Future Mecha-based Game

[Stellar_Magic]

This is sort of an outgrowth of a discussion I had with a couple of my friends, when we were talking about future campaigns we'd like to run. One theme that sort of showed up was that a couple of them were interested in doing a Mecha based game, and I thought I'd start doing some groundwork on a setting for such a game. I don't expect to see this campaign start anytime soon, as we've got three games going that we do in turns.

Anyway... A Mecha-based campaign.

One of my friends is rather big into the whole Gundam thing, while I'm more of a fan of the Full Metal Panic, and then there's Macross... I think the best way to go about this is to hybridize them somewhat.

Instead of the whole Terra vs. Spacer element of Gundam, I'm thinking of going with a three way conflict for the backdrop. Earth is basically split between the America and it's allies (NATO + Japan, Korea, and a couple of others) and China and it's allies (The BRICS group - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).

As the conflict between the two forces on Earth heats up, those in space colonies declare independence in a bid to keep themselves from being drawn into the war on Earth. Unfortunately this results in a three way war, with the space colonies trying to maintain their independence from NATO and BRICS attempts to reclaim them, along with fighting between NATO and BRICS itself over dwindling natural resources on Earth.

The space colonies are extremely valuable strategic locations as their construction was primarily for the collection of solar energy for power, this power was then beamed to Earth (Essentially the colonies form a very basic form of Dyson Swarm). In addition the colonies were also the only place for the production of materials that could only be formed in micro-gravity environments.

[avr]

China's fought wars with Russia and India both and there's enough bad blood there to make it an unlikely alliance, unless they were forced to it. So, better describe just what forced them to it; a resource shortage alone would set them against each other. Did NATO start making demands or something?

Are there neutrals on Earth? Plenty of nations (or just their leaders) would be very happy to not get rocks or gundams dropped on their heads.

What is the role of the PCs? Are they an elite military force or something else? Is it purely a military campaign or is there RP outside the cockpit and the base?

What game system would you use?

[Stellar_Magic]

I'm working on a sort of 'semi-universal' D100 system, this will probably use that system. It's kind of like WH40K's system for some things, though I prefer rolling against a 'target difficulty' number instead of your proficiency. There's a huge difference between shooting 15 meter tall mecha and... well, a squirrel.

I haven't determined what side the PCs will be on, as that is something I'll be thinking about later once I've got the broad setting nailed down. That and I think they'll want input on that.

As for the BRICS coalition. It's an actual international agreement that already exists, though it's mostly meant as an economic alliance to counter the EU, G5, and America currently, it also has joint weapons development and procurement programs. I'm thinking that Russia's current economic woes will lead China into effectively funding the Russian government through the purchase of government bonds. Overall, as a group they're pretty close to self-sufficient. What one lacks the others have... with one major exception.

FOOD

One thing the largest members of the BRICS coalition face is that they are all dependent on importing food, this inability to feed themselves will likely cause them to lash out on food exporting nations... like Ukraine, Canada, and the United States. Finally, the United States, Japan, and the EU all will have space development programs that will compete with BRICS efforts to exploit space for power.

Essentially the group's members will break down this way...

Brazil - The primary fuel supplier for the BRICS coalition once Russia's oil supplies are exhausted, thanks to its industrial scale ethanol production from sugarcane which it exports to the other nations in the group. It already provides military training to China through a pilot exchange program (Brazil's aircraft carrier Sao Paulo is where China is training it's naval pilots for the three carriers it currently is building), and will strengthen those ties through additional programs. Brazil is a minor food exporter, but a rather small player in that market compared to the United States.

Russia - The once mighty bear, Russia's economic woes in 2014 following the dropping price of oil and sanctions from the EU and America leave Russia dependent on foreign investment and support to fund it's government. With the world bank under EU and American control, Russia is forced to turn to China for support. In exchange, Russia exports oil until it's supplies run dry as well as vast amounts of basic raw materials to China and other members of the BRICS group. Already Russia has a joint aircraft development program with India for the creation of the Suhkoi PAK FA, and other such programs will likely continue. With the thawing of the Arctic, Russia will have significantly more valuable northern ports then before and a direct means of attacking Canada and the United States across the Arctic Ocean. Not to mention the value of their expertise with space stations and so forth.

