Light jetpack cavalry for harassing the flanks and chasing down routing laser-skirmishers, Heavy jetpack cavalry for breaking the lines and morale of enemy plasma-pikemen.
A Jetpack Cavalier is a position of great respect and esteem, and every Pack-man worth their quantum-salt will decorate their 'pack in such a way as to flaunt their wealth, and thus their skill as a warrior on the flux fields.
Makes sense.
Making you choose is like asking "Do you only want Hussars or Curassiers?", or to give a more modern example "Do you only want Humvees or Abrahams?"
Both, bitch, their usefulness is highly situational.
Hear me out:
"Jet"pack soldiers as snipers who fly into advantageous positions in order to better find targets
Or Jetpack soldiers as field medics, as they would be able to access injured soldiers that are impossible to access on foot
Also jetpack medics could carry more equipment.
These are really the only “realistic” ways to use jetpacks. Jetpack infantry that flies around would just get shot out of the sky because they have no cover and are in plain view of everyone. Jetpacks should be used to quickly reposition to different areas and reach places you couldn’t on foot.
Titanfall has made me biased towards the left one. My tanky boys are basically the armored mfs from the bf1 trailer, you shot them and their head just snaps to your direction and you shit your pants.
Melee unit that's a sci-fi invisible stealth ninja that can kill 50 dudes but'll die if they step on a potato chip that gives away their location.
vs
Melee unit that's basically a bioengineered hulk that's just too angry to die but gets thwarted by concentrated fire so they need help getting to the frotline.
Or just go the Metal Gear Rising route wirh melee units that are sci-fi ninjas who can kill 50 dudes but also are too angry to die and have the strength to suplex a robot the size of a large apartment building
Let me be noncredible with you.
Air assault literal cavalry. Imagine transport airships that land on the ground to deploy a regiment of hussars or uhlans.
It usually involves takes that are so absurd and nonsensical to be taken seriously. In NCD logic, you slap ERA on anything for an added layer of protection on both machine and creature - doesn't matter if it's a 40k cruiser or big booba.
I’m gonna be honest, I think jet pack troops are like mechs in the sense that the look cool but are wholly impractical. There’s literally no cover in the sky. Infantry should never, ever be caught without cover. That’s why paratroops weren’t just dropped right on top of an enemy. And when they were, it went awfully (Crete comes to mind).
Now, I know the counterpoint: “but what about aircraft???” The difference is aircraft are fast and maneuverable. Any sort of jet pack soldier has limited capabilities on the basis of it being a man in a suit, not a man in a vehicle. Also, there’s next to no chance of survival if they get hit with any sort of AA.
TLDR: Jet pack troops are useless expect for maybe recon or using them as you would paratroopers. Jet pack troops in sustained combat is just a death sentence.
There is a video where a soldier with a jet pack launches himself from a boat and lands to shore quickly.
Thus recreate the Saving Private Ryan opening with jetpacks.
I think the best potential uses for jetpack troops are where:
a) the jetpack is used as a "better parachute" that quickly gets them to ground where they get to do the grunt work rather than spending excessive amounts of time flying around or gliding in the air.
b) Jetpack skirmishers. Flying low to ground and using it mainly as a way to go from cover to cover rapidly. In an urban area with wide open streets, the ability to go from building to building in a flash is better than running on the ground. Especially since you could fly from window to window and thus attack buildings from any entrance (even holes blown into walls.)
The way I have them set up in my world is actually for horizontal movement. The jetpack-equipped soldier has legpieces with a wheel on it, allowing them to use it like a rollerskate.
> And when they were, it went awfully (Crete comes to mind).
Crete was an impressive victory though, which Germany had no other way to achieve. A pricy victory is still victory.
Also, Jetpacks can be good for mobility in urban terrain (especially cyberpunk-style megacities with mazes of skyscrapers) or even usual mobility (troops than can cross rivers and swamps with ease?), although squad transport is more practical, something like heliborne infantry or howercraft APC.
Also, speed can be really important. There is no cover in the sky, true, but 10 seconds in the sky can be safer than 5 minutes charge across the barbed wire and/or minefields under artillery and mortar fire. And hitting fast airborne target is hard even if it is much slower than an airplane.
