Was the Rhino chassis supposed to be modular?

[Jarl Caldersson]

I have never read to much about the Rhino chassis, but a question always itched in the back of my head. Was the Rhino supposed to be a modular platform?

 

What I mean was the back portion supposed to be swappable. One day it could be a ordinary transport, go back and swap out components to be a predator. The platform appears to be made to be a all in one fighting vehicle where you only needed the single platform and multiple modules to fit the platform to the mission needs. Now I know in 40k this probably isn't the case due to Mechanicus losing the knowledge, or talk of the machine spirit, but what about original/30k?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Most likely. The idea of modular combat vehicles certainly existed when 1st Edition was being written (see the M113 armored personnel carrier, whose chassis became the foundation of the M106 mortar carrier, M163 Vulcan Air Defense System, M901 tank destroyer, and multiple "light tanks").

[Noserenda]

Its an STC design so yes, it would have been originally designed modular with various design solutions for local needs or material issues. :) 

[Lord_Caerolion]

All the STC patterns were supposed to be modular, essentially. It was to be a cover-all for whatever purposes the colonists could require, whether that be personal vehicles, farming equipment, military vehicles, etc. It's why it's so sturdy, easy to repair, has multiple redundancies, and able to run on so many different sorts of fuel. With the right STC-grade modifications, it could probably be made aquatic too, like the Chimera.

 

It's the RH1N0, for all your vehicular needs!

[Jarl Caldersson]

Sweet, makes my own story easier. Was trying to figure out how a sparsely equipped force was maximizing their chassis by utilizing the modular aspect. So they only had 10 rhino chassis but made multiple modules so those 10 could be put to maximum use.

 

Now if only Primaris could use Rhino's. Come on GW let it happen! Don't make the rhino become extinct!

[Leonaides]

There is a slight fluff issue with that  - assuming its not been retconed of course. The Machine spirits might not be suitable to be repeatedly refitted. its tied into the 'no AI' stance of the mechanicum but once upon a time the different vehicles were given a different machine spirit dependant on what they were going to be used at - for example predator tanks would often be given the brain of a hunting carnivore (for example lion or tiger) while a bigger vehicle (landraider) might get a bear or something providing the biological portion of the machine spirit. Whether that is still cannon or not, i dont know, but a machine spirit used to fighting as a Predator will likely be more aggressive than one normally used as a Rhino, and vice versa. This could cause problems when your squad transport decides to try to engage an enemy battle tank :-).

 

Remember these vehicles are treated as people with personalities, not simply machines which can swap out parts all over the place with no effect. 

[Race Bannon]

I dunno. I'd rather think swapping out weapons is akin to changing clothes. Otherwise it's like saying to the tank, "sorry Bolo, we don't need long-range firepower so your Whirlwind launchers have to stay behind. Again. But I promise you'll get to fight ... eventually."

 

If I were a machine-spirit meant to fight, then I'd want to fight as often as I could. So, swap out these bulky missile launchers and bolt on those sponsons. TO THE CHOP SHOP!

[Jarl Caldersson]

Would think it's more akin to a soldier and his issued weapon. A soldier places on heavy weapon like a SAW is not going to be clearing rooms. Issued a standard rifle isn't going to be performing long range target removal.

 

A rhino given a transport module will know it needs to keep his payload safe, given a predator module he knows he's going hunting.

[Karack Blackstone]

Would think it's more akin to a soldier and his issued weapon. A soldier places on heavy weapon like a SAW is not going to be clearing rooms. Issued a standard rifle isn't going to be performing long range target removal.

 

A rhino given a transport module will know it needs to keep his payload safe, given a predator module he knows he's going hunting.

 

I think the problem is, this fluff is not exactly in the well and best defined category.

 

That typed, the issue is, there would need to be two Machine Spirits, at least; one in the hull, one in the module.

 

The one in the hull is, for lack of a better context, the subconscious portion; the module one is the conscious portion of the mind.

 

Still, interesting concept.

[Lord_Caerolion]

This is assuming that the, for want of a better word, "active" Machine Spirit isn't able to be swapped over depending on the loadout being equipped on the vehicle, as the previous fluff seemed to indicate that the "brain" was installed as part of the targeting computer, which a Rhino APC probably wouldn't have installed. When it gets retrofitted as a Predator/Whirlwind/Vindicator, it would have that part installed.

 

It all comes back to the fact that GW seems to use the term "machine spirit" interchangeably for several different things. It's used for the generic "animating force" that the Mechanicus believes is in every machine, from the simplest of clockwork contraptions, up to the most advanced of starships, as well as for any sort of biological computer system like those installed in Predators/Land Raiders, and the servitor-guidance-systems of the Stalker missiles (or whichever AA tank it is). So a Rhino has a Machine Spirit in that it's a machine, and therefore imbued with a soul by the Machine God, but it doesn't have a machine spirit, in that it's just a tank, with no advanced organic computer systems capable of independent processing.