Rumbling Treads and Thundering Feet - A Guide to Designing, Subbing, and Using Tanks and Walkers on

[Popo]

In the wake of tanks and armored vehicles becoming far more frequent within the Factory and, soon, on the board as a whole, I decided to create a complete guide on the subject for the use of the members of SWRP Chaos. Once every five to seven days, I'll be posting the next entry to this guide and proceed topic to topic. Any questions anyone wishes to ask will be answered in between entries. Also, I will be going over tanks and walkers in general then going over how to fill out the appropriate submission on the Factory so that readers will know how to fill each submission entry to the best of their ability by using the background information. So, without further ado, let's get started.

First and foremost, tanks and walkers fill roles on the battlefield. Sure, you can just take them and roll on through and ROFLstomp the enemy, but anyone who knows how to combat tanks or just knows good tactics will easily turn your vehicles into so much scrap metal for you to weep over.

In real life, and in Star Wars, Tanks are used as shock and support weapons. Tanks were originally designed to cross the trenches of WWI in Europe and quickly saw dominance on the fields during WWII. The combination of a heavy gun, thick armor, and fast propulsion struck fear in the enemy and lead to rapid assault tactics like the Blitzkrieg used by Germany in WWII. In short, the tank on the assault is designed to cause the maximum amount of damage, survive what is thrown at it, and then continue on elsewhere. In a support role, tanks help infantry destroy enemy positions, provide cover for the lightly armored footsloggers, and even use unique weapons such as artillery pieces or anti-air cannons. The tank is extremely versatile and lethal if designed and used correctly.

Walkers have no usable Real Life equivalent, yet, and so we must turn towards Star Wars primarily, with Real Life common sense and design (to a point), for ideas on design and use. In the movies, the AT-AT reigned supreme on Hoth and completely destroyed sections of the Rebel base, including the shield generator featured in the movie. Smaller walkers like AT-STs, or Chicken Walkers, scouted the battlefield, destroyed targets, and chased Ewoks around the forest. Overall, the Walker in Star Wars is useful both on the assault and support role, but in ways unique to the Walker. Walkers are, generally speaking, taller than tanks in the field and because of this are naturally able to fulfill fire support roles on the battlefield as it fires over the friendly tanks and troopers around itself. On the assault, walkers tend to be faster than most tanks and are able to quickly close with and engage the enemy. Larger walkers tend to field far more weapons than are often seen on most heavy tanks while smaller walkers field faster maximum speeds and are more agile than their repulsor lift and tread toting counterparts.

However, what makes both Tanks and Walkers lethal on the field is, at the base, this and only this: The Role. What role does your vehicle perform? Is it designed to assault fortifications and dug in positions? Is it a tank with a fixed gun designed to target and kill enemy tanks? Is it a walker designed to fire missiles at range? Or a four legged beast toting some of the heaviest firepower known to the galaxy?

The proper role with the proper tank design will, 9 times out of 10, dominate that section of use in the field. An assault tank with a large and devastating cannon will wipe out infantry emplacements and level buildings while shrugging off all but the heaviest of guns. A light walker can speed across the battlefield with the goal of finding the enemy before they find you. A heavy walker fielding the heaviest guns possible will wipe out entire city blocks with ease. The role is very important and, once you have your role, don't deviate. A tank designed as an assault support tank that fields massive armor, but a machine gun or an autocannon is useless to infantry as it can't do anything better than they can. A recon walker with a top speed of 40k/h but fielding heavy weapons is a useless scout. A heavy walker fielding blaster rifles hanging out of every pore is a walking hunk of junk for what is needed on the field.

You get my drift, I hope.

In essence, think of the role you want your Tank or Walker to take on. Once done, think that role through and even look at both Real Life equivalents and Star Wars examples for an idea on what you want it to do. When done, you'll have a solid basis for your vehicle and...

You'll have your intent for the design for your Factory submission Didn't think of that, did ya?

Alright, floor's now open for questions and answers, folks!

 

[Popo]

Alirght, let's shoot for post number two here. I decided to change it up a bit and just go down the list, then hit the other, more fluffy stuff after going through the entire template. So, here goes.

Development Threads
These are usually not necessary unless the thing is super special or super powerful or super rare or any of the above. If the vehicle is a personal vehicle, for example if @[member="Isley Verd"] makes a suped up, diamond studded unicycle of doom or if @[member="Fabula Cavataio"] makes a rocket powered pogo stick with a giant fist as the bottom of the pogo, then you'll need a development thread to explain why you want it, how you got it, or why you need it. Use your imagination.

If the vehicle is rare or super powerful, while remaining inside the rules of the factory, then you may need one. In fact, if in doubt, go ahead and do one. Us Factory Judges love a sub with a development thread done WITHOUT us asking for one. It shows initiative, it shows drive, and we often read through the thread to see if it all works out and to see if our questions are answered there before we ask them.

So, in short, when in doubt of whether you should do one or not, go ahead. It not only is fun and easy to do, but it shows just how awesome you can be, folks!

Manufacturer
Okay, this here is really simple, people. Who makes the vehicle. Is it your company? Awesome! Is it someone else's on the board? Get their permission first! The only restrictions here are that we often check what that company does. So if you own a company that makes female hygiene products and you're submitting a tank or a walker, unless the vehicle is made entirely out of female hygiene products, you're gonna have to find a proper manufacturer.

In short, make sure that if the company isn't yours, you ask permission. And if the company doesn't make or isn't capable of making tanks and walkers, you're gonna need to find an appropriate company.

Model
What's the model of the item? If it's @[member="Ayden Cater"]'s Chariot of Epic Fire and Death, but it's a modified X-Wing, then the model is the X-Wing. Pretty simple, right? I thought so. Moving onwards!

Production
Alright, here's one of the more simple, yet complex, areas of the sub. Production levels. I'll tell you this straight, nothing from the Restricted Items section on the Technology area will be allowed to be mass produced. Whether it's a Beskar plated walker, a Phrik ball bearing in the left ankle of the droid, or an AI crammed into a pen, Mass Production ain't happenin'. Now that that's out of the way, we'll get more in depth.

The more complex the item is to produce, which is usually a mix of what the subber knows, the description including words like "hard to make", "Rare Materials", "Complex", etc., and what the FJ or RPJ judging the submission knows, the harder it is to produce. For example, if I submit a walker that has four legs, is six meters tall, and modular weapons built into it and it's a fairly balanced design (i.e. coupla blaster cannons, some repeaters, maybe a heavy cannon, but nothing outrageous), then arguing it's a mass production is understandable. I take that same design and make it 30 meters tall, stick huge cannons everywhere, including one coming out the tailpipe, and then make it capable of carrying droidekas or dark troopers inside, then you're looking at minor production at best, if not limited.

I guess the best way to sum it up is that the more complex and/or powerful the submission is, the smaller production you're going to see.

Alrighty, I'll stop there before I go hog wild on things. The floor is now open for questions, comments, and supplications/offerings to the Mighty Popo.