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Somebody say drones?

 ChiliPowderKeg wrote:
Somebody say drones?

You have my dream army almost 10 years ago.

Love the little guys.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Gamgee wrote:


Edit
It's not "speculation". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_X-47B

That is simply a test bed aircraft. It was making decisions on its own how to land. I can't seem to get this through to you. Spaceships would be flown by AI or as close as we can get to AI. It's simply a fact of life. Humans are slow.

Cool, when does it start knowing enemy from ally? When is it trusted enough to work without humans light years away? How does it respond when the carrier is dead?

Oh wait, we don't know. Why? Because it's simply speculation. And we all know how well speculating the future goes (not very well 99.99% of the time).

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:
The satellites around earth are on a time delay. Oldest thing ever. The data sent around the globe every day time travels.
It doesn't really matter when your main gun will blow up half a continent anyways.

If you mean space combat? Again any sufficiently advanced ships would have sensor systems capable of reaching far beyond into space and back to the ship in question really quickly. It's one of the main thing needed to make a space ship navigate space and not crash.

There is nothing wrong with it is what you say, but your tone indicates derision.

Im not ridiculing you, I fully understand why people like it. Just like why people like pacific rim etc. But remember you where the one complaining about complainers, I merely stated why people might be complaining.

As for space, Im spaced out. Anyway you are wrong. If you think otherwise make a thread about it. How do you think the rediculious time delay between systems or planets will work when you are trying to invade a planet with remote control ships? Not well. Even as close as mars there is a 15 minute delay (from memory) in controls and response. This gets worse the further away you get.

There's a fifteen minute delay because that's how long it takes light to get there and transmit the orders. In the future super computer and quantum computers will be more than capable of flying and fighting for us. We've got a drone fighter aircraft that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier today (trials). One of the hardest things for any fighter pilot to do. Right now with no super computers.

You don't sound like you know much about space, spaceflight, or computers. So yeah. I'll stop.

"There's a fifteen minute delay because that's how long it takes light to get there and transmit the orders" no gak sherlock. So what happens when the enemy does something and the drone asks for orders? We end up replying hours late and our forces could be dead.

Sure maybe we have magic computers that do decisions with combat, but then thats speculation then isnt it?

It's only speculation if your have a closed mind. Drone combat is the future. The US armed forces know it, the space program knows it, and anyone with an eye for the future knows it. It's not if it's when.

Sure mate, just like scientists once though land battle ships were the future, or when the military insisted cavalry charges are still the future, or when they tried to insist on using tanks as infantry support weapons and so on. The future changes during wars not before them.

I think you will find drones turn out differently in reality (as all weapons do) than they do in test trials.

Anyway, tips fedora. Hope that keen eye of the future helps kid.

The land battleship? You mean like the tank? Lol which was originally called a land battleship.

Edit
Google smart cars so far have proven to get in less accidents than humans. It won't be too long until everything is done for us. I mean people's thinking is even being done for them these days. Well most people's thinking.

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:
The satellites around earth are on a time delay. Oldest thing ever. The data sent around the globe every day time travels.
It doesn't really matter when your main gun will blow up half a continent anyways.

If you mean space combat? Again any sufficiently advanced ships would have sensor systems capable of reaching far beyond into space and back to the ship in question really quickly. It's one of the main thing needed to make a space ship navigate space and not crash.

There is nothing wrong with it is what you say, but your tone indicates derision.

Im not ridiculing you, I fully understand why people like it. Just like why people like pacific rim etc. But remember you where the one complaining about complainers, I merely stated why people might be complaining.

As for space, Im spaced out. Anyway you are wrong. If you think otherwise make a thread about it. How do you think the rediculious time delay between systems or planets will work when you are trying to invade a planet with remote control ships? Not well. Even as close as mars there is a 15 minute delay (from memory) in controls and response. This gets worse the further away you get.

There's a fifteen minute delay because that's how long it takes light to get there and transmit the orders. In the future super computer and quantum computers will be more than capable of flying and fighting for us. We've got a drone fighter aircraft that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier today (trials). One of the hardest things for any fighter pilot to do. Right now with no super computers.

You don't sound like you know much about space, spaceflight, or computers. So yeah. I'll stop.

