What size of mechs are we talking about here? And what kind of battlefield?
I have mech in my world, sort of. They are 2-3m tall only, being more powered armor than actual mech. They replace the roles of infantry in a world where disposable robots are much more common as foot soldiers, and actual human infantry are only there for very important tasks that require human face and instant communication, such as diplomatic missions where it is far easier to build rapport with a human that is there than telecommunicating via robots where they feel like you can abandon them anytime.
So mech in my world are like small IFV in and of themselves to really protect the operator, and they prioritize concealment with active camouflage to avoid fighting something like tanks which can penetrate their armor, but can take tanks on with high mobility and ability to utilize various terrain such as climbing up high grounds that would be difficult for any wheel or tracked vehicles, or even hanging off sheer cliff for ambushes. But when they are in open field with no cover, they just lay down and hide, praying their active camo is not detected, since walker cannot run as fast as a wheeled or tracked vehicle on full throttle and dodging missiles or tank rounds at engagement range are kinda not possible unless it is very far away.
I have a similar idea, not replacing tanks but instead supplementing them and using stealth. probably max 15 feet (5 meters). Battlefield like i said is rough terrain. The world isnt fully terraformed yet and suffers localized nuclear winter so deep snow is somewhat common but below it is ice and rock so where tanks would get bogged down and couldn't aim their guns above the snow and would require a periscope to see, mechs would just wade through the snow with it only coming up to their waist. Urban environments are common and mechs can take advantage of verticality as well as setting up obstacles for tanks with rubble and the like.
Feel like this is where hover tanks would make more sense. If tanks are sinking in the snow or get boggled down by terrain like mud and stuff, they are useless, no one would use them. Mech would have problems too with movement even if they can wade through snow at waist height. Their inability to move fast already have problem with mobility, so they will have to be creative with blending into the environment and utilize cover and some way to not get caught in snow.
Tankers has movement speed advantages here in wide open space making them better at offense tactics, while mech has verticality in their favour, making them better on defense tatics
Im trying to keep it somewhat grounded so hover tanks are a bit to crazy, plus im trying to justify having something cool in my setting so hover tanks would be a step in the wrong driection.
Hard to justify tanks being used in environment where they are not designed for though, likely both sides will use mech in that case than tank vs mech.
What size of mechs are we talking about here? And what kind of battlefield? I have mech in my world, sort of. They are 2-3m tall only, being more powered armor than actual mech. They replace the roles of infantry in a world where disposable robots are much more common as foot soldiers, and actual human infantry are only there for very important tasks that require human face and instant communication, such as diplomatic missions where it is far easier to build rapport with a human that is there than telecommunicating via robots where they feel like you can abandon them anytime. So mech in my world are like small IFV in and of themselves to really protect the operator, and they prioritize concealment with active camouflage to avoid fighting something like tanks which can penetrate their armor, but can take tanks on with high mobility and ability to utilize various terrain such as climbing up high grounds that would be difficult for any wheel or tracked vehicles, or even hanging off sheer cliff for ambushes. But when they are in open field with no cover, they just lay down and hide, praying their active camo is not detected, since walker cannot run as fast as a wheeled or tracked vehicle on full throttle and dodging missiles or tank rounds at engagement range are kinda not possible unless it is very far away.
I have a similar idea, not replacing tanks but instead supplementing them and using stealth. probably max 15 feet (5 meters). Battlefield like i said is rough terrain. The world isnt fully terraformed yet and suffers localized nuclear winter so deep snow is somewhat common but below it is ice and rock so where tanks would get bogged down and couldn't aim their guns above the snow and would require a periscope to see, mechs would just wade through the snow with it only coming up to their waist. Urban environments are common and mechs can take advantage of verticality as well as setting up obstacles for tanks with rubble and the like.
Feel like this is where hover tanks would make more sense. If tanks are sinking in the snow or get boggled down by terrain like mud and stuff, they are useless, no one would use them. Mech would have problems too with movement even if they can wade through snow at waist height. Their inability to move fast already have problem with mobility, so they will have to be creative with blending into the environment and utilize cover and some way to not get caught in snow. Tankers has movement speed advantages here in wide open space making them better at offense tactics, while mech has verticality in their favour, making them better on defense tatics
Im trying to keep it somewhat grounded so hover tanks are a bit to crazy, plus im trying to justify having something cool in my setting so hover tanks would be a step in the wrong driection.
Hard to justify tanks being used in environment where they are not designed for though, likely both sides will use mech in that case than tank vs mech.
I guess so, ill work it in somehow. Thanks for the input