Me When GB02 Gives Out Free Four-star Nu Gundam And Sazabi, Amuro And Chars Final Suits Respectively:

Me when GB02 gives out free four-star Nu Gundam and Sazabi, Amuro and Char’s final suit’s respectively: Oh, neat I guess, might repaint those later. Pity we didn’t get the Nightingale.

Me when the GBO2 store has the Ga-Zowmn and Ram Z’gok available to buy, a villain of the week from ZZ and an MSV unit, respectively: Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOO

Meer Campbell is such a funny character. Imagine you're posting your silly little cover songs in Gundam tube and people are like omg you sound JUST like Lacus Clyne and you're like pretty happy with that and suddenly the president shows up at your house like hey do you wanna commit identity theft? And you're like okaaaaaaaaaaay :D

The AMX-017 Gigantic was a planned nuclear-capable mobile suit designed by Axis Zeon for use in their Invasion of Earth, being one of multiple competing plans designed to tip the balance in Axis’ favour. The Gigantic was based on data recovered from the stolen Gundam Gp02 “Physalis” during Operation Stardust memory by the Axis Technical Fleet, and was designed for much the same purpose: the deployment of Tactical Nuclear Weapons. To this end it was armed with an Atomic Bazooka, for deployment of the nuke itself, and a beam saber, for the suit’s own protection. Presumably, it was intended to be deployed with an escort to cover for its lack of armaments (either that or the Axis engineers took the Gp02’s limited armament to be a feature, not a bug). The Gigantic was ultimately passed over in favour of the Dublin Colony Drop, which was ultimately successful for the Axis Forces, inflicting heavy casualties on Karaba and the AEUG, while resulting in the Earth Federation Government ceding Side 3 to Axis, returning the Republic of Zeon to their forces. Though the Delaz Fleets’ attack at Konpei Island (/Confeito/Solomon) demonstrated the power of nuclear weapons, the Axis forces lacked any nukes which could be utilised by the Gigantic. Following their failure to seize the federation asteroid base Luna II and the nuclear arsenal held there, the Gigantic was then mothballed, as it was unable to carry out its assigned task.

I do like the Gigantic’s design, you see the GP02 Influence, and yet there’s an obvious Zeon flair to the design. I like the white and purple colour scheme, it converts the same sense of danger as Haman’s Qubeley, and the art’s lovely of course. The large thrusters on the design also imply a speed, again analogous to those on the Gp02. The cockpit’s reinforced, suitable to survive a nuclear blast, and I love how beefy the head is. Sleek, yet armoured, designed to funnel blast waves around the body. The feet remind me of the Don, another Zeonic influence. It’s just rather nice. That said, I’m just now noticing that the elbows can’t bend, which is a choice.

Interestingly, in SD Gundam G Generation FIF, there’s a non-canon scenario where the Gigantic is Piloted by Karius, a surviving wingmate of Anavel Gato, the pilot of the Gp02, which is neat.

Next up from SD Gundam G Generation:

The AMX-001 Prototype Qubeley. Originally designed as the MSN-008 during the waning days of the one year war, it was one of several units that were eventually completed at Axis. It was designed to be a direct successor to the MAN-08 Elmeth (MAN: Mobile Armour Newtype to MSN: Mobile Suit Newtype), best known for its use by Lahlah Sune, the Ghost of Solomon. Though the psycommu system was largely miniaturised, the Prototype Qubeley was still a large mobile suit, being roughly 25 metres tall. For reference, the RX-78 Gundam stood at roughly 18 meters tall, and the Qubeley itself, which succeeded the Prototype, was only 18.9 meters tall.

