Revenge of the Fallen Toys comments/discussion

[GoktimusPrime]

Firstly, we're not really talking about medieval times, and even if we ere, that's not really comparable as their adversaries were similarly equipped.

Melee weapons are "ancient" weapons. They were phased out of modern warfare with the advent of the sub-machine gun.

Long Haul is shown to be a slow, lumbering character. There's no way he's going to get close enough to an Autobot to use those swords without being shot.

Which would be a MASSIVE problem for a human - hence why nobody ever uses melee weapons in war anymore! Your typical Taliban fighter will more likely use explosives or a rocket-propelled grenade against their enemies than say, a scimitar. But of course, Long Haul isn't human.

With the exception of small Transformers like Frenzy, Alice and Wheelie, most Transformers are shown to be _extremely_ durable thanks to armour and energy shielding. Even a simple drone like Scorponok was able to withstand _incredible_ amounts of artillery, even able to survive those Sabot rounds to dig a quick retreat. Other Transformers like Blackout, Brawl/Devastator, Optimus Prime and Megatron were all able to withstand incredible amounts of enemy fire. With such incredible endurance, it's definitely possible for these Transformers to take a lot of enemy fire and get close enough to use melee weaponry or even _closer_ combat with bare handed fighting.

Again, you're a bit off the mark as I'm not talking exclusively about melee weapons. I'm talking about what I perceive as an unrealistic decision to give a toy, based on a slow-moving lumbering character, a weapon that give him little value in the type of warfare he is shown to be participating in.

I don't remember seeing Long Haul engaged in melee range combat. A person who's a slow mover isn't necessarily a slow melee fighter (and vice versa). As dirge alluded to, I am _assuming_ that Long Haul has the skill to wield those hook swords. Having said that, his tech specs don't really support my assumption very well - with a paltry skill of just 2 he's liable to lop his own head off with his own blades!

But I've never been a fan of HasTak giving Transformers melee weapons without also giving them guns. :/ It's a gripe I had with some Beast Wars toys - a problem that the cartoon writers obviously realised as they gave a lot of characters melee weapons where the toy had no range weapon (e.g.: Dinobot's eye lasers, Rhinox's chain guns of doom etc.). When I play with Long Haul I pretend that the wheels above his shoulders are missile launchers.

look more like axes than any sort of sword, unlike Prime's there's no edge for thrusting. All he can do is cleave with then.

They're not axes; in terms of usage hook swords are like a hybrid between a sickle or scimitar and a sword; a very _unusual_ combination which is really hard to use! I think any Transformer equipped with a hook sword (especially _twin_ hook swords) should have a minimum skill rating of 8.