Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) - World and Technology

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Accelolita_

Answering that would be a spoiler and I'm not sure if that's allowed even if I mark that spoiler as one?

Originally Posted by SkullFaerie

I think spoilers are allowed as long as they are in spoiler tags?

IMPORTANT: Absolutely NO Hints or Spoilers in Anime Threads (Details Inside)

2. ALL Comparisons of current animated content to the source material, or questions answered about current anime content based on source material information, MUST be in properly-labelled spoiler tags

Properly-labelled spoiler tags means you must identify the NATURE of the spoiler:

the purpose of the spoiler (i.e. comparison to the current episode)
where the spoiler comes from (i.e. the novel/manga/game/another story/etc.)

And as for the cannons, check out Ep2 again, somewhere in the middle of the episode, when the armoured titan was charging towards the gate. Cannon-fire brought down one of the normal titans (at around the 9:40 mark in my file). So, what the soldiers use at the moment are nominally effective against titans. However, the cannons are apparently very cumbersome and are of limited use against moving targets. Normal titans don't seem to move very fast, but because of their long strides, they would cover a great distance in just a few paces, making aiming a challenging affair, I'd presume.

[Raviel]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

They got cannons.

They need guns with higher caliber

Build hot air balloons and bomb the shit out the Titans

Build land mines outside the perimeter...Not rely on the walls...

Iron gates with spikes

Boiling oil for crispy Titan skin...

..and not some fart producing machine....

The hot air balloons seem to be a bit beyond their capacity to produce at the moment

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by SkullFaerie

They had enough resources and technology to build and maintain a gigantic wall, it's not like their technological level is medieval, it should've at least been possible to improve existing tech ( couldn't a high caliber firearm type weapon do what they currently do with blades a lot more efficiently? They already have the rudimentary technology for it).

Giant-slaying apparently involves a precise slash across the nape of a titan's neck.



I suppose a large-bore cannon might achieve a similar effect, but it would have to be incredibly accurate. And, as I mentioned earlier, aiming a large cannon at a moving target is a very cumbersome affair. You'd be titan food long before you catch one in your sights.

As others have observed, the 3DMG is probably meant to be a mainly defensive weapon as it's useful only in areas where there are enough tall objects to use as anchor points, like in a city or near cliffs or inside a forest. It means that the Reconnaissance Corps, the only people who travel frequently beyond the walls, are highly limited in terms of where they can fight the titans. And that's probably why they're just scouts and not an expeditionary force that takes the fight to the titans — their tactical options are too severely limited for an offensive campaign to be feasible.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I suppose a large-bore cannon might achieve a similar effect, but it would have to be incredibly accurate. And, as I mentioned earlier, aiming a large cannon at a moving target is a very cumbersome affair. You'd be titan food before you catch it in your sights.

But it can work pretty well if a titan tries to break through a gate. The cannons from above would make mincemeat of it...
Unless it's an armored titan of course.

[Endless Soul]

Originally Posted by Garet Jax

I have to wonder if humanity tried any kind of lance tactics (big ones, of course) to bring the titans down to ground level instead of flying around in the air. Concentrated attacks on their ankles would seem to be promising.

Quoted from another thread.

That's a good point. I'm also thinking trip lines. They worked on AT-ATs, they should work on Titans. Of course you'd need some really strong anchors, and you'd have to get them to actually walk in the path of the trip line. What to do with the Titan after you've brought it down though...

Endless "Go for the legs" Soul

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

Quoted from another thread.

That's a good point. I'm also thinking trip lines. They worked on AT-ATs, they should work on Titans. Of course you'd need some really strong anchors, and you'd have to get them to actually walk in the path of the trip line. What to do with the Titan after you've brought it down though...

Endless "Go for the legs" Soul

There was another idea about literally attacking their Achilles' heels (EDIT: Oops, I didn't notice that you've linked that post ). That should topple a giant too, since they are anatomically similar to humans. But it'll still mean that someone has to slash a downed giant's neck to kill it. But it should be safer than going after a fully mobile titan.

Trip lines would mean setting up an ambush (and it would have to be a titanic one). Unfortunately, the attack on Shiganshina unfolded too quickly for that.

[LeoXiao]

The problem with the cannons is that they don't have enough them. Since they are so inaccurate, they need to use it as an area bombardment weapon (which is how it worked IRL) instead of trying to snipe anything in particular.

[Accelolita_]

Spoiler for How to kill titans in the manga:

The only way to kill titans are to cut out a piece of meat at the nape of their necks.
Every other method doesn't work since they just regenerate.
Even if their head got cut off they just regenerate.

So even if they try to attack them with cannons they only immobile them for a short amount of time until they regenerate.
Though of course, people from scouting legion can try to kill those titans till that happened.

