Mr March

Aside from the Macross ships and the odd main-character-crewed vessel, most of the warships in the Macross franchise are not shown doing much of anything other than exploding. Attempting to discern the function/role of a UNS/NUNS warship based on what the ships do in the Macross anime isn't going to get us much of anywhere. The human fleets might as well be "combat wallpaper" for all the effect they have on the story, plot or characters Regarding Canaria's VB-6 Konig Monster charge, Canaria's VB-6 was struck by Anti-Aircraft (Anti-Mecha/Spacecraft?) fire, it just wasn't enough to stop her. Keep in mind this is the heavily armored "I-can-survive-near-hits-from-reaction-warheads" Monster we're talking about; it's not going to be destroyed as easily as a Valkyrie. Besides, the battle was a furball and it's clear the Battle Galaxy's cannons were engaging a bunch of targets including the Monster.

I bet Max could beat them all in a Reguld

Most of the ships in Macross look underarmed without turrets. The ARMD (DYRL version), the Uraga Class and the Guantanamo Class actually appear weaponless. We know they aren't from the official literature on these vessels, but you'd never know they were armed to look at them. I suppose the saving grace is the fact that the creators of Macross are known for their love of retractable armaments on warships. In particular, retractable missile launchers are seen on warships in both SDF Macross and Macross 7. And though it has turrets as well, the ARMD (TV Version) has those big, hidden missile launchers on the top deck. I really prefer to see turrets. Nothing says firepower like a big gun or missile launcher that you can see on the hull of a ship. The turrets on the New Macross Class and Macross Quarter in the Frontier series were both very welcome sights. They looked really good in action too. Now I'm feeling the urge to watch the final episode again

Stealth, as it's used in Macross, is almost assuredly included in the fiction for the purpose of justifying dogfight-style aircraft warfare. It's probably also a touch of realism for the sake of window dressing. Macross is fundamentally an aircraft show in a science fiction setting, so stealth technologies could be mentioned to add a sense of reality to the fictional aircraft/spacecraft. Real aircraft use stealth, so the Valkyries can appear more legitimate if they also use stealth. Within the Macross fiction, stealth appears to function in a different manner depending upon the circumstances and era. The change in effectiveness of stealth over time may also be an attempt on the creator's part to tell the audience how electronic warfare really works; advances in both evasion and detection are constantly evolving and thus the nature and effectiveness of stealth with rise and fall over time. Though I admit, such continuity is definitely giving Kawamori and Co. more credit than the thought they likely put into Macross itself. Likely the inclusion of the technology is "stealth in name only". In SDF Macross, DYRL, FB2012, stealth wasn't mentioned at all. In Macross Zero, the SV-51 was basically invisible to radar even at close range In Macross Plus, Guld's YF-21 disappeared completely from radar despite flying less than a dozen meters from Isamu's VF-11B Thunderbolt In Macross 7, stealth is part of the official literature on the mecha and ships, but doesn't appear to be mentioned or shown in any way In Macross Frontier, the only stealth shown is Brera's VF-27. His craft appears difficult to detect at any significant range and he's always popping out of nowhere almost undetected until he's right on top of everyone. For ships, there appears to be very little difference between stealth and non-stealth from the viewers perspective. I think the way stealth is handled in Macross may be an attempt on the creators part to both acknowledge real stealth but to avoid being limited by it. Reiterating my original point, I think stealth in Macross is "Real Robot" style flavoring; a way to add realism to the fiction of Macross. Stealth may also be used for plot convenience, but it may be ignored later without much thought. Stealth helps explain a few things about the nature of warfare in Macross, but it doesn't have much prominence beyond that.

Yes, at least in Macross nomenclature. The Uraga Class Escort Battle Carrier. I think Fade Rathnik has a good point; the Macross Quarter could very well be a Battle Carrier. Remember, these ships of Macross are not planet bound naval vessels. Macross like many other sci-fi stories uses some existing terminology to give reality to the fictional vehicles and provides an anchor which the audience can use to relate to what they are seeing. However, clearly with terms like Battle Carrier or Super Dimension Fortress, Macross is not bound by conventional warship terminology. Probably a wise choice, since not all the traditional terms for ocean going warships are going to apply to space faring vessels.

Yeah, that looks like a magazine custom built by a fan. My Yamato 1/48 VF-1 features a twin mount for two reaction warheads in a single hardpoint. That's how they did it. If it helps, the official VF-1 statistics only list four hardpoints in total and the Valkyrie official schematics only show two hardpoints per wing.

I think it's best to say everything on the VF-25 is "up in the air" until I see something published in the Macross Chronicle. I tend to believe the current statistics on the Macross Compendium are correct, but there is always the chance they may change. AFAIK, there hasn't even been mention of underwing hardpoints as yet, but I had to mention them on the M3 because they are so obviously a part of the design based on cannon events from the Macross Frontier series. There are at least two per wing, shown in the episode where Mikhail mounted speaker pods on his wings and the episodes where the VF-25's mounted reaction missiles under the wings. I think that's about as accurate as we can be for now. Regarding the VF-1, I assume you're referring to the times when the VF-1 Super Valkyries mount either three large reaction missiles per wing or two reaction missiles and a UUM-7 Micro Missile pod. As I understand it, two of the reaction missiles are using a single mount so they can be paired upon a single hard point. It's similar to the tri-mounts used to store the AMM-1 missiles in groups of three per hardpoint. So you can get two reaction missiles on one hardpoint and a single reaction missile on the other, only utilizing two hardpoints in total.

