How come Helo could destroy Cylons but not Marines?

[mikeforrest2003]

I mean Helo has been wandering around Caprica armed with just a pistol with no explosive rounds but he's taken out some of the Cylons?

[Blade Runner]

This is a simple question to answer, Helo has rocket propelled explosive rounds anyway.. Also the Centurians would be different combat models for an attack on Galactica

[Redwall]

The other simple answer: the Cylons didn't want to kill him.

[lazerbrain]

The Cylons on the Gallactica did look a little different. Maybe it was the lighting but I thought that they had a darker cast, and I thought that they looked like they had more armor. I'm sure the Cylons on Caprica didn't think that Helo would be much of a thread so they didn't probably bring out the heavy hitters. Besides storywise if Helo couldn't stand up to the Cylons they would have either had to kill him or get him off Caprica.

Also, her's another question. Have the radiation levels dropped a lot? I didn't see Kara shooting any of the radiation medicine, and Helo hasn't used it for a while.

[Carbito]

Also, her's another question. Have the radiation levels dropped a lot? I didn't see Kara shooting any of the radiation medicine, and Helo hasn't used it for a while.

Perhaps they are still taking it but the writers have just chosen (or forgot) to show it and are just relying on the audience to make that assumption.

[MartoufMarty]

The other simple answer: the Cylons didn't want to kill him.

Exactly!

It's part of their plan.

They wanted him to think that he can kill them and that Sharon was there to rescue him.

He would've suspected that something was going on if no Cylons came by to attack him. Or if they just... let him go lol. Wouldn't make sense.

They didn't want him dead

Or maybe they've been doing a little upgrading on the Cylons. Making them harder to kill. Or maybe those were special sabatoge Cylons

[Dahak]

The Cylons on the Gallactica did look a little different. Maybe it was the lighting but I thought that they had a darker cast, and I thought that they looked like they had more armor. I'm sure the Cylons on Caprica didn't think that Helo would be much of a thread so they didn't probably bring out the heavy hitters. Besides storywise if Helo couldn't stand up to the Cylons they would have either had to kill him or get him off Caprica.

Also, her's another question. Have the radiation levels dropped a lot? I didn't see Kara shooting any of the radiation medicine, and Helo hasn't used it for a while.

I pretty much agree. The Cylons on the Galactica looked bigger and certainly had better guns. The Cap Cylon's guns were essentially handguns the Gal Cylons had essentially semi-automatic weapons.
I think that the "toasters" just want to kill all the humans. Six might overrule them but the toasters just seem to be out to kill. It's Six and Boomer who seem to have a "plan". Now whether the humlons all have the same plan is a question we haven't had answered yet. It could go either way. Six does seem to be advancing her own goals far more the Cylons but anything with Six is possibly filtered through Baltar's general looniness so it's hard to tell.

[sharky277]

I think all the centurians have the same weapons, one gun on top and two on the sides. I've paused and looked at the miniseries on the space station and in the sieries when Helo is being chased in the woods, then shot at at the restaurnant, even also when he's rescured by Sharon from the Cylon in Litmus. and also in Valley of Darkness, and all the weapons look, sound, and act the same. The only difference, and the reason it might have sounded different, was the centurians on Galactica where shooting with both hands, 4 barrles together(for some reason they dont seem to use the top one, maybe thats a one shot, while the side ones are machineguns) while all the others, like on Caprica, where using just one hand, and 2 barrels.

As for the armor and why the Galactica cylons needed the explosive rounds, maybe helo has armor piercing rounds or something or it just could be that the armor was thicker....even though you'd think Ron Moore would say something about it in the podcasts....

Well those are my thoughts. Weapons = Same. Armor or Helo's rounds = Different.

[Lexx]

Remember when Helo shot that guy trying to get on Boomer's Raptor in the mini-series? It looked like half his back got blown off. I'm betting a Raptor crew automatically carries the explosive rounds in case of emergancy landings in a combat zone, whereas explosive rounds wouldn't be practical on Galactica where you presumably wouldn't be fightin ground troops.

[Blade Runner]

Perhaps they are still taking it but the writers have just chosen (or forgot) to show it and are just relying on the audience to make that assumption.

it's still the same day as it was in KGL2

[Sci-Fi]

I mean Helo has been wandering around Caprica armed with just a pistol with no explosive rounds but he's taken out some of the Cylons?

As mentioned by others, the pilot's guns appear to be routinely equipped explosive rounds and the regular pistols and assault rifles are mainly equipped with regular bullets. That being said, one wonders why AP (armor piercing) rounds/bullets weren't standard issue since the Colonial's main worry was fighting Cylons (toaster models) with explosive ammo as an option. Even in WW2 and later conflicts, AP ammo was preferred for general use and/or was the most flexible ammo against almost all targets. It's not like the AP bullets could penetrate the Galactica's armored hull, if that was a concern, but would be effective against Cylon armor. The only problem I've noticed is that Helo (and the gang on Kobol) seems to have unlimited ammo. I don't recall seeing him finding a stash or even reloading. Helo even wastes a round or 2 killing rats when he should be conserving for dire situations. The same applies to the Chief and Calley in the "Scattered" firefight. The rifle appears to be equipped with a 5 to 10 round magazine and they squeezed off more rounds than that. Possible they all reloaded off-camera, so let's give them a pass (for now).

[Blade Runner]

I'm under the impression Helo found his ammo when he stayed in the underground bunker that was fully stocked

[sharky277]

It seems like in the mini Helo did use an explosive round on that guy, but since then, I haven't seen him use any, not even against the cylons. If you watch in You Can't Ho Home Again I think it was, where the 2 Centurians come in to the diner, the whole he puts in the first cylons head is huge for a regulary round. I don't know if AP rounds would do that, but there was no explosion, so that's not it.

[sharky277]

and you have to remember, Galactica was being decomisioned so I bet most of the ammo was already taken off, and they used what they had, and what they found on Raknar(sp?) Station.

[Vorlon-1]

I agree that the mini-series had helo firing more than a standerd bullet. It looks like Galactica is gonna have to reevaluate its security needs.