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Post by <[Iron Man]> on Apr 22, 2005 20:47:10 GMT
A segway doesn't weigh god-knows how many tons. It's also been known to fall over in embarassing ways in photo shoots . In that case, they should know that four legs would be much more sensible than three. Though it's possible that the tripods were the Martian equivalent of the Osprey tilt-rotor plane... something that no-one in the military really wanted because it didn't work, but the Martian Congress forced it on them anway . Ah the V-22 Osprey. Well the principle behind it isn't bad, the fact it can switch between STOL & VTOL is a good idea. I don't think the Tripod is a bad idea, like Luperis rightly pointed out it is fiction. So you should leave some room for 'creative licensing'. Practically a Tank is a little better, for starters it doesn't paint such a big target for itself due to it's size. Doesn't have legs that can be blown off. Has a rotating turret, although doesn't a Tripod have the Heat Ray suspended on an arm? A better bet would have been some sort of 'hover machine' that doesn't get hindered by terrain, to which could happen to a Tripod or Tank. You just have to look at the practicalities of the machine. However the fact that the aliens have Tripods or six legged Fighting Machine nicely constrasts our own wheeled designs.
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Post by EvilNerfherder on Apr 22, 2005 22:06:27 GMT
As Luperis said we are talking about a fictional film based upon a famous scientific romance in which aliens stomp about the earth with horrendous consequences. So, to me, having those aliens stomping about in graceful but deadly three legged machines isn't too much of a step up in the suspension of disbelief department. Perhaps it's 'logical' and or 'scientific' thinking that has prompted Asylum to have their machines stomping about on six legs like giant crabs. Or maybe they are just trying to radicalise the design. Could you imagine the uproar amongst the fan community if the Martians/Aliens/whatever the feck they are this week stomped about in... tanks ?! Actually.. in a sense the '53 film went along with the 'hover machine' idea. They were supposed to have 3 magnetic 'legs' but they didn't appear to actually 'walk' on them. There were three beams of magnetism cushioning the machine but not, apparently carrying it along in the way of 'solid' legs. If you see what I mean.
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Post by Bayne on Apr 22, 2005 22:57:02 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Don't forget that the tripod was a stop-gap measure untill the perfection of the flying machine!
Muscular locomotion is more energy efficient than wheeled, hence why there are so many military and NASA projects at the moment trying to replicate varius anmimal locomotion! As Martians did not posess or use the wheel it also means that a tank design would be very odd indeed.... maybe lots of little legs?
As for three legged dogs.. my dog was more agile and faster on three legs! [/glow]
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Post by jeffwaynefan on Apr 22, 2005 23:51:57 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Don't forget that the tripod was a stop-gap measure untill the perfection of the flying machine! [/glow] Never looked at it that way until you said that.
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Post by Bayne on Apr 23, 2005 0:08:38 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Indeed The way I see it, the Martians came over with the absolute minimum tech they thought would achieve a bridgehead on Earth. As much as possible they made once they got here with only the bare essentials brought along. If they expected as much resistance as they got, or if humans had better technology, then they might have brought better gear with them, though probably at the expense of reducing their number even further! [/glow]
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Post by Rob on Apr 23, 2005 14:53:02 GMT
I'd never thought about that either. The tripods were like cheap easy to build, do it yourself war machines and the fliying machines would everntually become the war makers. It's a shame you never hear ofa flying machine battle. Maybe they are not armed?
(I hear the words 'opened' and 'a can' and 'of worms)
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Post by themaster on Apr 23, 2005 15:38:58 GMT
Chapter 7: The thunder child.
The sun sank into grey clouds, the sky flushed and dark- ened, the evening star trembled into sight. It was deep twilight when the captain cried out and pointed. My brother strained his eyes. Something rushed up into the sky out of the greyness--rushed slantingly upward and very swiftly into the luminous clearness above the clouds in the western sky; something flat and broad, and very large, that swept round in a vast curve, grew smaller, sank slowly, and van- ished again into the grey mystery of the night. And as it flew it rained down darkness upon the land.
I always took that to mean the black smoke or some other weapon rather than its 'shadow'.
