[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Daigo

Why not? What's stopping it from deploying its railguns while in bomber mode? That's like saying a tank can't deploy its cannon unless it transforms into a mech.

Ah, but the tank's gun is already exposed and ready to fire. The Koenig Monster's guns, meanwhile, are folded in while in Shuttle Mode. Canonically in all documentation and what we see onscreen, the Koenig Monster cannot deploy just the guns and fire them in shuttle mode. As for what's stopping it, the simplest explanation would be that the avionics don't allow it to do so. That isn't a far-fetched explanation either; 4th Generation fighters have software limiters in their avionics that prevent the pilots for conducting certain manuvers that could be catastrophic; Cold War era fighters, for example, allow the pilot to exceed 30 degrees of Angle of Attack, thereby causing the plane to stall out into a flat spin that is in most cases irrecoverable. The F-16 and contemporary fighters, meanwhile, have software that limits the aircraft from exceeding 30 degrees AOA no matter what the pilot does.

Are we discussing this in context to the monster firing in space or on a planet? In space, it doesn't need to be braced. Actually the railguns would serve as an auxiliary propullsion device if necessary.

I'm discussing this in the planetary context. In Space, on the other hand, you'd be drifting away crazily each time you fired the railguns: note the amount of recoil generated - it actually creates a sizable dent in the Dulfim's hull when Kanaria fires. There is also a chance that the recoil thrust the railguns generate could be more than that of the stationkeeping verniers in Gerwalk mode. Such things aren't beyond plausibility; the GAU-8 on the A-10 was always fired when the plane was in a dive so as to reduce the risk of stalling due to strong recoil.

On land, legs don't provide a stable platform. Actually, they would just be more likely to break, or cause the mech to fall flat on its back. Tracks would be more logical if you wanted it to remain mobile.

True, tracks would be more mobile, if you were thinking of it being a self-propelled gun (though the South Africans prefer wheels). On the other hand tracks don't really serve a point, because the Koenig Monster gets its mobility from shuttle mode. It's essentially towed artilley that flies to where it's supposed to deploy to.

Also, note that despite its superior mobility vs. towed artillery, there are still terrain types that tracked artillery cannot reach. This is a non issue for the Koenig Monster, which can just fly there and park.

Also, as we see in Episode 25, if the Koenig Monster falls, it falls forward, not back. Also, consider that the layout of the legs and the back stabiliser is very much in the same tripod configuration used by mortars and conventional towed artillery.

I don't have a major problem with it being able to transform into a shuttle/bomber whatever. More mobility is good, I mentioned this already.

Neither do I, I'm just giving background on where the Koenig Monster is coming from.

Again, tracks can provide MORE stability, and MORE mobility than those goofy legs can. No leg configuration has superior stability compared to just tracks. Tracks are also a simpler design, and easier to repair.

You're turning around in a circle, or moving short distances. How much mobility do you really need for such short distances? You're forgetting that when the long distance travel that favors tracks over legs comes into play, the Koenig Monster transforms and takes off and flies. In fact, note that for long distances tanks and other tracked vehicles are transported using vehicle transporters whenever possible, due to the fact that tracks do break down over long distances, and that they chew up roadways. For long distance, the hierarchy of traveling efficiency is wheeled > tracked > legged; for all terrain mobility is tracked > wheeled > legged; for turning around in a small circle and moving short distances, whatever differences in efficiency are so small so as be be of little practical difference.

Ack no. You don't need to transform into gerwalk mode to spin in space. Macross gets this part horribly wrong. In space, you don't have to face the direction you are moving in. You can spin all day while moving in one direction if you wanted to. In fact, that's what planets do. Well they spin while moving in circles.

True. It would be more accurate to say that it's easier to do a 360 turn in GERWALK mode, due to the placement of stationkeeping thrusters.

Yea, but why not? Why not have those weapons mounted while in shuttle/bomber mode? What's stopping it from happening other than a really bad design on the part of the engineers?

You do realise that having the railguns out in shuttle mode would interfere with the airflow, right? Let's not even get into stability; an aircraft is an inherently unstable firing platform. As for the weapons, they're all folded into the main body in shuttle mode. Deploying them in shuttle mode increases drag and breaks up the whole streamlined flow.

Nobody is saying that the Koenig Monster design is perfect. It is, however, the best compromise that the designers could come up with at the time it was fielded. All designs are ultimately compromises. It was designed and intended to give the original Destroid Monster a form that would allow more mobility and faster deployment of heavy artillery to the battlefield. GERWALK mode is the entire point of the Koenig Monster; Shuttle mode is the means to get there.