The Marine Shield

me neither but its looks sooooo baaaaad...

 

medic wall is enough to heal marine already.. we dont need more armor to beef up teh shooters

 

Well A) it's sci-fi not realistic modern combat and B) our military apparently can't get our boys any decent armor let alone shields

 

oh yeah well I can't argue with the fact that it's sci-fi, obviously, but I feel like if you want to take the reasoning of realism in that the additional armor will help protect against claws, spines, psionic blades, plasma beams, etc, and won't way him down because of the suit, then it should apply to everything

in other words, if we dissect the fact that the suit will help carry something that big and bulky, and use that sort of logic, then we should also take into account the logic that it would be more useful to spend it on something that would be more useful (ie saving the metal from X number of marines shields and making a BC, hypothetically, because I know marines are better in some instances)

 

Do the shields actually do anything except make the Marine look totally badass?

 

Well if its an upgrade then you don't have to get it and can use those resources for something else. The marine was one of my favorite units both tactically and personally and I upgraded their guns/armor whenever possible. I think that the shield is fine and support anything that helps keep my guys alive

 

All of you using the swat agrument you do realize that when a roit or swat officer is using a shield they are never carrying a submachine gun the either have a baton a pistol and when indoors usually one officer is carrying the shield while others shoot.

now if it was an upgrade I don't see why they don't make it a marine only upgrade for added armor like the increaseed range but for armor or hitpoints

 

WRONG WRONG WRONG! psionic BLADES! not swords. sheesh! and the gun used by a marine is like the most beastly thing i've seen. i can't believe tychus can hold it with one hand.

 

its a lightweight alloy...whatever.

 

and before 20 people jump on it, let me point out that marines wear body suits that augment their strength and give them armor and blah blah blah...

hooray for splitting hairs!

 

The way they put that marines armor on that video... Itseems that hes not going to get out of it soon lol, he was sealed in it with freakin blow torches.

 

I just thought of something...
If any of you have played Age of Empires 2, you know that as your progress through the ages, your buildings and units change. They become more pretty to some extent (going from thatched roofs to shingles, wood to stone, rough-cut stone to smooth, etc.) and the visible changes correspond to physical changes.

Each race had a unique unit, which could be upgraded to "Elite" status (i.e. an "huskarl" would be upgraded to an "elite huskarl") Now, when you upgraded your unit, it kept the same basic characteristics (like buildings), but it would look a bit different (i.e. maybe a slighlty bigger sword, or a different shield design, or a new stripe on their clothes)

So I was thinking...if reactions to shields are so mixed, maybe this could be an alternative - slight tweaks on unit looks to signify an increase in armor or defensive stat. Maybe make the upgraded marines a bit taller, or give them a band on each arm, or a giant X on their chests - some sort of visual cue that shows the difference between a regular and improved marine which doesn't mess with the tried-and-true old school marine.

 

but the shield just isn't like marinish

 

It doesn't make sense that anyone would care about their shields. If anything it will improve the marines abilities.

 

@ElemenTT - exactly, that's why I'm proposing a marine with improved armor and no shield

@PrivateJoker - it's the look of the new shield that people don't like, not the idea of an upgrade to marine armor

 

come to think of it, marines with shields doesn't really look good... as in, they're hardcore soldiers, i'd think they'd just do away with the shields, and give those zerglings a haymaker with their free hand, you get what i mean? but if they con't have shields, the terran is kinda lacking of a frontline unit. maybe it's the firebats who should get the shields... something like two miniature shields (which look more like arm plates) on both of their arms, and their two flamethrowers... maybe... hmm.

 

yeah maybe they could plant the two shields down into the ground when they get in firing range and have a little slot out of which they shoot their flamethrowers, because they are the ones who already need the extra protection (for their flammable gas tanks) and are melee attackers anyway

It could be a shield that extends from their wrist or fist when they need to plant it but retracts and folds back up when they don't use it - kinda like how buildings are built/sold and put together/taken apart in Red Alert 2

 

Firebats can't have shields for a bunch of reasons. First they are already carrying huge fuel tanks on their backs and sprayers on their forearms. Even with augmented strength the added weight would be too heavy/bulky and just no room for it. Same would go for any deplyable shields, etc. it would be just too much stuff for one person to carry.

Now if one was working with marine(s) with shields then they could protect the firebat while it kills the ones that get too close.

 

hmmm well wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a ranged weapon if he was up close protecting the firebat? and if you mean the firebats would walk in front and marines hang back with deployed shields, it would be pretty freaking hard to make sure you hit the zergling/hydralisk masses while being careful not to hit their fellow men in the leg or head or arm, let alone the giant gas tanks on their backs

 

Well of course the firebat wouldn't that far in front of them (even if accuracy is a non issue in-game) beacuse not only would the shields not be protecting it but it would be a sitting duck anyway. The Marines would stand beside the firebat firing at the enemy and when one gets too close they take out their shields (and maybe keep firing depending on shield size/position) and guard the firebats sides.