Talk:Bolo universe

message: I'm making two small changes to the armaments section. Hellbores are fusion pulse weapons, they don't depend on firing a deuterium round and *then* igniting it after it leaves the barrel. Also there's no reference to the classic Bolo secondary armament "Infinite Repeaters" which appeared regularly in the stories. Laumer never made it clear if these were gatling guns or just high-speed auto-cannon, so I'll just include the reference.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Teccean (talk • contribs) 14:08, 5 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Hellbores and Infinite Repeaters

message: I don't have my books handy either but this list is missing DAK "Das Afrika Korps". I *think* he was a Mk XXIV. There were at least three other Bolos in that story as well. The clearest memory I have from the story is towards the begining. They'd found him buried in ruble or something and someone had said something that had set him off and he was speeding down some road heading no place in particular, and this general from this one nation he happened to be in had been called to do something about him and was speeding alongside in a jeep and saw the nameplate welded to his side and read it aloud as he drove alongside, which caused the Bolo to stop and decide that this guy was his new boss, and then he went on to win the upcoming war for this guys side by calling in his brothers who were all in hibernation aboard ancient satellites above the planet. Surely someone besides me remembers this Bolo?
:Indeed, but I don't have the book handy, so I can't check it. --Falcorian (talk) 17:22, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Das Afrika Korps

message: I'm working on taking the data from Book 3 and wikifying it. You can find it at User:Falcorian/bolo, feel free to fuss with it. I'd like to add information under the major headinds, so if you've got something, toss it in. -Falcorian 06:04, August 13, 2005 (UTC)
:It might be a good idea to create a separate article ("Bolo Marks," for example) for that information. This would keep the present article at a reasonable length.
::That was the plan. -Falcorian 17:47, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I think you have more than enough material to put it up now -- though I'd cut the Technology section at the start, which duplicates the info in the main Bolo article.
It's live at Bolo Marks Technical Data, take a look. -Falcorian 21:17, 6 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Boloblo Renga Denga by Boloblo Umbuktu Datasheet 

message: Don't have my books handy, but the list is missing LRH "Little Red Hen". I don't remember which Mark it was, but it was an odd, "light" Bolo for recon to transport and support a human crew to observe the enemy. LRH was severely damaged in action while attempting to save its crew. The data records were recovered and its AI core destroyed.
I believe it was a Mark XXI something. Maybe (I)?
:A little late, but yes, LRH was a Mark XXI/I. -Falcorian 20:53, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Little Red Hen 

message: I was wondering if this rticle could discuss the Bolo personality.  It has always been a king of king in shining armour but I need some help in making it more clear
--Thisuser 03:20, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Talk of Bolo Personality

message: I changed references to the Bolo being 'like a tank only bigger [etc]' to 'super-heavy tank.' There's no real difference between a Bolo and a tank other than scale, so it's fairly ridiculous to claim it's anything but a super-heavy tank. Hrimfaxi 11:13, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Couple changes

message: In the short story Cultural Exchange, an oddly numbered Bolo model is mentioned:
"That's the model WV," she said. "It's what is known as a Continental Siege Unit. It carries four men, with a half-megaton/second firepower—"
"There must be an error somewhere," Retief said. "The Bolo model I want is a tractor, model WV M-1—"
"Oh, the modification was the addition of a blade for demolition work. That must be what confused you." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sennard (talk • contribs) 01:43, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  A few pages beforehand it is referred to as a "Bolo Model WV/1." These little differences always catch my eye. kcylsnavS{screechharrass} 01:34, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Bolo WV

message: Bolo Restartus, Model M, is mentioned in the story Courier, along with 40mm infinite repeaters as a separate weapon. Notably when the Retief stories mention the Concordiat it is always as an alliance/empire/government one or two centuries in the past. kcylsnavS{screechharrass} 16:17, 24 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Bolo Restartus

