Macross Troops?

[SpacyAce2012]

There an echo in here?

Didn't I also already provide a link to a picture of a U.N. troop? I think there's some problem reading

I didn't re-read the entire thread when I responded to tom64ss.

But what the hell, great minds think alike,eh?

Besides, it opened the door for speculation (on my part) for the possible quality of U.N. foot soldiers (post SW1). To fight giants, you want to weed out non-hacker canidates who apply to whatever training program that may exist. The result is a group of tough, motivated bastards that will be more effective than the average 20th Century infantryman. And the bulk of their MOS training (in AIT) will be along the lines of what we would consider "unconventional warfare". In other words, the "average" U.N. Forces line infantry trooper will be an "operator", similar to former South African spec ops personnel (who made up the PMC Executive Outcomes) or U.S. Army Rangers.

While this may sound unrealistic (a weird term to use in relation to a show about giant robots), it's not. New kinds of warfare require such measures to ensure an effective fighting force. And one branch of the service can't win wars on their own. Combined arms is the way to go.

Such measures have a price. One being the cost of training. The other would be a smaller overall force. But their quality, and effectiveness, would be high.

If I were in charge of pacifying Zentraedi giants, carrying out an insurgency on some planet in the sticks, these are the kind of troops I would want. Not a large group of scared 19 year old volunteers/conscripts with eight to ten weeks of Basic, and a little extra advanced infantry training in a short AIT course.

[Mr March]

But what the hell, great minds think alike,eh?

Combined arms is the way to go.

Yes indeed, the greatest of minds we are

I think combined arms is the only way we could really accurately speculate on the outcome between armies. Every other scenario without considering the vehicles, weapons and supporting units that are part of warfare just becomes situation dependant.

In all out war, obviously the humans would lose simply due to numbers. Without the extenuating circumstances of culture, capture and what not that worked FOR the humans during Space War One, the humans would simply be overrun by the Zentradi. Even if the entire Earth fielded every army they have, the Zentradi could send thousands of times as many, sustain a 90% casualty rate and still overrun the humans.

Having said that, being big has a lot of disadvantages on the battlefield, especially the modern one. A lot of engagements take place over long distance and stealth is the new order of battle. The Zentradi would be easy to spot, difficult to conceal and simple to target. Attack craft would be lethal against Zentradi, such as the Comanchero Attack Helicopter in Macross and other similar arms. In order to offset this disadvantage, the Zentradi forces would need to have a very strong anti-air answer to human troops and utilize plenty of long range weaponry, two areas which the Zentradi are noticeably lacking in most of their materiel seen in the shows.

If it was a numbers game, you're right that small, highly mobile units of human forces operating independantly would be the order of battle. Guerilla warfare in particular would be very effective against such a large and less mobile force like the Zentradi.

Edited January 28, 2007 by Mr March

[JB0]

Cool picture.

IMHO, there were troops on the Macross - the troops in the Daedalus, that got transported with the SDF-1 to Pluto's orbit. Of course they don't get shown, because the armed squirrel in the above post would be equally effective against an entire Zentraedi ship.

Didn't the Daedalus crew die when their ship defolded in a vacuum and decompressed?

[sketchley]

This question (and it's answers) have been brought up before. It's somewhere buried in this topic: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=20552

[JB0]

This question (and it's answers) have been brought up before. It's somewhere buried in this topic: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=20552

Including the reference to the dialog that explicitly states that they died?

Aside from that I see...

A picture of a space carrier fleet that's widely believed to be an animation error.

Explanation of why watertight != airtight, meaning a submersible vessel isn't a space-worthy vessel.

Description of the filters used for NBC readiness, which still leave you dependent on outside air.

Why the Daedalus and Prometheus wouldn't have been at space readiness even IF they were space-capable.

And a bit of comedy in the form of an imaginary radio conversation if the Macross had PLANNED to include the Daedalus and Prometheus in the fold.

[sketchley]

Didn't someone mention that a few, to some, of the personnel stationed on it survived?

If I remember the thread correctly, there was little concensus on anything much.

[RDClip]

I find it surpising that this discussion is just focsuing on troops meant to combat Zendraedi threats. There is always the possibity of human threats. Most likely terrorism, hostage situations, mass criminal organizations all of human origin still exist in the macross universe and they would obviously need someone to deal with those theats. Using battroids in hostage situations is pretty absurd. So, at the very least, miclone sized special forces probably exist.

[Mr March]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that troops don't exist, they're just looking for what the Macross series shows as far as pictures of troops. There are some and so yes they exist, but the stories don't really require them being shown.

Naturally, just because mecha exist this does not mean infantry are no longer needed. Human infantry will always be needed to take and secure human scale objectives. Mecha are not a replacement for infantry, they are just another weapon that changes the nature of the battlefield and the role of combined arms.

[DestroidDefender]

We saw Hikaru take infantry training during his boot camp. It seems to me there is no question that there are UN Infantry. I would assume they are part of the UN Army. Whether the infrastructure of the UN Army survived SW1 I can't say.

As am aside, I would love to have seen more with the Destroids. Like infantry, their role in the SW 1 story was underused. I would enjoy a good Destroid saga in SW1 period or the colonial era afterwards. I have long imagined a Seven Samurai type adventure with a group of UN Spacy veterans defending a remote colony from Zentraedi "banditos".

[Briareos9]

but the chances of the UN placing traditional infantry on the field against mechanized Zentran forces would have to be pretty slim, don't you think? I'd hate to face off against a pissed off Zentradi with just an assault rifle.

I'd hate to be the Zentreadi facing a Micronian Engineering division making full use of artillery, traps, and everyone's favorite: explosives. They can have their big steel coffins.

[kung flu]

Yeah, it shouldn't really matter what size the infantry are cos big or small you can still be lethal, and wont being bigger make you an easy target. Though I've never fired a gun before I doubt I'll miss a giant zentradi, a well placed shot in those giant gonads is enough to bring any man down.

[Crazy Canuck II]

I could see UN Spacy having some special forces for recon and sabotage for inside enemy capitol ships. They could probably go unseen for weeks all the while gathering info and with several portable reaction weapons could do some serious damage.