Fictional landship

Three types of landships. Top to bottom: sail, wheel and caterpillar types

A fictional landship is a very large, and fictional, vehicle that travels on land, usually for warfare.

Fictional description

In fiction, a landship is a very large vessel or vehicle designed for travel over land. They can be of various sizes, shapes, made of different materials and have different methods of propulsion. Landships are differentiated from normal ground vehicles by their larger sizes and complexity.

Most depictions have landships travelling over fairly flat and stable surfaces such as roads, trails and plain fields, often able to easily ford normal streams and rivers. They tend to be depicted as slow and lumbering, due to an insinuated relatively poor power-to-weight ratio. Nevertheless, they remain a popular idea due to the visual impressiveness of their great size.

Landships are mostly used for exploration, trade, transport or war. They may or may not be armed, but armed ones tend to look like actual warships of old, with multiple weapon systems and gun turrets.

Power sources used in fictional landships tend to vary, ranging from large steam engines in steampunk to things like fusion reactors in science fiction.

The type of solid physical contact maintained with the ground usually comes in the form of large continuous track or wheel arrays. More imaginative ideas in fiction include anti-gravity systems and screw propulsion.

Land mobile aircraft carrier

A land mobile aircraft carrier is a fictional terrestrial vehicle built to launch aircraft while mobile. It is not a launching sled for zero-length takeoff systems. The concept of a mobile airbase on land has been explored theoretically by many people, and deemed impractical, however this concept appears in some adventure fiction and Japanese manga and anime.

In Japanese animanga, the land carrier, as it is commonly known, is usually accompanied by analogs of other wet navy surface ships, such as landships.

In Gundam (1979), there are land mobile aircraft carriers and land mobile suit carriers.
In Area 88 (1979), there is a converted Soviet aircraft carrier placed atop converted Crawler-Transporter drive systems crawling the desert. This carrier also appears as a boss in the video game adaptation U.N. Squadron.
In the Warhammer 40,000 novel Double Eagle (2004) by Dan Abnett, the forces of Chaos use land mobile aircraft carriers to launch fighter strikes against retreating Imperial forces.
In the Post-apocalyptic Amtrak Wars universe, giant cross country Road trains act as mobile forts, their long flat tops acting as runways for microlight type attack aircraft.
In Armored Core: For Answer, the Arms Fort "Spirit of Motherwill" is a gigantic, 6-legged multidecked carrier capable of launching Armored Core mecha from its multitude of runways, as well as conventional aircraft. It is also heavily armed with two three gun turrets mounting highly accurate 25 feet caliber guns, several cruise-missile launchers on the edges of the flight decks as well as what appears to be Bofors 40mm AA cannons mounted in dozens of twin gun turrets along the edges of each flight deck. It also carries hilariously thick armor, but contains structural flaws that eventually results in its destruction at the hands of the player.
Arms Fort "Great Wall", a moving fortress with the appearance of an outrageously oversized armored train, has a large open deck on its rearmost "car"
Arms Fort "Cabracan", holds several unmanned areial vehicles in its superstructure, it holds little in common with the SoMW, but it is more than able to fill the role of a "landcarrier".
And in the videogame Haze, Mantel Industries use a land carrier as their base of operations in the field.
In the videogame Supreme Commander, the UEF experimental tank Fatboy can repair and refuel aircraft, but can not build them. It can, however, keep one aircraft parked on each of its two pads.
The 1989 Kenner action figure line Megaforce had various landships of both sides, the Triax and V Rocs that had a series of super heavy tanks, missile launchers, aircraft/attack helicopter carriers^[1].

Although not formally land mobile aircraft carriers, films and television series have also depicted helicopter and VTOL aircraft launches from semi-trailers and railroad cars.Concept art for the video game Command and conquer: Renegade featured an ORCA VTOL combat aircraft taking off from a converted 18-Wheeler, based on the scrapped concept from the original Command and Conquer.

Fictional appearances

Due to their large sizes, landships are considered to be impractical in real life (except for tanks and other armored fighting vehicles). However, they are featured in works of fiction, as land-based counterparts of water ships and airships.

Printed Matter (Books, games, etc.)