Armaments wise, the Prototype Qubeley was armed with two beam sabers built into the hands, analogous to those on the regular Qubeley. However, though powerful, they are not removable like the later model, nor can they double as beam guns. Perhaps in recognition of this, it was also armed with Vulcan guns, mounted on the chest, presumably to dissuade enemies from getting close. Instead of the aforementioned beam guns, the Prototype Qubeley had a set of Mega Particle Cannons mounted in the forearms, which were wired directly to the suits reactor, giving them high output. Interestingly, in order to fire these weapons, the hand would fold away and the arm would split in half to form a firing channel. Lastly, it was armed with psycommu system with which it controlled its funnels, which are miniaturised from the Elmeth’s Bits in both form and function. (It appears in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Define (below) with a funnel design similar to that of the Qubeley, but in the original game, Sd Gundam G Generation F, they appear as smaller versions of the Elmeth’s). Interestingly, the rear of the Prototype Qubeley where the Funnels are stored does resemble a smaller Elmeth.

(Piloted by Haman, obviously)

Design-wise, really good. The powder blue and yellow and red really make it pop, and it certainly feels Zeonic, with its slim, mono-eyed head and little crown. I like its bulk, since it’s a transition between the round Elmenth to the elegant Qubeley, so it being a little ungainly fits very well, and yet all the spikes and pointy bits give it a good silhouette. My only criticism is that I can’t for the life of me figure out where its waist goes. The above-left picture of it from Z-Define just looks too hunched to me, but its official art makes its body look rather squat, atop its long and graceful legs. (Also, despite what you may think, that large yellow part just in front of the arm isn’t the mega particle cannon, it’s just the side of the chest). In a nutshell, it’s a nice design, I just wish we had more art of it, so it was a little clearer how it all fits together.

Also, wasn’t really sure where to put this, but that red and yellow panelled area on the side of the head? That apparently flashes in a rainbow when it’s charging it’s mega particle cannons, which is just a neat detail.

(Feel free to throw any more art of this thing at me, I know there’s a Gundam War Card design for it I haven’t seen)

The MAK-005S Gaplant Kai was a mobile armour used by the Earth Branch of the AEUG, Karaba, during the latter half of the Gryps Conflict and throughout the subsequent Neo Zeon War. Unlike its predecessor, the ORX-005 Gaplant, it was a non-transformable suit conceived as an atmospheric interceptor - an excellent means to challenge invading Axis forces. However, Karaba already possessed the excellent Zeta Plus series with which to establish aerial superiority, and as such only 20 units were produced. These twenty units would be deployed in rapid strike operations against (formerly) spaceborne Axis forces entering the atmosphere.

The regular Gaplant is one of those titans suits that I just see everywhere. We know that a lot of old Titans Stock was sold off by the Earth Federation (though to who exactly is a little unclear), and a transformable suit capable of long periods of atmospheric flight was always going to be a hot item. It makes sense that it’d have some further development with the fall of the Titans - though materials associated with them are politically inconvenient to Earth Federation itself, Karaba really isn’t in a position to be picky. The Gaplant’s just rather nice and straightforward. I will call out that I absolutely adore the wing binders, and just wing binders in general; they’re just a design feature I really like - a wing, a thruster, a gun all-in-one. It’s just a great economy of design and yet so stylish.

Armament-wise, the Gaplant Kai eschews the integrated beam rifles and beam sabers of the original Gaplant and replaces them with weaponry more suited to a mobile armour, namely Vulcan Cannons in the wings and some optional 12-tube missile launchers near the rear of the craft (not shown in the above picture). It also has some Diffuse Beam Cannons built into the wings. If it wasn’t for the fact that they can also function as regular Beam Cannons, I’d find fitting your interceptor with what are essentially beam shotguns an extremely ballsy move.

In case it isn’t obvious, I do very much like the Gaplant Kai conceptually - taking a Titans design and pressing it into Karaba’s service in the Neo Zeon War is just kinda rad, recognising the enemy was on to something and deploying it in the next war out of desperation. I like the Gaplant, so a variant on its design emphasising the mobile armour element is just lovely and I appreciate how much more specialised it feels - no longer a test unit, it’s Aerodynamic and suited to quick strikes. I’m of two minds about the colour scheme. One one hand, it’d be difficult to pick out against the clouds, so I can visualise it coming out of nowhere and attacking a surprised enemy. On the other, it’s just a little bit plain.

Some big boys for Interpoint Station's upcoming Lancer module.