Bipedal Attack Droid/Artificial Squad System
Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:28 pm
Just got back from vacation and found the parts I bricklinked before I left. I spent basically the whole day building these battle droids, inspired by this.
The T.L.A. Bipedal Attack Droid/Artificial Squad System (B.A.D./A.S.S.) was an attempt to bridge the gap between vulnerable foot soldiers and expensive, heavy mech units with a small, cheap, and fast robotic weapons platform. The program called for several Bipedal Attack Droids to be combined under the control of a single AI, creating a perfectly-coordinated squad. In the end it was only a mixed success; while B.A.D./A.S.S. units were extremely destructive on the battlefield, they moved too slowly to keep up with T.L.A. formations on foot and were too large to be loaded into battlefield transport vehicles, which prevented them from being effective in offensive operations. However, they have enjoyed great success in urban combat and as counter-attackers, inflicting casualties on enemy strike forces in support of T.L.A. defensive positions.
The Anti-Infantry B.A.D. is equipped with two arm-mounted miniguns giving it a full 360-degree field of fire.
Each B.A.D. has a large integral backpack containing power cells. This pack is the robot's primary weakness; a direct hit could cause unpredictable power surges, effectively doing additional damage to the robot or even resulting in an uncontrolled shutdown. Overall, though, the robots are as well-armored as most T.L.A. vehicles.
A shot without the head and chest plate, showing how the torso fits together.
The anti-vehicle B.A.D. is armed with a shoulder-fired Mk.IV rail gun. Together with its massive recoil buffer the gun weighs as much as both of the Anti-Infantry version's weapons put together.
Other side of the railgun.
The Recon B.A.D. carries a plasma burst cannon and moves faster than the other variants. It can also be equipped with extra sensors to provide targeting data to allied forces, but this slows it down unless it is fitted with a lighter weapons load as well.
Side view.
The Artillery B.A.D. is only rarely seen on battlefields. Equipped with a Bombardment Cannon, it cooperates with the Recon unit to lay down a lethal barrage of indirect fire. Its heavy frontal armor plate protects the vulnerable ammo magazines and power cells inside.
Rear view. Note the radio dish mounted on the cannon.
Initial tests of urban combat with B.A.D.A.S.S. units revealed that while they were lethal in street fighting, they were vulnerable to ambushes set by troops hidden inside buildings, which they themselves could not enter. The Infiltration B.A.D. is designed to solve that problem. No taller than a normal minifig, the Infiltration unit can easily fit through a doorway and mow down enemies inside with its minigun.
Working with the same leg and arm design, I also constructed Irony Man, a T.L.A. hero. (Iron Man 2 was playing on the flight back to the U.S.)
Side view giving a better look at his rail gun. In performance terms it's identical to the Rail B.A.D.'s but slightly more compact, allowing him to fit a light machine gun on each arm. Unfortunately, due to limited energy requirements he can't fire both the arm guns and his back mounted weapon at the same time.
A cut-away view of the interior structure. Although his arms are the same as the B.A.D.s' his body is built very differently. This photo also shows his shoulder weapon in the retracted position.
He can also carry a flamethrower, though it's nowhere near as cool.
The T.L.A. Bipedal Attack Droid/Artificial Squad System (B.A.D./A.S.S.) was an attempt to bridge the gap between vulnerable foot soldiers and expensive, heavy mech units with a small, cheap, and fast robotic weapons platform. The program called for several Bipedal Attack Droids to be combined under the control of a single AI, creating a perfectly-coordinated squad. In the end it was only a mixed success; while B.A.D./A.S.S. units were extremely destructive on the battlefield, they moved too slowly to keep up with T.L.A. formations on foot and were too large to be loaded into battlefield transport vehicles, which prevented them from being effective in offensive operations. However, they have enjoyed great success in urban combat and as counter-attackers, inflicting casualties on enemy strike forces in support of T.L.A. defensive positions.
The Anti-Infantry B.A.D. is equipped with two arm-mounted miniguns giving it a full 360-degree field of fire.
Each B.A.D. has a large integral backpack containing power cells. This pack is the robot's primary weakness; a direct hit could cause unpredictable power surges, effectively doing additional damage to the robot or even resulting in an uncontrolled shutdown. Overall, though, the robots are as well-armored as most T.L.A. vehicles.
A shot without the head and chest plate, showing how the torso fits together.
The anti-vehicle B.A.D. is armed with a shoulder-fired Mk.IV rail gun. Together with its massive recoil buffer the gun weighs as much as both of the Anti-Infantry version's weapons put together.
Other side of the railgun.
The Recon B.A.D. carries a plasma burst cannon and moves faster than the other variants. It can also be equipped with extra sensors to provide targeting data to allied forces, but this slows it down unless it is fitted with a lighter weapons load as well.
Side view.
The Artillery B.A.D. is only rarely seen on battlefields. Equipped with a Bombardment Cannon, it cooperates with the Recon unit to lay down a lethal barrage of indirect fire. Its heavy frontal armor plate protects the vulnerable ammo magazines and power cells inside.
Rear view. Note the radio dish mounted on the cannon.
Initial tests of urban combat with B.A.D.A.S.S. units revealed that while they were lethal in street fighting, they were vulnerable to ambushes set by troops hidden inside buildings, which they themselves could not enter. The Infiltration B.A.D. is designed to solve that problem. No taller than a normal minifig, the Infiltration unit can easily fit through a doorway and mow down enemies inside with its minigun.
Working with the same leg and arm design, I also constructed Irony Man, a T.L.A. hero. (Iron Man 2 was playing on the flight back to the U.S.)
Side view giving a better look at his rail gun. In performance terms it's identical to the Rail B.A.D.'s but slightly more compact, allowing him to fit a light machine gun on each arm. Unfortunately, due to limited energy requirements he can't fire both the arm guns and his back mounted weapon at the same time.
A cut-away view of the interior structure. Although his arms are the same as the B.A.D.s' his body is built very differently. This photo also shows his shoulder weapon in the retracted position.
He can also carry a flamethrower, though it's nowhere near as cool.