In addition, any alliance with Russia will ultimately include it's satellites: Belarus and Kazakhstan.

India - The largest member, by population, of the BRICS group. India's greatest resource is it's population, as well as it's greatest challenge. This makes India a hungry market for finished goods produced by China. At the same time India will likely become one of the major producers of textiles, and less complex machinery... It's burgeoning economy allows it to fund development of military equipment by Russia, which it will eagerly buy up in large quantities. At the same time, that economy will buoy up Russia, allowing them to modernize. Hunger for resources and food will drive India to look toward its neighbors, Indonesia, Thailand, and so forth.

China - The most powerful, economically and politically of the BRICS group, China is now modernizing it's military and developing it's ability to project force through beefing up and expanding the PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy). They are now on par with Russia in terms of military technology and development - currently developing stealth fighters (both carrier based and conventional). Unlike India, which will purchase military goods outright from Russia, China will pursue licensing agreements with Russia and use their designs as a starting point for further development. In addition, China will opt to purchase arms from western and western leaning manufacturers like IMI (already all Chinese tanks use Israeli made main guns). Their military will be an odd hybrid of western and eastern developments in many regards.

China's primary concern will be to insure it's stability, which it maintains by military control. Their dependence on imports for food will make them view any threat to food shipments as a existential threat, as a famine would likely greatly destabilize their economy. In foreign relations, China will make extensive attempts to keep western influence far from their borders. Likely flashpoints include Hong Kong, Taiwan, and a number of islands China has claimed in recent years.

North Korea remains a satellite of China, whose sole purpose is to be a barrier between South Korea and China, due to fears of western influence.

South Africa - If there is one thing South Africa has, it's natural resources. South Africa is the BRICS group's source of nuclear fuel, diamonds, and other rare natural resources. Considering it's stability compared to its neighbors and occasional bouts of aggression, South Africa may ultimately have designs on the African continent. It's immediate neighbors have unexploited natural resources and historically weak governments. In addition, some of them are the only places with decent food production in Africa. South Africa's position in the African Union also allows it to bully it's neighbors, and it would be all to easy for them to decide destabilize a neighbor for an excuse to launch a 'humanitarian aid' mission and annex them.

Plus, South Africa has a pretty substantial military industrial complex of its own.

The trigger for the conflict will come down to two critical resource shortages for the globe... one of which the solution lies in space.

With the effects of Global Warming, food production will suffer just as human population peaks. Poor harvests in Ukraine cause famine in Russia in particular, while the international price of wheat rising will hit China and India hard. Food shortages cause rioting and civil unrest in China and India... perhaps Chinese, Russian, American, and Japanese fishing trawlers skirmish over fishing grounds in the North Pacific as well, sparking conflicts between the navies of both sides.

Then there comes the issue of energy consumption. Simply put, with fossil fuels running out (or totally spent) the major space faring nations will be attempting to create what is known as a Dyson Swam (space colonies built to collect and redirect the solar energy for use back on Earth). These energy collectors could easily be weaponized, turning the beam of energy meant for a planet based receiving station into a massive laser would be all to easy.

At the same time there will be competition for nuclear fuel as well... which BRICS has more of then the NATO, America, and her allies have thanks to South Africa.

America and her friends have all the food, BRICS has all the power.

Then some of the space colonies try and go independent and things get even more complicated.

As for neutrals... there will be some, but very few will be able to maintain such neutrality. Like the Cold War, most countries will be courted by both sides... and old leaning will come out in force.

I think I'll talk about Mecha development later (suffice to say Japan leads it... surprise, surprise).

[Stellar_Magic]

Mecha - Development History.

Like many things, development of humanoid combat mechs was an incremental thing, with different nations creating elements and systems that would ultimately be combined into the development of large scale humanoid piloted mechs. One doesn't go straight from the gasoline motor to building tanks after all... you need to develop tractors first.

