For this month’s MechaStellar update we have the long awaited release of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a genre defining epic and sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. To this day it is still regarded by many to be the best long running Gundam show and certainly by appearances in secondary media its popularity has not waned in the home country of Japan. In more recent years it even received its own unofficial statue in Okayama prefecture single-handedly designed and built by Shoichi Nakamoto.
The original Mobile Suit Gundam was cancelled before its original planned number of episodes but was later revived thanks to fan response and very strong model kit sales, including those of the enemy mecha, typically toy companies only made toys for the protagonists and occasionally the main antagonist and rarely ever the rank and file, Gundam, however, broke that mold. The series was revived with a set of three compilation movies which along with new insert music became a huge hit which was then followed by Zeta Gundam.
Zeta’s first run viewership numbers are one of the highest the franchise has ever had which would not be replicated until 20 years later with Gundam SEED. Laserdisc sales alone (1986 remember) accounted for 20% of Bandai Visuals annual sales when Zeta released.
Zeta took many of the conventions and tropes of Mobile Suit Gundam and polished it as well as establishing new ones and set the standard for what a Gundam show should be. Which is why nearly every Gundam series that has come in the ~40 years since have been compared to either MSG and/or Zeta Gundam in some capacity.
Zeta Gundam takes place 8 years after the events of the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The Titans have been formed as a branch of the Earth Federation with the express purpose of hunting down Zeon remnants, although thanks to their runaway military budget, prestige and nefarious leadership they quickly deem themselves superior to the Earth Federation and treat the regular military as inferior to them as we see when Bright Noa, the now legendary captain from MSG, first encounters the Titans. Seeing the new regime stomp all over the previous series heroes makes for a very compelling case for the resistance group we’ll soon see.
The series opens with a blond haired man in a red mobile suit entering the colony surreptitiously to find information on the Titans new Gundam MK-II, much like we see in MSG. Later, our teenage protagonist hijacks the Gundam MK-II, although in this case for incredibly petty reasons as he tries to crush the Titans officer who made fun of him. He escapes with the red mobile suit, a man named LT Quattro who remarkably sounds like the previous series Char Aznable. They flee to the AEUG (Anti-Earth Union Group) who later enlist the services of famed Captain Bright Noa as well, in their resistant movement against the oppression of the Titans. Later in the series we also get Neo Zeon led by Haman Karm bringing a total of 4 factions vying for dominance in this war drama.
Zeta Gundam is notable for bringing back the protagonist and antagonist from the previous series but in very different roles that what would be expected or had been broadcast on TV so far in the mecha genre. Amuro, has been placed under house arrest after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam as the Federation feared his alleged Newtype powers that allowed him and the crew of the White Base to survive the events of the war. Meanwhile, Char having completed his revenge in Mobile Suit Gundam now finds himself adrift and has cast his lot in with the AEUG. Interestingly as well, Char ends up piloting something resembling a Gundam while Amuro ends up piloting something resembling a Gelgoog.
While yesterday’s bad guy being tomorrow’s good guy isn’t a new concept, for example Space Battleship Yamato’s Dessler, the complexity and nuance of Char’s portrayal in Zeta Gundam was entirely unmatched by its peers and predecessors, and as the audience we are left to mourn Char’s otherwise bright trajectory and redemption that is foiled by the finale of Zeta Gundam and concludes with Char’s Counterattack
For MechaStellar this month we have our first wave of Zeta Gundam capturing most of the Mobile Suits in the first half of the series. For next month we’ll capture most of the remainder including the mobile suits designed by Scirocco as well as Haman Karn’s infamous Quebeley.
On the design side our goal with Zeta was to introduce a new wave of grunt units that would displace all the mainstays of the One Year War. This has been a fine balancing act over the years (Zeta first debuted in VER 3) and just in the last few months the open playtest drafts have gone through 14 revisions.
The overall goal is to make a grunt MS superior to most OYW machines while also keeping the cost down, OYW units are blockier and have higher HP while Zeta units trade lower HP for high mobility while 0083 units exist somewhere in-between.
Naturally, balancing a 120pt Hizack against a 30pt Zaku II has a number of challenges but we’ve managed to resolve most of the early feedback by adjusting the HP formulas for units across the board, as well as increasing the HP bonus for Performance 5+ MS.
