark. This way it can be used for getting troops in or out of an area.

edit...actually...the cargo pod would not be able to drop...just a ramp that lowers at the back like on cargo aircraft...the Alpha and cargo module slows down to a speed that would allow it to drop cyclone riders in battle armor mode to drop on thrusters to the ground and drop other vehicles on parachute rigs. Maybe large enough for a squad of infantry and one larger vehicle like an AAT-30, AAT-40 or Silverback for support.
Last edited by Chris0013 on Sat May 25, 2013 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I know it is a little extreme to advocate the death penalty for stupidity...but can't we just remove all the warning labels and let nature take it's course???
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Seto Kaiba »

Chris0013 wrote:the carrier would actually have engines like the Beta on either side of the cargo pod. The pod can be dropped or you can have a ramp at the rear that drops for the troops to disembark. This way it can be used for getting troops in or out of an area.

At the point where you're sticking engines on a cargo pod, you might as well just build a dedicated dropship... tho the UEEF already has a few of those (Horizon-T, Horizon-V, the SDF-3's Crusader-class dropships).
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

i rather like the idea of a dedicated Cargo beta in Chris Meadow's Third Invid War site.. take a Beta, remove the arms for a normal swing wing set up, and redo the fuselage to have a decent size cargo/passenger bay with ramp. strip out most of the weapons in the process, leaving just enough for self defense. (using 2nd ed stats, retain the leg guns, and junk the chest gun and probably the missile launchers. keep the wing hardpoints though)

then you'd have a VTOL and SSTO capable light transport you can use to drop a squad of troops off.
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Re: How do you get them down?

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Seto Kaiba wrote:
Chris0013 wrote:the carrier would actually have engines like the Beta on either side of the cargo pod. The pod can be dropped or you can have a ramp at the rear that drops for the troops to disembark. This way it can be used for getting troops in or out of an area.

At the point where you're sticking engines on a cargo pod, you might as well just build a dedicated dropship... tho the UEEF already has a few of those (Horizon-T, Horizon-V, the SDF-3's Crusader-class dropships).


I edited....those are for larger forces....this would be more of a special forces infiltration.
I know it is a little extreme to advocate the death penalty for stupidity...but can't we just remove all the warning labels and let nature take it's course???
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jedi078 »

glitterboy2098 wrote:i rather like the idea of a dedicated Cargo beta in Chris Meadow's Third Invid War site.. take a Beta, remove the arms for a normal swing wing set up, and redo the fuselage to have a decent size cargo/passenger bay with ramp. strip out most of the weapons in the process, leaving just enough for self defense. (using 2nd ed stats, retain the leg guns, and junk the chest gun and probably the missile launchers. keep the wing hardpoints though)

then you'd have a VTOL and SSTO capable light transport you can use to drop a squad of troops off.

Yeah ever since I saw the Cargo Beta in TIW I made Beta Dropships. Can't post the stats or specifics here for obvious reasons....
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by ArmySGT. »

Chris0013 wrote:
Tiree wrote:
jedi078 wrote:
Tiree wrote:I used a group of Alpha/Beta combo's. I had the Beta's equipped with cargo pods that are inserted into the bomb bay. I had an initial group of 8 players, each PC had one of the A/B combo and those that couldn't fly either were stuck in a single drop pod that could fit 3 people and their Cyclones. The pod also had built in weapon systems and comm systems for additional firepower as needed.

I did quite a bit of research regarding the Beta's bomb/cargo bay.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=126935

My pods held quite a bit more gear. One pod could fit 3 soldiers, Cyclones, and had weapon systems on the outside (Pop out turrets). The people could move from the pod to the bomb bay and up to the Beta Pilot as needed. But it was meant for long distance travel. The other pods were big enough to store a AAT-30 or other 4 wheeled vehicle easily.