message: Personally, I'd be interested in some analysis of the stories themselves and the varying perspectives their authors have brought to them:
* According to the Keith Laumer page, the "Boloverse" is one of the universes Laumer explored least, yet the one that colleagues have been most willing to pick up and run with. Why is this?
** The fact that the Boloverse is so little explored compared to the others, especially as iit covers a great period of time?
** The lack of an anchoring character like Retief?
** The opportunity for SF authors interested in war to speculate on the evolution of the tank?
* It's my observation that David Weber brings more pathos and character drama to the stories (contrast Old Soldeirs and Bolo! to William H. Keith, Jr.'s Bolo Strike), with possibly John Ringo and Linda Evans being his superiors (The Road to Damascus).
And I'm sure there's more to say about the function of the Bolo characters in the stories than their mark numbers and other statistics.
--IMAGinES 06:54, 18 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to add in what you feel is appropriate, but do be careful with respects to WP:OR. --Falcorian (talk) 16:00, 18 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  About the Stories 

message: I'm not going to argue for or against the meaning of Bolo in the military, nor whether this is the reason for Bolos being called Bolos. I will however point out that WP:OS would forbid us from making this sort of (by its own admission) conjecture. --Falcorian (talk) 13:27, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Etymology (conjecture)

message: I've been reading through Keith Laumer's Rogue Bolo. In it, it has a Bolo named CSR "Caesar", a Mark XXX. On this page, it lists CSR as a XX, but I was not sure if another Bolo went by that name as there are no sources for it. Also, as to the time, the book claims that nuclear technology had been around for 2000 years, placing it at least in the 4000 range, breaking out of the chain. Is there anyone that can help verify any of the information on the page? (I also know that the later future gets quite a bit cluttered). MystRivenExile (talk) 22:15, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incorrect Name and Time 

message: There has been no story ever featuring a XXXXX Mark Bolo, and secondly, ROMAN NUMERALS DON'T WORK THAT WAY!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.48.149.47 (talk) 05:42, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  No Such Bolo as the XXXXX 

message: This article is screaming for a picture of some sort. Wouldn't it be possible to get a cover pic from a publisher? Free advertising after all.<BR>Any talented, BOLO fan, artists out there? Surely there must be some public domain pic of a BOLO or someones idea of one?<BR>
James Cameron, someone, make a BOLO movie!--220.101.28.25 (talk) 06:27, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I have e-mailed William H. Keith, Jr. who is an artist and Sci-Fi writer (including Bolo novels) to ask if he can help with some artwork. He has some on his own website that would be suitable. Fingers Crossed 220.101.28.25 (talk) 19:37, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Picture/ Graphics 

message: Hi everyone. I have started a Keith laumer wiki . It's very small right now but since you all seem knowledgeable of bolos, maybe some of you could come over and make a few articles
24.255.108.216 (talk) 20:29, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Keith Laumer Wiki

message: Really a fictional question about a fictional technology but....
If their armament doesn't travel in parabolic arcs because the projectile travels at a high fraction of the speed of light, then they would be extremely limited by line of sight.  How does the author make this technology seem relevant in a universe where someone could put the same thing in space and bombard a planet(or bolo) into dust? 75.84.184.44 (talk) 06:15, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: This is an issue that crops up in Bolo lore. The same argument has been made about point-blank nuclear weapons fire on a Bolo's warhull. Overall, Bolos are made out to be ny indestructible, where they can only be destroyed by astoundingly large numbers or blasting it with planet-sized mass drivers. Energy shields are sometimes used as a plot device, other times the fact a Bolo is mobile and can dodge, using the potential delay of orbit-to-ground bombardment. --SuperAnth: so dubbed by others, perpetuated by action (talk) 13:54, 1 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  How are they useful? 

message: Can someone confirm the reference to Bolo's having on-board maintenance robots? SuperAnth: so dubbed by others, perpetuated by action (talk) 01:22, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Internal Maintenance Bots? 

