Talk:Bolo universe

Hellbores and Infinite Repeaters
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)

Das Afrika Korps
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)

I just recently read Honor of the Regiment Bolos book 1. It is made up of short stories and one of them ploughshare by Todd Johnson. There are 4 mark XVI Bolos in the story: Das Afrika Korps, US Seventh Corps, Zhukov, and Indefatigable. In the process of typing this I noticed that they are already listed in the list. Is there a need for this then? Feffrey 03:25, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Boloblo Renga Denga by Boloblo Umbuktu Datasheet
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)
 * 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)

Little Red Hen
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)

Copyright Text
I do not think the text removed by Chairboy is copyrited. It was written up by 66.36.155.48, and while it is obviously using Bolo III as a reference, it is not a direct copy (although close at points, but a rewrite seems like a better solution than removal). I don't know the exact rules for wikipedia on the subject, but I do not think this violates any as otherwise no articles could be written that are also covered in copyrighted material. Can anyone confirm or deny? -Falcorian 22:29, 27 October 2005 (UTC)


 * The text was indeed rewritten to avoid copyright issues, though perhaps not enough. User Falcorian seems well on the way of formatting the full history of the Bolo, so I will not re-add these texts. - 66.36.155.48
 * Howdy! Maybe I jumped the gun, I just read BoloIII a few days ago, and when I read the test in question, I could have SWORN it was an exact match, because it was so very very very similar.  If it's not, then I apologize.  I'd suggest that the list of in-depth descriptions be increased to include more models.  Viva la Dinochrome Brigade! - C HAIRBOY  (☎) 03:08, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
 * No problem, I thought the same the first time I looked at it. As for the In-depth page... I'm working on it slowly. College came along again and knocked me out of it. -Falcorian 04:45, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Get on your bicycle, spaceman, and get that content done! College is just something that gets in the way of a healthy Wikipedia interest, as evidenced here.  :) Regards, C HAIRBOY  (☎) 05:04, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

Talk of Bolo Personality
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)

Couple changes
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) The difference between a tank and a bolo is like that between a pussycat and a tiger; both feline, but a cat is not a tiger.

Bolo WV
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).
 * A few pages beforehand it is referred to as a "Bolo Model WV/1." These little differences always catch my eye. kcylsnavS 01:34, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Bolo Restartus
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 16:17, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

About the Stories
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)
 * 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)

Why "Bolo"
I've been reading and collecting the stories for a few months now, but I haven't found any explanation as to how the name "Bolo" was chosen as a replacement for "tank" or "main battle tank/MBT." Did Laumer ever provide an explanation, and if so, could someone add that to the article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Glas McBain (talk • contribs) 20:28, 30 January 2007 (UTC).
 * Maybe it was taken from Bolo (computer game), which was named after the Hindi word for "communication". I'll keep digging, however.  Bl a  st  06,02,07 1847 (UTC -5)
 * I don't remember a reason ever given in the books... --Falcorian :::(talk) 01:35, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
 * It's probably a mix between just liking the sound of it; ease of writing (not having to come up with a new name for every mark, like "Pershing," "Patton," "Abrams," et cetera for real life tanks); or maybe because a name has become so synonymous with an object that all objects are called by that name, like tissues being called "Kleenex" or photocopiers being called "Xerox machines" even if they're not.BHenry1969 (talk) 20:56, 31 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure he ever tells us what Bolo stood for, but the first one was built by General Motors Bolo division. 128.89.73.44 (talk) 16:12, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Bolo came out before the video game. I know that there is a type of knife called a bolo, and according to wikipedia, there is also a US military bomber by the same name, as well as a punch in boxing. MystRivenExile (talk) 00:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Etymology (conjecture)
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)

Problems differentiating fiction from reality
In a nutshell: If this article had good sources and citations in an out-of-universe writing style, it would be a prime example to others wanting to write about fiction on the Wikipedia.