Tiree....The Pics that show the interior layout of the bomb bay are no longer coming up from the links in the thread jedi linked to....but the size of the bomb bay is not large enough to hold all that gear....IIRC from the episode it was shown in Annie and Marlene/Ariel are huddled together in the back of it and it is only wide enough for them...you would need a massive redesign for what you are suggesting and the Beta may not even be able to transform after that.

As for the original question....a purpose built, non-transformable carriage that mounts to the Alpha like the Beta does which can drop a cargo pot would be a way to go....an Alpha pilot flies in, drops the pod with the infantry/special forces types and flies out. Keeps from tying up a whole Horizon for a small team insertion


Have an lifting body style craft that attaches to a Beta fighter in the same manner that an Alpha does..... counters the Betas poor atmospheric performance from being shaped like a house brick.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jaymz »

Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Tiree »

It was a pod that was underneath the beta. It used the bomb bay as the connection point. Think of a battery to a dewalt drill.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jedi078 »

Tiree wrote:It was a pod that was underneath the beta. It used the bomb bay as the connection point. Think of a battery to a dewalt drill.

So the 'flying brick' (AKA the Beta) is even more un-aerodynamic?
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by keir451 »

jaymz wrote:Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....

His site is still there but it hasn't been touched since the mid-nineties.
I'm thinking of heavily armed and armored dropships capable of slagging an LZ into glass and ripping their way through any Invid attempt to block them. Arm it with heavy duty gatling railguns (at least 3d6x10) particle beams, plasma turrets, etc. Give it drop down rear and fore ramps for fast deployment and you're good to go! :twisted:
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by ArmySGT. »

keir451 wrote:
jaymz wrote:Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....

His site is still there but it hasn't been touched since the mid-nineties.
I'm thinking of heavily armed and armored dropships capable of slagging an LZ into glass and ripping their way through any Invid attempt to block them. Arm it with heavy duty gatling railguns (at least 3d6x10) particle beams, plasma turrets, etc. Give it drop down rear and fore ramps for fast deployment and you're good to go! :twisted:


So a Zentraedi re-entry pod refit by the REF with a slew of turrets, secondary power generation, possibly a shield system.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

jaymz wrote:Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....


Chris Meadow's name is on a bunch of the TIW stuff, so i just assumed. :oops:

and i wish the Garlands were still part of a HG license.. they'd make great ASC mecha in 2nd ed. oh well.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jedi078 »

ArmySGT. wrote:
keir451 wrote:
jaymz wrote:Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....

His site is still there but it hasn't been touched since the mid-nineties.
I'm thinking of heavily armed and armored dropships capable of slagging an LZ into glass and ripping their way through any Invid attempt to block them. Arm it with heavy duty gatling railguns (at least 3d6x10) particle beams, plasma turrets, etc. Give it drop down rear and fore ramps for fast deployment and you're good to go! :twisted:


So a Zentraedi re-entry pod refit by the REF with a slew of turrets, secondary power generation, possibly a shield system.

I think a better idea would be to use Zent Liewneutzs Class shuttle pods. They can carry up to 20 Zents, so you could transport a platoon of 14-16 destriods and a mechanized infantry platoon using Janissaries.

The benefit is that if one shuttle pod goes down you only lose a small fraction of your force.

The drawback is that while you can carry three Liewneutzs Class shuttle pods per one Frandlar-Tiluvo class re-entry pod in your troop carrier (probably a Zent cruiser) the re-entry pod can carry by itself, more mecha then the three shuttle pods. The Zentraedi probably didn't care if they lost 80 mecha if the re-entery pod went down, while the UEDF/ASC/UEEF on the other hand would.

glitterboy2098 wrote:and i wish the Garlands were still part of a HG license.. they'd make great ASC mecha in 2nd ed. oh well.

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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jaymz »

glitterboy2098 wrote:
jaymz wrote:Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....


Chris Meadow's name is on a bunch of the TIW stuff, so i just assumed. :oops:

and i wish the Garlands were still part of a HG license.. they'd make great ASC mecha in 2nd ed. oh well.



