Construction Time Again

[Mako Crab]

It occured to me recently that the Decepticons of the G1 cartoon are quite the industrious laborers. Thinking of all the things they built, we have:

- a new spaceship to return home
- an underwater base centered around their crashed spaceship
- multiple spacebridges
- a new city just beneath New York! (or at least one really big building)
- The Stunticons and Constructicons (I'd include the Combaticons, but Starscream didn't really seem to have to build them)
- Check out planet Charr when the Decepticons first settle as compared to a few episodes later when it's covered with tech and buildings.

Anyway, I'm sure you all get the idea. The G1 Decepticons built a lot of stuff. And here comes the relevant point. In the IDW G1 comic, All Hail Megatron, we see the same characters wandering about with no real goal in mind other than wiping out tiny pockets of resistance. They're bored and Megatron's not putting them to work towards fortifying their position on Earth. When the Autobots show up at the end of the story, it's easy for them to drive off the Decepticons, due in part to their lax defenses. It's not like conquering worlds is a new thing for the IDW Decepticons, with all their phases for invading and overtaking other planets. IDW Megs should be used to directing the conquest of a planet, and I'm sure the first order of business after assuming near-total dominion isn't to let the troops laze about while resistance fighters organize around them; human, autobot or otherwise. I wasn't ever clear on what Megatron was doing on Earth during the whole AHM arc anyway. Just hanging out or what? He could take a couple lessons from G1 cartoon Megs though, I'll tell you what!

[andersonh1]

It occured to me recently that the Decepticons of the G1 cartoon are quite the industrious laborers. Thinking of all the things they built, we have:

- a new spaceship to return home
- an underwater base centered around their crashed spaceship
- multiple spacebridges
- a new city just beneath New York! (or at least one really big building)
- The Stunticons and Constructicons (I'd include the Combaticons, but Starscream didn't really seem to have to build them)
- Check out planet Charr when the Decepticons first settle as compared to a few episodes later when it's covered with tech and buildings.

How long did it take them to build all of that? Compare that with the short amount of time that AHM covers, which I think amounts to a few weeks to a month at most. Most of which is spent knocking out various human militaries while the work in New York on the space bridge is ongoing. I'm not sure a fair comparison can be made without taking length of time into account.

Anyway, I'm sure you all get the idea. The G1 Decepticons built a lot of stuff. And here comes the relevant point. In the IDW G1 comic, All Hail Megatron, we see the same characters wandering about with no real goal in mind other than wiping out tiny pockets of resistance. They're bored and Megatron's not putting them to work towards fortifying their position on Earth.

Megatron didn't expect the Autobots to mount a counter-attack. He stranded them on Cybertron with no spacecraft they could use to escape, no space bridge, Prime near-death, and a horde of mutant Insecticons ready to kill them, which is why the Autobots were stranded there in the first place. As far as he knew, they were all either dead or marooned and therefore not a threat.

And the Decepticons were fortifying their position on Earth, against their human opponents. That was the point of destroying the bridges and tunnels leading into New York, to isolate it and make it more defensible. Sparkplug even remarks on it at one point. Hence Spike's attempt to enter the city by crossing the river in a boat, an attempt which Ratbat put an end to.

I wasn't ever clear on what Megatron was doing on Earth during the whole AHM arc anyway. Just hanging out or what? He could take a couple lessons from G1 cartoon Megs though, I'll tell you what!

Megatron was delaying in order to provoke the less loyal among his troops into rebelling so they could be weeded out. Starscream keeps calling him on this, noting rightly that Megatron is just treading water without really understanding exactly why Megatron is doing it. Now that the war is over and won, the monster that is the Decepticon army has to be tamed. Otherwise Megatron would have to find a way to keep them busy and distracted indefinitely, which he wasn't too keen on doing.

[Dominic]

The Decepticons on Charr were motivated. (They needed places to live and prepare food.) The AHM Decepticons had little incentive to work, and even less of a common goal to work towards.

Dom

[138 Scourge]

Those cartoon Decepticons do work fast, though. You'd see the Constructicons turn into vehicle mode, Scavenger would start loading some dirt into Long Haul, Bonecrusher'd dig some dirt up, Hook would lift a couple of beams into the back of Mixmaster...