Fictional landships (1904-2015) in Printed Matter
Type	Role	Mobility	Power	Source	Author	Year	Notes
Land Ironclad	Super Tank	Pedrail wheels	Steam boiler (assumed)	"The Land Ironclads" (Short story)	H. G. Wells	1903	H. G. Wells' The Land Ironclads (1903) predated the development of the tank.
Neolantar	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"Escape on Venus" (Novel)	Edgar Rice Burroughs	1946	Edgar Rice Burroughs' Escape on Venus (1946) features warring fleets of landships called "neolantars". The largest vessels are described as between seven hundred and eight hundred feet long, with a beam of over a hundred feet, and a height of at least thirty feet above the ground, with lighter superstructures rising another thirty feet or more.
Land Cruiser	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	"If This Goes On" (Novella)	Robert A. Heinlein	1940	Robert A. Heinlein described "land cruisers," large cannon-armed vehicles in "If This Goes On—".
Harvesters	Mining (Resource Gathering)	Wheeled	Energy	Dune (Novel series)	Frank Herbert	1965	In Frank Herbert's Dune universe "Harvesters" up to 120 m long harvest the spice melange on the planet Arrakis.
Robotic Tank "Gottlos"	Super Tank	Tracked (caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"Gottlos" (short story)	Colin Kapp	1969	The Gottlos is remotely controlled by a human operator.
Land Leviathan	Super Tank	Walker (Mechanical legs)	Internal Combustion Engine	"The Land Leviathan" (novel)	Michael Moorcock	1974	In Moorcock's alternative timeline book, the Land Leviathan is a "vast, moving ziggurat of destruction"
Bolo	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	"Bolo" (novel)	Keith Laumer	1975	Laumer's novels and short stories, starting with Bolo, feature powerful self-aware autonomous tanks, the larger models of which are able to assault or defend planets.
Ogre	Super Tank	Tracked (caterpillar)	Energy (fusion)	"Ogre" (tabletop game)	Steve Jackson	1977	A game inspired by the novels Bolo and Gottlos ^[2]
Land Carrier (Land Mobile Aircraft Carrier)	Landborne aircraft carrier	Tracked (caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"Area 88" (Anime graphic novel series)	Kaoru Shintani	1979	In Area 88 (1979), there is a converted Soviet aircraft carrier placed atop converted Crawler-Transporter drive systems crawling the desert.
Land Carrier (Land Mobile Aircraft Carrier)	Landborne aircraft carrier	Hovercraft (Directed Thrust)	Energy	"Gundam" (Anime series)	Yoshiyuki Tomino	1979	Gundam features "land battleships" in nearly every series to date, typically bearing battleship-style artillery battery arrangements. While varying in size according to series (and sometimes even within a series), they tend to be treated as mobile headquarters by various factions.
Wagon Trains	Landborne aircraft carrier	Wheeled	Internal Combustion Engine	"Amtrak Wars" (Novel series)	Patrick Tilley	1983	In the post-apocalyptic Amtrak Wars universe, giant cross country road trains act as mobile forts, their long flat tops acting as runways for microlight type attack aircraft.
Mobile city	Mobile City	Unknown	Unknown	"Road of Skulls" (short story)	Iain M Banks	1989	The city in Road of Skulls (The State of the Art anthology) by Iain M Banks is in constant motion.
Gypsy Nation city	Mobile City	Wheeled	Muscle (slave labor)	The Revenge of the Rose (Novel)	Michael Moorcock	1991	Michael Moorcock's 1991 The Revenge of the Rose novel features the cities of the Gypsy Nation travelling around the equator of a world powered by slaves.
Time-traveling Juggernaut	Super Tank	Tracked (caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"The Time Ships" (novel)	Stephen Baxter	1995	None.
Rolling City	Mobile City	Wheeled	Wind (Sail)	"Wind on Fire" (novel series)	William Nicholson	2000	Wind on Fire features a desert patrolled by two wind-driven rolling cities, Ombaraka and Omchaka. They are entirely self-sufficient, even carrying onboard farms, and use small unmanned blade-armed landships as weapons against each other.
Traction Cities	Mobile City	Tracked (caterpillar)	Energy	"Predator Cities" (novel series)	Phillip Reeve	2001	Phillip Reeve's "Predator Cities" books (also known as "Mortal Engines Quartet") feature mobile human settlements called Traction Cities.
Chaos Land Carrier (Land Mobile Aircraft carrier)	Landbourne aircraft carrier	Walker (mechanical legs)	Energy	"Double Eagle" (novel)	Dan Abnett	2004	In the Warhammer 40,000 novel Double Eagle (2004) by Dan Abnett, the forces of Chaos use land mobile aircraft carriers to launch fighter strikes against retreating Imperial forces.
"Battle Mountain"-class AKA "Sow"	Landborne battleship	Hovercraft	Internal Combustion Engine	"The Huge Black Ship" (novel)	Fyodor Berezin	20??	Berezin's "Battle Mountain"-class aka "sow" hovercraft battleship carrying squads of tanks (nicknamed as "pigs"), mentioned in The Huge Black Ship trilogy