Then you;d enjoy my games :) Not only the ASC but the REF took a limited number of early models with them.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by ArmySGT. »

jedi078 wrote:
ArmySGT. wrote:
keir451 wrote:
jaymz wrote:Correction - Chris Meadows did hte garland work, Dave Deitrich is the one who did Third Invid War. Steelfalcon.com was his site unless it has since changed hands....

His site is still there but it hasn't been touched since the mid-nineties.
I'm thinking of heavily armed and armored dropships capable of slagging an LZ into glass and ripping their way through any Invid attempt to block them. Arm it with heavy duty gatling railguns (at least 3d6x10) particle beams, plasma turrets, etc. Give it drop down rear and fore ramps for fast deployment and you're good to go! :twisted:


So a Zentraedi re-entry pod refit by the REF with a slew of turrets, secondary power generation, possibly a shield system.

I think a better idea would be to use Zent Liewneutzs Class shuttle pods. They can carry up to 20 Zents, so you could transport a platoon of 14-16 destriods and a mechanized infantry platoon using Janissaries.

The benefit is that if one shuttle pod goes down you only lose a small fraction of your force.

The drawback is that while you can carry three Liewneutzs Class shuttle pods per one Frandlar-Tiluvo class re-entry pod in your troop carrier (probably a Zent cruiser) the re-entry pod can carry by itself, more mecha then the three shuttle pods. The Zentraedi probably didn't care if they lost 80 mecha if the re-entery pod went down, while the UEDF/ASC/UEEF on the other hand would. [/quote]

I didn't think the shuttles were trans-atmospheric.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jedi078 »

ArmySGT. wrote:I didn't think the shuttles were trans-atmospheric.

The Macross book states that they are trans-atmospheric.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Tiree »

jedi078 wrote:
Tiree wrote:It was a pod that was underneath the beta. It used the bomb bay as the connection point. Think of a battery to a dewalt drill.

So the 'flying brick' (AKA the Beta) is even more un-aerodynamic?

Pretty much. There were several pods and designs that I came up with. One was even a trailer to be pulled by an AAT-30. In this case the pods gave the non VT Pilots something to do. The ones with people in them had an actual escape pod system for each person if needed.

I was running a TSC game, with limited support for the players. I wanted to do something 'different' than "Oh you crashed in a Horizont." Or "You somehow survived re-entry" I also needed somehow a way to provide a player a vehicle other than Cyclones, and missile reloads. But most of all, I didn't want them trying to hold onto a Horizont as a base and squirrel everything they could off of it before they leave.
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Re: How do you get them down?

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Tiree wrote:
jedi078 wrote:
Tiree wrote:It was a pod that was underneath the beta. It used the bomb bay as the connection point. Think of a battery to a dewalt drill.

So the 'flying brick' (AKA the Beta) is even more un-aerodynamic?

Pretty much. There were several pods and designs that I came up with. One was even a trailer to be pulled by an AAT-30. In this case the pods gave the non VT Pilots something to do. The ones with people in them had an actual escape pod system for each person if needed.

I was running a TSC game, with limited support for the players. I wanted to do something 'different' than "Oh you crashed in a Horizont." Or "You somehow survived re-entry" I also needed somehow a way to provide a player a vehicle other than Cyclones, and missile reloads. But most of all, I didn't want them trying to hold onto a Horizont as a base and squirrel everything they could off of it before they leave.


From the line art of a Beta there is only 3-4 feet of clearance from the ground when the landing gear are deployed....

