hand to hand fight units

Really, hand-2-hand fighting bots would be the units you flank your opponent with... They are all: "Hey we have twice as many tanks as him! Rush!" and your all like: "FLANK -with-Close-Combat -Units!" And he's all: "WHAT?!??!" So you win...

^translated into slang for easy reading^

Very true! I think you will find that a LOT of stuff will not be in the basic game, but will be a mod very early on.

Sword style fighting is only effective against guns in fantasy settings really. Star Wars, StarCraft, Shadowrun, Vampire Hunter D, and Warhammer 40K are all really just fantasy settings with some sci-fi windrow dressing taped on. Given the feel and tone of the kickstarter trailer and that it's a spiritual successor to Total Annihilation, I doubt there are going to be melee units. Shot gun, flame-thrower type units, maybe, depends on what Uber thinks. That being said, I doubt the OP did themselves any favours by linking a starcraft unit, particularly since starcraft is kinda the opposite end of the RTS spectrum from what PA wants to be.

Also to chime in on the guns vs melee weapons debate in general. The lethality of guns isn't just their range but the amount of energy they deliver to the target as compared to a blade or similar melee weapon. Force = mass x Velocity(squared). A bullet isn't just penetrating it's target it also transferring the energy of a small explosion into it's target. Any armor that can stop a bullet is going to stop a blade. A hammer or a similar weapon might have some effectiveness just by virtue of transferring energy through the armour into to target. Swords are horrible anti-armour weapons.

and; what about a landmine field? or the ability for some units to set booby traps

thats why hand to hand units could be really great; as they could make a swarm of cheap units that can crush even tanks ^^

I don't think I want to see swords or power axes in this game, even though it was really cool in Metal Fatigue.

But then again I wouldn't mind seeing it though as long as its cool and in style. So I guess its good as long as it looks cool and enhances gameplay.

What I want too see though is a player Mech with a pistol, like Megatron transformed to a badass lazr pistol that Starscream used in the cartoon serie, short range and do good damage. Also if they will add megabots to this game I would like to see one of them use a pistol as secondary short range wep. Maybe Lazer revolver :mrgreen:

You want melee units to fight tanks ... and win? Not even Dawn of War tried that afaik.

I'll be shooting my hand to hand units towards your tech 2 reactors with my unit cannon.

Enjoy that crater full of lava you once called "your base."

They aren't melee units, they are melee tanks on legs!

My melee unit will flip your tanks and leave them to be shot in their squisy underside.

Little thing called AA. I'll try and dodge the pieces of your units falling out of the sky

which should not do anything more than token damage (the falling peices i mean). Because its annyoing as hell when your defense works perfectly and half your base explodes anyway. Especialy if the cause of your woes is half a system away and you have no means of striking back (as opposed to normal artiller where it is much easier to strike back.

Don't build a self destructing base? Falling aircraft aren't a terrible thing, especially since they deliver a good chunk of reclaim for their trouble.

There were many threads about having the UI help rebuild your base and maintain it from damage. A strong UI should be able to handle any level of damage from falling bombs.

thats why i said token damage.

The largest problem i had with this was czar drops, where you take out the czar before it reaches you and it still lands on your base dealing more damage than it would have if you let it reach you.

Not that there will be a czar to drop but the basic theory is the same. if it takes X metal to amass group of units large enough (say a crash does 100 damage, thats maybe 20-30 guys) to drop right on a persons fusion reactor where it will be destroyed by crash damage... thats bad.

CZAR drops cost 45K Mass. I don't see the problem with paying 4 times the cost of a nuke to get a weapon that does a quarter damage, over a quarter of the area, which is fairly trivial to shoot down with decent air power, which ALSO gifts most of its value at the same time. It's honestly not THAT bad of a thing. Just spread out your base and you'll be fine.

(Yes, I know Supcom was really terrible about spreading out bases, which is why base flattening AoE was so game endingly powerful. TA encouraged a far more sprawled design, mitigating these issues.)

well as i said, there will be no czar equivalent, but if unit drops will either spawn a unit or deal x damage, x damage should be small so it can't be abused as a form of interplanitary artillery.

I dunno. Asteroids look like the new CZAR to me.

Throwing dead husks of units at your enemy is not a big deal if they can repair the damage. They also get the wreckage, which is practically free money. Why do you hate free money? I'll take hundred of dead units raining down on my bases any day.

its not free money if you needed the fusion ractor in that instant. maybe artillery was the wrong word, maybe interplanetary tac missile.

Letting the UFO get in your base?

Not destroying it before its even nearby?

Letting someone even build one???

Doing it wrong brah.

While I like the idea of a fast unit with a powerful gun that could be used for raiding under defended areas, I dislike the idea of melee units. They just don't fit into the look and feel of a TA/SupCom spiritual successor.

As I understand it soldiers carry knives more for utility than actual combat use. Although they do give you something to fall back on if you run out of ammo a knife is not going to save you in a gun fight. A pistol is just as or even more effective in close quarters and still provides some options for ranged combat.

I do like the idea of land and sea mines though. Maybe even aerial or orbital mines as well? How about cruise missile type units? I think the Aeon had something like that.

FLAME-THOWERS IT IS!

Crash damage should do meaningful damage otherwise you may as well not have falling units at all, it would be nothing more than pointless window dressing.

It's an interesting and sensible mechanic. Don't be such a carebear.