Mekton Zeta Plus Extra
Surface & Undersea Algolian Combat
By Various Members

I, for one, am a big fan of the idea of underwater mecha, but Algol has never been known for the undersea habitats that would call for mecha fighting underwater.

You don't need underwater habitats, just a lot of water in a strategically important place, which Algol has in spades.  Actually, I think this is precisely the sort of omission that we are all gathered here to fix.  I picture underwater combat on Algol being somewhat similar to desert fighting on Dune.  The fight only lasts until someone's sonar picks up a large, hungry biological.  Then everyone gets the hell out of the water before the Kregor Dragon eats their mek. That would explain why the Moray can fly...

- Lord Ebonflack

I like the Dune combat idea. A while ago I came up with the zeuSPoseidon idea. Basically, I really like the space-combat designs from the various Gundams, but I didn't have any interest in running a space combat game. Then, after a week of watching Seaquest DSV reruns and noticing the "Whisker" remotes they used, it ocurred to me that space mecha from Gundam could be translated into a deep-sea battle setting.

It works like this:
Effecient mecha are developed, but have problems with high-visibility due to thier size. The solution is to use them for amphibious assaults, building mecha that travel just below the water surface and then emerge when they reach thier target (say, any one of a thousand islands in a large archipelago). These mecha are transported by submarine carriers, and the arms race being what it is, both sides develop intercept mecha to combat not only other mecha but thier deep-sea carriers as well.

In this setting, amphibious mecha usually have at least one Wire Remote (a periscope), and are built to operate equally well underwater and on land, but not in high-pressure depths. Interceptors are built to travel under th surface 'til they reach the target area, and then dive to meet the enemy.

Some good candidates for the ZP setting: Zeta Gundam (BIG speedboat), Re-GZ (with submarine mecharider), ZZ Gundam (three subs travel to the destination and combine into a mecha), and most Mobile Armours.

Some systems that work better underwater: Combiners (not easier, but less implausible), Escape Pods (rise to the surface and wait for rescue), EMWs (Melee Weapons can't practically be swung underwater), and simple Camouflage (the deeper, the darker).

Of course, this could work well in Algol's Archipelago, but you do have to go to the trouble of developing Algolian Navies, and possibly an overall redesign of tactics for warfare.

- Rob Knotts