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  • Locked thread
GilliamYaeger
Jan 10, 2012

Call Gespenst!

Ardeem posted:

Can we just spend all of the money for Eurka 7 on the SMS squad and then have the Nivash hide in a corner while they awesome all over the stage?

Better idea, stick him inside a battleship. 0% chance he'll get in a fight that way.

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Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


What really annoys me about the Macross Frontier units here is that Banpresto got it in one with SRW L which came out immediately before this game. There the Macross Units were high quality with good power and importantly each of them had their own role they excelled in. Here they're just kind of lackluster across the board. The Macross Units here are weak and they've always played kind of strangely when I used them. There are a couple of really Macross Units in Z2.2 that just highlight how disappointing the SMS are in Z2.1

SaitoBatch
Jun 16, 2009
Do the Macross Frontier and Eureka 7 units stop being bad in Z2.2? I'd hope that enough people would have complained about then so they would be forced to improve them. After all it would be silly to keep then exactly the same over games right?

Hunter Noventa
Apr 21, 2010

SaitoBatch posted:

Do the Macross Frontier and Eureka 7 units stop being bad in Z2.2? I'd hope that enough people would have complained about then so they would be forced to improve them. After all it would be silly to keep then exactly the same over games right?

The Macross units are much better. I didn't bother using the E7 units though.

Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


SaitoBatch posted:

Do the Macross Frontier and Eureka 7 units stop being bad in Z2.2? I'd hope that enough people would have complained about then so they would be forced to improve them. After all it would be silly to keep then exactly the same over games right?

Well the Nirvash is still quite bad overall, especially compared to all the other nifty new high-power stuff you get.

The Macross Units do get a massive improvement, the SMS units basically all get a nifty thing by default that really helps them out in Z2.2. Also included is a really godly secret unit for Alto.

Hunter Noventa
Apr 21, 2010

Omnicrom posted:

Well the Nirvash is still quite bad overall, especially compared to all the other nifty new high-power stuff you get.

The Macross Units do get a massive improvement, the SMS units basically all get a nifty thing by default that really helps them out in Z2.2. Also included is a really godly secret unit for Alto.

And even without the secret unit he's still pretty damned viable.

GilliamYaeger
Jan 10, 2012

Call Gespenst!

SaitoBatch posted:

Do the Macross Frontier and Eureka 7 units stop being bad in Z2.2? I'd hope that enough people would have complained about then so they would be forced to improve them. After all it would be silly to keep then exactly the same over games right?

The Macross units all get a suit of power up armor by default which makes them extremely viable (Tornado Pack), but the E7 units remain poo poo.

Caphi
Jan 6, 2012

INCREDIBLE


So here's a sweet thing: after a path split ends, you can give free sub-orders to everyone that just returned. It's a great way to make money off A-listers.



Back in the Taklamakan, the shadow team fills in the public team in on what they missed.



It's a long conversation and the good guys have fun gossipping and speculating, but the 21st Century staff are once again increasingly concerned about flying under the same banner as terrorists like Celestial Being and the Black Knights. Miss Nakahara is the first to bring it up, but everyone else agrees - except Shunsuke Akagi. He doesn't understand - aren't we all heroes here? - but they have a point. When GOONZ was split up, Akagi could play hero all he wanted, but if we're going to move as a single unit, 21st has to contend with the possibility that they will be branded terrorists by association.

By the way, Sumeragi is supposedly out meeting a friend. This comes as a surprise to pretty much everybody, but even Celestial Being has lives, or did before they became terrorists at least. And it's the way of GOONZ - the shadow GOONZ, at least - not to pry into things that are none of their business.



The unlucky trio (Lockon, Aoyama, Crowe) forms their own circle. Lockon opines that one who can't take the heat should be forced to remain with GOONZ. Those who want to fight should fight, and it's the right of those who don't to stay off the dark path.



Tieria agrees in a more dickish way - "We can't afford to have anyone who doesn't have the will to fight following us and holding us back." Akagi protests that they were just talking.



But the argument can't go on, for Akagi has been conscripted to run Dai-Guard at a company fair...


