The Energon Pub

Armada Megatron, Animated Shockwave, Universe Warpath, and possibly ROTF Megatron.

Who started the H Tank trend, and why?
Is there a real-world analog?
Were toy designers just lazy and found an easy way to transform a tank into a robot?

Whatever the reason, I feel it an unimaginative design.

Any answers/thoughts?

WHAT??? Unimaginative?
Honestly, I really like the H-pattern better than the overly-used real-life dual treads. A TF with full-length treads makes it painfully obvious that the treads don't work (LC Brawl, Hulk, Galv). To me, that's sort of an aesthetic turn-off. At the least, it gives the character more of a futuristic look.

Dachande wrote:WHAT??? Unimaginative? ...

I should have said that the transformation is unimaginative, and overly-obvious. I like to be suprised by a transformation.

Looking at any of the H Tanks we've seen so far, you can tell right off the bat that two bits of the H will be legs... the other two bits will be shoulders or arms... and a head somewhere in between...

The H Tank is at the level of a lot of the BW transformers (two beast legs will be arms, and the other legs will be... uh... legs?)

Hmmm... I think the Transtech Megatron sketches used it firstly, and the "put the gun to the side" trend is used too much.

As for real world versions: ?

But the Mammoth tank in C&C 3 uses the H tank concept.

I gotta say I'm not crazy about the H-Tanks either.
It just seems to be a cop-out.

"How is this TF disguised?"
"Um... fold his head down and lay him flat on his chest. Call it a tank."
"Brilliant! Time for a Guinness!"

Most are based off of old Heavy Tanks like the ones below then exaggerated for children ( you know, the target market )





And just so it doesn't come up later... here's a pic of Scamper.

Rocketeer wrote:I gotta say I'm not crazy about the H-Tanks either.
It just seems to be a cop-out.

"How is this TF disguised?"
"Um... fold his head down and lay him flat on his chest. Call it a tank."
"Brilliant! Time for a Guinness!"

you had me in stitches with that dialogue. but it sounds about right though!

i like the h tank iidea its just versions just dont work with some bots brawl for example he shouldnt become an h tank but everyone else wevee seen so far lokos pretty good to me so far some tanks today are h tanks as posted earlyer so its kinda realistc idea

ThunderThruster wrote:

Rocketeer wrote:I gotta say I'm not crazy about the H-Tanks either.
It just seems to be a cop-out.

"How is this TF disguised?"
"Um... fold his head down and lay him flat on his chest. Call it a tank."
"Brilliant! Time for a Guinness!"

you had me in stitches with that dialogue. but it sounds about right though!

Maybe we should ask the Hasbro Q&A thread if that's how it happened

[JRX] wrote:

Dachande wrote:WHAT??? Unimaginative? ...

I should have said that the transformation is unimaginative, and overly-obvious. I like to be suprised by a transformation.

Looking at any of the H Tanks we've seen so far, you can tell right off the bat that two bits of the H will be legs... the other two bits will be shoulders or arms... and a head somewhere in between...

The H Tank is at the level of a lot of the BW transformers (two beast legs will be arms, and the other legs will be... uh... legs?)

Yeah, that's my main problem with the H-tank. The lazy, obvious transformations that result.

Plus I just don't like how they look.

dragons wrote:i like the h tank iidea its just versions just dont work with some bots brawl for example he shouldnt become an h tank but everyone else wevee seen so far lokos pretty good to me so far some tanks today are h tanks as posted earlyer so its kinda realistc idea

Something is missing here.

Stormrider wrote:

dragons wrote:i like the h tank iidea its just versions just dont work with some bots brawl for example he shouldnt become an h tank but everyone else wevee seen so far lokos pretty good to me so far some tanks today are h tanks as posted earlyer so its kinda realistc idea

Something is missing here.

lol

Maybe the H-design works better with more futuristic tank designs. Like I said earlier, I like the aesthetics of it. Sure, I can agree with the sometimes overly basic transformation of the design, but that doesn't matter to me as long as a figure looks good. I think I'm in the minority of people who actually prefer Cybertronian alt modes. In that regard, TransTech had some great designs that were tank driven, and most of them weren't conventional (insert: Earth-based). That's why I'm disappointed they won't be produced, and yet probably why they won't be. Sad, really.