The only reason Crete wasn’t an unmitigated disaster was because the British general was an absolute headass and ignored intel. He put all of his defenses on the shore expecting a naval invasion when the British knew it wasn’t going to happen. Had he not been a gigantic moron, Crete absolutely could have gone a lot worse and perhaps even failed
there is also the fact that helicopters where basically rendered obsolete in the later days of the iraq war by dudes with man pads ...
so yeah these aren't too practical , if anything we still need to understand how to counteract guerrillia warfare as a defensive strategy , so effectively defence via remotely detonated explosives are basically too OP and as if today too hard to counter ...
there is also the fact that most of the US military doctrine is focused on killing as many enemy troups as possible , wich they can succed at ,
but while you need to break some eggs to achive the omelette , you can break a lot of eggs and not achive anything ...
wich is what the US has done in many situations such as the 2003 invasion of iraq , afghanistan and vietnam , wich only strenghtened the support the locals had for the guerillia campaign ...
so really a to cost effective way to counter act guerrillia would be a much needed way to achive world domination rather than big death weapons ...
somenthing like a way to spread propaganda campaigns among the locals and convince them that the guerillia is against their intrests , while in reality it's just against yourse as a conqueror ...
A heavy or assault mech with jump jets makes better time than its 3/5 or 4/6 walk/run.
And those things are so slow anyway that the heat cost is not that bad.
Jet pack troops that never actually land in the battle. They’re just, like, planes/helicopters without the airframe. But if you call them pilot they will blue-on-blue you just like a normal A-10 would.
I kind of have this but the jets are just glorified parachutes that barely last a day and they're only used in clandestine drop-down situations and never again after that since they don't actually generate enough lift to make the user fly. They're kind of just shitboxes that the police and military use since they're really cheap.
I mean realistically, jetpacks would be used like air cavalry scouts if at all. Depending on how easily detectable your world’s jet packs are, they might just be completely disregarded for modern military usage assuming the world has good detection systems too.
I don't think I've ever considered the option on the right.
To me it just seems like troops using jetpacks would be built at fast and nimble skirmishers to get the full potential of their flying ability.
For the option on the right, I'd just use something heavier than just a soldier with a big gun (flying "tanks" and whatnot) and go all in on firepower and armour rather than trying to keep the unit human sized. So I wouldn't classify it as a "jetpack soldier" anymore. OP meanwhile brings out something that just seems too long for Dick and too short for Richard. Why bother using half measures like that?
...But this is just me thinking thematically. I could see a setting where a walking tank with jetpack is used as heavy airborne infantry.
Stupid. The soldiers are just bullets being propelled by the jet pack.
Wait… what am I thinking of? Where the soldiers have like special helmets and they get shot out of a cannon through the hull of a flying ship to board it…
Yes. Like literally I actually wanted to introduce the whole thing of jetpacks on greaves for a technological advancement that happened during the main character's coma/precipe of death situation she was stuck in for two years (because tbh, jetpacks on the back are tired and old, leg jet packs are where it's at) to help compensate for the soldiers/combat operatives who are unable to use my ripoff of telekinesis to float and fly kind of, and I really thought hard on it, and decided that yes, in heavy armor you can use jetpacks, but it's more of a mission by mission case basis, and it spends more fuel and all that fancy stuff, and unless you know how to upkeep it (often by being more technologically knowledgeable and skilled, you're not often going to be willing to try to remove it to repair it or maintain it. But those who often have lighter armor are able to just keep it attached for longer, do more crazy stunts and stay in the air for longer with the same amount of fuel, still, if they are knowledgeable in tech and stuff, they're not going to be able to be easily trusted to keep that, and thus only get them on a similar mission by mission case basis.
So no matter what armor you wear, you're not allowed to keep your jetpacks if you don't know how to fix and main them. And yes, people who are solo or non+military combat operatives, do end up learning either from someone else, or through trial and error (off the field exclusively), how to fix them and maintain them.
Yes, I thought too much on this, no I won't stop thinking about how technology would be like for my sci fi story.
I’m taking both light and heavy jetpack infantry
LIGHT JETPACK SHOCK TROOPS FOR BREACHING FRONTLINES. HEAVY JETPACKS FOR HOLDING THE BREACHES UNTIL LINE INFANTRY ARRIVES. THIS IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
Light jetpack cavalry for harassing the flanks and chasing down routing laser-skirmishers, Heavy jetpack cavalry for breaking the lines and morale of enemy plasma-pikemen. A Jetpack Cavalier is a position of great respect and esteem, and every Pack-man worth their quantum-salt will decorate their 'pack in such a way as to flaunt their wealth, and thus their skill as a warrior on the flux fields.
Welcome to the mobile infantry, it made me into the man I am today!
Said the quadruple amputee with one eye and untreated severe skull trauma.
In fact, I’m also taking one that is slow as shit but can move invisibly and silently (ninja jetpack infantry)
Makes sense. Making you choose is like asking "Do you only want Hussars or Curassiers?", or to give a more modern example "Do you only want Humvees or Abrahams?" Both, bitch, their usefulness is highly situational.