"There's a fifteen minute delay because that's how long it takes light to get there and transmit the orders" no gak sherlock. So what happens when the enemy does something and the drone asks for orders? We end up replying hours late and our forces could be dead.

Sure maybe we have magic computers that do decisions with combat, but then thats speculation then isnt it?

It's only speculation if your have a closed mind. Drone combat is the future. The US armed forces know it, the space program knows it, and anyone with an eye for the future knows it. It's not if it's when.

Sure mate, just like scientists once though land battle ships were the future, or when the military insisted cavalry charges are still the future, or when they tried to insist on using tanks as infantry support weapons and so on. The future changes during wars not before them.

I think you will find drones turn out differently in reality (as all weapons do) than they do in test trials.

Anyway, tips fedora. Hope that keen eye of the future helps kid.

The land battleship? You mean like the tank? Lol which was originally called a land battleship.

Edit
Google smart cars so far have proven to get in less accidents than humans. It won't be too long until everything is done for us. I mean people's thinking is even being done for them these days. Well most people's thinking.

No, I mean the huge land battleships with multiple turrets. They started trying to make some (T-35 was one of the more "successful" ones).

Again, speculation that humans will not be present in ships and that they will simply use robot ships to bomb people into submission (bombing people doesnt work often by the way) and that endless counter measures wont be put in place to make sure humans are needed just in case. Speculation. I forgot though you can see the future.

Anyway, im not saying you are wrong, but you arent right. You are simply speculating. Make another thread if you disagree one who sees future. Whats the lottery gonna be this month? PM me, ill give you 50% winnings.

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:
The satellites around earth are on a time delay. Oldest thing ever. The data sent around the globe every day time travels.
It doesn't really matter when your main gun will blow up half a continent anyways.

If you mean space combat? Again any sufficiently advanced ships would have sensor systems capable of reaching far beyond into space and back to the ship in question really quickly. It's one of the main thing needed to make a space ship navigate space and not crash.

There is nothing wrong with it is what you say, but your tone indicates derision.

Im not ridiculing you, I fully understand why people like it. Just like why people like pacific rim etc. But remember you where the one complaining about complainers, I merely stated why people might be complaining.

As for space, Im spaced out. Anyway you are wrong. If you think otherwise make a thread about it. How do you think the rediculious time delay between systems or planets will work when you are trying to invade a planet with remote control ships? Not well. Even as close as mars there is a 15 minute delay (from memory) in controls and response. This gets worse the further away you get.

There's a fifteen minute delay because that's how long it takes light to get there and transmit the orders. In the future super computer and quantum computers will be more than capable of flying and fighting for us. We've got a drone fighter aircraft that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier today (trials). One of the hardest things for any fighter pilot to do. Right now with no super computers.

You don't sound like you know much about space, spaceflight, or computers. So yeah. I'll stop.

"There's a fifteen minute delay because that's how long it takes light to get there and transmit the orders" no gak sherlock. So what happens when the enemy does something and the drone asks for orders? We end up replying hours late and our forces could be dead.

Sure maybe we have magic computers that do decisions with combat, but then thats speculation then isnt it?

It's only speculation if your have a closed mind. Drone combat is the future. The US armed forces know it, the space program knows it, and anyone with an eye for the future knows it. It's not if it's when.

Sure mate, just like scientists once though land battle ships were the future, or when the military insisted cavalry charges are still the future, or when they tried to insist on using tanks as infantry support weapons and so on. The future changes during wars not before them.

I think you will find drones turn out differently in reality (as all weapons do) than they do in test trials.

Anyway, tips fedora. Hope that keen eye of the future helps kid.

The land battleship? You mean like the tank? Lol which was originally called a land battleship.

Edit
Google smart cars so far have proven to get in less accidents than humans. It won't be too long until everything is done for us. I mean people's thinking is even being done for them these days. Well most people's thinking.

No, I mean the huge land battleships with multiple turrets. They started trying to make some (T-35 was one of the more "successful" ones).

Again, speculation that humans will not be present in ships and that they will simply use robot ships to bomb people into submission (bombing people doesnt work often by the way) and that endless counter measures wont be put in place to make sure humans are needed just in case. Speculation. I forgot though you can see the future.