Deluxe Tankor from Beast Machines is a good example. The tank is an H-pattern, but the transformation is rather complex. On the opposite end, the tank drone is a simple transformation (almost show-perfect), but, I believe, better looking in robot mode.

I think some of the current problems lie with TF:A Shockwave. The tank mode actually looks like a robot lying down. I like the H-pattern, but I'm not a fan of that figure's alt mode at all.

The pictures of the concept RotF Megatron that were around awhile ago looked totally incredible, and if that's the direction the H-pattern is going to take, sign me up! After all, wouldn't a sleek, aggressive-looking tank be more frightening than a lumbering bulk in the TF universe? This is sci/fi after all.

In the end, to each his own.

Shockwave TFA - all about the robot to robot mode, everything else is just an extra.

legend class warpath - its a legend. if the sculpt is detailed, if the bot mode looks like the character, we can let it slide.

but armada megatron? meh. leader class lazy.

I love H tanks and the only thing I dislike about Armada Megatron his is head in alt-mode and the lack of leg articulation.

Stormrider wrote:

dragons wrote:i like the h tank iidea its just versions just dont work with some bots brawl for example he shouldnt become an h tank but everyone else wevee seen so far lokos pretty good to me so far some tanks today are h tanks as posted earlyer so its kinda realistc idea

Something is missing here.

Breathing

The KO Armada Megatron exemplified a simple but effective way to flesh out the H-Tank - Give him removable armor on the front that becomes a shield!

Anyway, I blamed the aesthetic inspiration for Armada Megatron and TFA Shockwave on the robot tank from Rescue Rangers.

Screw that H-Tank. I want to see E-Tanks, X-Tanks, G-Tanks and Q-Tanks. I demand my alphabet tank armada!! D:

Sgt. Grumbles wrote:Screw that H-Tank. I want to see E-Tanks, X-Tanks, G-Tanks and Q-Tanks. I demand my alphabet tank armada!! D:

Stuff the Alphatanks, I want an &-tank.

Autoclot wrote:

Sgt. Grumbles wrote:Screw that H-Tank. I want to see E-Tanks, X-Tanks, G-Tanks and Q-Tanks. I demand my alphabet tank armada!! D:

Stuff the Alphatanks, I want an &-tank.

I would prefer a 1-Tank, 2-tank, 3-tank, 4-tank, 5-tank etc
And then a +-tank, =-tank, - tank, %-tank, $-tank, £-tank.
THE ULTIMATE ARMADA SHALL BEGIN!

How about demanding the ultra-class Septic Tank and call it a day. But wait, then there'll be an imported version with a bunch of unnecessary chrome.

I'll just stick with my favor of the H-design and be happy.

In the real world, wouldn't the H tank design handle terrain better, in terms up going up and down or over obstacles? If the two sets of treads are independant of each other, wouldn't the H design present less of a target or profile when cresting the top of a hill? At least in theory?

I like the design, personally, I'm just asking about real-life applications.

Dagon wrote:In the real world, wouldn't the H tank design handle terrain better, in terms up going up and down or over obstacles?

I think you may be right with that. Independantly sprung tread assemblies would allow the overall layout to "twist" a little to get over some obstacles. You'd also have the benefit that if you were going over potentially tread-unfriendly terrain (ground with boggy patches, perhaps?), you wouldn't lose all your drive power if a tread hit such terrain.

If the two sets of treads are independant of each other, wouldn't the H design present less of a target or profile when cresting the top of a hill? At least in theory?

Not sure on that - the trades on Shockwave and Warpath still form a "solid" block front-to-back (Shockwave with the cenbtral section, Warpath by overlapping the treads), so you still have the "fuller" profile.

Down_Shift wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

dragons wrote:i like the h tank iidea its just versions just dont work with some bots brawl for example he shouldnt become an h tank but everyone else wevee seen so far lokos pretty good to me so far some tanks today are h tanks as posted earlyer so its kinda realistc idea

Something is missing here.

Breathing

Punctuation. Grammar. Spelling.

Haha, someone needs to bookmark this thread, so that when Hasbro discovers the Ultimate Evil™, the "walker-tank" vehicle, we can reminisce about the good old days of the H-tank.