There's no shame in being exposed to Robotech before Macross. The only shame comes in what you do after learning the difference between the two The correct answer is: EMBRACE MACROSS!

I wonder, what role does the Macross Quarter fulfill in the New UN Spacy fleet? Given the loose definitions for many of the warships classes, I suppose it could be any number of designations. The Macross Quarter is small but heavily armed, so perhaps it could be a cruiser. But it also has extensive aircraft/spacecraft capabilities, so it could just be another type of carrier. But I wonder, what prompted the New UN Spacy (and by extension, Kawamori) to build these quarter sized Macross-like carriers? I initially thought that we were not going to see any New Macross Class (NMC) vessels in Frontier. I was definitely mistaken and happy I was, but it does open the question what purpose the Macross Quarters serve. It's clear the NMC vessels are still in very active service and their capabilities are definitely in demand. The Guantanamo, Uraga and Stealth Frigates are all still in active service (plus that new fella, the grey colored frigate). Was cost a factor? The NUNS wanted more Macross-like ships but lacked the funds to build lots of NMCs, so they built Quarters? Are the Macross Quarters meant to replace Guantanamos or do the Quarters fulfill some role that was previously vacant? I wonder what the Macross Chronicle will say.

"I’m bringing sexy back My ship's big gun will be the final act Defolding on your face just like some smack Watch me transform and see your jaw go slack"

Oh my gawd... *groan* (though I tend to agree)

How uncharacteristically nitpicky of you

Not a bad review. It was entertaining, but more than a little silly. *Air Raid Warning! Air Raid Warning! Serious thread derailment is about to ensue!* I'm just kidding But that question is definitely a whole other topic. Go ahead and start one, but be prepared for a very lively thread

HAHAHAHA! The rated "R" version of Macross. Two Miclones, One Cup! Classic

"'They' say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it... and it's worked out pretty well so far." Hehehe, I figured that would convulse a few stomachs

Most of the Macross stories have finished with a healthy dose of ammunition and memorable battles. The spin is that culture/music/understanding and courage/fighting/firepower go hand in hand in the Macross finales. SDF Macross, DYRL, Macross Plus, and Macross Frontier are all like this. The love/understanding helped achieve victory, as did will/strength of arms, but the message is that neither facet of humanity can succeed without the other. Which makes sense since that was the unique building blocks of the original Macross. War drama with heart, spirit with temperance, bravery with intellect, reason with belief...almost Sun Tzu like in it's message. The only exceptions so far have been Macross Zero and Macross 7, where the cultural/musical aspect of the series ruled the plot to such a degree that the courage/fighting/firepower aspect was excluded in the final analysis. Will/strength of arms could not achieve victory alone, but in these two cases culture/music/understanding could achieve victory to the exclusion of anything else. That's probably why M0 and M7 are the two weakest Macross productions; they are "war dramas" that sadly turn conceptually cannibalistic. As far as North American audiences are concerned, a big budget, live action Macross-esque space war drama would have to definitely be realistically militaristic and would definitely have to remain very grounded, avoiding melodrama and grand camp. Personally, I don't think it would fly because Macross, like most anime, is served with a high dose of theatrical drama and ham-fisted cheese. These things work in anime because a) its made to be somewhat idealistic/simplistic and b) animation by default is a medium totally removed from reality. Theatricality and over the top absurdity work so well in anime because animation is already inherently unreal. In live action, get too unreal and it's like breaking the fourth wall. I'm just trying to imagine how the music would possibly be taken seriously. You'd need Judi Dench singing Radiohead, which would cause all of reality to annihilate itself

I was just playfully giving you a hard time. It's no problem, really. I'm currently working on a few new animated gifs and some size comparisons of the fighter modes. I'm also going to do a Battroid size comparison as well.

I jump out the window Actually, as odd as it may sound to some, I'd choose Macross 7 in that scenario. I'd rather watch a creative failure than endure an exercise in mediocrity. Memorable is always preferable to forgettable, even if it's horribly memorable. Even Ed Wood had a movie made about him

I doubt it would fit as is, but I think the Macross Class could certainly be easily adapted to fit the City/Island Ship docking port. They likely have similar sized engines/lower legs and they are in roughly the same configuration. They may not be exactly the same, but it's certainly not a case of a square peg in a round hole. A little bit of work and tadaaa! Macross Class rear view schematic New Macross Class rear view

I had considered that, but the scene feels a little too over-emotive to be something as simple as that. And even if Alto's arm motion did end on an emotive note, it still seems like the initial movement was Alto trying to grab the gun pod. Though it is anime, which is always overly dramatic, and it appears to be the only time we see something like this supposed motion capture in the entire series (which occurs at the emotionally charged ending of the show). One would think if there was a motion capture system, it would have been showcased before the final episode. Perhaps you're right.