message: Nobody seems to have sorted out which Bolos are used in which stories, so I did it myself.  Presenting the Bolo stories in truly chronological order is well nigh impossible due to the way the stories were written.  I was more interested to see if there were any serial stories, but to my surprise I could only find two instances of that: S. M. Stirling's trio of short stories about Markee, "Lost Legion", "Ancestral Voices" and "The Sixth Sense"; and David Weber's pair of short stories based in Santa Cruz, "Miles To Go" and "With Your Shield".
I've done the data collection, but the two possible wikipedia entries, for Keith_Laumer and Bolo (tank), are written and arranged so strangely that I have no idea where to put the data up or how to present it.  I am also not ready to try to present something this complicated using tables.  So I will post this in the talk sections of both.
:The Compleat Bolo (TCB) by Keith Laumer c. 1990
* "The Night Of The Trolls" - Bolo Mark II, "The Lesser Troll"; Bolo Mark III, "The Great Troll"
* "Courier" - Bolo Mark XV Model M, "Resartus"
* "Field Test" - Bolo Mark XX Model B, DNE "Denny"
* "The Last Command" - Bolo Mark XXVIII, LNE "Lenny"
* "A Relic Of War" - Bolo Mark XXV, 954-BBY "Bobby"
* "Combat Unit" - Bolo Mark XXXI
* "Rogue Bolo" - Bolo Mark XX Model B, CSR "Caesar" (story erroneously says Mark XXX)
* "Final Mission" - Bolo Mark XV Model Y, JNA "Jonah/Johnny"
* "A Short History of the Bolo Fighting Machines"
:Bolos Book 1: Honor of the Regiment (BB1) ed. Bill Fawcett c. 1993
* "Lost Legion" by S. M. Stirling - Bolo Mark III, "Markee"
* "Camelot" by S. N. Lewitt - Bolo Mark XXIV, KNE "Kenny"
* "The Legacy Of Leonidas" by J. Andrew Keith - Bolo Mark XX Model B, JSN "Jason"
* "Ploughshare" by Todd Johnson - Bolo Mark XVI Model C, DAK "Das Afrika Korps"
* "Ghosts" by Mike Resnick & Barry N. Malzberg - Mark LX
* "The Ghost Of Resartus" by Christopher Stasheff - Bolo Mark XXI, MLS "Miles/Resartus"
* "Operation Desert Fox" by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon - Bolo Mark XVI, RML "Rommell"
* "As Our Strength Lessens" by David Drake - Bolo Mark XXX "Maldon"
:Bolos Book 2: The Unconquerable (BB2) ed. Bill Fawcett c. 1994
* "Ancestral Voices" by S. M. Stirling - Bolo Mark III, "Markee"
* "Sir Kendrick's Lady" by S. N. Lewitt - Bolo Mark XXIV, KNE "Kenny"
* "You're It" by Shirley Meier - Bolo Mark XXIX, LRS "Laura Secord"
* "Shared Experience" by Christopher Stasheff - Bolo Mark XXVIII, TTN "Titan"; Bolo Mark XXVIII, RPT "Rampart"; Bolo Mark XXVIII, MLN "Merlon"; Bolo Mark XXVIII, DGN "Dragon"; Bolo Mark XXVIII, BWK "Bulwark"; Bolo Mark XXVIII, DJN "Donjon"; Bolo Mark XXVIII, CHT "Chateau"
* "The Murphosensor Bomb" by Karen Wehrstein - Bolo Mark XXX, KCC "Casey"
* "Legacy" by Todd Johnson - Mark XXIX Model C
* "Endings" by William R. Forstchen - Bolo Mark XXXIII, SHM "Sherman"
:Bolos Book 3: The Triumphant (BB3) ed. David Weber & Linda Evans c.1995
* "The Farmer's Wife" by Linda Evans - Bolo Mark XX Model M, DGR "Digger"
* "Little Red Hen" by Linda Evans & Robert R. Hollingsworth - Bolo Mark XXI Model I (Special), LRH "Light Reconaissance Headquarters/Little Red Hen"
* "Little Dog Gone" by Linda Evans - Bolo Mark XX Model B, GWN "Gawain/Gonner"
* "Miles To Go" by David Weber - Bolo Mark XXIII Model B (Experimental), NKE "Nike"
* "A Brief Technical History of the Bolo" by David Weber
:Bolos Book 4: Last Stand (BB4) ed. Bill Fawcett c. 1997
* "The Sixth Sun" by S. M. Stirling - Bolo Mark III, "Markee"
* "The Traitor" by David M. Weber - Bolo Mark XXV Model D, ART "Arthur"; Bolo Mark XXV Model D, LNC "Lance"
* "Yesterday's Gods" by John Mina & William R. Forstchen - Bolo Mark XXII Model SD (Special Duty), DNR "Danar"
* "Memories Of Erin" by Robert Greenberger - Bolo Mark XXVIII, HWK "Hawk"
* "Hold Until Relieved" by William H. Keith, Jr. - Bolo Mark XLIV Model D, LKT "Leuctra/Lucy"
* "A Question Of Valor" by Todd Johnson - Bolo Mark XXXIX "Cephalus"
* "In The Flesh" by Steve Perry & John DeCamp - Bolo Mark XXXIX, G141 "Gray"
* "And Don't Come Back" by Mark Thies - Bolo Mark XXXIIe, DLS "Dallas"
* "A Time To Kill" by David M. Weber - Bolo Mark XXXIII, SHV "Shiva"
* "A Brief History Of Human Expansion Beyond Concordiat Space" by Linda Evans
:Bolos Book 5: Old Guard (BB5) ed. Bill Fawcett c. 2001
* "Incursions" by Mark Thies - Bolo Mark XXX, DBC "Death By Chains"; Bolo Mark XXX, DBQ "Death By Quarter"