Bombing people is pretty effective when its a nuke. Check WW2 Japan for that out. Also just do even casual research and you'll find the drone tide rising on all fronts. For now they mostly need human assistance, but some of them don't. Cars can drive on their own now and fighter airplanes are being made to. It's now on you to provide counter points usually links to state why drone warfare is not the future and why quantum computers won't be a gigantic leap in computing power.

Good luck.

Edit
Not everything comes true or is only useful until something replaces it. The land battleships turned out to be a failure, but at this point drone technology is advancing rapidly because it has proven itself. Unlike the land battleship which soon proved impractical.

"drones will fight wars for us from lightyears away"

"prove they won't"

Find some evidence to prove your assertion first.

In a shameless nod to WHFB the new Tau T'n Kan xv0003458 will be given the same rules as those used for drunken giants falling over!

 Selym wrote:
"drones will fight wars for us from lightyears away"

"prove they won't"

Find some evidence to prove your assertion first.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/8320245/Spacecraft-to-be-controlled-by-artificial-intelligence.html

http://www.iiis.org/CDs2011/CD2011SCI/SCI_2011/PapersPdf/SA517LI.pdf

I never said humans won't be in the ships. I mean we made them to travel, but for the most point the artificial intelligence will be doing the fighting.

The tau saw that the imperials needed more,things to blast with grav weapons, and obliged with more giant suits to ride around in.

After capturing a platoon of guardsman, and discovering the giant pair they each have to carry around to go into battle armoured in nothin gut cardboard and wielding a flash light, the tau developed these new suits to help them compensate for their deficiencies.

GW figures that interceptor ap2/3 isn't good enough, so created new AP1 blast interceptor suits. Because deep striking is for suckers.

To help balance things, they are going to make all of the new riptide variants GCs. The classic riptide, however, will stil be a MC, because sales.

 Gamgee wrote:

 Selym wrote:
"drones will fight wars for us from lightyears away"

"prove they won't"

Find some evidence to prove your assertion first.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/8320245/Spacecraft-to-be-controlled-by-artificial-intelligence.html

http://www.iiis.org/CDs2011/CD2011SCI/SCI_2011/PapersPdf/SA517LI.pdf

I never said humans won't be in the ships. I mean we made them to travel, but for the most point the artificial intelligence will be doing the fighting.

Those articles just say that we can use AI in spaceships to compensate for the lag involved in communicating over extreme distances. Your assertion of remote warfare is just speculation. Drones may be impractical for taking/holding ground. They might too susceptible to electronic warfare to make for good soldiers. Who knows?

 TheCustomLime wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 Selym wrote:
"drones will fight wars for us from lightyears away"

"prove they won't"

Find some evidence to prove your assertion first.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/8320245/Spacecraft-to-be-controlled-by-artificial-intelligence.html

http://www.iiis.org/CDs2011/CD2011SCI/SCI_2011/PapersPdf/SA517LI.pdf

I never said humans won't be in the ships. I mean we made them to travel, but for the most point the artificial intelligence will be doing the fighting.

Those articles just say that we can use AI in spaceships to compensate for the lag involved in communicating over extreme distances. Your assertion of remote warfare is just speculation. Drones may be impractical for taking/holding ground. They might too susceptible to electronic warfare to make for good soldiers. Who knows?

More than anyone else has done. No one expected them to use AI at all for anything.

https://gigaom.com/2015/02/13/how-nasa-uses-quantum-computing-for-space-travel-and-robotics/

Drones, AI, Virtual Intelligence, computers, super computers, or quantum computers. Whatever form it takes it's evident that more and more of everything will become automated in our daily lives. It's ridiculous to think it would stay the same or become less. Sure it's mostly speculation because its in its infancy but ultimately there is a lot of evidence. Where as no one here at all has linked anything to say otherwise.

No one has even tried. That's just it isn't. No one even tries. They just give up.

Leave the future to those who can best shape it.

You post links but they don't offer hard evidence to back up your assertions. They just say that we can put advanced computers on space craft. You could post links about how we can put machine guns on drones and that is just as much evidence that we will conduct warfare remotely from lightyears away in the future.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
You post links but they don't offer hard evidence to back up your assertions. They just say that we can put advanced computers on space craft. You could post links about how we can put machine guns on drones and that is just as much evidence that we will conduct warfare remotely from lightyears away in the future.

