ShadowLogan wrote:I think it is implied that 10th MD was the only one involved for that operation. It was supposed to link up with pre-established ground forces (Point K-style, Resistance, Col. Wolf, etc).
Other ERFs shown have markings for multiple divisions... it would be rather odd for them to send just the one.
ShadowLogan wrote:Given the still frame from the 85ep, plus LLA OVA, and Invasion comic it is clear the backpack is removable.
Slight problem... the production materials don't have any art for any kind of "backpack" on the AS-C03 Condor, and in the one scene depicting the Condor-like mecha in
MOSPEADA's 11th episode the artbooks note that's during the actual drop operation and there are no
Ikazuchi-class ships depicted. So we can't conclude those are Condors, and even if they are we can't conclude the "backpack" model was launched from an
Ikazuchi-class ship.
ShadowLogan wrote:Another problem is you are assuming the OSM size for the Condor, given the size in "official HG" material (2E RPG, it indicates HG might not be following the OSM here given the backstory is the Condor was a Beta-competitor) that means it might not fit as well as you believe.
Are we really going to make me point out the obvious logical flaw with this that even Harmony Gold doesn't consider the RPG canon? Even in the OSM the Condor didn't have detailed official stats, we only know it's approximately the same size as the Legioss (RT: Alpha) because we're told it's the proof-of-concept for the Legioss and shares a large number of parts with. The RPG is pretty obviously just swinging for the fences on this one, possibly based on the larger but similar Jackal AG as many
Robotech fans confuse the two. It would hardly be the first cockup in the second edition.
ShadowLogan wrote:True, but I disagree that it would be an easy job to rework them for "any craft they need to fit" as there are simply some mecha that would be impractical due to their size (Beta, VF-1, depending on where you get the size for the Condor, maybe even the AGAC, etc) for a given type (Rack vs Tube) without requiring stretched versions or a new type.
A fair point... I suppose, as in the OSM, the carrying of larger craft would be the role of the ships with more space in which to do so, like the
Garfish-class transporters and the docking port underneath the
Horizont descent shuttles. The Condor, however, should fit with little-to-no modification given what we know of it from the OSM.
ShadowLogan wrote:We are also assuming the QLBs are actually modular, I don't think there is any actual statement to that effect. The UEEF could simply be saving time by duplicating known features. Really if the UEEF was looking for modular launch bays you'd think they would adopt the Garfish bays for that role (we know they are modular).
It seems a reasonable assumption, but you have a point... though the capacity of the
Garfish-class's bays are much too small for the number of fighters they wanted to carry on the larger ship. Barring the non-canon remarks from the RPG about the UEEF using things like VF-1s and the highly dubious statement about the 1st ERF having had no Alphas, the obvious point is that the UEEF never used any fighters other than the Alpha on those ships and thus never had any need to convert the bays to house any other type of aircraft.
Bamse wrote:I too find it unlikely that the bunkers can readily fit other mecha. More likely is that mecha too big for either Battlestar Galactica style launch tubes or Alpha bunkers are launched via the nose, rear or the underslung launch bay (never seen but always assumed).
Neither of those actually exists in the original design, in point of fact... though it's worth noting the original design is one that held ONLY the 144 Legioss armo-fighters in the bunkers and nothing else. The original designer's spec for that class makes it much smaller than the fanmade
Robotech stats did, so it originally didn't have any of those other unspecified mecha it allegedly holds in RT. (The original sizes actually neatly solve the population problem in the RT version though, which is nice.)
Bamse wrote:The Alphas had apparently proven a superior means of point defense for capital ships. I've always felt the 21st really did not anticipate much resistance until they were in the atmosphere as they didn't launch their Alphas in preparation for the battle but rather as a response to it.
... by "superior" I'm assuming you mean "demonstrably almost completely ineffective"? They do better than the new point-defense guns in the
Shadow Chronicles version, but that's only because the point-defense guns from that aborted OVA don't even manage to hit the comparatively slow-moving Invid. The notion that they weren't prepared doesn't make sense, given that not only did they launch in response to detecting the Invid, they already had fighters traveling independently as part of the convoy for protection before they even detected the Invid.
ShadowLogan wrote:I don't own Invasion and maybe it describes why 10th MD doesn't have Alphas yet Point K is laden with them. Why is that?
IIRC, Point K was supposed to be the emergency muster point for any surviving units from the 2nd ERF... or maybe that was just in the original version. It's been a while since last I watched the
Robotech version.
The Alpha fighter is an old design by the time the New Generation is set, in contrast to the original
MOSPEADA where it was so new the paint was barely dry before the 2nd ERF took them into combat. The
Robotech Alpha fighter was going on 20 years old, so the ground troops at Point K could've gotten them from any number of sources.