How would a GUNDAM compare to battletech mechs?

[[Slayer]]

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[wesnef]

The Gundam universe is a bit more magic/supertech, isn't it? Mechs flying in space, fancier weapons, shields, energy swords, psychic pilots, etc?

Not sure they're really comparable.

[MarkDey]

Agreed with wesnef. That said, if one came over to the Battletech universe I think it'd be faster and harder hitting, but not as durable and expensive to repair/maintain. If a Battletech mech went over to Gundam, I think it'd be slower, but easier to produce and very durable with respectable firepower.

[Lack of Stuff]

Gundam is all over the place. You would need to specify a specific universe like UC or SEED or whatever Wing takes place in.

[TheKarp]

As a UC fan, I have to say the following:
I absolutely love Battletech, but a Gundam would crush a battlemech of any type for the following reasons:

Mobile Suits are designed to emphasize maneuverability, whilst having decent armor (depending on the suit used).

Megaparticles are an abrasion type beam weapon that sandblasts the target with high energy particles, perfect for depleting mech armor.

And most of all...
Minovsky particle interference would render a large majority of battletech weaponry/technology inoperable which include: Streak, Artemis IV, Targetting Computers, Slave Units, all types of guided missile excluding those supported by tag (that is if the pilot can keep the tag on the target, which is doable if the mech chassis has a fast enough torso rotation), pulse lasers, NARCs, etc.

But that's the thing as mentioned above, Gundam is basically sci-fi magic, it has good scientific hardness, but Battletech is more scientifically grounded. I choose to follow the Battletech universe becauseeverything is just so mean and gritty. A different kind of dish if you will.

[Bovril Brigadier]

Actually it all depends on what laws of physics you follow.
Although if anything they'd likely be invisible due to Harmony Gold using the opportunity to screech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ItZ_2y8qK0

[gunner]

RX78-2 for the win!

[Werecat101]

2 completely different tech development lines that are incomparable.

[-MaVerick-]

With maybe the exception of the Enact, those first maybe 10 episodes of Gundam00 demonstrate how Gundam vs Mech would be. Those lowtec Mobilesuites in use until pseudo reactors hit the field are pretty much Mechs. One hit from pretty much anything a Gundam has to offer and its bye bye Mech.

Mobile Suit vs Mech though, that would be different depending on the timeline.

[talemore]

Original Gundam was unmanned battledroid. There are as many different versions of gundam as there are tv shows.

Example on how gundam work is the gunbarrel striker.

Gundam is intergrated with spaceships because the actual gundam mobile suit isn't really the gun. It's a human shaped hand-holder on the trigger. The humane factor even if there's not much in these robots. They're not super in their own universe vs equal tech.

The biggest difference is that gundam are made to be combat with support of a mothership in space and to hit and run using trusters on their back to cut and flee. Usually used like the mackie in the early ages. Spaceships who are made for the ideal range and not much on the speed are able to be intercepted by the mobile suits. Planetary dominion by restrictions of technological advances.

On planetary battle Gundam was proved to be inferior to warmachines designed inside the gundam universe. This depend on if the gundam has the gravity generator who allow flying or not.

In all , Gundam always won by being on a higher plane, where space is the final frontier.

Spaceships are support on gundam meanwhile in battletech spaceships were the gundam. What universe win depends on timeline. Gundam had barely left their own solar system by the time battletech had a whole galaxy

[astrumluxlucis]

It would depend entirely on who was writing it and which lore/era rules formed the basis for the story. The heroes of the story would win, regardless of how effectivve their individual machines were.

Bear in mind that Battletech also has Gundam-esque/Robotech-style Land-Air Mechs.

Although, if you want to spitball matchups, Battletech would tend to lose against pretty much anything outside its own 'universe' simply because of the broken range limitations of its weapons systems. If you can maintain distance and achieve consistent hits beyond 1km against BT Mechs, you win because the Mechs can't hit you.

For comparison, modern tanks can achieve consistent killshots on the move at 2-3km *through other targets*, so BT Mechs aren't going to do so well against...anything.

Battletech is awesome fun, but effective in combat or realistic in design or lore...? Nope.

[Bovril Brigadier]

Originally posted by astrumluxlucis:

Although, if you want to spitball matchups, Battletech would tend to lose against pretty much anything outside its own 'universe' simply because of the broken range limitations of its weapons systems.

I think 108km range on a Small Laser is pretty good tbh.

[desrtfox071]

Originally posted by Strayed:

Originally posted by astrumluxlucis:

Although, if you want to spitball matchups, Battletech would tend to lose against pretty much anything outside its own 'universe' simply because of the broken range limitations of its weapons systems.

I think 108km range on a Small Laser is pretty good tbh.

Small lasers, in BT by canon, have a max range of 90m

[Coyote]

Gundams are broken op and dont get damaged destroyed unless the narrative demands it.
What a stupid show.

[astrumluxlucis]

Originally posted by Strayed:

Originally posted by astrumluxlucis:

Although, if you want to spitball matchups, Battletech would tend to lose against pretty much anything outside its own 'universe' simply because of the broken range limitations of its weapons systems.

I think 108km range on a Small Laser is pretty good tbh.

I think you might want to check your measurements. In Mech-based combat lore/rules, no standard weapon has a range exceeding 1km. This was so the battles would fit on a typical household tabletop without making the miniatures tiny.

Battletech Small Lasers have a range of under/around 100 *metres* depending on era/revision/etc.

The (non-SL/non-Clan ER/etc) weapon with the longest range in the game is the AC/2 at 720 *metres*.

A typical modern M1A3/Challenger2/Leopard2 MBT has a (roughly, if you go by the novels/etc) AC/10-equiv that can score killshots on moving targets at 2-3km while also on the move. They have also been proven in combat to be able to shoot *through* secondary targets/obstacles to achieve killshots on armoured targets.

Battletech is loads of fun and I've loved it for decades, but it was still designed by a bunch of guys in the 1980s who didn't know squat about shoehorning anything approaching real-world weapons into a tabletop game. They did the best they could, which was to remain internally consistent, even if it doesn't pass the sniff test compared to even standard army guns of the era.

We smile and nod, don't look too close at the details, then get back to our big stompy robots. *shrug*

[Bovril Brigadier]

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Small lasers, in BT by canon, have a max range of 90m

A Small Laser in BT by "canon" has a max typical range of up to 3 hexes. It can extend this range up to 6 hexes depending on ruleset.
A hex can be anywhere between 30m and 18km long. The actual lore explicitly states that the tabletop ranges are in fact complete bull and done for gameplay reasons.