The Energon Pub

Ok, we're back for the second installment of my analysis. Previously we looked at land and air dominance, with the Autobots taking land and the Decepticons having a slight advantage in the air. Now it's time to focus on sea and space.



Part 3: Ocean Superiority

Most of the waterbound Transformers didn’t appear until 1988, so it took a while for this setting to factor into the conflict. However the Decepticons were particularly aggressive in trying to gain an advantage here, with the creation of the Seacons and others. Did they succeed? Let’s look at the numbers:

Category – (Autobot vs. Decepticon)
Count - 6 vs. 13
Strength - 6.3 vs. 7.5
Intelligence - 7.3 vs. 6.3
Speed - 7.0 vs. 4.5
Endurance - 6.8 vs. 7.2
Courage - 9.2 vs. 7.7
Firepower - 7.2 vs. 6.7
Skill - 7.7 vs. 7.0

The Autobots are really outnumbered here, with only half the troops of their opponents. Despite this, the Autobots have a clear intelligence, speed, courage, skill, and firepower advantage. In turn the Decepticons have the numbers and the strength advantage. Can this be the first time that raw numbers are not enough to gain the overall advantage?

The best Autobot is a rough match for the best Decepticon with Broadside taking on Scourge. Give this one to the Autobots then, right? Not so fast! The Autobots almost entirely operate on the surface of the water, with only 2 of their numbers able to go underwater. In contrast, most Decepticons operate underwater. That means the Decepticons can strike at the Autobots from underwater, where the Autobots have limited ability to strike back. Then you throw in the numbers, and this is one battle the Autobots will be hard pressed to win.

Verdict: Advantage Decepticons


Part 4: Space Superiority

Not many Transformers can operate in space. I know that in the cartoon Starscream and his folk just fly into space when they wanted to, but come on, they’re fighter jets. I only counted the robots if they were either a space vehicle or their bio indicated they could fly into space from Earth’s gravity well. And I’m not counting rocket ships which are a component of a base which is otherwise earthbound. It turns out that these factors limited the field substantially. Let’s look at the numbers:

Category – (Autobot vs. Decepticon)
Count – 4 vs. 4
Strength - 6.3 vs. 7.5
Intelligence - 8.5 vs. 7.8
Speed – 10 vs. 7.8
Endurance - 6.8 vs. 6.8
Courage - 8.5 vs. 6.5
Firepower - 7.0 vs. 7.5
Skill - 8.3 vs. 8.8

Well, we know there won’t be a numbers advantage here. However the Autobots do enjoy better intelligence, speed and courage than their evil counterparts. The Decepticons have the strength advantage with a slight edge in firepower and skill. The numbers are not enough to declare a winner here.

But the best of the Autobots are enough. With Sky Lynx, Jetfire, and Cloudburst matching or besting the Decepticons Sixshot and Astrotrain, the good guys will take this one. It isn’t a slam dunk, but the star power of the Autobots provide enough to tip the balance of power in their direction.

Verdict: Slight Advantage Autobots


Two-thirds down, and the final installment left to go.

Next Time: Finishing Big and the Big Finish

Im enjoying reading these. Nice work.

Im not sure if you're including the Micromasters but there was an Autobot set of 4 called the Astro squad. They were combining Micromasters and were all capable of space flight.

I threw out the patrols and squads because there were so many, they used a different attribute scheme, and their stats were generally quite average in ability. That might be the most questionable omission I made though. I don't know. I think if they had been treated as individuals, each with their own bio, I would have put them in. Great observation.