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 Ratius wrote:
What can beat them in their. Universe?

Similar types of giant "tanks". In their own universe war is defined by BOLO-scale weapons, so the fights are interesting. It's just one of those cases that provides a nice reminder that 40k is, at best, a mid-range universe in terms of firepower/tech level/etc and would be crushed effortlessly by the high-end stuff. Which, of course, is why nobody writes books about 40k vs. BOLOs/Culture civilian transports/etc.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Lobukia wrote:
I've always found BOLOs boring. It's like superman with no weaknesses... What's the point?

What's the point to building something that is not perfect? With the proper technology, there is no reason to put weaknesses in that which you construct. The optimum of any future tech is endless hordes of von neumann drones murdering anything that looks at the owner funny.

Oh I get that, I'm not saying "what's the point" in universe, I'm saying for me the gamer/reader, what's the point. It's like throwing 2 fleet, invisible units with 2++ rerollable saves, 4+ FNP, armourbane, fleshbane, str D ranged attacks, and IWND into a game. It's just so OP, that it's boring... What's the point. Too much Mary Sue for my taste.

 Lobukia wrote:
Oh I get that, I'm not saying "what's the point" in universe, I'm saying for me the gamer/reader, what's the point. It's like throwing 2 fleet, invisible units with 2++ rerollable saves, 4+ FNP, armourbane, fleshbane, str D ranged attacks, and IWND into a game. It's just so OP, that it's boring... What's the point. Too much Mary Sue for my taste.

What's the point of having stories about space marines (the equivalent to that overpowered unit relative to a modern soldier) then? It's so OP and Mary Sue. In fact, why have stories about modern soldiers when they're so overpowered compared to cavemen with clubs?

 Peregrine wrote:

 Lobukia wrote:
Oh I get that, I'm not saying "what's the point" in universe, I'm saying for me the gamer/reader, what's the point. It's like throwing 2 fleet, invisible units with 2++ rerollable saves, 4+ FNP, armourbane, fleshbane, str D ranged attacks, and IWND into a game. It's just so OP, that it's boring... What's the point. Too much Mary Sue for my taste.

What's the point of having stories about space marines (the equivalent to that overpowered unit relative to a modern soldier) then? It's so OP and Mary Sue. In fact, why have stories about modern soldiers when they're so overpowered compared to cavemen with clubs?

It becomes pointless when I say "Space Marine vs WW2 soldier" or "WW2 soldier vs Caveman"

Accept those are poor examples... and your analogy is poor, in that in both of the above its plausible for the underdog to win. A better analogy would be Space Marine vs infant... as that's how silly the BOLO fluff is when comparing it to 40k... so silly, that it's pointless.

 Lobukia wrote:
A better analogy would be Space Marine vs infant... as that's how silly the BOLO fluff is when comparing it to 40k... so silly, that it's pointless.

Yes, but you asked why the BOLO books are interesting and what the point of having a war between super-units is. That's not the same as a BOLO vs. 40k units, which is a story that nobody cares about outside of "who would win" forum discussions.

Nobody. They'd tie.

 Lobukia wrote:

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Lobukia wrote:
I've always found BOLOs boring. It's like superman with no weaknesses... What's the point?

What's the point to building something that is not perfect? With the proper technology, there is no reason to put weaknesses in that which you construct. The optimum of any future tech is endless hordes of von neumann drones murdering anything that looks at the owner funny.

Oh I get that, I'm not saying "what's the point" in universe, I'm saying for me the gamer/reader, what's the point. It's like throwing 2 fleet, invisible units with 2++ rerollable saves, 4+ FNP, armourbane, fleshbane, str D ranged attacks, and IWND into a game. It's just so OP, that it's boring... What's the point. Too much Mary Sue for my taste.

The main draw of the Bolo stories is that they present the Bolos, designed to be the ultimate war machines, as self-sacrificing and sometimes more human than their commanders. Stories in which the main Bolo characters survive at all (let alone undamaged in their AI mind or body) are rare.

And ultimately...

The Bolo stories are interesting because (as it has been mentioned) they delve deeper than the war-porn that 40k is.

That's not to say that war-porn is entirely absent (hell, there's still quite a lot of it), but that the stories raise questions about the "humane" use of AIs, or what it means to be truly loyal, or what it means to be human as opposed to a machine, or what it means to "decomission" something as alive as a Bolo, or how dangerous/helpful/whatever an autonomous, self-aware AI really is.