Sgt Anjay wrote:He is, actually, pointing out your faulty generalization: speed=better. If additional speed adds nothing to the combat power of the craft, then having it is a waste.
Ordinarily, one would consider being able to reach the target in a timely fashion a fairly large part of craft's combat capability... especially when a good part of the reason that you need to cover all that distance is because the designer thought beyond-visual-range armament is for chumps.
Sgt Anjay wrote:There's multi-role, and then there's multi-role. The VF-1 was THE Veritech Fighter, supposed to fly into combat and defeat all comers by itself.
Well, there were QF-3000's and SF-3A's too, but I've gathered that the "serious" fans of the
Robotech series tend to ignore what's canon... quite disquieting, IMO. It speaks of a deep disrespect for the show's creators, which I do grudgingly have to admit is warranted.
Sgt Anjay wrote:The Alpha is assisted in the air by Condors and Conbats, or Betas and Bioroids, depending on the era. Therefore, they aren't really directly comparable as far as what they were meant or needed to do.
and those were
where during... oh... every combat scene in the animated continuity? I don't seem to recall seeing any Condors and Conbats, unless you count the watercolors that showed them being ineffective and getting slaughtered during the opening narration. Betas, with the sole exception of the one Scott's band salvages, are glorified super parts, so that's not really support either... and, of course, the Bioroids aren't seen either because they got added to the REF forces long after the Alpha was adopted (and thus obviously didn't figure into its mission profile) and were annihilated anyway in a single battle. (Goodness, having 2nd and 3rd generation mecha turn out to be useless deathtraps is turning into a pattern here, isn't it? Small wonder the REF used VF-1s instead of Alphas in the old Sentinels comics)
Sgt Anjay wrote:Oh, that hoary old argument. The Alpha has demonstrable technological advancements:
Oh god... here we go, another list of dubious claims.
Sgt Anjay wrote:smaller yet better armored
We've seen the VF-1 survive beatings from Zentradi more or less unscathed, while the Alpha armor comes apart like paper after a single hit in passing from an Invid mecha's blunt claw... better armor is kind of a silly argument, isn't it?
Sgt Anjay wrote:despite being heavy and small, it still manages to be a supersonic aircraft, just less supersonic than its giant predecessor
Oh, sure... mind you, it's a craft being used in an orbit-to-surface assault that's completely incapable of returning to orbit under its own power if things go awry (like they did all three times).
Sgt Anjay wrote:internal payload and angular design, both hallmarks of passively stealthy craft;
You might notice a difference between stealth angular design (e.g. F-117A) and the blocky design of the Alpha... namely, the Alpha's square-on edges from the front and sides would make it an easier target for enemy radars, instead of having the slopes that would reflect radar waves away from the sending craft. Internal payload's kinda iffy too, when it's made up entirely of extremely short-ranged micro-missiles that, on an individual basis, appear no more powerful than those being used in man-portable rocket launchers...
Sgt Anjay wrote:on-the-fly linkage with heavy ordnance and transatmospheric booster, in an infinitely more rapid and easy process than bolting on external parts or the sort of booster the VF-1 needed to become fully transatmospheric
On the fly linkage with a larger, slower, and heavier secondary craft that makes the Alpha even less aerodynamic in order to achieve what it should probably have been able to do on its own (like pretty much every fighter in
Macross can).
Sgt Anjay wrote:a design which lent itself to adaptation for drone units
Unsurprisingly, you can do that with pretty much any fighter... that's not really a point in its favor, you know?
Sgt Anjay wrote:a control system that a teenage motorcycle gang member (Rook) could learn to utilize effectively enough to defeat enemy units in combat with minimal training by another pilot, himself not much older.
Again, that's not much different from the VF-1, where pilots recruited in wartime were given relatively little training and then pressed into service. (e.g. Max, Ben)
Seto Kaiba wrote:but considering the performance we actually see in the animation, your entire argument completely falls apart, which isn't surprising since it seems based on dislike rather than anything resembling evidence.
The performance we see in the animation isn't all that remarkable, and there is the question of the canon stats which make it quite clear that the Logan was swiftly outperformed by the non-transforming fighters and the AGACs.
In a valiant (and probably futile) attempt to make this somewhat relevant to what the OP's thread is supposed to be about (at least, before we got carried away and quasi-hijacked it), I can't help but remind myself that this sort of dispute is another reason I've always avoided doing crossover games. It's a damned-if-you-do damned-if-you-don't situation. If you run your game with the RPG book stats then most RT fans are happy (except the ones who are looking to imitate the show) and the
Macross fans are mad because their mecha were neutered, and if you run the game accurate-to-canon, the
Macross fans are happy but the RT fans are upset because they often don't like what RT's owners have done with the canon. Heaven help you if you allow mixed customizing of mecha... then the only thing to do is see if you can't salvage some money from the ensuing violence by getting the fight on pay-per-view.