Understanding that the bolo article text is a partial work of fiction about a work of fiction, problems arise when that in-universe fiction is blended with real world fact. A prime example is the link to an American automobile manufacturer which in the bolo article text is credited with a fictional manufacturing division; no such verifiable information can be found on the article of the American automobile manufacturer. There is a need to cite specific published works of fiction to support any challengable statement in the bolo article, or those parts of the bolo article without encyclopedic-suitable sources can be deleted by any Wikipedian(s) at any time as unsupported original research or unverified facts, and Jimbo would back them up for doing this. Publication of the source is not absolutely required, but it would make it most difficult for anyone else to argue against the encyclopedic suitability of the source if used. If the editors of this article wish to continue risking deletion of text from in-universe writing style without citations, then it may be a good idea to avoid a flame war by moving the article to a non-Wikipedia site such as wikia.com (example: 24 television series) or other sites listed at the bottom of the Manual of Style (writing about fiction) guideline. There is nothing stopping anyone who is reading this talk post from starting a non-Wikipedia in-universe site for the bolo information, and it's actually kind of cool to be the administrator of one's own wiki and setting the rules there at wikia.com. Hotfeba 16:06, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I have to agree. The article absolutely needs rewriting from an out-of-universe perspective, I hit "random article", got the disambiguation for "Hellbore", and wound up looking at this wondering if someone'd actually made one (until I hit the bit about it being a space weapon and all). I mean really, I don't have time but it really does need massive rewrite. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Maha Pizza (talk • contribs) 00:09, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I fail to see the problem. The very first line of this article says, "A Bolo is a fictional type of artificially intelligent super-heavy tank."  Note the word "fictional".  As for the "American automobile manufacturer", the books themselves say that the Bolos were first built by the Bolo Division of General Motors.  Since these are FICTIONAL tanks, I would hope people would understand that GM can't build fictional tanks and therefore, GM really doesn't make Bolo artificially intelligent super-heavy tanks, and since Bolos are fictional, GM really doesn't have a Bolo division, since why would they have a real division to make a FICTIONAL product?  What do you want, me to add the word "fictional" to every line in this article?


 * As for the lack of inline citations, yes, it would be nice to have them. But really, are there a bunch of people who are claiming this article is wrong and starting a flame war over it so we need to get everything perfectly cited?  This is a good starting article on a subject that is just as notable as a great many articles in this wiki.  Sure, it could use some more sprucing up, but you guys really need to relax.  No one is going to die if they read this and it isn't perfect.  It's an article about a FICTIONAL tank in a series of novels and short stories.  It is quite a useful article for someone who has read (or heard about) one or more of the stories and wishes to know about the Bolos and the FICTIONAL history of them.   Fanra (talk) 11:06, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

one source tag I'm removing this because it does n0t reflect the reality of the available material. unlike many other fictional universes Bolo currently only has o0ne supplemental guide. The back of Book three is the only place to find any of this information short of personally interviewing David Weber or digging up Kieth Laumer.Trey (talk) 02:11, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi guys. I've never read any of these books and don't intend to, but two days ago, I needed to get a short definition of how a Bolo looks like and why it's different from normal tanks, being confronted with the concept in another story I read. This article miserably failed in providing any answers besides "fictional sentient tank". There is a hell of description on fancy weapons, but clear-cut functionality and purpose of these things isn't mentioned. If bolo tanks are used to shelter populations, they can hardly siege planets, right?
 * The first paragraph was the only part of the article that follows WPs conventions and was actually useful for the reader. The first section "themes explored..." is deliberately misleading since "Bolos" aren't part of either Star Trek, or the British Navy in the 19th century, or the Battlestar Galactica universe, as far as I know. The next parts are even more frustrating to read:


