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[Parsely]

If we generously (in favor of knocking the mech over with gunfire) assume that a 10m mech weighs the same as an M1 Abrams (about 60 metric tons), I have a hard time believing you could knock one down with a 100mm shell, let alone a cannonball fired from a black powder mortar.

[Rolepgeek]

Also, in terms of managing to knock it over, there's really no reason to believe that the side with the mesh won't be able to counterattack or mount a defense of the wreck until it can be recovered; packing something like that with enough explosives to permanently destroy it is not a quick process. Look at modern tactics and how we deal with downed machines.

[Bumber]

Just dig a pit, cover it with cloth, then with dirt. Mech disabler trap.

Optionally, fill pit with water to really ruin their day.

Or fill it with pitch, then set it ablaze after they fall in. The mech probably won't protect against heat and smoke.

[Rolepgeek]

You don't think a mech designed to withstand railgun shots when possible could do that?

Or that they wouldn't have screening teams ahead of the mech?

I mean, traps are always useful, but pulleys ain't too hard to rig up, and if you have a second mech, they can help pull 'em out.

[Parsely]

Also, in terms of managing to knock it over, there's really no reason to believe that the side with the mesh won't be able to counterattack or mount a defense of the wreck until it can be recovered; packing something like that with enough explosives to permanently destroy it is not a quick process. Look at modern tactics and how we deal with downed machines.

Yes, this. In WW2 it was only natural to shoot a tank until it catches on fire, because if you don't it might shoot you back, but a mech that's been pushed over is only a threat if you get in range of its limbs, so there is no reason to destroy it unless it's unrecoverable.

Also, I don't picture mech on mech combat to be Pacific Rim kaiju punching rock em' sock em' robots. One mech comes at another mech and pushes it over with its arms. That's it. If a mech comes at yours from the side you're not going to be able to stop it from knocking yours down. If it comes at you from the front, it becomes a contest. There's probably a good chance that both mechs fall down, and then whichever one gets back up first is going to win. But I doubt this is a common occurrence at all.

I don't want guns to rule the battlefield, but I don't want the only way to take out a mech be another mech pushing it over. What I want from this setting is big mechs and large formations of infantry working in concert.

[Rolepgeek]

To be honest I kinda imagined the mechs as omnidirectional in terms of stance, but if these are bipedal that's probably not all that accurate.

You could always have lasso formations and horse cavalry. Cowboys making a comeback as anti-mech forces

Fire a good volley at the people on the mech, toss some ropes, start pulling.

[Jimmy]

Bipedal mechs are just so unbelievably top-heavy that they're going to be a cinch to knock over. Tanks have a low centre of gravity for a reason.

Honestly a culture that finds a cache of self-powered mechs isn't likely to use them for melee combat unless they're pressed for troops. The mech itself would be far more valuable to a 16th century army for use as a logistics supply solution. Assuming it's faster over land than horse, carries or can haul a large amount of weight and doesn't need refuelling, you've got the perfect means to move your army and its weapons and supplies faster than your enemy. Engage your enemy from the rear in a flanking manoeuvre, cut off their own supply lines and starve them out, it's blitzkrieg in the 16th century.

[Parsely]

To be honest I kinda imagined the mechs as omnidirectional in terms of stance, but if these are bipedal that's probably not all that accurate.

You could always have lasso formations and horse cavalry. Cowboys making a comeback as anti-mech forces

Fire a good volley at the people on the mech, toss some ropes, start pulling.

Are you just making fun of me now?

Bipedal mechs are just so unbelievably top-heavy that they're going to be a cinch to knock over. Tanks have a low centre of gravity for a reason.

Honestly a culture that finds a cache of self-powered mechs isn't likely to use them for melee combat unless they're pressed for troops. The mech itself would be far more valuable to a 16th century army for use as a logistics supply solution. Assuming it's faster over land than horse, carries or can haul a large amount of weight and doesn't need refuelling, you've got the perfect means to move your army and its weapons and supplies faster than your enemy. Engage your enemy from the rear in a flanking manoeuvre, cut off their own supply lines and starve them out, it's blitzkrieg in the 16th century.

There's no reason why the mech can't participate in an army's supply train and still take part in combat. And there is every reason to use a mech when routing your enemy is as simple as marching it into their formation. It's like cavalry, except you can't stop it.

[Rolepgeek]

To be honest I kinda imagined the mechs as omnidirectional in terms of stance, but if these are bipedal that's probably not all that accurate.

You could always have lasso formations and horse cavalry. Cowboys making a comeback as anti-mech forces

Fire a good volley at the people on the mech, toss some ropes, start pulling.

Are you just making fun of me now?

Nope.

Mechs don't reproduce, horses do.

[Parsely]

Cavalry that used lariats were a thing in ancient armies, so cowboys wouldn't be the first thing I'd associate this with.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Trying to pull down a 60+ ton vehicle with your arms or horse (by looping the rope around the saddle horn) sounds like an awful idea.

Bipedal mechs are just so unbelievably top-heavy that they're going to be a cinch to knock over.

Yes, but not with gunfire. I don't buy for a second that you could push over something so heavy with gunfire.

[Arx]

Bipedal mechs are just so unbelievably top-heavy that they're going to be a cinch to knock over.

Yes, but not with gunfire. I don't buy for a second that you could push over something so heavy with gunfire.

We're not talking about small arms. We're talking heavy artillery.

Trying to pull down a 60+ ton vehicle with your arms or horse (by looping the rope around the saddle horn) sounds like an awful idea.

How does a 60+ ton vehicle with two points of contact with the ground navigate a rural landscape? It sounds kinda like your mech cavalry is screwed in forests, mountains, swamps and riverine areas. Roughly comparable to the range of utility of regular cavalry, which is reasonable.

There's no reason why the mech can't participate in an army's supply train and still take part in combat. And there is every reason to use a mech when routing your enemy is as simple as marching it into their formation. It's like cavalry, except you can't stop it.

How fast are these things? Bear in mind that formation combat will disappear as soon as mechs come on to the scene, much like melee combat almost entirely vanished as guns advanced.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Sexipedal mechas. With a Kevlar balloon rolly thing on extendable wheels, like the newest rover.

[Tack]

I feel like horses and ropes could foul the legs or trip it.
Not sure how well it would go but worth a shot.

By which I mean, in the setting someone will probably take a shot. Worth making into a scene, whatever the outcome.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Then install blade legs.

[Rolepgeek]

Chain shot is obviously the solution