A long awaited return to my Vs. column.  Where my internal geek fights it out with my suppressed nerd.  In past battles, we’ve seen Sho’Nuff v. Drunken Master.  We’ve seen Namor v. Raiden and Blanka v. Sabretooth.  Hell, we’ve even seen seen the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man v. Mongo the Gingerbread Giant.  Now for our next matching – we’re heading into two distopian visions of the future.  One is a galaxy ruled by an iron-fisted empire and a emperor fueled by black magic.  The other is a cosmic battlefield torn apart by never ending wars by the great interstellar Houses.  It’s Star Wars vs. Battletech.

It’s the Imperial All Terrain Armored Transport Walker vs. AS7-D Atlas Assault Mech.

The Imperial Walker

An armored troop carrier, the Imperial Walker is the most feared land weapon in the arsenal of the Empire.  It was first unleashed to science fiction fans in The Empire Strikes Back.  The AT-AT was such a fanboy favorite that it quickly became a staple in Star Wars fiction and art since.  So what makes this behemoth such a fearsome combatant.  I remember when I was watching as a young boy in the movie theater I think I popped my first boner just at the sight.

Does it say something about me that I always thought the evil side was way, way cooler than the good?  Empire, Cobra, Skeletor + Hordak, Decepticons, GDI, etc.

So let’s breakdown the armored monstrosity:

Size: It’s massive.  Just how big?  Well …

If there is one consistent thing in the Star Wars publishing empire it is the rampant inconsistency.  The early canon Star Wars material listed the AT-AT at 15.5m (50ft) tall.  Even the production notes from Empire Strikes Back indicate this height … but that hasn’t stopped future authors and publishers from changing this number.  The core of the variance is from the vehicle cross section books.  The author did a size comparison to Luke and the Storm Troopers in relation to the Imperial Walker in the footage from the assault on Hoth and determined that it was actually much closer to 22m (72ft) tall.

And there are the third party of ass clowns that have just arbitrarily decided to split the different and list the AT-AT at 18m (60ft).  Personally, I’m going to tip my hat to the most canon of canons … and that is George Lucas.  And 15.5m it is!

Weapons: This is the area where the AT-AT is surprisingly deficient.  All of the weapons are mounted on the forward crew compartment, aka the head.  Here they are:

• E-WEB Heavy Repeating Blaster Cannons (2): Manufactured by BlasTech Industries, these are the independent, swivel mounted lasers that are mounted on the “temples” of the AT-AT’s head.  These weapons can fire high bursts of energy in short periods in machine gun fashion.  They are ideally suited to carve through infantry ranks, but the E-WEB is also effective against vehicles and lightly bunkered emplacements.  The maximum effective range is 500m (1,640ft).
• MS-1 Fire-Linked Heavy Laser Cannons (2): These are the teeth in Imperial Walker’s armament.  It can fire synchronously or in a one-two pulse.  It can also be switched into a beam attack for a concentrated focus of guided laser assault.  They are powerful enough to decimate fortified, enemy emplacements with ease.  The range on these beauties comes into question, but in general I’ve found that they are roughly x1.5 greater than the repeater blasters above so 750m (2,460ft).

Armor: The big selling point of the Imperial Walker is that they are essentially invulnerable to contemporary weaponry.  The Durasteel armor cladding stacked on its hull, except for a notable weak point on the crew access passage (the neck), eats up high-powered lasers like Jaba the Hutt eats slimy, froggie-things.  Only the strongest heavy artillery was able to break through the heavily armored head and body of the AT-AT.  Throughout the Battle of Hoth, the Imperial Walker simply ignored the entire arsenal of T-47 Airspeeder (until crippled and the neck exposed) as well as the entire defensive array of Echo Base.

Other Features: The AT-AT as stated before is a troop transport.  And this is perhaps a critical feature of its design.  The Heavy Laser Cannons give the AT-AT an artillery function, but its ability to wade through enemy fire and deposit an invasion force is central to its deployment.  The personnel typical inside an Imperial Walker is as follows:

• Pilot crew of 3 (pilot, gunner, commander)
• Array #1
  • Storm Troopers with heavy weaponry & body armor x40
  • 74-Z Speeder Bikes x5
• Array #2
  • All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) x2

Either configuration, when deployed, would protect the vulnerable underbelly of the AT-AT from opposing ground forces.  The platoon of infantry armed with tripod mounted repeating blasters could also bolster the Imperial Walker’s fire power substantially.  Another feature worth nothing is despite the ungainly appearance, the top speed of an AT-AT is listed at 6o kilometers per hour.