That's because hard evidence doesn't exist for ideas this new without access to university computers or if I search the internet for hour son end. Which is far more than I'm willing to do. Some of the best science is all speculation since we can't actually get there. So many times people discount the fact that many times speculation is right as it is wrong. Or else we would never have made it to the moon. Would never have predicted we had the planets we did. Or predicted we had moons around those planets. It was all speculation without hard proof but the speculative science of the day was accurate.

Even if I were to link drones with guns on them it technically proves nothing by your assertions since they are usually human controlled or assisted like Predator arial drones. Does it offer soft evidence? Yes, but hard proof? No. I hope we never get hard proof of wide spread drone warfare don't you?

http://www.newsweek.com/gun-shooting-drone-newsweek-talks-inventors-dad-355723

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2868925/US-Navy-reveals-boat-mounted-laser-shoot-drones-boats-doubles-hubble-water-laser-surveillance-use.html

 Gamgee wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
You post links but they don't offer hard evidence to back up your assertions. They just say that we can put advanced computers on space craft. You could post links about how we can put machine guns on drones and that is just as much evidence that we will conduct warfare remotely from lightyears away in the future.

That's because hard evidence doesn't exist for ideas this new without access to university computers or if I search the internet for hour son end. Which is far more than I'm willing to do. Some of the best science is all speculation since we can't actually get there. So many times people discount the fact that many times speculation is right as it is wrong. Or else we would never have made it to the moon. Would never have predicted we had the planets we did. Or predicted we had moons around those planets. It was all speculation without hard proof but the speculative science of the day was accurate.

Even if I were to link drones with guns on them it technically proves nothing by your assertions since they are usually human controlled or assisted like Predator arial drones. Does it offer soft evidence? Yes, but hard proof? No. I hope we never get hard proof of wide spread drone warfare don't you?

http://www.newsweek.com/gun-shooting-drone-newsweek-talks-inventors-dad-355723

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator

I agree that thinking about things is good and the few correct we've had led to great achievements in science. However, that doesn't mean you can act like people who disagree with you are uninformed Luddites.

And my stance on Drone Warfare is that I don't care. If the US army wants to bomb some poor brown people to make the American public feel safer it doesn't matter who is dropping the bombs. Drones are just another tool of warfare and it's not like they are even the first impersonal one. Artillery is a tool of remote, anonymous mass murder that we have been using for centuries.

 TheCustomLime wrote:

 Gamgee wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
You post links but they don't offer hard evidence to back up your assertions. They just say that we can put advanced computers on space craft. You could post links about how we can put machine guns on drones and that is just as much evidence that we will conduct warfare remotely from lightyears away in the future.

That's because hard evidence doesn't exist for ideas this new without access to university computers or if I search the internet for hour son end. Which is far more than I'm willing to do. Some of the best science is all speculation since we can't actually get there. So many times people discount the fact that many times speculation is right as it is wrong. Or else we would never have made it to the moon. Would never have predicted we had the planets we did. Or predicted we had moons around those planets. It was all speculation without hard proof but the speculative science of the day was accurate.

Even if I were to link drones with guns on them it technically proves nothing by your assertions since they are usually human controlled or assisted like Predator arial drones. Does it offer soft evidence? Yes, but hard proof? No. I hope we never get hard proof of wide spread drone warfare don't you?

http://www.newsweek.com/gun-shooting-drone-newsweek-talks-inventors-dad-355723

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator

I agree that thinking about things is good and the few correct we've had led to great achievements in science. However, that doesn't mean you can act like people who disagree with you are uninformed Luddites.

And my stance on Drone Warfare is that I don't care. If the US army wants to bomb some poor brown people to make the American public feel safer it doesn't matter who is dropping the bombs. Drones are just another tool of warfare and it's not like they are even the first impersonal one. Artillery is a tool of remote, anonymous mass murder that we have been using for centuries.

That's not widespread drone warfare. That's small time. In the grand scheme of things these conflicts are fairly minor. A good thing if you ask me. Do i wish they would stop waging war yeah? But sometimes do you have to defend yourself. How against terrorism I don't know. That's not so easy to bomb an area of a country when they could be anywhere in the world. Honestly paying attention to terrorists and focusing on them like its some big new threat that is world ending is funny. The more footage you give them the happier they are.