 * "In the future timeline" - what are the other timelines of that universe?
 * "early models were" - in-universe-style, bad
 * "simply super-heavy tanks" - then what was the difference?
 * "controlled by programming/automation" - so is this the relevant difference, yes-no-maybe?
 * And so on. After studying only this article, I gleaned the following information: Bolos are nothing else than (semi- to super-)intelligent tank-drones of undetermined sizes, ranging from dog-sized and human-sized (as is implied in the first paragraph) over tank-sized ("early model") up to city-sized ("sheltering populations"). Despite being sentient entities, they have human "commanders" (if these commanders have the role of "in-tank crew" or "remote controlers" or "dog owners" or "beast dompteur" or "commanding officer" is yet unclear, as is the amount of commanders per unit). There seems to be an inheritance issue ("lineage") as well as territorial instincts in the Bolos. All Bolos belong to the same faction (humans), while there are alien races in their story universe who may subvert them. Since they are like dogs, Bolos can rebel against their commanders, as well. Furthermore, Bolos are used for "planetary siege" (from orbit, most probably?) and are thus spacecraft (how else would one single bolo suffice for one entire planet, you know - ICBMs are not explicitly mentioned in the otherwise quite detailed weaponry section).
 * So far my first impressions on the topic. If nobody else improves the article and clears up the mentioned points, I might edit the article myself soon. --Enyavar (talk) 15:40, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Did a complete restructuring of the article. To me, it makes some sense now, I have cut out some redundant information and inserted some basic info from reviews of the series. ---Enyavar (talk) 17:11, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Incorrect Name and Time
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)
 * I don't have my books with me so i can't check on your question right now. If there isn't an answer by next week i'll be home and might be able to shed some light. I do know some of Kieth's early work actually conflicts with some later guides and store prodyced under David Weber and others so that may be the problem. there could also just be another Caesar.Trey (talk) 22:23, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Okay, so I was reading some from the original Bolo and it talks about DNE, of course (a Mark XX) and he mentions a General Margrave, who is also in the book Rogue Bolo. And, while in the story CSR is called a Mark XXX, the first page introduction (I picked up a very old copy of the book at a used bookstore) talks about the Mark XX being the first "unguided-by-operator" Bolo. Thus, I'm going to take your hypothesis and say that there are some naming and number mix-ups (mark XXX, the year being around 4000, and of course that one of them must have been the first, so the two stories can't overlap) in Rogue Bolo, and say that given the first book is the most canonical, that the stuff in Rogue Bolo is incorrect. So, I assume the information on the wiki page is correct. Thanks for the help. MystRivenExile (talk) 00:16, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

No Such Bolo as the XXXXX
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)

Picture/ Graphics
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.Any talented, BOLO fan, artists out there? Surely there must be some public domain pic of a BOLO or someones idea of one? James Cameron, someone, make a BOLO movie!--220.101.28.25 (talk) 06:27, 3 November 2009 (UTC)


 * 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)

Keith Laumer Wiki
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)

How are they useful?
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)


 * 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)

Internal Maintenance Bots?
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)

Bolo Stories sorted by Bolo and Chronology
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):


 * 1) Lost Legion 2018
 * 2) Ancestral Voices 2018
 * 3) Night of the Trolls 2098
 * 4) Operation Desert Fox 2670
 * 5) Courier 2780
 * 6) Field Test 2796
 * 7) Final Mission 2675, 2800
 * 8) Little Red Hen 2870
 * 9) Ploughshare 2665, 2950
 * 10) Legacy of Leonidas 2961
 * 11) Miles To Go 3000
 * 12) The Farmer's Wife 3069
 * 13) Little Dog Gone 3080
 * 14) Ghost of Resartus 3169
 * 15) Shared Experience 3186
 * 16) Rogue Bolo 3231
 * 17) Relic of War 3231
 * 18) As Our Strength Lessens 3231
 * 19) The Last Command 3231
 * 20) You're It 3231
 * 21) The Murphosensor Bomb 3231
 * 22) Camelot 3241
 * 23) Sir Kendrick's Lady 3241
 * 24) Endings 3520
 * 25) Combat Unit 3606
 * 26) Legacy 11783
 * 27) 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)

Is alien enemies edit valid?
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)

Fancruft
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)