Hello everyone, for the last few months we’ve been very busy working on MechaStellar VER10 and we finally updated all the Mobile Suit Gundam Universal Century Mobile Suits to VER10. Well, it’s time to spread the wealth with our Super Robot fans too. This month we have converted some additional Super Robots to VER10 including the much beloved Big O. We’ve also added in 4 new Super Robots.
You can find the updated MechaStellar Core rules and the Mecha Unit Profiles on the game-downloads page.
Keep reading below for additional details.
This month we have the debut of Beast King GoLion (百獣王ゴライオン, known as Voltron in the West), Goshogun (戦国魔神ゴーショーグン, known as Macron 1 in the West), Galaxy Cyclone Bryger (銀河旋風ブライガー, also spelled Braiger) and it’s sequel Galactic Gale Baxingar (銀河烈風バクシンガー).
GoLion (Voltron)
- Height: 60 meters
- Weight 700 tons
Arguably one of the most famous Mecha series in the US, Voltron, The Defender of the Universe. was a long running TV show that spliced together Beast King GoLion (Lion Voltron), Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (Vehicle Voltron), and Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (Gladiator Voltron). Lion Voltron was the most well received and well remembered of the bunch and became synonymous with Voltron. It received several sequels and reimagining over the years.
The plotline for GoLion and Voltron are overall very similar, one of the obvious differences being name localization with the pilots team of Chief, Moody, Shorty, and Hothead becomes Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. For your reference we included both names on the mecha unit profile sheet. Similarly, GoLion’s iconic Jyuoken (十王剣 Beast King Sword) is renamed to Blazing Sword. The opening and sound effects were adjusted, here’s the original OP by the every famous Aniki (Ichiro Mizuki).
The biggest changes from GoLion to Voltron, is that GoLion is hyper violent. Death, dismemberment, blood rains and other cataclysms are all common occurrences to the population of Althea who are frequently killed off by the various heinous warcrimes of the Galra Empire. Naturally for a US release in the 80s this had to be heavily edited by Toei to tone down the violence. There were also changes with character deaths / reapperances as well. While the wanton death and destruction were toned down, GoLion tearing into the Galra empires ships & monsters is always enjoyable.
Still the original Voltron (GoLion) was a big hit and still fondly remembered to this day in the West. While not very popular in Japan, it did manage to make it’s way into Super Robots Wars W on the Nintendo DS.
GoLion like many combining Super Robots is a bit difficult to design for with MechaStellar. While it doesn’t have as many attacks as say Combattler V, we are always torn on what to include and what to leave out while trying to keep it at a certain points cost. The more weapons you add, the less room you have to build out other stats like defenses and HP. For GoLion a large number of its weapons are fairly iconic on the toys but only show up in a couple of episodes so we included those as optional upgrades at the bottom.
GoLion is currently set to the Unstoppable combat role which gave him unsurpassed attack power. Fitting for a robot who was only ever defeated (and humbled) by the Goddess of the universe. Do note that Unstoppable units tend to be vulnerable to sustained shooting, so it’s best to keep GoLion locked in melee with tough opponents. However, with the combination of Chief (Keith), Shorty (Pidge) and Moody (Lance) GoLion sports a solid defense.
GoShogun (Macron 1)
- Height: 52.5 meters
GoShogun while sporting a similar sword to GoLion has no affiliant with the former. Instead of 5 (Go) Lions we have 3 individual robots that form GoShogun with the pilots Shingo, Remy and Killy, supported by their teleporting fortress the Good Thunder. In the North America it was combined with the mecha show SRUNGLE and aired as Macron 1. Here’s the original Japanese OP.
GoShogun is fairly unconventional for a mecha anime. You might say it’s one of the earlier parody / homage series although it mostly takes itself seriously there are a few gags and references in the show. For instance, there’s an RX-78-2 look-alike who learns to hate fighting. The villains are often comical, one’s major goal is to open their universe’s version of a KFC.
What makes it very unique is that the power source for GoShogun “Beamler” in addition to allowing teleporting is a semi-sentient energy source and even allows GoShogun’s signature GoFlasher (5 energy feathers) to induce sentient in enemy robots. The show gets very interesting when they discover that making Beamler unstable might destroy the universe as we know it. It’s a nice plotline to go along with the comedic relief villains.