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Post by EvilNerfherder on Apr 23, 2005 15:44:02 GMT
Oddly, I never looked at it that way either. I guess they were still tweaking the Flying Machines when they started sneezing. Perhaps, as flight was still a very new science when H.G wrote the book, he didn't want to feature the flying machines too much as it might mean stretching the believabilty of the whole thing too far? Possibly, they were only slipped in as developments in the real world took shape.
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Post by RustiSwordz on Apr 23, 2005 15:45:02 GMT
As with anything its a two pronged thing. You need ground forces to occupy and hold captured territory. Look at all the wars in modern times. Airpower is used to soften up enemy defences and take out opposition that ground forces could not, at least not without terrible losses.
Look at Iraq, air power is excellent at destroying large, fixed or slow moving targets like a base or a tank. But the insurgents have killed hundreds of troops over there but how can you find them? Airpower sure as hell cant. You need troops to flush them out.
Its the same with the Martians. The flying machine was excellent at engaging the channel fleet where the fleet couldnt defend itself from arial attack. yet look at the Thunderchild 3 tripods were used to take out one medium sized warship and lost two in the process. With airpower the martians in future naval actions could call up an airstrike while the tripods backed off to a safe distance.
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Post by jeffwaynefan on Apr 23, 2005 16:05:12 GMT
I prefere to look at it that 'Thunder Child' just got in the way of the advancing Fighting Machines rather than the Martians turning there machines upon the TC. The Martians were moving along the coast, heading off towards the fleeing ships and waiting fleet. TC could have gone out to 'scare' the Martians like they scared us with there machines, but they were not determined to move that easily before finding out what this little plucky vessel was, by then it was too late - both came into contact with one another.
The later part of the chapter with the 'large broad flat object - raining blackness' I always take this to be the Flying Machine or some some of experimental flying device like a Martian kite - sounds daft but its possible - both of which are fitted with a device for emitting Blacksmoke. Maybe the Martians are in training at this point, still testing there chemicals and machinary upon our planet, finding the more effective ways.
H_C
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Post by Rob on Apr 24, 2005 13:01:48 GMT
Just imagine what they had in store for us, had they not all died of the common cold
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Post by jeffwaynefan on Apr 24, 2005 13:10:05 GMT
Your right, 'imagination running overtime'
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Post by mctoddridesagain on Apr 24, 2005 13:50:07 GMT
Just imagine what they had in store for us, had they not all died of the common cold Well, according to Asylum, there'd have been more... human flesh ripped from the bone!Luvverly...
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Post by <[Iron Man]> on Apr 25, 2005 18:23:59 GMT
...perhaps we would've seen the Martians open up a new franchise and revealing their latest hit..'The McTripod with Cheese" [glow=red,2,300]Don't forget that the tripod was a stop-gap measure untill the perfection of the flying machine! Muscular locomotion is more energy efficient than wheeled, hence why there are so many military and NASA projects at the moment trying to replicate varius anmimal locomotion! As Martians did not posess or use the wheel it also means that a tank design would be very odd indeed.... maybe lots of little legs? As for three legged dogs.. my dog was more agile and faster on three legs! [/glow] I would still favour a wheeled design, lower centre of gravity and the ability to camouflage can prove to be useful. Besides if a Tank takes a hit, you can usually bail out, if a Tripod gets hit then it'll be a long plunge down to Amarillo! The Tripod looks good, as for the practicalities of it i'm not too sure.
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tug
Full Member
Posts: 87
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Post by tug on Apr 26, 2005 11:21:26 GMT
I seem to remember reading a long time ago that wells had a friend interested in photography and just liked the idea of supporting a heavy and complex mechanism on three legs.
TUG
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Post by bittersound on Apr 26, 2005 11:33:39 GMT
Just imagine what they had in store for us, had they not all died of the common cold They'd be in charge of Microsoft, possibly...?
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Post by mctoddridesagain on Apr 26, 2005 12:17:58 GMT
Sorry, couldn't resist posting it again...
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Post by Gnorn on Apr 26, 2005 22:15:31 GMT
lol, that's funny McTodd! Bacteria killed the martians... Viruses will kill Windows (well, it will one day)... Wanted, for infecting personal lives: -Gnorn
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