'Alpha Concept G2 Mecha 3x3'

Phase: Alpha Concept.
Medium: Pencil.
Chronostamp: November 2010

Lore:
This is an IFV six legged mecha. These mecha were a particular challenge for designers as the body had to incorporate a troop bay for a mechanized squad of armored troopers and also maintain the same logistics footprint for transport.
Interestingly is how tankers, early after 3x3 mobility designs were introduced into the regular armored forces, began to develop mecha CQB by rearing up on four of the legs and using the front two legs as pseudo battle hammers. Some even experimented with lateral attacks by stabilizing on four to five legs in order to strike down with one or two legs against an enemy who was along side them.
3x3 leg configurations are primarily used for medium and some light mecha.

Personal:
IFVs are incredible AFVs and they are a standard of all military forces around the world. Mecha forces would require the capability to transport advanced mechanized infantry warfighters so this made sense to design. Without infantry support armored forces can quickly get chewed up by anti tank hunting teams. Especially in current and future conflicts where urban environments will more than likely be the battleground.

Discipline:
Continuation of crafting an alpha design phase.

Composition:
For reference I broke down a simple IFV diagram into three sections, fighting space, troop bay, and driver space. This gave me a good sense of how to design a mecha IFV. Keeping the same footprint is a challenge with these as you have to squeeze a troop bay into the design. Not an easy task.

References:
M2A2 Bradley IFV (US Army). FV510 Warrior IFV (British Army).

Effects:
Single aspect shading.

Details:
IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle): These AFVs are often mistaken as tanks but they are the furthest thing from an MBT. Designed as an armored fighting calvary troop transport. They will take infantry to the fight to support the rest of the armored fighting force. After troopers are dismounted, the IFVs will act as a base of fire for the troopers to suppress and destroy any enemy threats.

Logistics Footprint: When vehicles and equipment are transported by military logistic forces (airlift or sealift command) vehicles are designed to fit within a specific footprint so that designers will know exactly how big to design all military transports. Additionally it helps logistics personnel determine how to most efficiently stack a battalion of mechanized armor inside their transport vessels.

CQB: Close Quarter Combat. Any combat in which opponents will engage one another in point blank range combat that can more than likely result in hand to hand combat.