The Atlas

The Star League collapsed and the Inner Sphere fell into complete warfare.  In an attempt to save it, the legendary General Kerensky set out the specifications personally for his new preeminent assault mech.  His criteria was simple, asking for “a ‘Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally.”  And the designers from Defiance Industries produced the ASD-7 Atlas.  Or better known among seasoned mechwarriors, the Death’s Head.

The Atlas is a juggernaut and widely feared for its incomparable battle record.

Size: The guiding unit of measurement in determining the size of a mech is weight.  Light mechs weigh 20 – 35 tons, medium mechs weigh 40-55 tons, heavy mechs 60-75 tons, and assault mechs weigh 80-100 tons.  And the Atlas comes in at the full measure of 100 tons.  The height of a battlemech is a bit of a different story.  The world books vaguely state that assault mechs vary in height from 18 to 20m (60 to 65ft).  The Atlas has been called a wall, but a bit on the short side for a bipedal mech.

Ratio studies to other mechs, buildings, and infantry confirm this and the Atlas stands at 18m (60ft).

Weapons: Here is where the Atlas reigns supreme.  He was design for close combat and his weapon systems make him greatly feared for this scenario.  But that doesn’t mean that he is defenseless at long range.

• Defiance ‘Mech Hunter Autocannon: This weapon is also known as an Autocannon/20.  It is the most powerful armament that can be mounted on a vehicle in 3025 AD, weighing on its own an incredible 14 tons.  The AC/20 is known as a mech killer, able to blow apart even a medium-sized mech at even its most armored locations with just a single shot.  The autocannon is mounted on the Atlas’ right torso, which can spin 180 degrees in either direction for a wide firing arc.  The only drawback is that the autocannon only carries 10 rounds (2 tons of ammunition), but it can carry a variety of different ammunition types.  The most common is High-Explosive Armor-Piercing (HEAP), which is ideal for vehicle to vehicle combat.  The maximum effective range is 270m (885ft).
• Defiance B3M Medium Lasers x4: Another barrage of close weapon systems.  One medium laser is mounted on each armor for independent targeting.  The remaining two are mounted rear-facing to protect the wake of the giant mech as it storms past enemy lines.  It has an identical range as the AC/20 at 270m (885ft).
• TharHes Maxi SRM-6 Missile System: These fat missiles pack quick a punch, but the added explosives have reduced their range and guidance systems.  They are fired in volleys of six at a range of 270m (885ft).  The Atlas carries 90 short range missiles or 15 full volleys.
• Far Fire LRM-20 Missile System: As a closing weapon, the LRM-20 system completes the armament of the Atlas.  It allows the assult mech to pepper his target well in advance of his arrival while his other weapon systems come into range.  The Atlas can fire 20 missiles per volley and carries a total payload of 240 missiles.  The tactical range for these missiles is 630m (2066ft).

As if that was not enough, the Atlas is also specially equipped for hand to hand combat.  It’s reinforced internal structure, heavy cabling of myomer muscles, and dense construction have given the giant mech incredible enormous power.  Horror stories abound the Death’s Head picking up medium mechs or punching through the chest armor of heavier opponents.

Armor: With all of the firepower above, you’d think there would be little room for armor.  Well, you’d be wrong.  The Atlas carries 19 tons of Durallex Special Heavy plating.  In fact, not even another mech of the era even comes close to its amount of armor.  The giant mech carries a insane amount of forward armor on its legs and chest, which make sense as the Atlas will always be the center of the breach.  It can wade through even the most hardened targets without concern.

Other Features: The Atlas is large enough to sport a retractable satellite relay on its head to link communications and data with an orbital command station, making the mech an ideal vehicle for ground command, as well.  The mech is relatively slow compared to smaller opponents, topping out at 54.0 kph with its might Vlar 300 engine.  At 100 tons, even that is impressive.