It’s an enjoyable show so be sure to give it a watch. It also has a sequel movie called “The Time Etranger” both of which are directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, famous for Pokemon. The Time Etranger doesn’t feature GoShogun at all, and instead is a remarkable different tone and story. It’s definitely worth a watch, but expect something similar to a Harlock or Emeraldas OVA with the nascent eldritch horror instead of the campy kid friendly GoShogun TV show.
GoShogun first debuted in Super Robot Wars on the SNES in 1994 with the EX sidestory game then later with SRW 4. Above is an example of it from SRW Alpha 3.
When designing GoShogun we went with the Battler Role to represent it’s powerful melee ability but relatively nimble with Remy behind the wheel. GoShogun is interesting for having it’s teleporting weapons including both the Space Bazooka and the very powerful GoFlasher. Then as a gimmick, the GoFlasher can induce the enemy to self-destruct.
Galaxy Cyclone Bryger
- Height: 32.4 meters
- Weight: 315 tons
- Power Source: Plasma Engine
- Flight Speed: Mach 5 in Earth’s atmosphere, 80% the Speed of Light in space
Brygar (also commonly spelled Braiger) aired in 1981 created by Sunrise veterans with Yuu Yamamoto as writer and Takao Yotsuji as director. It is part of the J9 series which includes Galactic Gale Baxingar and Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger, the pair would also create two other classic mecha series Acrobunch and Srungle.
The J9 series is very fun it’s set in the future in our solar system where outlaws riding space bikes (with space helmets) terrorize the local population. Our group of 4 characters lovable scoundrels with hearts of gold and they strike fear into the hearts of the criminals acting as ‘heroes-for-hire’ for the local asteroid belt population. The Bry-Thunder is their hot-rod space car which can transform into the Bry-Star fighter and then later the Brygar robot.
While there are a number of superficial similarities with Cowboy Bebop (which aired 17 years later) I would caution you not to expect this to be a Cowboy Bebop prototype when you start the series. While several story beats and archetypes are similar (and likely inspired Cowboy Bebop), the two shows are wildly different in tone and execution. Both are great shows but they succeed on their own merits and shouldn’t be judged too closely together.
Character designs were done by the famous Kazuo Komatsubara (Nasuicca, Captain Harlock, various Go Nagai works) and gave the characters a Lupin the 3rd esque look. Characters were voiced by industry veterans which you can read more about at J9 Hard Serenade.
Brygar also has an amazing OP sung by Isao Taira (Ideon, Daioja) and animated by the legendary Yoshinori Kanada (Getter Robo, Yamato, Captain Harlock / Galaxy Express, Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke) . There’s also a cover by Aniki (Ichiro Mizuki).
The opening was so incredible it inspired legendary mecha designers / animators Masami Obari (Dangaioh, Dancouga, Fighbird, Dragonar, SRW OG) and Hiroyuki Imaishi (Studio Trigger cofounder and Gainax veteran most known for TTGL) to get into animation. Obari’s recent original mecha anime Bang Brave Bang Bravern! was a smash hit and heavily references Bryger and of course the Braves series.
Brygar first debuted in Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden. As a super robot with a powerful offensive but relatively fragile on HP and armor. Above is an example of its attacks.
Brygar was a fun unit to design for in MechaStellar, it’s a personal favorite of this author and it’s been in draft form since VER8 and has changed considerably since then. The current iteration is very fragile as a Super Robot but thanks to the recent changes to the Wargaming Rules Supplement it’s defenses are very powerful thanks to its pilot team. Blaster Kidd is the best shot in the solar system, and Speedy Bowie (voiced by Speed Racer) is the best driver in the solar system, combined their two traits make Brygar a very deadly foe and a hard to hit one to boot.
Brygar tends to be light on mecha action and heavy on-foot action, but when the robot shows up it tears through everything in its path. Curiously, while Kid is an amazing shot, Bryger mostly uses the Bry-sword in every episode while the Cosmo Blaster pistols are used fairly sparingly. Later on though, the Bry-Cannon becomes the overwhelmingly powerful finisher in the show. Overall, we find this unit very fun, and being a group of mercenaries they can join forces with any MechaStellar army you have.
Galactic Gale Baxingar
- Height: 48 meters
Baxingar is the sequel to Bryger set in the distant future. The original cast reprises their roles having similar character designs. It’s interesting seeing the same voice actors play similar yet different characters in a new show. You can see a side-by-side comparison on J9 Hard Serenade.