I always said there was never anything particularly wrong with Macross II, it simply wasn't anything exceptional either. Mediocre would describe it perfectly. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the show, but you could do worse than Macross II (Macross 7 anyone?)

The SDF-1 really enjoyed the best of both worlds able to operate as a carrier and a battleship. But it also appears to be terribly inefficient, particularly compared to modern warships. In Space War I, the Macross Class worked well because the Zentradi vessels had even more lead in the ass end of their spaceships than the SDF-1 (check out the mass for the Zentradi ships). However, compared to human built warships, the Macross Class would be ridiculously heavy and terribly slow for a ship of its size. The Macross Class is 1,210 meters long compared to the 1,510 meters of the New Macross Class, yet a typical Battle 7 style ship has less than half the mass. Given that the NMC class could carry almost 800 aircraft/spacecraft and a super beam gun for less than half the mass of the old Macross Class, its no surprise the UN Spacy/New UN Spacy enthusiastically embraced the NMC for going on 30 years now.

I believe firepower levels would depend upon the destructive power of the Macross Super-Dimension-Energy cannon compared to that of the New Macross Super Beam Weapon. If the NMC main gun is supposed to be more destructive than the original Macross Class, then I suppose technically the NMC has more firepower. The main gun would be the benchmark. But even so, the Macross Class capability to fire the main gun more than once would likely mean that a lesser power main gun that can fire more often is far more combat practical than a heavier, one-shot weapon. Having said that, I don't think there can be any argument that the original Macross Class is by far the more devastating of the two classes of warship. Particularly in fleet-to-fleet engagements, the Macross Class has far more firepower, more combat variable fighters/non-variable mecha and much more potent offense/defense. Even if we were to use the more heavily armed Battle Galaxy/21 and Battle Frontier/25 as the benchmark for the NMC (as opposed to the more lightly armed Battle 5 or Battle 7) the old Macross Class has far more weapons of all classes. The big factor is to remember the ARMDs. Alone, the Macross Class may have as many weapons as the most heavily armed NMC (likely more), but the addition of two ARMD Class vessels adds even more firepower to the Macross vessels. Each ARMD has 5 x guided converging beam cannons, many x small anti-aircraft beam weaponry, 2 x large forty-meter-long (approximately) automatic anti-celestrial-object anti-ship missile launchers, 6 x large automatic guided anti-ship missile launchers and many x small anti-aircraft missile weaponry. So total weapons on the SDF-1 (2012 refit) would be: 1 x OverTechnology Macross super-dimension-energy cannon with beam polarizing converging system (bow) 18 (10 from ARMD) x OverTechnology guided converging beam cannons 4 x high speed 178 cm electro magnetic rail cannons (ARMD) 4 x large forty-meter-long (approximately) automatic anti-celestrial-object anti-ship missile launchers (ARMD) 12 x large automatic guided anti-ship missile launchers and many many x large automatic anti-ship missile launchers many x various missile emplacements (ARMD) many x small anti-aircraft missile weaponry (ARMD) many x small anti-aircraft beam weaponry SDF-1 Macross 824 x VF-1 Super Valkyries (2 x ARMD = 524 Valkyries) 352 x QF-3000E Ghost (2 x ARMD = 132 Ghosts) 587 x Destroids Total Aircraft/Spacecraft & Mecha = 1,763 vehicles Battle 7 450 x variable fighters, 3 x VF-17 Nightmare, 3 x VF-19 Excalibur, 2 x VF-22S Sturmvogel II 250 x attack craft, 9 x bombers Total Aircraft/Spacecraft & Mecha = 717 vehicles The one advantage the NMC does enjoy over the old Macross Class is mass. Though the NMC is much larger than the Macross Class, it is only 7,770,000 metric tons (with an additional 2,500,000 tons for the Gunship). By comparison, the old Macross Class is 22,000,000 metric tons. So the NMC is less than half the mass, meaning it would accelerate much faster and enjoy superior mobility. I think in the history of space wars in which humanity has taken part, the SDF-1 Macross is still the most heavily armed warship the UN Spacy has ever built, particularly the 2012 refit (DYRL version). I think the important thing to remember is the Macross Class was a dedicated anti-ship gunboat. By comparison, the New Macross Class is more of a command vessel or aircraft/spacecraft carrier. The NMC does have potent anti-ship weapons and can take on a larger force, but in fleet-to-fleet engagments, it's role is that of a carrier. The Macross Class role is that of a battleship with extensive carrier capabilites and it's weapons appear designed for continuous frontline engagement rather than the strategic operations like the NMC.

Wolfman Alrighty, here ya go: SDF-1 Macross Cruiser Mode (Macross Plus colors) Talos Got some goodies for you. Check your pms

Whoops, sorry RedWolf