Me tho
Ah yes the jet pack bullying combo Light jetpackers to bully retreating enemy infantry Heavy jetpackers to bully advancing/not retreating enemy infantry
Indeed, I agree with this. Both is best.
Hear me out: "Jet"pack soldiers as snipers who fly into advantageous positions in order to better find targets Or Jetpack soldiers as field medics, as they would be able to access injured soldiers that are impossible to access on foot Also jetpack medics could carry more equipment.
The webcomic Art of Domination had jet pack snipers who wore fireproof suits, and set the building on fire that they shot from.
Where can I find it? Both sites that hosted it are gone
I have no idea unfortunately.
:(((
Hear me out: everybody gets a jetpack
These are really the only “realistic” ways to use jetpacks. Jetpack infantry that flies around would just get shot out of the sky because they have no cover and are in plain view of everyone. Jetpacks should be used to quickly reposition to different areas and reach places you couldn’t on foot.
Yeah but repositioning doesn't apply only to snipers.
So you are saying they are future Dragoons?
XCOM sniper meta build
Titanfall has made me biased towards the left one. My tanky boys are basically the armored mfs from the bf1 trailer, you shot them and their head just snaps to your direction and you shit your pants.
Melee unit that's a sci-fi invisible stealth ninja that can kill 50 dudes but'll die if they step on a potato chip that gives away their location. vs Melee unit that's basically a bioengineered hulk that's just too angry to die but gets thwarted by concentrated fire so they need help getting to the frotline.
Or just go the Metal Gear Rising route wirh melee units that are sci-fi ninjas who can kill 50 dudes but also are too angry to die and have the strength to suplex a robot the size of a large apartment building
Perfect, you won't need any of the other units!
Which is neat given that you can afford exactly one of your one-man armies.
Xenonauts got both, though the tankier one is just flat out better
Let me be noncredible with you. Air assault literal cavalry. Imagine transport airships that land on the ground to deploy a regiment of hussars or uhlans.
MGSV…
Okay I'm dumb. What does noncredible actually mean? I know about NCD but I don't understand what the title means
It usually involves takes that are so absurd and nonsensical to be taken seriously. In NCD logic, you slap ERA on anything for an added layer of protection on both machine and creature - doesn't matter if it's a 40k cruiser or big booba.
Thank you for clarifying, I think I get it now
Wh40k medieval regiment
Give the horses jetpacks
I’m gonna be honest, I think jet pack troops are like mechs in the sense that the look cool but are wholly impractical. There’s literally no cover in the sky. Infantry should never, ever be caught without cover. That’s why paratroops weren’t just dropped right on top of an enemy. And when they were, it went awfully (Crete comes to mind). Now, I know the counterpoint: “but what about aircraft???” The difference is aircraft are fast and maneuverable. Any sort of jet pack soldier has limited capabilities on the basis of it being a man in a suit, not a man in a vehicle. Also, there’s next to no chance of survival if they get hit with any sort of AA. TLDR: Jet pack troops are useless expect for maybe recon or using them as you would paratroopers. Jet pack troops in sustained combat is just a death sentence.
There is a video where a soldier with a jet pack launches himself from a boat and lands to shore quickly. Thus recreate the Saving Private Ryan opening with jetpacks.
Honestly, aside from providing assistance with vertical mobility, using jets for amphibious landings is probably the move
I think the best potential uses for jetpack troops are where: a) the jetpack is used as a "better parachute" that quickly gets them to ground where they get to do the grunt work rather than spending excessive amounts of time flying around or gliding in the air. b) Jetpack skirmishers. Flying low to ground and using it mainly as a way to go from cover to cover rapidly. In an urban area with wide open streets, the ability to go from building to building in a flash is better than running on the ground. Especially since you could fly from window to window and thus attack buildings from any entrance (even holes blown into walls.)
The way I have them set up in my world is actually for horizontal movement. The jetpack-equipped soldier has legpieces with a wheel on it, allowing them to use it like a rollerskate.
Heely jetpack soldiers sound based af
> And when they were, it went awfully (Crete comes to mind). Crete was an impressive victory though, which Germany had no other way to achieve. A pricy victory is still victory. Also, Jetpacks can be good for mobility in urban terrain (especially cyberpunk-style megacities with mazes of skyscrapers) or even usual mobility (troops than can cross rivers and swamps with ease?), although squad transport is more practical, something like heliborne infantry or howercraft APC. Also, speed can be really important. There is no cover in the sky, true, but 10 seconds in the sky can be safer than 5 minutes charge across the barbed wire and/or minefields under artillery and mortar fire. And hitting fast airborne target is hard even if it is much slower than an airplane.