Television & Film

Fictional landships (1904-2015) in Television & Film
Type	Role	Mobility	Power	Source	Author	Year	Notes
Barsoomian Landship	Super Tank	Walker (Mechanical legs)	Energy	"John Carter of Mars" (Radio Serial)	Edgar Rice Burroughs	1917	John Carter of Mars (Barsoom) features city-sized land-ships with metachronal rhythm-centipedal locomotion.
Roadlayers	Construction (Industry)	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy (Atomic fusion reactor)	"Thunderbirds" (TV Series: Puppetry)	Gerry & Sylvia Anderson	1965	Thunderbirds had two episodes featuring road-building landships called Roadlayers.
Crablogger	Resource gathering (Logging)	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy (Atomic fusion reactor)	"Thunderbirds" (TV Series: Puppetry)	Gerry & Sylvia Anderson	1965	The Crablogger and Sidewinder could also be considered walking landships.
Sidewinder	Super Tank	Walker (Mechanical legs)	Energy (Atomic fusion reactor)	"Thunderbirds" (TV Series: Puppetry)	Gerry & Sylvia Anderson	1965	The Crablogger and Sidewinder could also be considered walking landships.
Ark II	Mobile laboratory (Science)	Wheeled	Internal Combustion Engine	"Ark II" (TV series)	Martin Roth	1976	The Ark II featured in a short run 1976 TV series was a cross-country vehicle manned by young survivors of an ecological disaster carrying a storehouse of knowledge.
Landmaster	Armored personnel carrier (Military)	Wheeled	Internal Combustion Engine	"Damnation Alley" (Movie)	Jack Smight	1977	The Landmasters in the 1977 film Damnation Alley, based on Roger Zelazny's 1969 novel, were two large USAF cross-country all-terrain vehicles used by a group of survivors of a nuclear war.
Jawa Sandcrawler	Commerce (Trade)	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	"Star Wars" (Movie)	George Lucas	1977	Star Wars' Sandcrawlers traverse the dunes of desert planet Tatooine.
Land Carrier (Land Mobile Aircraft Carrier)	Landborne aircraft carrier	Tracked (caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"Area 88" (Anime film)	Kaoru Shintani	1979	Area 88 (anime adaption of manga) featured a large, tracked, landborne aircraft carrier.
Land Carrier (Land Mobile Aircraft Carrier)	Landborne aircraft carrier	Hovercraft (Directed Thrust)	Energy	"Gundam" (Anime TV series)	Yoshiyuki Tomino	1979	The Japanese anime series Gundam feature several land-ships, like in Gundam Seed and her spin-offs. Here, large ships use a form of repulsor to literally 'sail' the Sahara Desert .
Landship (generic)	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"Now and Then, Here and There" (Anime TV series)	Akitaro Daichi	1999	Secret of Cerulean Sand and Now and Then, Here and There are examples of anime that feature landships.
Lovelessian Giant Mechanical Spider	Super Tank	Walker (Mechanical legs)	Steam Boiler	"Wild Wild West" (Movie)	Barry Sonnenfeld	1999	Wild Wild West (1999) film. Loveless's giant mechanical spider.
Citadel	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Internal Combustion Engine	"Avalon" (Movie)	Mamoru Oshii	2001	The Citadel in the 2001 movie Avalon.
Cerulean Landship	Mobile city	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Steam Boiler	"Secret of Cerulean Sand" (Anime TV series)	Yuichiro Yano	2002	Secret of Cerulean Sand and Now and Then, Here and There are examples of anime that feature landships.

