Re: Infantry Walkers

Here's my bit of "sugar coating."

I see Infantry Walkers as a precursor to Powered Armor.  At some point
someone decided the "poor bloody infantry" needed extra protection or
heavier weapons or whatever & was a big comic book or anime fan and so
proposed Powered Armor.  Unfortunately, the tech at the time only
allowed
Infantry Walkers. (I'm thinking of something like the Combat Walkers
from
Traveller 2300.) They were at least as fast as infantry (for short
periods), but were better protected & could carry either heavier weapons
or
much more ammunition (gatling machineguns for infantry not in fixed
positions becomes feasible.)  While they were vulnerable to IAVRs, they
were generally proof against SAWs, APSWs, and grenades. This made them
useful in assaulting fixed positions where infantry generally got chewed
up.  This is not to say they didn't take losses, but it was cheaper to
lose
an Infantry Walker than it was to lose one of the latest & greatest
IFVs.
Walkers also found utility in Urban assaults for the same reason.

Someone also discovered that Walkers gave your side an edge in boarding
actions. Most ship's crews were hesitant to use weapons that could take
out
a Walker, because they usually also made a mess of their ship at the
same
time. This niche kept the Infantry Walker program alive, and provided
justification for later Powered Armor development projects.

Jim Yonemura