So Machine Gun has the strength of a Panzer?

[Eagle Pursuit]

Right. The next step in development isn't to replace the gun, it's to replace the soldier(s). One gunner and one ammo feeder/spotter get replaced by one robot that doesn't flinch and can see in multiple wavelengths and can communicate with all the other robots in the field and master control in real time.

Beyond that, the machine gun itself will probably get replaced by a directed energy weapon such as a solid state laser at such a time as those and their power sources become portable by the robot.

 

[MadDjinn]

Right. The next step in development isn't to replace the gun, it's to replace the soldier(s). One gunner and one ammo feeder/spotter get replaced by one robot that doesn't flinch and can see in multiple wavelengths and can communicate with all the other robots in the field and master control in real time.

Beyond that, the machine gun itself will probably get replaced by a directed energy weapon such as a solid state laser at such a time as those and their power sources become portable by the robot.

well, there's still 'minor' things that can change:

Range upgrades (better material, a more accurate rifling of the barrel), damage upgrades (.50 cal or better), utility (smaller but same power), etc.

Of course, an MG Gauss cannon would be pretty fun to see (though definitely no invented yet).

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Those are all incremental changes. They are the iphone 4S to the current MG's iphone 4. Whatever comes next, like my hypothesized robot sentinel, will have to be a leap ahead or else it's not worth turning into a unit.

You don't jump from Musketmen to Riflemen because they changed the caliber or gunsight. It's because of a paradigm shift in how the guns could be used (also, made), which was a result in changing how the ammunition was packaged and loaded. That's the kind of difference that it will take to remove a 2-3 man team lugging around a heavy machine gun, a tri-pod, and several cans of ammo from the battlefield and replace the whole thing with...something.

I propose the robot because it eliminates the 2-3 man team. That's a notable difference, especially if it alters the tactics.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I think remote controlled units in some form might be a good addition to Future Tech, since we only have Giant Death Robots currently. At a minimum, Predator Drones are in the "future is now" category, so it would only be an extension from that.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I like the Predator drones as a unit. I could see them being utilized in a purely recon role and vulnerable to anti-aircraft. It would be neat to see them being set up to fend off spies, if spies are units in G&K.

Otherwise, they might be cool as an action that you can perform via Espionage to view a region in your enemies territory. Maybe it can kill civilian units like workers and GP's if they are in the target tile. You don't even have to be at war, but you take a huge diplo hit.

 

[Gucumatz]

Predator drones would 100% be a cool unit. Would be nice to have but odds are would appear to late to be used often.

 

[aluelkdf]

I think there should be an upgrade dead end for machine guns. There are still machine guns in use today, and like someone else was saying they are operated and used basically the same as in WW2. They may be expensive in say 1900, but if by 2000 they are real cheap then you can pump them out real quick and if they are killed it doesn't matter that much.

 

[aluelkdf]

Predator drones would 100% be a cool unit. Would be nice to have but odds are would appear to late to be used often.

I would love to see predator drones.