The Legend of the Galactic Heroes

[Uraniun235]

The crossbows are probably a lot cheaper to make, but it's really just about style; the author clearly wanted to arrange scenarios where conventional weapons wouldn't work and we'd get to see dudes in armor with axes and crossbows cleave their way through a bunch of other dudes. Railguns would defeat that, so I imagine the author would have invented something about "they couldn't resolve certain problems with man-portable railguns sparking off the Zephyr particles" or something like that.

[Gunhead]

Their small arms tech is somewhat baffling anyway. They usually produce wounds that bleed and there's little to suggest the damage is done through heat. They really have energy weapons that behave more like bullets, damage wise at least.
In the prequels on the other hand they seem to use bigger more powerful weapons that are capable of penetrating infantry armor and hand to hand combat is not favored. This could be that the normal hand held weapons of either side are not powerful enough to punch through or there are some power setting issues at play.
We also see a good example of their odd "energy bullet" weapons in the prequels when a FPA soldier is shot point blank in the chest with a pistol and the armor shows a visible dent. The trooper is completely unharmed.

They also could have some sort of exotic technology and materials that make really good armor penetrators for use in melee weapons and crossbows. In the original series a earth cultist is able to pierce the transparent faceplate of an imperial soldier with a knife, even though we have seen Schenkopp take small arms fire to a similar faceplate and the shots just bounced off.


-Gunhead

[Vympel]

I just saw My Conquest is a Sea of Stars (can that really be the proper translation?) - that really is a far more awesome introduction to the series. If anyone was able to turn this into a live action series I would fucking invest.

[Jusu]

I just saw My Conquest is a Sea of Stars (can that really be the proper translation?) - that really is a far more awesome introduction to the series. If anyone was able to turn this into a live action series I would fucking invest.

There is the Blu-Ray, but you'd need to be able to understand Japanese. Turning it into an American live action production would mean we might end up having something like Firefly, where it isn't 'Desperate Housewives'-like and gets cancelled after being screwed over here and there.


As for the infantry weapons, yeah, I guess infantry battles end up just being turned into rule of cool. Although I think the Alliance kept chemical-based firearms, and a lot of the 'history' episodes show familiar looking firearms.

[Vympel]

There is the Blu-Ray, but you'd need to be able to understand Japanese. Turning it into an American live action production would mean we might end up having something like Firefly, where it isn't 'Desperate Housewives'-like and gets cancelled after being screwed over here and there.

What I don't understand is why the Japanese DVDs/ Blu-Rays don't even have subtitles. Talk about throwing away sales for something that really wouldn't be that expensive.

[Gunhead]

I just saw My Conquest is a Sea of Stars (can that really be the proper translation?) - that really is a far more awesome introduction to the series. If anyone was able to turn this into a live action series I would fucking invest.

You and me both. This is my favorite scifi series animated or otherwise. Seeing this done right with live actors would be awesome on a level not yet achieved.

-Gunhead

[Uraniun235]

Live action would be neat, especially with good directing and excellent actors, but I imagine it would be very challenging to get so many actors together on a recurring basis.

Although I think the Alliance kept chemical-based firearms, and a lot of the 'history' episodes show familiar looking firearms.

No, the Alliance does have energy weapons; we've seen an officer remove a battery of some sort from a sidearm.

What I don't understand is why the Japanese DVDs/ Blu-Rays don't even have subtitles. Talk about throwing away sales for something that really wouldn't be that expensive.

The Japanese home video market is kind of bizarre. Supposedly there were Japanese people importing dubbed, Americanized versions of their own shows because it was cheaper than buying the original product in the domestic market - and I guess this in turn led some people over there to believe that those bastard Americans were out to rip them off. Very weird.

[Vympel]

No, the Alliance does have energy weapons; we've seen an officer remove a battery of some sort from a sidearm.

I believe that was the Empire - Admiral Merkatz' aide removing the clip from his gun so he wouldn't be able to commit suicide after the Lippstadt Alliance lost the civil war, right?

[Gunhead]

No, the Alliance does have energy weapons; we've seen an officer remove a battery of some sort from a sidearm.

I believe that was the Empire - Admiral Merkatz' aide removing the clip from his gun so he wouldn't be able to commit suicide after the Lippstadt Alliance lost the civil war, right?

You're correct. I don't think we see anyone remove a power pack or somesuch from a FPA weapon, then again I suppose I could watch the whole thing again to make sure.

-Gunhead

[Uraniun235]

Well, the FPA coup's field commander's gun made a sound like the rest of the laser pistols did.

Also,
Spoiler

Pretty sure we saw that Bucock's aide had managed to slip in a dummy power pack when Bucock went to commit suicide.

[Jusu]

Well, the FPA coup's field commander's gun made a sound like the rest of the laser pistols did.

Also,
Spoiler

Pretty sure we saw that Bucock's aide had managed to slip in a dummy power pack when Bucock went to commit suicide.

Spoiler

Then there was Merkatz's aid who tricked Merkatz into thinking he removed the battery pack from his service pistol. Or maybe you meant that scene. During the High noble's rebellion?