Computer & Video games

Fictional landships (1904-2015) in Electronic Media
Type	Role	Mobility	Power	Source	Author	Year	Notes
Landborn Capital Ship (Generic)	Landborne Capital Ship	Hovercraft (Directed Thrust)	Energy	Heavy Gear	Dream Pod 9	1994	Heavy Gear has large factions who maintain entire navies of landships, ranging from the size of a tugboat to twice the volume of a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.
"Fatboy" Mobile Factory	Resource Processing (Manufacturing)	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	Supreme Commander	THQ	2007	Supreme Commander features the UEF faction's "Fatboy" mobile factory, a prime example of a landship.
Leviathan	Landborne Capital Ship	Wheeled	Energy	Unreal Tournament 2004 & Unreal Tournament 3	Atari, Inc. (Atari, SA subsidiary)	2004	Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Tournament 3 have the Leviathan, a pilotable wheeled landship.
Landship (Generic)	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Unknown	Super Mario Bros. 3	Nintendo	1988	Super Mario Bros. 3 (SMB3) had large landships, hybrids of pirate ships with caterpillar tracks. SMB also featured airborne mega-vehicles including steampunk-like airships.
Yamatoid Landship	Landborne Battleship	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	Metal Slug 2	SNK Playmore	1998	Metal Slug 2's fourth level boss is a tracked landship based on the Yamato.
GDI "Mammoth"	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy (Fusion)	Command & Conquer	Various	1995	Command & Conquer features large vehicles prominently throughout, such as the Tiberium series' GDI "Mammoth" tanks.
Mammoth Armed Reclamation Vehicle	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Tiberium-powered Fusion Reactor	Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath	Electronic Arts	2008	The series' record appears to stand with Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath and its Mammoth Armed Reclamation Vehicle, which has enough space for a turret with triple sonic cannons, four auxiliary turrets and an internal tiberium refinery.
Marmota "Terrestrial Dreadnought"	Landborne Battleship	Amphibious Hovercraft (Directed Thrust)	Internal Combustion Engine	Valkyria Chronicles	Sega	2008	Valkyria Chronicles features a "land dreadnought" of gargantuan size called the Marmota.
Cocoon	Landborne Battleship	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker	Konami	2010	Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker features a huge land battleship called the Cocoon controlled by AI.
Mobile Factory Landship	Resource Processing (Manufacturing)	Unknown	Unknown	Killzone 3	Sony Computer Entertainment	2011	Killzone 3 features a level that takes place on a mobile factory landship tasked with recycling metal in a massive junkyard.
Carrier Tank	Land Carrier (Land Mobile Aircraft Carrier)	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Energy	Team Fortress 2	Valve Corporation	2007	Team Fortress 2 features vehicles known as "Carrier Tanks", visible during the Mann vs. Machine game mode. They do not attack the players directly, but deploy robots to attack players.
"Mammoth" (Mobile Anti-Aircraft Weapons Platform M510 Siegework/Ultra-Heavy)	Super Tank	Wheeled	Energy (Fusion)	Halo 4	Microsoft Studios	2012	Halo 4 features a 70 m long six-wheeled vehicle called a "Mammoth" (formally the Mobile Anti-Aircraft Weapons Platform M510 Siegework/Ultra-Heavy), which acts partially as a troop and vehicle carrier, but also sports a Gauss gun turret that is used to destroy multiple enemy warships and is stated to have the capacity to engage suborbital targets.
Mobile Fortress	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Unknown	Battle Isle (series)	Ubisoft Blue Byte	1991	Battle Isle (series) features heavily armed and armored "Mobile Fortress" and "Mobile Bunker" units, the latter of which being available to transport other units.
Mobile Bunker	Super Tank	Tracked (Caterpillar)	Unknown	Battle Isle (series)	Ubisoft Blue Byte	1991	Battle Isle (series) features heavily armed and armored "Mobile Fortress" and "Mobile Bunker" units, the latter of which being available to transport other units.

References

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