Quote:Oh, I agree - that's the more likely form for any Chinese mecha to take. Something more akin to an insanely oversized tank...which still fits the broad definition of 'mecha'. Just not a walking one. My objection was mainly to the assertion that a Chinese machine would be based on dragons, and that Chinese dragons don't have legs. Which, y'know, isn't the case.
Okay, granted... however I still don't see the Chinese as getting the walking mecha first. They tended to put their engineering into massive fortifications likes walls, or massive clockwork things like that model of China in the tomb or the water clock multi-story complex thing.
Also, it may be end up being a lack of knowledge on my part... but I can't recall China having seige tech that was as elaborate as Europe got into during the ancient age. It may be the man power ment several thousand expendable workers thing they used for major construction, like the Great Wall.
If they did make mecha I'm seeing more crawling tank types that are heavy on projectile explosives for China.
It's the Europeans who developed siege warfare to a fine art - both the weapons used to break down fortifications, and the defensive structures to match, which is somewhat closer to the kind of engineering we're talking about when it comes to, well, walker mecha. Not entirely there, either, but closer.
Question, tho. Maybe someone's answered this already, but I haven't been paying attention. Once one military has mecha, it's logical for other nations to develop their own, and build mecha to fight other mecha. But what's the military reason to make one in the first place? Something that fills the battlefield niche of the early tanks?
-- Acyl