Then the scene-change bit would happen and next thing you know, the Constructicons have whipped up a new space bridge. Those guys earned the hell outta their pay.

[Sparky Prime]

How long did it take them to build all of that? Compare that with the short amount of time that AHM covers, which I think amounts to a few weeks to a month at most. Most of which is spent knocking out various human militaries while the work in New York on the space bridge is ongoing. I'm not sure a fair comparison can be made without taking length of time into account.

To use an 'in-universe' point of reference, we saw in "Megatron: Origin" the Constructicons were in charge of building the huge battle arenas used for the Gladiator fights. It is mentioned that the arenas were always constructed the same day as the fights in order to keep locations a secret until the last possible minute. So if they could build something like that in less than a day, they certainly could have built several structures during the span of AHM.

And clearly, Megatron didn't need all of his troops to knock out the human military. In fact, he did have the Constructicons build one structure early on in the series, which was completed by the next issue. The question remains, why didn't he have them keep going? Even with out the Autobots to worry about, it would have made sense to start constructing some Cybertronian installations for various purposes.

The Decepticons on Charr were motivated. (They needed places to live and prepare food.) The AHM Decepticons had little incentive to work, and even less of a common goal to work towards.

With Cybertron basically uninhabitable and resources still a struggle for the Transformers to obtain in the IDW universe, aren't the Decepticons pretty much in that same situation? Not to mention, they've said the energy substitutes they've used since they ran out of energon on Cybertron aren't as satisfying, and Earth is the only variety of energon they've discovered since. And we haven't seen any Decepticon bases other than Infiltration installations. Seems like some pretty good motivations to get Earth colonized and fortified as quickly as possible to me...

[andersonh1]

To use an 'in-universe' point of reference, we saw in "Megatron: Origin" the Constructicons were in charge of building the huge battle arenas used for the Gladiator fights. It is mentioned that the arenas were always constructed the same day as the fights in order to keep locations a secret until the last possible minute. So if they could build something like that in less than a day, they certainly could have built several structures during the span of AHM.

True, but I imagine those were largely constructed from pre-fabricated components that they brought to the area. How else would the Constructicons get the materials? They couldn't just scavenge them from the surrounding area.

And honestly, that 'arena built in the same day' idea never struck me as too likely. It takes us months or years to set up a safe, stable arena-like structure, like a basketball or football stadium. I'm not sure even the Constructicons are good enough to build a structure like that in less than a day, and then remove it as well. Maybe if it was just risers and a surrounding wall, but I think the arenas in that series had a roof as well. Maybe it was the equivalent of a giant tent. The point is, it would have to be a quick and dirty temporary structure, easy to set up and easy to take down. Not a solid, permanent building.

And clearly, Megatron didn't need all of his troops to knock out the human military. In fact, he did have the Constructicons build one structure early on in the series, which was completed by the next issue. The question remains, why didn't he have them keep going? Even with out the Autobots to worry about, it would have made sense to start constructing some Cybertronian installations for various purposes.

I'm not sure how many structures they created. I imagine they built the space bridge that we saw near the end of the series, the one Megatron and Bombshell were discussing. So maybe that took most of the Constructicons' time?

[Sparky Prime]

True, but I imagine those were largely constructed from pre-fabricated components that they brought to the area. How else would the Constructicons get the materials? They couldn't just scavenge them from the surrounding area.

This issue doesn't show them using any pre-fabricated components though. They simply arrive in the area, scavenge the area for raw materials (which included at least one living 'bot) and then melted it down to fabricate the components they needed themselves on site.

And honestly, that 'arena built in the same day' idea never struck me as too likely. It takes us months or years to set up a safe, stable arena-like structure, like a basketball or football stadium. I'm not sure even the Constructicons are good enough to build a structure like that in less than a day, and then remove it as well.

I don't see that they'd need to remove it. Once they were finished with it, it seems more likely they'd simply just abandon it in order to move on quicker. And I believe the Constructions are just that good. Alien robots are bound to be faster and more efficient than humans at construction, and the Constructions are just the best at what they do.

I'm not sure how many structures they created. I imagine they built the space bridge that we saw near the end of the series, the one Megatron and Bombshell were discussing. So maybe that took most of the Constructicons' time?