Baxingar can be described as a Tokugawa era story in space, drawing elements from the Shinsengumi and the 47 Ronin for its characters and its story.
It also has another banger of an OP and fun music overall throughout the show. The hotrod and blasters of the original Brygar are now replaced by space bikes, capes and swords for a fun aesthetic.
Overall Baxingar is a fun show, although a bit more serious than Bryger with a deeper focus on political turmoil and rebellious forces. Baxingar also has a change in director but the overall feel of the show is the same. If you like Bryger, you’ll like Baxingar as well.
Baxingar first debuted in Super Robot Wars Gamecube XO. Above is an example of its attacks.
Designing Baxingar was relatively easy compared to Bryger. Baxingar is a swordsman first and foremost, and it’s ranged weapons are often an afterthought even in the show. Curiously, the OP for Baxingar shows them firing a harpoon gun, we considered adding it in but it never shows up in the show and Baxingar was already pushing the 500pt limit for a unit.
Our one goal with Baxingar was to differntiate the pilots from Brygar. While the voice actors reprise their roles, the characters are different enough both in personality and skillset it was worthwhile to change that up as well. Billy the Shot (reprise of Blaster Kid) mostly uses his sword in the show and later in the series becomes an archetypal Blind Swordsman even able to pilot the robot blind which we represented with a Newtype style trait. While the robots are similar and the pilots are different enough to give you a very different feel. For fun, you might even consider swapping the pilots between the two robots.
That’s it for the Super Robots. If you want to read about other Classic Super Robot shows click here.
Summary of Updates
We’ve also converted the GX-9900 from Gundam X to VER10. It was recently featured in the VER10 MechaStellar gameplay example which you can read here. There were a number of rebalances to weapon profiles as well as some adjustments to core rules and the wargaming rules supplement. To save space in the Mobile Suit profiles, the OYW tanks and aircraft profiles have moved to the Warships pdf. You can find these on the new and improved game-downloads page.
Core Rules Updates
- Re-added the Key Concepts intro to VER10.
- Added in definitions and specified what happens if you go over the 10 dice cap
- Updated Target Lock to be bonus dice. Updated barrage wording.
- Updated Crash. Upgraded Boost.
- Updated starting Momentum if you match the number of Aces in your opponents army
- Clarified Momentum shifts while currently in melee.
- Warships can now use the Iron Wall skill
- Removed Improvise – Currently it’s abilities are redundant with Boost / Power / Havoc. We will rework it and add it to the Trump Card and Trap Card section later.
- Updated Stun weapons section (long overdue), Updated push/pull weapons
Wargaming Rules Supplement Updates
- Re-added introduction section
- Removed VP penalties from Simple Battle – These will be included in a later section with secondary objectives
- Increased the limit on upgrades for Ace units
- Updated Lone Wolf / Solo Operative
- Updated Highly Skilled Unit to be more flexible with unit types. It also increases VP.
- Updated various other traits, the +50pt traits now increase VP as well
Balance Patch
- Adjusted Warship role – HP+800, Sensors-6″, Evade+1, Melee DEF-1
- Adjusted how size affects HP – Many warships received huge HP increases
- Fixed VP Errors missing on Transforming MS and VP tweaks to other high end / ace units
- Removed Stealth, replaced with Stealth Ambusher. Tweaked Yamato & Harlock Space Fighters.
- Increased cost weighting for all weapons with 7+ attack dice except machine guns / vulcans. Rebalance to TL Bazookas and small cannons (Tanks / Balls), Big changes to several Missile Profiles
- Removed Reroll 1s from Melee weapons, rebalance ARM PEN / DMG, differentiated weapon types (saber / axe / spear / hammer etc.)
- Adjusted weapons that lose HP and single use weapons
- Fixed various cost / equipment slot errors = Gundam Pixy, Getter Liger / Poseidon
- Fixed Combattler V – Battlechainsaws which were displaying the VER9 stats
- To my ultimate embarrassment Scirocco’s The O was missing Hidden Beam Sabers
- Increased the cost of the Blindside trait, units affected GP01, Bawoo,
That’s all for this month. Next month we’ll have the weapon swap Gundam Build Fighters rules, and potentially either Aura Battler Dunbine or Gundam SEED depending on which are ready first.
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