* "Rook's Gambit" by John Mina - Bolo Mark XXXIV TRK "Turkey"
* "The Sky is Falling" by J. Steven York & Dean Welsey Smith - Bolo Mark XXXIV ZGY "Ziggy"
* "Brothers" by William H. Keith - Bolo Mark XXIV, HNK "Hank"; Bolo Mark XXIV, NDR "Andrew"
:Bolos Book 6:  Cold Steel (BB6) ed. Bill Fawcett c. 2002
* "The Greater Machine" by J. Steven York & Dean Wesley Smith - Bolo Mark XXIV, DRK "Dirk"; Bolo Mark XXV, KNN "Khan"
* "Though Hell Should Bar the Way" by Linda Evans - Bolo Mark XXIII, SPQ/R "Senator"
:Bolo! by David Weber (B!) ed. David Weber c. 2005
* "Miles to Go" (reprinted from BB3)
* "The Traitor" (reprinted from BB4)
* "With Your Shield" by David Weber - Bolo Mark XXVIII Model G, BNJ "Benjy"
* "A Time to Kill" (reprinted from BB4)
* "A Brief Technical History of the Bolo" (reprinted from BB3)
:Bolo Novels
* "Bolo Brigade" by William H. Keith, Jr. c. 1997 - Bolo Mark XXIV, FRD "Ferdy"; Bolo Mark XXIV, FRD "Freddy"
* "Bolo Rising" by William H. Keith, Jr. c. 1999 - Bolo Mark XXXIII, HCT "Hector"
* "Bolo Strike" by William H. Keith, Jr. c. 2001 - Bolo Mark XXXIII, "Victor"; Bolo Mark XXXII, LKN "Elken"
* "The Road To Damascus" by John Ringo & Linda Evans c. 2004 - Bolo Mark XX, LON/SOL "Lonesome Son/Sonny"
* "Old Soldiers" by David Weber c. 2005 - Bolo Mark XXXI, MKY "Mickey"; Bolo Mark XXVIII LAZ "Lazarus"
:Books I am ignoring:
* "The Stars Must Wait" (novel): Laumer expanded "Night Of The Trolls" into a novel, but the short story is better.
* "The Best of the Bolos: Their Finest Hour": consists entirely of stories already published in the books listed above.
:Partial chronological order suggested by "A Brief History of Human Expansion Beyond Concordiat Space" (BB4):
# Lost Legion 2018
# Ancestral Voices 2018
# Night of the Trolls 2098
# Operation Desert Fox 2670
# Courier 2780
# Field Test 2796
# Final Mission 2675, 2800
# Little Red Hen 2870
# Ploughshare 2665, 2950
# Legacy of Leonidas 2961
# Miles To Go 3000
# The Farmer's Wife 3069
# Little Dog Gone 3080
# Ghost of Resartus 3169
# Shared Experience 3186
# Rogue Bolo 3231
# Relic of War 3231
# As Our Strength Lessens 3231
# The Last Command 3231
# You're It 3231
# The Murphosensor Bomb 3231
# Camelot 3241
# Sir Kendrick's Lady 3241
# Endings 3520
# Combat Unit 3606
# Legacy 11783
# Ghosts (date unknown)
:Chronology by Bolo Mark:
* Mark III: Lost Legion (BB1)
* Mark III: Ancestral Voices (BB2)
* Mark III: The Night Of The Trolls (TCB)
* Mark III: The Sixth Sun (BB4)
* Mark XV Model M: Courier (TCB)
* Mark XV Model Y: Final Mission (TCB)
* Mark XVI: Operation Desert Fox (BB1)
* Mark XVI Model C: Ploughshare (BB1)
* Mark XX: The Road To Damascus (novel)
* Mark XX Model B: Field Test (TCB)
* Mark XX Model B: The Legacy Of Leonidas  (BB1)
* Mark XX Model B: Rogue Bolo (TCB)
* Mark XX Model B: Little Dog Gone (BB3)
* Mark XX Model M: The Farmer's Wife (BB3)
* Mark XXI: The Ghost Of Resartus (BB1)
* Mark XXI Model I: Little Red Hen (BB3)
* Mark XXII Model SD: Yesterday's Gods (BB4)
* Mark XXIII: Though Hell Should Bar The Way (BB6)
* Mark XXIII Model B: Miles To Go (BB3)
* Mark XXIV: Camelot (BB1)
* Mark XXIV: Sir Kendrick's Lady (BB2)
* Mark XXIV: Brothers (BB5)
* Mark XXIV: Bolo Brigade (novel)
* Mark XXV: A Relic Of War  (TCB)
* Mark XXV: The Greater Machine (BB6)
* Mark XXV Model D: The Traitor (BB4)
* Mark XXVIII: Shared Experience (BB2)
* Mark XXVIII: Memories Of Erin (BB4)
* Mark XXVIII Model G: With Your Shield (B!)
* Mark XXIX: You're It (BB2)
* Mark XXIX Model C: Legacy (BB2)
* Mark XXX: As Our Strength Lessens (BB1)
* Mark XXX: The Murphosensor Bomb (BB2)
* Mark XXX: Incursions (BB5)
* Mark XXXI: Combat Unit (TCB)
* Mark XXXI: Old Soldiers (novel)
* Mark XXXIIe: And Don't Come Back (BB4)
* Mark XXXIII: Endings (BB2)
* Mark XXXIII: A Time To Kill (BB4)
* Mark XXXIII: Bolo Rising (novel)
* Mark XXXIII: Bolo Strike (novel)
* Mark XXXIV: Rook's Gambit (BB5)
* Mark XXXIV: The Sky is Falling (BB5)
* Mark XXXIX: A Question Of Valor (BB4)
* Mark XXXIX: In The Flesh (BB4)
* Mark XLIV Model D: Hold Until Relieved (BB4)
* Mark LX: Ghosts (BB1)
I grant permission for anyone to use or present this data in a better form than I was able to.  Please inform me of any mistakes! --Evilsofa (talk) 19:57, 5 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bolo Stories sorted by Bolo and Chronology 