In an ideal world no war would be needed at all, but that's not the world we live in. That's about my stance on that.

To be fair, I was worried that the game was lacking in big stupid robots, so props to GW for adding ANOTHER one...ugh.

Maybe it has a compartment full of ancient strength 4 kroot to help push it back up when it falls over?

The bigger stealth suit doesn't look so bad though, will be interested to hear about what it can do!

All that I am hoping for is that GW makes these things walkers. They are giant robots with armour and pilots. In no way should these things be considered a gargantuan creature.

The ideal support to Shas'o M'kal Flat'li, leader of Hunter Cadre Riverdance...

 the Signless wrote:
All that I am hoping for is that GW makes these things walkers. They are giant robots with armour and pilots. In no way should these things be considered a gargantuan creature.

But the precious snowflake Tau mustn't be beatable until the next codex D:

Gamgee your wrong.

Some of you points are right such as drone warfare will be the next gen warfare with hacking warfare as there are minimum casulties and will be highly effective as being nimble, however you say gs won't matter due to humans but sorry mate your wrong. The gs will still matter whether there is a pilot or not as the planes will rip their wings off if you turn too much, and yes you could achive higher gs but only slightly due to the structure of the planes. Also someone said that warfare changes with war, well open you eyes and look up the war with somalia, Iraq war and the Iran-Iraq war because I am pretty sure they are wars we were in not too long ago which has lead to drones.

Also I am sorry but there will be no AI. True AI is a machine that can fool another human into thinking that the machine is human. Even Stephen Hawking says that AI is too dangerous to handle as all though films portray things stupidly like the matrix the AI can do that as it would be able to hack any security we have which is a possiblity to lead to something like skynet. Now that may seem stupid but really you would be bringing up a child (the AI) due to it being self learning and if the AI is brought up angry then this could happen as AI is just too unpredictable and don't come up with back up protocols arguement because some idiot will mess it up as this is just destined to happen at some point dur to all the variables.

What you are describing is just a program not an AI, now I will agree that ships will be controlled by programs to go places but they will not be AI as the plane that is landing is using a program using statement to determine what to do with the calculations for itself and the plane can not think for itself in that of AI (the line here gets fuzzy without going into some indepth stuff and we are going off topic too far)

Shooting light years is impractical clue is in the name, years.

Back to the game, its not stupid when you see the Emperor Class Titan because if that can make planetfall and then walk then Tau can have their version seeing how no one complains about imperial titans which are bigger and just as stupid.

Uh you know lightyears is a measurement of distance and not time right?

 Gamgee wrote:
Uh you know lightyears is a measurement of distance and not time right?

It is measurement of distance by going at the speed of light and that distance is just too stupid to fire across if you have to use that measurement

Edit: even if you fire something 0.5 light year for something to go at the fast speed, that is light, it would take half a year to cover 3 trillion miles roughly

Yeah, the speed cap is light speed. The thing wouldn't hit for years, making it functionally useless.

 Gamgee wrote:
Uh you know lightyears is a measurement of distance and not time right?

It's a measurement of both, as "Light Speed" is the universe's hard cap on velocity.

Any gun that takes a year to hit its target is an utterly pointless weapon. Not that you could feasibly get even close to 0.5 lightyears per year within the known bounds of physics.

Your all assuming we don't have faster than light weapons at that time. Something I find unlikely considering we have a gigantic freaking space ship that is moving faster than light or tricking the system like a warp drive.

Even if we have to dial the ranges down from that they would still be unbelievably long ranged combat from vast distances and with extremely accurate ships.Tens of thousands of kilometers fights could easily happen.

My point is fights would occur from so far away that many of the dumb things in 40k are irrelevant and dumb. Even more so if the ship is controlled by a super computer.

Some ships could even be gigantic hacking ships that try and take over the opponents ships ect. My point is the combat in the far future of real life will be far different and more practical than anything in 40k.

So what does it matter if the Tau are suddenly silly? They never were some serious faction that people claim them to be. I'm not arguing about space here. This debate was never once about me being a space expert, it's to highlight the ridiculousness of the claim that the Tau were super practical and smart race when they make dumb choices like the entire setting.

