I'm sorry but I disagree.

To me it seemed they had all but given up.Even the 2 coneheads hiding in Carbombyia ran off instead of fight.

Cyclonus was the only one who was still willing to fight.He was the one that got the others going.

Personally, I can see the bulk of the Decepticon army given up if their leaders were either dead or supporting a peace initiative.

 

What cartoon were you watching? They totally gave up! They weren't fighting shit, and were reduced to snivelling wimps who scrounged for energon like bottom feeders.

 

Well all the canonical stuff has already been mentioned, but I'll mention my personal theory:

I've always imagined that in the final days of the "G1 Era" the Predacons (i.e. Razorclaw and co.) joined with the Insecticons to stand against the final push from the Autobots/Maximals.

The combined team kept the "Predacon" name into the next generation, but the Insecticons rose to dominance over the whole gig (witness the buggy faction emblem and the 75% bug alt-modes)

I've always figured that Grimlock and the Dinos swapped sides in this final era too, refusing to live quietly under the "Pax Cybertrona" and the heels of maximal sceintist/polititions, hence accounting for the 25% Dinosaur alt-modes.

It was never meaninglfully brought to fruition in fiction, but the POTENTIAL for Razorclaw and Grimlock fighting back-to-back, swords-drawn to the bitter end to defend their might-is-right warrior's way of life is SO there.

D/L

 

This alone makes me want to incorporate it into my personal canon. While I like how you rationalize there being dinosaur and insect beast modes within BW Predacon ranks, I find it kind of flimsy as an in-universe explanation. Either side's scanners could pick up any carbon-based lifeforms/the fossils of. The predominance of mammals for Maximals and dangerous creatures for Predacons was more mostly a marketing thing that had no significance other than to separate good guys vs. bad guys the same way we had non-military vehicles vs. military vehicles in G1. Still, I do like how you have the G1 beast-formers transition into what would end up being the next generation of beast alt. mode Cybertronians, even if it is by mere coincidence.

 

Well its said to have taken place 300 years after the end of the great war.
But for beings that live millions of years (shockwave and others on Cybertron prove they have this lifespan) is 300 really so long?

Very possible. With Humans there is a reason we do and Transformers think very much like we do. So yes I could see it being nothing more than to honor the past.

 

Why are people lumping beast-formers as a major factor? Before the Axalon and Darkseyd crashed the Cybertronians still used vehicle alt modes at a smaller scale. The small group stranded on earth were the only ones who took beast modes.

 

I have to say I must agree. In BW they took Beast modes because they had to in that situation.