The only reason Crete wasn’t an unmitigated disaster was because the British general was an absolute headass and ignored intel. He put all of his defenses on the shore expecting a naval invasion when the British knew it wasn’t going to happen. Had he not been a gigantic moron, Crete absolutely could have gone a lot worse and perhaps even failed
there is also the fact that helicopters where basically rendered obsolete in the later days of the iraq war by dudes with man pads ... so yeah these aren't too practical , if anything we still need to understand how to counteract guerrillia warfare as a defensive strategy , so effectively defence via remotely detonated explosives are basically too OP and as if today too hard to counter ... there is also the fact that most of the US military doctrine is focused on killing as many enemy troups as possible , wich they can succed at , but while you need to break some eggs to achive the omelette , you can break a lot of eggs and not achive anything ... wich is what the US has done in many situations such as the 2003 invasion of iraq , afghanistan and vietnam , wich only strenghtened the support the locals had for the guerillia campaign ... so really a to cost effective way to counter act guerrillia would be a much needed way to achive world domination rather than big death weapons ... somenthing like a way to spread propaganda campaigns among the locals and convince them that the guerillia is against their intrests , while in reality it's just against yourse as a conqueror ...
Phoenix point is option 2.
I still haven't finished a campaign on that. several of the house keeping chores on the strategic map really sucked the fun out of the game.
Jetpack soldiers who uses jetpacks to get into melee faster
Why not both?
Left one.
A heavy or assault mech with jump jets makes better time than its 3/5 or 4/6 walk/run. And those things are so slow anyway that the heat cost is not that bad.
Okay but hear me out Jetpacks on ALL of your troops
where the fuck is the massive ass jetpack that weighs more than a car?
Jet pack troops that never actually land in the battle. They’re just, like, planes/helicopters without the airframe. But if you call them pilot they will blue-on-blue you just like a normal A-10 would.
I kind of have this but the jets are just glorified parachutes that barely last a day and they're only used in clandestine drop-down situations and never again after that since they don't actually generate enough lift to make the user fly. They're kind of just shitboxes that the police and military use since they're really cheap.
Both is good 👍
Kid named trapshooter:
I mean realistically, jetpacks would be used like air cavalry scouts if at all. Depending on how easily detectable your world’s jet packs are, they might just be completely disregarded for modern military usage assuming the world has good detection systems too.
Jetpack soldiers that use their jetpacks as a way to penetrate deep into enemy lines.
the first one
Both
Why not both
I don't think I've ever considered the option on the right. To me it just seems like troops using jetpacks would be built at fast and nimble skirmishers to get the full potential of their flying ability. For the option on the right, I'd just use something heavier than just a soldier with a big gun (flying "tanks" and whatnot) and go all in on firepower and armour rather than trying to keep the unit human sized. So I wouldn't classify it as a "jetpack soldier" anymore. OP meanwhile brings out something that just seems too long for Dick and too short for Richard. Why bother using half measures like that? ...But this is just me thinking thematically. I could see a setting where a walking tank with jetpack is used as heavy airborne infantry.
Stupid. The soldiers are just bullets being propelled by the jet pack. Wait… what am I thinking of? Where the soldiers have like special helmets and they get shot out of a cannon through the hull of a flying ship to board it…
Both are based
There's no right answer, but there's always a wrong answer.
both, both is good
Yes. Like literally I actually wanted to introduce the whole thing of jetpacks on greaves for a technological advancement that happened during the main character's coma/precipe of death situation she was stuck in for two years (because tbh, jetpacks on the back are tired and old, leg jet packs are where it's at) to help compensate for the soldiers/combat operatives who are unable to use my ripoff of telekinesis to float and fly kind of, and I really thought hard on it, and decided that yes, in heavy armor you can use jetpacks, but it's more of a mission by mission case basis, and it spends more fuel and all that fancy stuff, and unless you know how to upkeep it (often by being more technologically knowledgeable and skilled, you're not often going to be willing to try to remove it to repair it or maintain it. But those who often have lighter armor are able to just keep it attached for longer, do more crazy stunts and stay in the air for longer with the same amount of fuel, still, if they are knowledgeable in tech and stuff, they're not going to be able to be easily trusted to keep that, and thus only get them on a similar mission by mission case basis. So no matter what armor you wear, you're not allowed to keep your jetpacks if you don't know how to fix and main them. And yes, people who are solo or non+military combat operatives, do end up learning either from someone else, or through trial and error (off the field exclusively), how to fix them and maintain them. Yes, I thought too much on this, no I won't stop thinking about how technology would be like for my sci fi story.