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wendygoerl Since: Mar, 2011
May 31st 2011 at 1:42:14 PM •••

I have a beef with the style name "sniper." Snipers, as the term is generally understood, are high-level marksmen capable of hitting targets at distances where your average joe has a hard time even seeing the target. Front side/backside is irrelevant when the sheer distance of the attack makes any direction a "blind spot." What a sniper does if anyone manages to close it to a duel depends on the sniper's secondary skills and is not part of the definition of "sniper."

Rather, I would say, "gunslinger." Gunslingers rely on either Improbable Aiming Skills or More Dakka (or combinations thereof) to keep their opponents from getting close enough to force them into a secondary combat style (if they have one).

Also, I would suggest the inclusion of a fifth: the "matador." The matador is something of a reverse steamroller in that the matador reads his opponent's fighting behavior well enough to manipulate them into the move the matador wants them to make. Often, they will choose the more "elegant" option, even if it is a good deal riskier than a straightforward one. For example: In Gundam Wing, Treize Khushrinada turns his back to Wu Fei in a sword fight before knocking Wu Fei's sword out of his hand. Later, battling in mobile suits, Treize parries several blows that may or may not have killed him until Wu Fei gets frustrated enough to throw what Treize chooses to take as an unequivocal death blow. Also in Gundam 00, both Hallelujah Haptism and Ali al Saachez show off their ability to anticipate Sonja Peres' and Setsuna F. Seiei's moves, respectively.

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triscion Since: Aug, 2010
Mar 25th 2014 at 12:48:05 PM •••

I agree that "Gunslinger" works better than sniper.

However, I do have a beef with the way the current 4 styles are described, particularly the "Bushwacker". The way it's described makes it sound like the "Bushwacker" the only style that utilizes Combat Pragmatism. The problem is that there's a wide range of things that can fall under the term "pragmatic": from hit-and-run tactics, using diversions, finding creative uses for equipment, exploiting enemy weaknesses, and even being downright reckless. Basically, it's come to mean being flexible, inventive, and unpredictable in a fight rather than just being dirty. In that regard just about every ace will indulge in Combat Pragmatism, regardless of their preferred fighting style. Even more so since most examples of Ace Pilots come from works where Combat Pragmatism is very common, such as shows involving Real Robot's.

As it stands, just about every Ace Pilot will will fall into the "Bushwacker" category more than any other style, so I suggest tweaking things a bit to make the styles more balanced.

Steamroller are aggressive types who favor in-your-face frontal assaults, raining blows on their enemy to keep them off-balance. They typically have have a reckless streek, and will have few qualms about wasting ammo or resorting to unorthodox, even brutal, methods to keep on the offense. Shinn Asuka from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny is a good example of this type.

Bushwhackers are the devious opportunists who favor ambush tactics. They prefer to take potshots from rear, or swing around enemy forces and attack their blind-spots. When engaged in a duel, they try to wriggle out of it and drop out of the opponent's field of view so they can come in from another direction and catch the foe off-guard. Bushwackers will sacrifice spare weapons as decoys, distracting the enemy so they can ambush them from behind (e.g, the Picard Maneuver).

Edited by 24.55.40.83
hoodiecrow Since: Sep, 2009
Oct 12th 2013 at 7:55:24 AM •••

I'm about to edit the whole page to conform to Example Indentation in Trope Lists. This will take a while and a few edit slots, and the resulting page will look strange at first. The changes are, however, intentional and in accordance with wiki policy.

Edit: Done.

Edited by 81.227.162.16
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