message: In This edit, User:Clarityfiend deleted material about Bolo alien enemies. Does anyone else agree or disagree with the deletion? --Guy Macon (talk) 03:58, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is alien enemies edit valid? 

message: I'm sorry to bring this topic up again, but the problems of this article were getting worse in the last year (see also this section). In my opinion, a dramatic amount of this article can be cut away and the topic would get a lot more clear:
* The blurbs on the offensive/defensive systems can be shortened, so that it's easier to glance quickly what Bolos are about.
* The "technical notes by mark" can be cut away without loss:
** the stats of the marks up to 20 are mostly superfluous both in- and out-of-universe anyway
** mass and speed are given as meaningless numbers, although I can safely assume that they are meant as [t] and [km/h]
** armaments only have meaning in-universe and are pretty repetitive
** I don't even get the meaning of the "indirect" column
** the self-aware column can be easily summarized in one sentence in the AI section
** and the worst problem: I'm rather sure that while the table might be canon in the Boloverse, it's not exhaustive. Making it exhaustive, however, would probably bomb the article and introduce lot of contradicting facts, as is natural in any series written by several authors over the course of decades.
The fancruft is pretty detailed but (imho) better placed in a Bolopedia, which actually exists. Take it to there, and link from here? --Enyavar (talk) 21:28, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fancruft