I just found it interesting that their battery packs resemble just elongated and thinner versions of 9volts, and you can apparently use em in both rifles and pistols. That is, for the Imperial side. It's what led me to the whole railgun and rule of cool thing, thinking that, if they can have a small battery pack for lasers, wouldn't that allow for railguns as well, especially for combat in Zephyr particles.

[Gunhead]

I just found it interesting that their battery packs resemble just elongated and thinner versions of 9volts, and you can apparently use em in both rifles and pistols. That is, for the Imperial side. It's what led me to the whole railgun and rule of cool thing, thinking that, if they can have a small battery pack for lasers, wouldn't that allow for railguns as well, especially for combat in Zephyr particles.

Well to determine that you'd have to figure out how many shots can you get out of a single pack and how powerful each shot is. Not an easy task.

I addition their method, as it is, works more or less. They mostly fight in confined space (spaceships, stations etc.) so using melee weapons is not as stupid as it sounds.
They have weapons that can penetrate body armor and zephyr particles for some reason seem to work only if they have the time to saturate the area. This is noted by the rosenritters when their attack is halted by corridor that is under constant fire. One of Schenkopps men notes that they cannot use them since there are energy bolts flying all over the corridor.
In the prequels it's noted that major land conflict is quite rare and I don't think they ever use zephyr particles during the conflict over a FPA supply base.

So as to railguns.... well my answer is maybe, but first I think it's important to see if they actually have a need for such a weapon.

-Gunhead

[Simon_Jester]

I just found it interesting that their battery packs resemble just elongated and thinner versions of 9volts, and you can apparently use em in both rifles and pistols. That is, for the Imperial side. It's what led me to the whole railgun and rule of cool thing, thinking that, if they can have a small battery pack for lasers, wouldn't that allow for railguns as well, especially for combat in Zephyr particles.

Again, that's the tricky bit. Laser and railgun technology aren't entirely the same, and being able to miniaturize one doesn't automatically give you the ability to miniaturize the other. While high density energy storage (the battery) is part of the engineering problem you need to solve to build laser pistols and rail pistols, it isn't the entire problem.

[Ford Prefect]

What I don't understand is why the Japanese DVDs/ Blu-Rays don't even have subtitles. Talk about throwing away sales for something that really wouldn't be that expensive.

Talk about throwing away sales in another country. It honestly shouldn't be all that surprising that the production crew didn't really consider making their DVD/Blu-rays accessible to other audiences (espeically given that Japan has awful pricing). That's a product of the times, anyway. More recently we've seen studios make weekly subtitled releases of currently airing shows, and the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Blu-ray was a simultaneous world wide release in dual audio and with five different subtitle tracks.

[Jusu]

There is the Blu-Ray, but you'd need to be able to understand Japanese. Turning it into an American live action production would mean we might end up having something like Firefly, where it isn't 'Desperate Housewives'-like and gets cancelled after being screwed over here and there.

What I don't understand is why the Japanese DVDs/ Blu-Rays don't even have subtitles. Talk about throwing away sales for something that really wouldn't be that expensive.

Demand. They offered a box set awhile back. Never got past 1000 interests. I mean, it's gonna compete against what? BLEACH. Naruto. One Piece. K-On. I can go on. Especially with the moe' blob anime. It's one reason I stopped watching anime past few seasons. Only ones of note was CANAAN and right now, Angel Beats!...but then P.A. Works animation is good, and Angel Beats! brings a nice twist to the concept of an afterlife...gonna stop before I derail.

[Ford Prefect]

You're out of your mind if you think that the only anime of note from that past couple of seasons was CANAAN, which was good, but with a weak ending and Angel Beats!, which is unrelentingly average outside of its animation (frankly the same kind of concept was handled with much more subtlety and with vastly less melodrama years ago with Haibane Renmei). Where's Eden of the East? House of Five Leaves? Durarara!!? Darker than BLACK?

[Jusu]

You're out of your mind if you think that the only anime of note from that past couple of seasons was CANAAN, which was good, but with a weak ending and Angel Beats!, which is unrelentingly average outside of its animation (frankly the same kind of concept was handled with much more subtlety and with vastly less melodrama years ago with Haibane Renmei). Where's Eden of the East? House of Five Leaves? Durarara!!? Darker than BLACK?

Before I derail. Eh..realizing I need to up the effort in order to get a job with my major after graduation kinda killed anime viewing too. Those series are on backlog. I hear good things about em, and saw one episode of Eden. It's just time and me being lazy.

But I'm thinking more so on the series that get too much exposure, the ones I just listed, One Piece and all that. Granted, I wished there is a greater demand for series like Gineiden. But with the state of the American fandom (from my eyes), we're more likely to see K-On than something truly amazing. So what, it's another slice of life with music. This. This series is epic. I could write an essay on Gineiden, but never something as...eh as K-On. If I wanted slice of life, I'll video tape me and my friends. Or not watch it and watch Macross instead. That way I get my fill of music and an added bonus of the series that was the basis of another series that started me on anime.