So how do you fit all that stuff underneath? The landing gear has to flex when the aircraft touches down, so it loses a foot (briefly) when landing......
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

one thing i'm working on for my site is "drop capsules".. i'm reinventing those Conveyor vehicles from the old 'Invid war" comics as part of a ALUCE/Lunar Bases program for supplying the resistance (the conveyors being used in the later 2030's when supplies of ASC shuttles got too low due to attrition and useable lifespan issues)
but there would need to be a way for supplies ot be dropped, be it from shuttles or from a conveyor craft, and some basic Aeroshells make sense logistically. they can be built easily using lunar-sourced materials, and you don't need a crew on them to drop them, just some basic automation. and you can scale them to whatever size you need, even large enough to drop mecha parts. basic shells would carry supplies, and more complex ones could carry passengers (including special forces teams and other training cadre for the resistance.) if built right, you could even drop small mecha (like ASC powered armor or Cyclones), using either manned or unmanned Aeroshells.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by RiverJack »

ArmySGT. wrote:Ok besides the obvious, Quiltra Queleul landing ship, Horizont drop ship, the Re-entry pod, ...............

How do you get your players from space to the ground? What is cinematic and awesome............ While plausible it is the 4-6 players that are the heroes of the mission?



I don't it has to be cinematic and awesome for your players to go from space to earth BUT I guess if you want something different have them come down from space in experimental trans-atmospheric destroids, maybe an enhanced Bioroid Interceptor? Have it that they where doing Zero G combat training with said mecha and pick one person in your group to have a scripted accident in which they plummet towards earth in a bad angle, the rest of the team has to help them get back into position or else he burns up, I hope you don't mind a dramatic entrance where one or all your players can die.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by rtsurfer »

Chris0013 wrote:
Tiree wrote:
jedi078 wrote:
Tiree wrote:I used a group of Alpha/Beta combo's. I had the Beta's equipped with cargo pods that are inserted into the bomb bay. I had an initial group of 8 players, each PC had one of the A/B combo and those that couldn't fly either were stuck in a single drop pod that could fit 3 people and their Cyclones. The pod also had built in weapon systems and comm systems for additional firepower as needed.

I did quite a bit of research regarding the Beta's bomb/cargo bay.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=126935

My pods held quite a bit more gear. One pod could fit 3 soldiers, Cyclones, and had weapon systems on the outside (Pop out turrets). The people could move from the pod to the bomb bay and up to the Beta Pilot as needed. But it was meant for long distance travel. The other pods were big enough to store a AAT-30 or other 4 wheeled vehicle easily.



Tiree....The Pics that show the interior layout of the bomb bay are no longer coming up from the links in the thread jedi linked to....but the size of the bomb bay is not large enough to hold all that gear....IIRC from the episode it was shown in Annie and Marlene/Ariel are huddled together in the back of it and it is only wide enough for them...you would need a massive redesign for what you are suggesting and the Beta may not even be able to transform after that.

As for the original question....a purpose built, non-transformable carriage that mounts to the Alpha like the Beta does which can drop a cargo pot would be a way to go....an Alpha pilot flies in, drops the pod with the infantry/special forces types and flies out. Keeps from tying up a whole Horizon for a small team insertion

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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by jedi078 »


I based a lot on my research on that first image. With it you can clearly tell that you could only get two non-cyclone infantry in there, and maybe one cyclone rider.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

jedi078 wrote:

I based a lot on my research on that first image. With it you can clearly tell that you could only get two non-cyclone infantry in there, and maybe one cyclone rider.

i'd say one rider.. but only if the cyclone is in storage mode.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Tiree »

glitterboy2098 wrote:
jedi078 wrote:

I based a lot on my research on that first image. With it you can clearly tell that you could only get two non-cyclone infantry in there, and maybe one cyclone rider.

i'd say one rider.. but only if the cyclone is in storage mode.