In America the leaders for robotic development and design will come from the company known as Boston Dynamics. The number of projects they've worked on that would lead to future mecha systems is immense: BigDog, AlphaDog, LittleDog, Cheetah, WildCat, Atlas, LS3, PETMAN, and SandFlea are all examples of such systems. While only Atlas and PETMAN focused on the humanoid form... the articulation, motion control, and other developments that have come from BigDog, AlphaDog, LittleDog, Cheetah, WildCat, and LS3 will no doubt influence future designs.

The LS3, Legged Squad Support System, will no doubt mature into a military system. In many ways, it will seem like a bit of a throwback seeing what amounts to a mechanical pack mule traveling with infantry squads, but that's the basic plan. No doubt units that spend more time in rugged terrain will prefer them to conventional 4x4 vehicles... I would not be surprised to see service trials of the system by the 10th Mountain Division in the future. If that isn't enough, current plans include provisions for mounting weapons to this quadruped.

While America has focused on drone and quadrupedal developments, Japan has focused on humanoid robotics. There are a number of reasons for this, the greatest of which is due to a declining labor pool. Many westerners are surprised by the amount of automation in use in Japan already, with things like ordering food already being handled automatically. This will expand with further improvements to robotics to include things like robotic servers and so forth.

Already civilian versions of mecha are in production in japan... You can buy one for 1.3 million, though most don't walk yet. The Japanese studies already has done feasibility studies on mecha. As a result, the first country to produce a combat mech will almost certainly be Japan.

First generation mecha developed by Japan will likely reach only around 5-10 meters tall, and the majority of the world will only be interested in smaller scale mecha like that at first, though Japan will likely push on to produce 10-20 meter tall monsters akin to Gundam systems.

Besides the conventional humanoid design, Japan will likely also invest in systems where vehicle feet will feature wheels for increased speed on paved surfaces. Additionally, quadrupedal pop-up designs for tanks are likely to be considered by South Korea, as they've already invested a lot of money in a tank that can rise up and drop down on its suspension to fire.

By the time the game will begin, all major countries will have their own mecha and most other nations will have purchased older export variants. Tactically, most countries will still be grappling with how to use them. Three major versions of humanoid mecha will be deployed alongside tanks, APCs, and other conventional weapons.

Small-scale Mecha will be the most common form, essentially being a miniaturized mecha designed for use in urban combat as a shock or assault infantryman. Stature will likely be around 2-4 meters, and it will be equipped with weapons roughly akin to an infantryman, enlarged by a factor of 2x. So instead of an 5.56mm M16 or M4 carbine, they might carry a 12.7mm carbine into combat, 15mm or even 20mm sniper rifle, and larger more potent missiles for anti-tank use. Armor for such mechs will be relatively thin, perhaps as little as 20mm around the pilot compartment.

Medium-scale Mecha will be the next most common form. Ranging from around 5-10 meters in height, they tend to serve as a infantry support and high mobility weapon, akin in some ways to an attack helicopter. Armament will be scaled up versions of normal infantry arms for the most part... roughly 5x the size of the infantryman's weapon. An assault rifle for this sort of mech will normally be around 25-30mm, while the equivalent for a sniper rifle will range from around 37mm to 75mm. These mechs are large enough to mount active defenses against missiles, as well as multiple smaller AT missiles in missile pods. Some may be mounted by traditional caliber machine guns slaved to the pilot's line of sight for use against infantry.

Large-scale Mecha will be the least common form. Ranging from around 10-20 meters in height, they tend to serve as a sort of modern tank destroyer or in this case... mecha destroyer. Armament is scaled up to 10x that of an infantryman, making it so their basic assault rifle will be around 50-60mm in calibre for the most part, while their bigger weapons could be as large as 140mm in size, though the majority of rifles will be around 70-80mm in calibre. Armor is significantly better then the medium-scale version, but still inferior to that of most tanks.

For mecha on the battlefield there are a large number of threats that can defeat them, as generally they have inferior armor to most traditional combat vehicles like IFVs, APCs, and Tanks. As a result they rely more on maneuverability and mobility to stay alive. An open plain or desert is among the worst places for mecha to be deployed, as there is little for them to use as cover, but mountainous or urban terrain is the best place for them in combat.

Most earth based mecha are incapable of flight, though some developed by space colonies include thruster packs for space maneuvering which are powerful enough to hold the mecha aloft for a time.