We’ve been doing a lot of playtests over the last few months to evaluate some gameplay changes from the community and it’s been a great chance to try out these HP tweaks. Overall we’ve found that cross era gameplay (MSG 0079 vs Zeta’s 0087) have turned out much better.
We’re also doing 6 new Warships from Zeta Gundam, these include retrofitted Salami Kai cruisers which are better than the stock Salamis but not as costly as the 0083 Salamis and their failed big gun policy. (Eventually we’ll have the Magellan-Kai with Sentinel). The Alexandria is a hybrid design somewhere between a Musai and a White Base while the Argama is a sleeker higher speedier white base with the Irish being AEUGs improvement over the Magellan.
For the Stellar Warships fans we’ve adjusted the repair stat to be an upgradable option which is another way to show how certain ships have great deck chiefs and maintenance crews like Astronaige on the Argama or Kid Salsamille of Gundam X’s Freeden.
The Core Rules have updated to VER 9.5. This includes updates to Deployment, Challenge, Indirect Fire, Pilot Skills. The Destroy Terrain rules have moved to the core rules rather than just a module and this in turn has prompted updates to Havoc for Kaiju / Super Heavy units as well as the Crash through and Trample action.
The Wargame Rules have updated to VER 9.3. The major change here is that the end of Round Momentum generation has moved to the Wargame rules and is now keyed off of Control Points. Each Control Point you own generates Momentum at the end of each Round, for the 40k players all units have ‘Sticky Objective’ as a way to allow elite forces to hold their own against larger forces. Pilot and Commander traits have also been moved to the Wargame rules to keep all the various upgrades in one document. They have also received an update.
The Defend the City rules have been updated and simplified. You can read about them in a Round by Round gameplay example starting here.
Summary of Update
Unit Roster Additions
- Added 28 Mobile Suits units from Zeta Gundam
- Added 6 Warships from Zeta Gundam
VER 9.5 Core Rules
- Moved End of Round [M] bonus and Commander traits to the Wargame rules.
- Updated deployment rules to no longer be based on Sensors.
- Updated Challenge to instead be a Defensive Bonus.
- Updated Facing rules as well as warship firing arcs.
- Noted that you lose [M-1] if you drop down the same turn you gained High Ground.
- Added a note about Transforming MS to the core rules.
- Added a LOS clarification to close a loophole where you could shoot but not be shot.
- Simplified IDF so it cannot benefit from Skills or deal Critical Hits.
- Capped Critical Hits at 3 for Shooting attacks.
- Made Crash Through and Trample its own action as a Shooting attack option.
- Upgraded the Havoc stat. Updated and moved Destroying Terrain to the Core Rules.
- Updated Tear through the Ranks and Seize the Day to cut down on Alpha Strikes.
- Updated Bullseye Skill to be more useful.
VER 9.3 Wargame Rules
- Moved End of Round [M] bonus and Pilot / Commander traits to the Wargame rules
- Updated Unyielding, Impressive Skill, Decimator and Merciless Melee.
- Control Points give Momentum at the end of each Round instead of only once.
- Updated Control Point layout.
- Simplified Defend the City Rules
- Updated / Consolidated Pilot Traits and the Impressive Skill Commander trait.
Unit Profile Updates
- HP Bonus to all units. Additional HP upgrades to units with Armor 4+ and Performance 5+
- Tweak profiles on some GMs, Doms and Gelgoogs, Gundam X and Super Robots
- Rebalanced several Warships to have higher HP but lower movement
- Fixed error on Mazinger KiKaiju (+1 Evade)
- Adjusted Ship weapons
- Rebalanced e[X]plosive weapons
- Rebalanced Vulcans and reduced DMG on variants
- Rebalanced generic melee weapons (Blade, Hammer, Scythe)
- Adjusted Push/Pull weapons and Arc/Stun weapons
- Adjusted scaling on range upgrades for machineguns and pistol types, rebalanced those weapons including O Thunder and Assault Rifles
- Cleaned up wording for Blocks to be “vs each attack action” rather than “vs each weapon” to close a loophole with tear through the ranks
- Updated Incredible Luck & Newtype
MechaStellar 