Welcome back. I had a lot of fun with the last installment, so here’s another! Updated, expanded, and with plenty of additions. Ah, screw it! Let’s get to it.

Immortal:
Back to the Starcraft universe for a sequel. Much like its predecessor, the Immortal was a vehicle for severely wounded Templars who still wanted to serve. Developed shortly after the Brood War, the Immortals replaced the aging Dragoon design and improved on it in many ways.

In terms of armaments, the Immortals boast two phased disruptor cannons which pretty much doubles their firepower. Their chassis are heavily armored and of course boast shields that can even withstand attacks from heavy artillery.

The Immortal’s one weakness is that their shields are only activated when they are hit by heavy munitions. In addition, their weapons are best for ranged attacks. This makes them somewhat vulnerable to close encounters with small arms fire and auto-cannons.

Mad Dog:
Another classic mech from the Battltech universe. Much like the Mad Cat from the last installment, the Mad Dog is another omnimech. It’s configuration, which appeared to Inner Sphere forces as a bird of prey, earned it the nickname “Vulture”.

Heavily armored with a n8 and a half ton ferro-fibrous shell, the Mad Dog is still fast and maneuverable, able to run at over 85 km/h. In its standard configuration, it carries two large pulse lasers in the arms, two medium ones (typically mounted underneath) and two shoulder mounted missile launchers.

Quick, powerful and versatile, the Mad Dog is well represented in the armies of every Outer Sphere Clan. In fact, the Mad Dog and Mad Cat are so close in design that they are often fashioned for the same mold. They often serve alongside each other for mutual support in the field of battle.

Madox-01:
When it comes to big, mechanized war machines, much like many cool inventions, the Japanese seem to have the market cornered. But what do you expect, they got their first and pioneered the whole concept. And this example is one of the many originals shows to popularize it.

Taken from Metal Skin Panic, the Madox-o1 was a prototype mech design built by the Japanese Self Defense Forces for use against tanks. Armed with a large caliber minigun, a chainsaw, a grappling claw, and can also carry an assortment of missiles. It is deployed by helicopters to a field of battle, but is also capable of running speedily to wherever it needs to go.

In the story, it becomes the property of a mechanic who climbs into the mech and “merges”, meaning that the machine comes to recognize him as its controller and won’t let him leave. As a result, Koji – the mechanic – is stuck with the machine and forced to defend himself when the authorities come looking for it. But in time, it is agreed that the best thing for all sides is if Koji works for the government and uses the machine for good. Everybody’s happy!

Metal Gear Ray:
Since these guys are so damn good at producing mech designs, I just had to return to the Metal Gear franchise! Picking up after the first game, this next example comes from its sequel: Sons of Liberty.

After the events in the first game, the world was apparently flooded with designs for the Metal Gear Rex. As a result, Ray began as a proposed countermeasure design, an amphibious design produced by the US Marine Corps. Because of this, Ray was the first Metal Gear that was both amphibious and not specifically designed for nuclear warfare.

Originally intended to be operated by a single pilot, the final Ray design was completely unmanned. Its primary armaments consisted of two machine guns, anti-tank and anti-ship missile banks, cluster bombs and a water jet cutter. Its smaller frame and lighter weight also meant it a lot speedier and more agile than its behemoth cousin, Rex.

MSZ-007 Gundam:
Speaking of anime and Japanese robots, the next examples comes from a similarly old-school show, Gundam! Known as the Mass Production type Z Gundam, this “Mobile Suit” is one of the more popular mechs from the series. And for good reason!

In addition to being able to fly on its own without having to transform into a fighter configuration, this mech also carries a beam rifle and can get into hand to hand combat with its pair of beam sabres. Just because you’re a futuristic robot suit doesn’t mean you can’t go samurai on your enemies asses!

In addition to being able to run at high speeds, its thruster packs provide a whopping 1.53 G (73900 kg) of thrust. This makes it capable of operating in air, space and on land. Its diverse weapons capabilities also mean it is able to perform ranged and hand to hand attacks. In short, its versatility makes it popular, and pretty damn cool to look at!

Robocop 2:
Also known as “Robocain”, this monster appeared in the sequel to Robocop and was intended as his successor. In the midst of the police strike in the second movie, OCP intended to fully replace the police force with cyborgs. All they needed was a human brain to make the prototype work… again.

Unfortunately, due to some tampering from a rather ambitious OCP exec, the brain came from former drug kingpin and Jesus wannabee Cain. Rather than protecting and serving, he saw this as an opportunity for quasi-godhood. Heavily armed, armored, and clearly nuclear powered by the symbol on the right side of the chest plate.

And who wouldn’t feel like a god with this kind of firepower? Though somewhat cumbersome and easy to trip up, the Robocain suit had all kinds of advantages. A rotary cannon was its main article, mounted on one arm, while a shoulder mounted autocannon added some punch. While its right hand was articulated, its left was little more than a hydraulic fist. Hard to describe, but if you’ve seen the movie, you’d understand.

At the end of the movie, Murphy and Cain get into it, with Murphy being heavily over-matched. In the end, he managed to defeat him by having his partner distract him with a vial of nuke (the designer drug he invented) and then jumped on his back and ripped his brain out of the head assembly. A grissly death, but a fitting one for a criminal madman with a god complex!

Tripod Walker:
I always say there is nothing like a classic, but when it comes to giant robots, this is the cat’s ass of classics! Taken from H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds, the tripod walker was the proposed design of what an alien attack machine would look like. Tall, tripedal, and using heat rays to annihilate everything in their paths, these robots served as an inspiration for countless other franchises and genres of sci-fi.

In the novel, Well’s describes his creation as follows: “Machine it was, with a ringing metallic pace, and long, flexible, glittering tentacles… Behind the main body was a huge mass of white metal like a gigantic fisherman’s basket, and puffs of green smoke squirted out from the joints of the limbs as the monster swept by me. And in an instant it was gone.”

From this basic description, movie makers and conceptual artists have through several renditions. The latest, which were featured in the Stephen Spielberg remake, were updated to look sleaker and more modern; in essence, less Steampunk-y. However, they retained the same basic design, consisting of a central “head”, three legs and a series of beam emitters mounted underneath.

Zentraedi Battlepod:
As a finale, it’s back to the Robotech universe with the Zentraedi Battlepod. Built by the alien race that are the main antagonists of the show, this battlepod is essentially a mass-produced infantry mech and the mainstay of the Zentraedi forces.

Known as the Regult within their own ranks, this mech is fast, maneuverable, and highly versatile, especially when compared to heavier mechs like the Tomahawk. It lightweight and chassis-mounted thrusters ensure that it can make high jumps and operate in zero gravity.

It’s weaponry is also more sophisticated than the average human design, which includes two quadruple-barreled medium beam cannons, two single barrel light cannons, and two light pulse beam cannons mounted on the back of the head.

However, the Battlepod has a discernible weakness, which is its light armor. Although this makes the pod faster and more maneuverable, especially in space, it is not capable of withstanding direct hits from autocannons, missiles or lasers. In the end, the Battlepod’s greatest quality is it’s quantity. Later generations would be upgraded to include heavier weapons and armor, but for the duration of the First Robotech War, Zentraedi forces were stuck with this one.

Well, that was fun, again! Bring on the suggestions, I still got a few to work through. See you next time!