Starship Troopers Power Armor

[D_I]

Are we ever shown the exact specs of the power armor and its weapons in any starship troopers media? I was looking into it but i couldn't find anything. Maybe the tabletop games have something? Thought id ask on here since I don't know where else I could ask.

jeez ive posted a lot of topics since joining in a short time.

[Seto Kaiba]

Are we ever shown the exact specs of the power armor and its weapons in any starship troopers media? I was looking into it but i couldn't find anything. Maybe the tabletop games have something? Thought id ask on here since I don't know where else I could ask.

So... my question would be "Which version?"

As you know, Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers has been adapted a number of different times and that no two adaptations really line up with each other perfectly. The 1988 Studio Nue OVA is closest to the original work in terms of the design of the Marauder powered suit, while other versions like Verhoeven's movies omit that technology entirely and the 1997 CG series reimagined them as generic powered spacesuits.

The only versions I know of that go into any real detail of the powered suits and their armaments are the novel and the Studio Nue OVA, but they do not go into significant detail. In those versions, the Marauder suit gives the wearer a gorilla-like profile, is equipped with "jump jets" to let the wearer jump over obstacles with rocket-assisted leaps, and carries a variety of built-in or hand-carried weapons including a rocket launcher, "y-rack" grenade launcher, a "flamer" that is apparently equal parts flamethrower and cutting torch (which the anime makes into a multipurpose chemical thrower), and various machinegun-type weapons.

The details are somewhat vague in all cases. The novel handwaves much of it in-story with Johnny's narration literally saying he won't trouble the reader with the details because they've surely heard all about them on the news. In the anime OVA, the standard rifle is a caseless blowback-action modular rifle that can connect its sights directly to the pilot's helmet. The caliber is not stated, but it has a FN P90 style magazine and many spare magazines stored in the unit's backpack. The anime also has a larger 12.7mm heavy support rifle that the Marauder can manhandle around solo (the sort of thing that'd normally be either vehicle mounted or on a bipod as a crew-served weapon). The rocket launcher's more of a missile launcher, able to rapid-fire guided missiles. The "y-rack" in the anime is said to hold 18 grenades, each of which is 5-10x as powerful as a normal infantry-use grenade today, and the anime's version of the flamethrower can be outfitted with various alternative tanks for things like fire suppression.

But that's about as detailed as it gets, really.

jeez ive posted a lot of topics since joining in a short time.

You have questions, we have answers. It's fine.

[Underrated GM Custom]

It's been a longtime since I've read Starship troopers, I realize I've never seen the Studio Nue adaptation so I'll have to check it out and see how it compares with the book.

[Seto Kaiba]

It's been a longtime since I've read Starship troopers, I realize I've never seen the Studio Nue adaptation so I'll have to check it out and see how it compares with the book.

It is, AFAIK, the closest that any adaptation has actually gotten to the book.

[Mafty]

Is it true that Sunrise didn't have permission to adapt the book? Is that why it was never licensed internationally?

[Seto Kaiba]

Is it true that Sunrise didn't have permission to adapt the book? Is that why it was never licensed internationally?

No, Sunrise did go through the proper channels and acquire a license to produce an animated adaptation of Heinlein's novel.

The reason the OVA was never licensed for international release is that the terms of the license Sunrise acquired prohibited them from distributing it in North America. Then, as now, most worldwide anime licensing was flowing through distributors in North America. That provision of the license effectively cut the OVA off from a broader release.