LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-01 AT 06:41 PM (EDT)

>Oh, and if there are mobile suits, are there also Newtypes? Or just
>generic psychics? Or am I completely off track and the Gundam was just
>a one-time cameo?

The Gundam was indeed a one-time cameo, for reasons outlined in my last post (AA being old enough that the UF universe it existed in was still an incoherent semi-parody continuum).

However! This doesn't mean that there aren't mecha from that show kicking around the new, improved, vaguely coherent UF universe. Fans of the horribly-outdated, deprecated and Stalinized Technical Readout 2417 may remember mention in there of a consortium called the Destroid Improvement Group, whose function is to take existing combat mecha and soup them up to superstar performance levels - the idea being that they could take an existing mass-production space Destroid like, say, the RX-7 Machine Weapon, perform a number of extremely expensive modifications upon it, and turn it into a much more capable but very pricey RX-78 Gundam.

Well, I junked the Technical Readout because it had become extremely out of date and I didn't feel like updating it, but I rather like that idea all the same. So yeah, there are Gundam-style mecha around; by UF standards they'd be classified as light or medium space Destroids. (A space Destroid being a robotic battle unit more than five meters in height, equipped with integrated thruster systems for moving and fighting in space - something like a WHM-6R Warhammer (Tomahawk to the Royal Salusian Armed Forces) isn't a space Destroid because although it can be fitted with a thruster pack to maneuver and fight in space, that equipment isn't built in. The Warhammer is intended to be primarily a ground combat unit.)

It's worth noting, though, that I'm not a big Gundam fan. Of the four bits I've seen, I disliked the original immensely, disliked Gundam Wing not quite so much but still didn't enjoy it, thought MSG 0083: Stardust Memory was OK but nothing to write home about, and am so far quite enjoying MSG: The 08th MS Team. So the range of Gundam mecha likely to turn up in UF is pretty limited. You might see the RX-78 and RGM-79 turn up someplace, and maybe the Zaku (do Zeon mecha have code numbers, or just names?), but I wouldn't hold my breath for, say, a Guncannon or any of the stuff from Wing to make an appearance.

Oh, and as for Newtypes, no. That part of the books gave me a roaring headache.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/