Ghe...rant is bad. Sorry.

[Uraniun235]

I think I'm misremembering the scene with Bucock, on further thought - but there are still examples of Alliance pistols making the same sound and visual effects as Imperial weapons, so I'm inclined to think at least some of the Alliance sidearms are energy weapons.

[Jusu]

Could be. I believe I read somewhere the general consensus is that Imperial tech is more potent than alliance tech, one reason Alliance ships tend to have more laser batteries while Imperial ships have the same ammount. Their lasers are more potent while the Alliance basically goes and beats em in volume. Maybe Alliance sidearms issued to fleet personnel (am I the only one who saw similarities to the Hi-Power?) get the spiffy new laser stuff due to Imperial defectors, while everyone else gets the good old reliable chemical ones?

And I should be sleeping.

[KlavoHunter]

In the Gaidens, Reinhard fights an official, fancy duel, and he doesn't even know what gunpowder is at first. Presumably it also sets off Zephyr particles.

There are some differences in infantry combat depending on the setting - during the main series, most of what we see is infantry melee combat aboard starships or other artificial structures in space, where the confines are cramped, perfect for deploying Zephyr Particles, thus forcing melee combat, to the point that they don't often even bother with the formality of even using the particles in many cases.

Of course, one of the final episodes depicts what happens to melee infantry when they come upon energy-weapon-armed troops without the preparation of Zephyr Particles.

Infantry actions seen in the Gaidens in open-field combat are energy weapon affairs, not melee - though melee combat DOES happen, once again, in the corridors and rooms of a base onplanet - though I also remember the melee combat taking place outdoors, too.

Could be. I believe I read somewhere the general consensus is that Imperial tech is more potent than alliance tech, one reason Alliance ships tend to have more laser batteries while Imperial ships have the same ammount. Their lasers are more potent while the Alliance basically goes and beats em in volume. Maybe Alliance sidearms issued to fleet personnel (am I the only one who saw similarities to the Hi-Power?) get the spiffy new laser stuff due to Imperial defectors, while everyone else gets the good old reliable chemical ones?

And I should be sleeping.

The Imperials demonstrably DO have better stuff in many ways - Imperial battleships only have 6 forward main guns because they're so much bigger calibre particle cannon than the FPA can build, which is why you see them building them with so many guns, up to the 84 forward guns of the Shiva. Furthermore, you see the Imperial ships LANDING ON PLANETS. The FPA always has to use shuttles instead.

As for bed? Me too.

[Commander 598]

Of course, one of the final episodes depicts what happens to melee infantry when they come upon energy-weapon-armed troops without the preparation of Zephyr Particles.

They have barriers and shields...

...and big mouths.

The Imperials demonstrably DO have better stuff in many ways

For example they have ability to build multiple huge fortresses armed with enormous fuckoff beam weapons that can hold entire fleets at bay almost indefinitely and they [relatively recently] invented Zephyr Particles which have also shown impressive use as a mine sweeping tool.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Well, the Alliance not only has a smaller population (slightly over half the Empire's as of the start of the series), but they also spent 50 years as refugees and then however long it took to rebuild industrial society with less than a million people, during which time there probably wasn't much time to spend inventing. Probably the only reason they have parity at all is that the Empire is very tradition-bound and wasn't aware of any external military threats until the war started.

I don't know if the ship gun count disparity is as high as suggested, though. The six-gun Imperial ships are actually the cruisers; their battleships have two larger guns below the six main guns. And the standard Alliance battleships, like the Ulysses, only have eight guns as well. The Alliance ships with lots of guns are the purpose-built flagships, and those are rare enough that they shouldn't be indicative of general trends.

[Uraniun235]

I thought Ulysses was a cruiser, not a battleship. I might be misremembering that.

For example they have ability to build multiple huge fortresses armed with enormous fuckoff beam weapons that can hold entire fleets at bay almost indefinitely and they [relatively recently] invented Zephyr Particles which have also shown impressive use as a mine sweeping tool.

The invention wasn't the Zephyr Particles themselves (which the Alliance also has), but using them "directionally" so as to focus a stream of them at a target area.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

I just checked and the Ulysses is called a cruiser by Paeta. Which is odd, because it's the size and shape of the standard battleships. Oh well, even without using the Ulysses as an example, I'm pretty sure we do see 8-gun battleships and 6-gun cruisers on the Alliance side.

[Gunhead]

Cruisers are the bread and butter of both fleets. Spoiler

When FPA is subjugated by the empire, they're forbidden by the treaty to build anything heavier than a cruiser, which is a major plot point when FPA rebels and Bucock hijacks the heavier ships that are waiting to be dismantled

I think battleships serve a role as lover echelon command ships and as heavy hard hitting cores of formations. Yang even uses them, or what he says are heavier armored ships, as a wall to protect lighter vessels. As it seems to be an effective tactic, it would go to reason they have ships that are built to take and give damage. Also individual battleships are mentioned to be disabled or destroyed over the speaker on the fleet commanders vessel, this would suggest losing a battleship is critical to operations.

-Gunhead