This is why I made a Pod that fit into the bomb bay and hung down underneath.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by sirkermittsg »

glitterboy2098 wrote:one thing i'm working on for my site is "drop capsules".. i'm reinventing those Conveyor vehicles from the old 'Invid war" comics as part of a ALUCE/Lunar Bases program for supplying the resistance (the conveyors being used in the later 2030's when supplies of ASC shuttles got too low due to attrition and useable lifespan issues)
but there would need to be a way for supplies ot be dropped, be it from shuttles or from a conveyor craft, and some basic Aeroshells make sense logistically. they can be built easily using lunar-sourced materials, and you don't need a crew on them to drop them, just some basic automation. and you can scale them to whatever size you need, even large enough to drop mecha parts. basic shells would carry supplies, and more complex ones could carry passengers (including special forces teams and other training cadre for the resistance.) if built right, you could even drop small mecha (like ASC powered armor or Cyclones), using either manned or unmanned Aeroshells.


this reminds me of the supply drops that the allies did in WWII. they dropped canisters of various supplies to the dutch and others. there were also supplies flown into berlin in Kennedy's time.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

sirkermittsg wrote:
glitterboy2098 wrote:one thing i'm working on for my site is "drop capsules".. i'm reinventing those Conveyor vehicles from the old 'Invid war" comics as part of a ALUCE/Lunar Bases program for supplying the resistance (the conveyors being used in the later 2030's when supplies of ASC shuttles got too low due to attrition and useable lifespan issues)
but there would need to be a way for supplies ot be dropped, be it from shuttles or from a conveyor craft, and some basic Aeroshells make sense logistically. they can be built easily using lunar-sourced materials, and you don't need a crew on them to drop them, just some basic automation. and you can scale them to whatever size you need, even large enough to drop mecha parts. basic shells would carry supplies, and more complex ones could carry passengers (including special forces teams and other training cadre for the resistance.) if built right, you could even drop small mecha (like ASC powered armor or Cyclones), using either manned or unmanned Aeroshells.


this reminds me of the supply drops that the allies did in WWII. they dropped canisters of various supplies to the dutch and others. there were also supplies flown into berlin in Kennedy's time.

some of the inspiration for the idea, along with how the US would airdrop supplies and special forces groups into the rural parts of vietnam to help arm and train the Montangard tribesmen there to fight the Vietcong, the Air America operations to the same effect in Vietnam and Laos, and how Humanitarian operations in nations experiencing open warfare or lacking much infrastrucutre usually involve parachuting supplies from planes to avoid having to land.

plus the way Gall force employed a similar concept, with mars sending supply capsules to the resistance on NME-robot occupied earth.

it just doesn't make sense to me that the ASC/UEEF would ignore the resistance on earth, despite having bases on the moon able to make weapons, parts, and fuel, and which would be fairly easy to contact from the ground by anyone with a sufficently powerful radio. (which there would have been plenty of early on.. the invid don't seem to have caught on to radio until they started using simulagents, in show.)

the moonbases making supply shipments of SLMH, munitions, and spare parts, then making risky runs through Invid patrols to drop them to earth makes sense to me and adds a fun element to the RPG. using aeroshells to get supplies down instead of taking entire shuttles or starships down seems logical too.. Aeroshells could be built with minimal energy signature, dropped off in orbit, and could reenter into specific areas.. all while letting the shuttle or booster which carried it stay in a high orbit where they are less likely to encounter a patrol and would be in a better position to escape if they are found by one.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by sirkermittsg »

jedi078 wrote:

I based a lot on my research on that first image. With it you can clearly tell that you could only get two non-cyclone infantry in there, and maybe one cyclone rider.


looking at this picture seems to indicate that the bomb bay can have people in it at the same time as the bombs.
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Re: How do you get them down?

Unread post by Drakenred®™© »

the impresion I have is that theres not realy that mutch space in there

you can have 4-6 "Boxed" Cyclones just stored there besides the Pilots unit, or if you strip out the bomb racks you can probably store a broken down Silverback but expect to spend 1D4 hours reassembling it.

With the bomb racks removed you can probably have 4 Cyclone Equiped troops in there, or 3 non ambulatory personel and up to 2 Passengers and or Medics in a dedicated medivac Beta.(strip out most of the armaments and replace with storage)(Literaly drop the armaments to the Arm guns and whatever is loaded on the wing hardpoints) space freed up is used for storage for any medical suplies and space for the passengers)
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