We only saw the one building they made and I suppose you might count the spacebridge, but I doubt they were working on it that entire time.

[andersonh1]

This issue doesn't show them using any pre-fabricated components though. They simply arrive in the area, scavenge the area for raw materials (which included at least one living 'bot) and then melted it down to fabricate the components they needed themselves on site.

I don't see that they'd need to remove it. Once they were finished with it, it seems more likely they'd simply just abandon it in order to move on quicker. And I believe the Constructions are just that good. Alien robots are bound to be faster and more efficient than humans at construction, and the Constructions are just the best at what they do.

See, that just seems like bad writing. Not even the Constructicons can defy the laws of physics, or build the equivalent of a stadium in that short amount of time. And it certainly couldn't be kept secret, not something that size. Someone would know and inform the Autobots in plenty of time to break up the fights.

I think "set up the arena same day" is an idea that the author thought sounded good on the surface, but which he failed to think through, because it just doesn't make any sense once you think about it.

We only saw the one building they made and I suppose you might count the spacebridge, but I doubt they were working on it that entire time.

It depends how long Megatron occupied Earth. And Devastator may have been in use elsewhere for some of the fighting, taking up some of their time.

[Dominic]

And clearly, Megatron didn't need all of his troops to knock out the human military. In fact, he did have the Constructicons build one structure early on in the series, which was completed by the next issue. The question remains, why didn't he have them keep going? Even with out the Autobots to worry about, it would have made sense to start constructing some Cybertronian installations for various purposes.

No matter how good/awesome/amazing an engineering team is, construction still has a cost. And, once something is built, it needs to be maintained, powered and defended. Past a certain point, it would not be worth building more infrastructure than would likely be used.

And honestly, that 'arena built in the same day' idea never struck me as too likely. It takes us months or years to set up a safe, stable arena-like structure, like a basketball or football stadium.

Okay, Anderson, really now, do you think that Megatron was worried about Cybertron's analogue for OSHA? Did Cybertron even have one?

In all seriousness, it is not unreasonable to assume that the Constructicons would cut corners. Assuming they were skilled, and using solid enough materials, the arenas would be good for a round or two before they were abandoned/discovered.

See, that just seems like bad writing. Not even the Constructicons can defy the laws of physics, or build the equivalent of a stadium in that short amount of time. And it certainly couldn't be kept secret, not something that size. Someone would know and inform the Autobots in plenty of time to break up the fights.

Actually, if one takes the many animation and art mistakes over the years as canon, there is plenty of evidence for the Constructicons breaking the laws of physics.

I suppose the real question is how much of this is a question of making the characters as powerful as they need to be at any given moment, and how much of it is something similar to what I described above.


Dom
-wonders about Cybertronian pork barrel projects more than he probably should.

[Sparky Prime]

See, that just seems like bad writing. Not even the Constructicons can defy the laws of physics, or build the equivalent of a stadium in that short amount of time. And it certainly couldn't be kept secret, not something that size. Someone would know and inform the Autobots in plenty of time to break up the fights.

Transformers defy the laws of physics all the time (such as with "mass-displacement" to change size), why should the Constructicons be any different? Personally, I've always kinda seen them as being like the robots on an assembly line, capable of building something extremely quickly and efficiently. Only the Constructicons are even faster and can work when left to their own devices. And I'm not so sure there would be many 'bots in Kaon willing to rat out the location of the illegal underground Gladiator fights to the death if they happened to notice... I mean, look what happened to the two Autobot spies.

No matter how good/awesome/amazing an engineering team is, construction still has a cost. And, once something is built, it needs to be maintained, powered and defended. Past a certain point, it would not be worth building more infrastructure than would likely be used.

The Constructicons are kinda like the Decepticons army core of engineers. Cost really isn't the issue or concern for them, it's simply about getting their orders accomplished, being whatever Megatron tells them to build. Since they'd already effectively sealed off the island of Manhattan, the next logical step would be to establish it as a base of operations for ALL the Decepticons planet side. Expansion from there would inevitably follow as the Decepticons continue conquering the planet and more troops arrive to begin to establish Earth as a colony, and/or mining operations and whatever else they'd want the planet for...