That's okay though I love 40k a lot for its insanity. Part of its charm, but I just found it a flimsy excuse to hate the new suits. If you don't like them sure, but throwing out things like they used to be practical is just silly.

FTL is the one thing we can never be sure of. We'll probably have NLS engines though.

the_scotsman wrote:
Option A) There is some sort of hand wavey fluff for how it rights itself when it falls over. What is it?

Option B ) It's clear instability is reflected in the fluff. What is the funniest instance of its impact?

Option C) It's instability is reflected in gameplay. What are the rules?

Option D) GW believes it has designed a functional machine that wouldn't fail hilariously. What kind of vehicle do they drive to work in?

Only 100% grade A reliable rumors allowed. To be posted on BOLS later.

Judging by recent Tau fluff, I'm betting it can only be lifted by a special ion-powered crane that only works 90% of the time. Also, it kills the entire earth caste crew with radiation poisoning even if it succeeds, because the tau are learning all the wrong things from the imperium.

All of this could be avoided if they put their giant missile battery on some type of, i don't know, floating platform, or something. If only they had some way of making a large weapon hover over the ground. According to rumor there used to be some kind of "skimmer" technology that would allow very large weapons to float gracefully over the battlefield and fire without the use of kickstands, but that's a complete falsehood. Nothing but lies spread by Farsight enclave agents. Additionally, the rumor that earth caste scientists definitely put the hover technology on one of those imperial STCs, and subsequently lost it under the couch cushions, is also a vile lie.

Oh god. I have to bring out the cyan again. You've been watching too many sci-fi movies.

 Gamgee wrote:
Your all assuming we don't have faster than light weapons at that time. Something I find unlikely considering we have a gigantic freaking space ship that is moving faster than light or tricking the system like a warp drive.
No human ever born has even come close to creating a method of FTL. It's not just a case of "tricking the system" with a warp drive, the energy required to manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe in the way a warp drive would requires (at early estimates) more energy than there is in the total universe combined. Not to mention the fact that, while it works in principle, there is no method of stopping a warp-bubble.
Even if we have to dial the ranges down from that they would still be unbelievably long ranged combat from vast distances and with extremely accurate ships.Tens of thousands of kilometers fights could easily happen.
Yes, with computer modelling, you can play "100,000 km pool". However, that's a far cry from a lightyear, and won't even get you to the moon.
My point is fights would occur from so far away that many of the dumb things in 40k are irrelevant and dumb. Even more so if the ship is controlled by a super computer.
You say "super computer" like it's a thing. It's not. The name "Super Computer" is highly subjective. NASA's moon landing Super Computer has only a fraction of the calculation capacity of your phone. Even if it's a Nokia brick phone. There is a hard cap to calculation capacity, and we're fast reaching it. Unless we can somehow get quantum computing to work (the guys working on it don't even have a way of linking inputs with outputs), we're stuffed.
Some ships could even be gigantic hacking ships that try and take over the opponents ships ect. My point is the combat in the far future of real life will be far different and more practical than anything in 40k.
Assuming you have a compatible operating system. Otherwise it's going to be like flinging an EMP signal at a leaf. There comes a point, too, whereby you could just dodge an incoming "hacking" signal. Due to distances, and working out how/when/where an opposing force will try to hack you. Thanks, distance/lightspeed.
So what does it matter if the Tau are suddenly silly? They never were some serious faction that people claim them to be. I'm not arguing about space here. This debate was never once about me being a space expert, it's to highlight the ridiculousness of the claim that the Tau were super practical and smart race when they make dumb choices like the entire setting.
Dude, you're on one of the nerdiest places in the interwebz. There is no way in hell we're not going to tear you a new one for suggesting that combat from over a lightyear away will work IRL.
That's okay though I love 40k a lot for its insanity. Part of its charm, but I just found it a flimsy excuse to hate the new suits. If you don't like them sure, but throwing out things like they used to be practical is just silly.

 Rainyday wrote:

the_scotsman wrote:
Option A) There is some sort of hand wavey fluff for how it rights itself when it falls over. What is it?

Option B ) It's clear instability is reflected in the fluff. What is the funniest instance of its impact?

