Who here thinks DiamondBacks and Vulture models >>>>> Hellion?

[Pandonetho]

Rule of Cool falls flat when the thing being defended by it usually isn't all that cool.

Exactly, the Hellion isn't cool, that's my point. It's an ugly ass vehicle.

You can craft things so that certain ideas work where otherwise they would not make sense, but that can only so far until the idiocy of the idea outshines any "cool" aspect of it.

Tell that to Blizzard, who designed the Thor, something more asanine than hovering vehicles.

Tracks can be replaced in the field, but if other parts of the drive system are damaged, that's exactly what happens. The tracks help make pulling the sixty-ton vehicle that much easier.

And exactly what are you pulling it with, another vehicle? If that's the case, since you have a vehicle, exactly what is wrong with placing said busted hover craft, onto the vehicle for even FASTER transport for repairs?

The assumptions I make are based on very basic principles; i.e., anti-grav only works when the generator is being powered; wheels are always "on" and do not require additional power than necessary. The whole point of this argument is that even with anti-grav tech, there are plenty of reasons and situations where using a more traditional drive system would be more advantageous.

And you're also assuming that just because hover technology is more complicated, that wheels are automatically better.

For an in-universe situation, traveling over Zerg Creep. When Mike and Kerrigan drove their Vulture hover bike over Zerg Creep in Liberty's Crusade the hover unit couldn't find any traction, and the thing slid into a crash. A wheeled vehicle would not have that problem. If you expect to be fighting the Zerg, then having your scout units rendered impotent is not a good idea.

Oh yes, how very situational. And yet wheels suffer from slower speeds (hell Zerglings in SC2 can outrun the damn Hellion), they suffer from rugged Terrain making it hard to aim with any onboard weaponry, they get stuck in thick mud, and they trigger things such as land mines.

And that matters in situations where you are fighting other Terrans? Besides which, for the past four years the Dominion has been spending most of its time putting down human rebels, and it still has to contend with two other human powers in the sector.

And yet the Zerg and the Protoss are the largest threat to the Dominion. If they're fighting rebels and such, we'd see that happen, instead we see Hellions being employed against the Zerg and the Protoss. The other 2 "powers" hardly hold a candle of a threat towards the Dominion.

Again, this has nothing to do with how hard or not a Vulture is to manufacture, it has everything to do with the method by which it is propelled.

Am I just imagining things or did you not just say

More baseless assumptions. As for wheels vs. anti-grav, again it's a question of reliability and ease of manufacture.

And you have no basis for your assumption that the reliability of such technology is questionable. While I can use the principles of deduction that if they can make Battlecruisers fly with these things and Dropships which pull off what appears to be impossible landings, then they're certainly reliable enough to use for much smaller units.

Why yes, in fact, you can. Your thinking goes against the very reason armies like the US maintain fleets of recovery vehicles like the M88. Of course, even a tank that has its entire drive system shot out and can't be recovered can still act as an improvised pillbox; a Goliath that loses a leg and falls over can't even continue using its weapons to fight off the enemy.

Wow, that's your evidence for suggesting wheels are much better?
If you have to pull that tank back to base in the middle of the battle, the battle would be over by the time it even got halfway back to base.
Second of all, you could simply transport the vehicle if you can't drag it.

[MattII]

One advantage wheeled (or tracked w/e) vehicles have over either hover vehicles and biped walkers is the ability to absorb reasonably large amounts of recoil, which makes them better in battle situations if you're using projective weapons.