Someone asked me if the Leo got a Leo II, what would it be? I

i'd say 4/10. i'd imagine the Leo II to be more slim looking in order to be more agile than its predecessor and get a step closer to equal mobility with the gundams with the help of extra verniers and improved sensors like you already said

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Wouldn't it just be a Virgo II with a cockpit and pilot instead of the mobile doll system?

>>14193854

Why would it be dumbed down? They already mass produced the Serpent as is and just didn't give it melee equipment because they didn't think there'd be any need. And that was a small, albeit rich faction of ambitious people. If anything it'd be a souped up Serpent with beam sabers and maybe some planet defensors.

>>14193878
The purpose of the Leo is slow turtled offense or occupying territory.

Its primary function is to hold territory and advance slowly, as part of a group - imparting a small level of versatile firepower from a given point alongside other units as part of a larger cohesive force - beginning on the outskirts and working their way in. It relies on numbers and coordination, being the cheapest to field in consistently large numbers.

The function of a Virgo is to be dropped deep behind enemy territory and create an expanse like an antibiotic, killing everything that's stupid enough to get close to them as they roam deeper into the enemy's territory. It relies on many clusters of small numbers and technical advantage.

The function of the Serpent is to reposition itself periodically using enhanced mobility, then to wait as it recovers while dealing damage. In this way, it can always occupy an advantageous position but must always be on the attack to remain effective due to its lack of consistent speed and heavy armor which makes retreats difficult. It relies on a versatile loadout, mobility and armor but lacks consistency - moving in sequenced steps with predictable timing.

As such unlike the Leo, Serpents defend eachother (typically the one in the best location or optimal loadout), while multiple Leos will engage the same target from as many angles as possible. Virgo pay no attention to one another, each engaging separate targets unless instructed otherwise, or they collect up into small clusters and occupy a single stationary position to cover one another's blindspots.

They perform VERY different tasks.

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>>14193854

Much more in common with a Serpent than a Leo--not so much a "dumbed down" Serpent so much as a more agile, more flexible model. In the series, one of the Leo's major disadvantages against other production model MS is that, for all its flexibility, it just isn't that agile. On Earth, Aries tended to butcher Leos in OZ's civil war. In Space, Taurii easily engage much larger numbers of Leos (both manned and unmanned). The added firepower of a bazooka or dober gun can't make up for it, especially when an Aries has missile pods and the Taurus has an extremely powerful beam cannon.

That's my theory anyway. The Leo was in service for coming on 20 years when the series began (the Aries for 4 and the Taurus was about to be put into service). Until OZ's coup d'etat and the destruction of the Alliance, MS-to-MS combat was fairly infrequently in those two decades, so the Leo's flexibility can easily outweigh its disadvantages.

>>14195257

This sounds pretty sensible too.