Option C) It's instability is reflected in gameplay. What are the rules?

Option D) GW believes it has designed a functional machine that wouldn't fail hilariously. What kind of vehicle do they drive to work in?

Only 100% grade A reliable rumors allowed. To be posted on BOLS later.

Judging by recent Tau fluff, I'm betting it can only be lifted by a special ion-powered crane that only works 90% of the time. Also, it kills the entire earth caste crew with radiation poisoning even if it succeeds, because the tau are learning all the wrong things from the imperium.

All of this could be avoided if they put their giant missile battery on some type of, i don't know, floating platform, or something. If only they had some way of making a large weapon hover over the ground. According to rumor there used to be some kind of "skimmer" technology that would allow very large weapons to float gracefully over the battlefield and fire without the use of kickstands, but that's a complete falsehood. Nothing but lies spread by Farsight enclave agents. Additionally, the rumor that earth caste scientists definitely put the hover technology on one of those imperial STCs, and subsequently lost it under the couch cushions, is also a vile lie.

Take your point for example.

With their super accurate ship weapons why not just bomb everything to due on the planet instead of having a ground assault? Bomb it until the populace surrenders or is gone. The Tau are not practical even in the slightest.

Look at their gun drone platforms. That is what should really be fighting for them if there is something that can't be bombed. Firewarrior troops should be overseers only and rare. They should have drone controlled mechs, tanks, airplanes, and anything else needed. Then have FW nearby to modify their orders if need be but they would be back at a protected base/ship. With their hover tech drones could be made to carry any size of weapon in any shape and just shoot the living crap out of stuff. Also if they were smart they would make them all super accurate so accuracy is no problem. I mean we can do it today why can't these super advanced space faring people?

See what I mean? Also sorry to use your post for my example but it was a good one. If you don't want to get dragged into this then just ignore.

But see what I mean? The Tau aren't practical. Why do we need big stupid Crisis suits? Putting every FW in powerred armor is far more practical and efficient and allows them to carry bigger weapons and be less of a target to hit. We know they can do it we see the XV22 and even the XV15. They have the ability to make power armor and they don't which is far more practical than any of these battlesuits.

I do agree that if a heavy weapons platform would be needed it would be a hover tank with a huge payload, but it would be a drone or have some FW pilot driving it from a nearby spaceship.

Edit
There are FTL drives being investigated today. Obviously highly speculative but it's only a matter of time.

Yeah and their still using dos in a lot of their ships because of its simple reliability. However at some point a more advanced computer system will be needed. I imagine anything would be an amazing upgrade provided its reliable. What is a super computer to us now is not necessarily a super computer to the people of the future. Their computational capacities will far surpass ours. The march of time and technology moves ever forward.

Currently there is no way to prove it can happen, but in a few thousand years that might easily not be the case and they could fight combat in wholly unseen ways. Range might not even be a factor at all at that point. We simply don't know. I ere on the side of hope that mankind will drag itself out of the mud and progress rather than stagnate or even decline.,

 Gamgee wrote:

But see what I mean? The Tau aren't practical. Why do we need big stupid Crisis suits? Putting every FW in powerred armor is far more practical and efficient and allows them to carry bigger weapons and be less of a target to hit. We know they can do it we see the XV22 and even the XV15. They have the ability to make power armor and they don't which is far more practical than any of these battlesuits.

I do agree that if a heavy weapons platform would be needed it would be a hover tank with a huge payload, but it would be a drone or have some FW pilot driving it from a nearby spaceship.

I agree, Tau weapons aren't practical, but they're more practical than the imperium, and up until this recently they were at least consistently practical. They were the only faction that put safety first. Ejection systems, drones carrying dangerous weapons, toning down plasma weapons to avoid Gets Hot, etc. Now, they're shifting philosophy. Is there any reason drones couldn't be carrying the new ion guns to save pathfinders the danger? If riptides are so dangerous, why don't they have ejection systems?

I don't mind the big battlesuits, but I wish there was more thought put into practicality and taking advantage of the full suite of Tau technology. Why couldn't we have a hover battlesuit? Is it because it needs legs for the neural link thing to work? They why doesn't it need arms? I just really hate those stupid leg supports.