Heavy Walkery
So, it has been brought to my attention that back in Chop Shop I used the term “warstrider” without having previously defined said term, on the blog at least. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa – I really thought that those later revisions to the heavy cavalry makeup had come up before, and apparently that was only in my head.
So let’s talk about the base platforms for heavy cavalry. (As you probably recall, while they aren’t field-swappable modules, a heavy cavalry asset for the Imperial Legions consists of a base platform with a module socket, and a module fitted in said socket. The module determines the type of the asset: you have the Basher (tactical assault/”MBT”), Stormfall (long-range assault/”self-propelled gun”), Longeye (long-range assault/”self-propelled graser”), Thunderbolt (droner), Stinger (nanoswarm droner), Flammifer (tactical arsonier), Strategos (command vehicle), Pugnacious (pummel/”combat engineering vehicle”), Trison (wrecker/”combat engineering vehicle”), and Valkyrja (tankbulance).
As for the base platforms, there are two of them. The vast majority of these are the HV-type, and a heavy cavalry asset built off the HV-type platform is a tank:
The HV-type tank base platform is a low-slung vehicle with all-around glacis design, designed to minimize its target profile and give it a low center of gravity. In dimensions, it is approximately 12 m (39 ft) long, 4 m (13 ft) wide, and 3 m (10 ft) high; its total mass (varying, of course, by module), however, is of the order of 60 short tons, due to the extensive use of lightweight composites.
8 m of the length and 3.5 m of the width at the front is the module socket; height of modules varies, but none take it much above the basic 3 m height. The crew compartment is located immediately behind the module. At the rear of the platform, an externally-opening compartment can be used to hold resupply, additional ammunition, or a “hot soup” fuel pod to increase vehicle endurance.
The drivetrain of the HV-type tank makes use of neither wheels nor treads; rather, it sits atop eight semi-squishy rollagons, near-spheres of a “smart fluid” rotated electromagnetically from within the sealed main hull, enabling it to move with equal facility in any direction, at speeds of up to 150 mph on a good, flat roadbed. Note that this is not a drivetrain developed specifically for military purposes: modern civilian groundcraft use similar technology.
The propulsion system also has considerable electromagnetic control over the shape of the rollagons; while they don’t have them normally, if you need spiked wheels or some other shape-variation to cross some tricky terrain, it can provide them on demand; if need be, they can even form “paddle-propellers” for amphibious operation.
A limited vector-control/impeller system permits the tank to apply vertical thrust to itself; this is used primarily downwards on light-gravity worlds to keep ground pressure high enough for the rollagons to be effective, occasionally upwards to reduce ground pressure where the ground is soft, and even more occasionally to lessen the severity of falls, ground collapses, or deliberate drops from low-flying transports.
That being said, there are occasions where despite the incredible flexibility of the rollagon platform, you still can’t get a vehicle through with any kind of wheeled or wheel-like (rollagon, tracks, etc., etc.) drivetrain. It’s rocky. It’s partially nonexistent. It’s sheer, trending to vertical. Maybe, even, it’s been liberally filled with anti-wheel-like barriers which for some reason you can’t simply blast out of the way with any of your obscene plethora of weapons systems.
For this, there is the HS-type base platform, which can accept any of the same modules and roles as the HV-type platform. A heavy cavalry asset built off the HS-type platform is a warstrider, because civilian vehicles using walker drivetrains are generally called striders. (It’s not always such a clear parallel, such as the light cavalry using chariot to refer to the military version of the civilian skimmer, but in this case it is.)
HS-type warstrider base platform
The HS-type warstrider base platform is also a low-slung vehicle with all-around glacis design. It is designed with additional underbelly armor and point defense, since it operates further from the ground (and thus is vulnerable to weapons other than mines from beneath). In dimensions, it is approximately 12.2 m (40 ft) long, 5 m (16.5 ft) wide (due to the additional space required by the leg machinery), and 6 m (20 ft) high with the legs at full extension, capable of crouching at a standstill to 3.7 m (12 ft).
The HS-type shares its basic layout with the HV-type, with an 8 m x 3.5 m front-located module socket, capable of making use of the same modules as the HV.
The drivetrain of the HS-type warstrider makes use of six myosynth-powered articulated walking legs arranged in three pairs from front to rear. These legs extend at a slight “wide stance” diagonal to maximize stability, and end in wide foot pads to reduce ground pressure. These foot pads include mechanisms to enable them to better grip the terrain and, if necessary, climb sheer surfaces¹. While effective for traversing almost any terrain, this drivetrain is unfortunately slower than the HV-type drivetrain, giving HS-type warstriders a maximum speed of no more than 60 mph.
The HS-type also shares the limited vector-control/impeller system of the HV-type and uses it for the same purposes (primarily controlling ground pressure).
So, looking at the above, you can’t really call a warstrider a type of mecha except in the most general terms: it’s not humaniform, and it’s not vertical axis oriented for all the long-established reasons that that would be a terrible idea on the battlefield.
Names aside, it’s also not much like the typical Star Wars walker, insofar as the (Galactic) Empire loves to build these super-tall (72’/22 m for an AT-AT!) designs with a regrettable tendency to fall over when tripped by some hot-shot farm boy. (Intimidating, maybe, but the IL prefers lethal any day of the week.) The Star Wars design it is closest to is the Clone Wars era AT-TE, also a low-slung hexaped, largely because that design also makes sense.
tl;dr a warstrider really is just a tank on stubby spider legs.
They’re the minority platform because for most purposes they’re not quite as good as the HV-types. They’re slower (although the sight of one galloping at its full speed is a hell of a thing). The drivetrain is more power hungry. They’re chonkier, with a higher target profile, even when crouching in minimum-visibility posture. And so you don’t want to use them as your primary cavalry asset.
But when you need their unique capabilities, it’s very nice to have them available.
- The maneuver at Ard Beléïm where one enterprising warstrider commander had his units use their tractor-feet to hang in concealment from the cliff below a vital road and then leap out to intercept a vital Dahallan convoy was a definite “this is some arachnoid bullshit!” moment for all involved.