There are a lot of other variants for the Atlas as well as upgrades as the Succession Wars and Clan Wars continued in the Inner Sphere.  Perhaps the most potent is the ASy-K2, which upgrades the engine to a Vlar XL (top speed 64.8 kph) with a Dragon’s Fire Gauss Rifle, two Victory Nickel Alloy ER Large Lasers, and a pair of streak SRM-6 systems.  This makes the version particularly adept at fighting a long range and with the Guardian ECM suite, there is no hiding from its advanced radar.

Here’s a video of the Atlas killing a Rifleman in a new Mechwarrior preview.

The Results

So let’s get these two war machines on the battlefield and see who wins.  Let’s compare their aspects point by point.

Size: They are similarly sized, though I have to assume that the AT-AT is carrying more tonnage as a quadrupedal mech.  For the added tonnage and the extra pair of legs, we’ll give the nod to the Imperial Walker in terms of armor over the Atlas.

Size comparison:

In that regard, they are clearly even.

Long Range: The AT-AT holds the advantage at long range.  It’s Heavy Laser Cannons can reach the Atlas a full 120m before it can return fire with its long-range missiles.  And this could be key since the AT-AT carved through fortified bunkers and laser turrets on Echo base with ease.  This is assuming that they start on a field with line of sight.

Remember, that the heavy laser cannon is not a ballistic weapon and any cover, such as hills and the like, negate the effectiveness of this weapon.  The scorched earth effect of the heavy laser cannons during the Battle of Hoth was minimal.  In fact, there seemed to be very little collateral damage to nearby troops.  Missiles on the other hand are guided to a degree and can swarm over basic obstacles.  The missiles though are unlikely to damage the AT-AT, where as the Heavy Laser Cannons could injure the Atlas, particularly with sustained firing.

Medium Range: As the two approach, the AT-AT quickly becomes disadvantaged.  They only add blaster cannons to their arsenal, which lack the firepower to punch through the Durallex armor, layered in tons and tons on the Atlas’ front.  On the reverse side, the Atlas can now use the centerpiece of its firepower, the dreaded Autocannon 20.  The AT-AT might be able to shrug off one hit, maybe two, but not three.  Add into that swarms of short range missiles and the Atlas clearly has the winning hand.

But the AT-AT carries a platoon of storm troopers and a squad of hover bikes.  I’m afraid that they probably won’t have much effect on the battle as the Atlas can use his four medium lasers to make short work of the infantry and light vehicles.

Short Range: Get even closer … and the might of the Atlas’ design becomes even more apparent.  The AT-AT has been exposed for its weak legs, being brought down by a simple towline from a snowspeeder.  With the amazing power built into the torso and arms of the Death’s Head, I don’t see how the Atlas couldn’t simply push the AT-AT onto its side and then blast the helpless crew into ash.  Even if the AT-AT is carrying the AT-ST, I don’t see much of an advantage.  As the Battle of Endor proved, the AT-ST are exceptionally frail and their repeating blaster doesn’t have enough punch to change the course of battle.

In regards to their comparative speeds, the AT-AT has a slight advantage.  But since its weapons are forward mounted, it cannot retreat and sustain fire, so any hit and run tactics cannot be considered.  Plus, the manueverability of its massive feet, narrow legs, and long body must be considered.  I have to think that its plodding pace would prevent it from changing direction with any agility.

Other Factors: Since the AT-AT only has two weapon systems … and both are mounted on the forward facing head … the firing arc of the Imperial Walker is negligible.  Whereas the Atlas has a rotating torso and weapons mounted either arm allowing him to attack from nearly any direction without having to move.

Outcome: The AT-AT could certainly win the battle given the right circumstances.  And by right circumstances, I mean perfect circumstance.  Flat terrain, open view, and distance.  It has a potent long range weapon that the Atlas cannot match.  Given those parameters, the AT-AT would blast the Atlas with its heavy laser cannons long before the giant mech could return fire with its AC/20.

But in any other situation or with one of the many variant versions of the assault mech with greater emphasis placed on long range systems, the Atlas would win and I think easily.  In all honesty, despite its fearsome reputation the AT-AT is an armored personnel carrier where the Atlas is a battleship.

And thus …

The ASD-7 Atlas Wins.

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