Their overall programming involves large amounts of human military history, and often they draw conclusions from that information which puts them at odds with their commanders.
Bolos as envisioned by Laumer in his future history military SF are described as autonomous armoured fighting vehicles of immense size.
While the early versions are in the range of a few hundred tons, the "Mark XXXIII", a standard model appearing in the series, weighs 32,000 tons: Weapon systems described as part of early Bolo marks include mostly real-world weaponry; the more futuristic settings of the novels describe them carrying advanced nuclear weapons.
The additional weaponry thus includes but isn't restricted to: A high-speed auto-cannon which was recurringly referred to as "Infinite Repeaters" (the 'infinite' referring to the fact that the Bolo can create its own ammunition from metals found in the environment, thus not having an ammo count in the true sense of the word), firing systems such as a combination of Gatling guns with mortars similar to the 2S4 Tyulpan; VLS (also for launch of drones etc.
Also, beginning with the Mark XXIII, internal disruptor fields were added to limit damage to vital systems from any attacks which did manage to penetrate the Bolo's outer defenses.
This system is further advanced beginning with the Mark XV-R which is given a basic AI core capable of choosing between various pre-loaded plans based upon actual battlefield conditions.
[6] Analogous to human minds, psychotronic brains do turn insane when damaged, which requires their creators to restrict the awareness and initiative at all times except during battle.
The two are integrated (enabling the Bolo to come into possession of its full faculties) only when battle preconditions are met, such as the approach of an enemy or the order of a human officer.
To mitigate this, a number of safeguards are included in the psychotronic design—specifically a focus on loyalty, honour and a strong sense of duty, as well as a restriction on the level of awareness and processing power made available to the Bolo outside of combat.
[7] With Bolos being able to survive for centuries, older Marks often end up scattered across the galaxy abandoned on old warfields or retrofitted for use in farming or heavy construction.
Often, Bolos on garrison duty are described as older surplus or reserve units on loan, in which case their three-letter prefix is changed to "SOL".
[9] By the time of the development of the 300-tonne Mark III, its AI allows limited independent action, and is powered by "ionic" batteries able to support combat-level activity for up to ten years and enabling operation even when fully submerged.
The AI increases until the incorporation of Psychotronic circuitry in the Mark XX leads to Bolos becoming self-aware and capable of fully independent operation.
For millennia, each successive mark of Bolo proves to be the lynchpin of humanity's ground-based defenses, especially in the numerous and protracted wars against various aliens, most notably the Deng and the Melconians in the 30th century.
Following the genocide of the "Final War" with the Melconians, surviving Bolos are described as crucial in sheltering and protecting the few scattered remnants of humanity during the long slow process of rebuilding.
A number of seed corn colonies survive the genocide policies carried out by both sides and go on to produce new models of Bolo: these are even larger in size, design and capabilities.
For cost reasons this did not occur and a different background was invented for the game, with its titular tank deliberately being made self-unaware in order to differentiate it.