I hope it's okay like that?
Is it tagged enough? Sorry, I'm not too good about stuff like that

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by Accelolita_

Spoiler for How to kill titans in the manga:

The only way to kill titans are to cut out a piece of meat at the nape of their necks.
Every other method doesn't work since they just regenerate.
Even if their head got cut off they just regenerate.

So even if they try to attack them with cannons they only immobile them for a short amount of time until they regenerate.
Though of course, people from scouting legion can try to kill those titans till that happened.

I hope it's okay like that?
Is it tagged enough? Sorry, I'm not too good about stuff like that

That looks pretty good.

[Arturro]

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

Quoted from another thread.

That's a good point. I'm also thinking trip lines. They worked on AT-ATs, they should work on Titans. Of course you'd need some really strong anchors, and you'd have to get them to actually walk in the path of the trip line. What to do with the Titan after you've brought it down though...

Endless "Go for the legs" Soul

Spoiler for manga spoiler:

Cutting titans legs to slow them down is a tactic used in the manga against lone, large titans. It won't work against small and medium titans, because they're not much bigger than humans, so cutting their legs requires to move on the ground. While moving on the ground humans are to slow to escape titans. Another problem - titans tends to attack in groups. LArge titans are surrounded by small ones, so only attacks from above are possible. Lone titan is not a problem for a group of experienced soldiers (unless it's an "abnormal" titan), it's even possible to capture a titan.

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

If you know anatomy and surgery... slashing this deep is way impossible.... Scalpels used by surgeons can't dig deep like this in a single thrust.. and it takes a lot of force to do so.... Our heroes' weight isn't enough unless our Titans doesn't have bones at all.....

[Raviel]

^I think thats the part that already requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.

This is anime after all.

[Xero8420]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

If you know anatomy and surgery... slashing this deep is way impossible.... Scalpels used by surgeons can't dig deep like this in a single thrust.. and it takes a lot of force to do so.... Our heroes' weight isn't enough unless our Titans doesn't have bones at all.....

They don't need force. They need momentum.

Besides, speaking of blades, why not they should come out with something that shoots bladed weapons?

[Raviel]

Originally Posted by Xero8420

They don't need force. They need momentum.

Besides, speaking of blades, why not they should come out with something that shoots bladed weapons?

The question then would be how to make something that can shoot the blades deep enough to get the desired results.

I think what would be a real step forward would be something like attachable explosives, given the context of the series I'm surprised no one has thought of putting a bomb on one end of a sharpened weapon, sticking it into the weakspot of the Titan, and then letting the explosion do the rest (think explosive arrows or crossbow bolts).

[NoemiChan]

^I think thats the part that already requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.

Yeah... that's why I'm complaining... Lolss..

Originally Posted by Xero8420

They don't need force. They need momentum.

Besides, speaking of blades, why not they should come out with something that shoots bladed weapons?

How could you force a blade without applying force to it?

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

Yeah... that's why I'm complaining... Lolss..




How could you force a blade without applying force to it?

I think Xero8420 means the momentum is converted in to force.

[Zantetsuken]

Originally Posted by Raviel

^I think thats the part that already requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.

This is anime after all.

Spoiler for Titan info from manga:

In the manga it's said that the titan have a low density, that's why they don't collapse from it's own weight because they're actually really light

[Jan-Poo]

You need to consider all the variables in the equation. It's force/area

That means that you also need to consider how sharp are the blades. You can surmise that In Shingeki no Kyojin the blades are extremely sharp and consequently they can easily break. That is why they have those long boxes attached to their sides. Those aren't part of the 3D movement gear, those are blade containers.

Here is an example:


You can clearly see that Hannes in EP1 takes one blade from his left box. And he still has a lot to spare.


Anyway comparing swords to scalpels is not right. Scalpels aren't even meant to cut through bones and you cannot exercise a lot of force with them. A well made sword can easily cut through flesh and bones without problems, just go to youtube and look for some "coldsteel" video if you don't believe it.

Originally Posted by Zantetsuken

Spoiler for Titan info from manga:

In the manga it's said that the titan have a low density, that's why they don't collapse from it's own weight because they're actually really light

Spoiler for Titan info from manga:

Low density doesn't automatically mean that they are frail. It is actually said that their flesh is very hard to cleave, and that only hardened steel can cut through them, at the cost of dulling the blades after just a few cuts.

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by chaos_alfa

I think Xero8420 means the momentum is converted in to force.

What he meant by this then?

They don't need force. They need momentum.

[Zantetsuken]

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

What he meant by this then?

They don't need force. They need momentum.

Come on. Don't be an ass and nitpick needlessly.