Chapter 19: Shared Ideals



So basically, this town's been hammered by the Damons (Tanigawa comments that we'd rather have the Heterodynes, who only appear in Japan). We're delivering aid packages from the Japanese government, and while we're in the area, 21st is giving Dai-Guard some publicity just to seal in goodwill.



Tieria's lecture still has Ibuki down, but Akagi and Aoyama are all bright and motivated. She clarifies that she's on board with GOONZ - it's only Celestial Being she's worried about. Even Duo and the Black Knights are sort of freedom fighters. Celestial Being is a terrorist-shaped enigma, and all anyone has to go on is Schenberg's message about ending war. What does that even mean?

Also, there's still the thing where GOONZ fights against all threats to the world, and going by the shadow team's stories, that apparently includes terrorists. They may be evil, but they're humans. Pointing weapons at them doesn't feel right.



Suddenly, a Heterodyne pops out of the dimensional fold - the same Heterodyne from Dai-Guard's first battle, and far from Japan! The 21st staff scramble to evacuate the town as Akagi braces Dai-Guard to intercept it.



Well, poo poo. Gameplay begins, and the SR Point is five turns to clear the whole map. GOONZ is on its way, but you can bet so is something nasty.



Dai-Guard's movement is pretty good now.



And so is his range.

Dai-Guard'll take on a Heterodyne no matter where it shows up!
Let's protect this town!






Ow!



Oh, but I forgot to mention I also shored up a lot of pilots' Prevail rankings. Because Prevail is awesome.






See?




But as soon as turn 2 starts, the WLF sneaks up on Dai-Guard while it's tangling with the Heterodyne. You can tell it's the WLF because they have an extremely liberal definition of mixed-unit tactics.



And the douchebags start trying to capture the city with its citizens still inside!



Akagi wants to take them both on. He promises to miss the cockpits, but is Dai-Guard really up to that? Either way, it looks like Aoyama and Ibuki don't have a choice but to join the fight.



But suddenly... no, that's it, it's Dai-Guard versus everyone. :sigh:



Dai-Guard's going to have a long turn. Putting Guard and Focus on it will be very useful. (It will also run the subpilots out of a good part of their SP, but I'm banking on GOONZ arriving soon.)



And then we're going to have Akagi go totally Jackie Chan on the entire WLF, because the Heterodyne regenerates and so demands concentrated fire. Bets on how many attacks it takes for him to start taking 10 damage?

I'm not going to say there's such a thing as good terrorists and bad terrorists...
But you're the ones who are willing to hurt innocent bystanders!
Akagi...
Come on, Dai-Guard! We salarymen can fight for peace. We will fight for peace!







Oh. That long.



Apparently the Heterodyne goes first.




Dai-Guard defends, and its defense is way better too.




But even extended, its range isn't completely up to snuff.



It still kills the hell out of some terrorists.



It survives the turn easily.



The terrorist commander gets mad and orders his Genocidron to make a mad charge into the town...



Akagi notices some civilians, including Nakahara, right in its path.



Lockon flies in to the rescue and tries to line up his sights, but can't shoot without the Genocidron falling on the civilians.



So he decides to do something stupid: he charges in to push it away!



As Nakahara takes her charge to safety, Lockon shoots the Genocidron down.



And GOONZ arrives right behind him! So here's the team. More people care strongly against Watta than for him, so I picked Alto instead, since he'll be a thing down the line and Trider is, let's face it, not in the game's overarching plot at all.

Also, notice Sumeragi isn't deploying herself because she's missing, which means that this is a rare case other than a path split where she can be given a sub-order.



Anyway, I have a few turns to wipe this up, so we're charging right in.




Lockon's asking for a fight today, so let's give him one.

Your terrorism is hurting civilians. I guess with your bullshit ambitions, you learn to ignore a few sacrifices.
But those losses can never be replaced! You're going to learn that the hard way today!






Haro's Focus gets him out untouched.




Meanwhile, Akagi takes cover in GOONZ.



And with her extra turn, Karen gives them something more painful to worry about.





Radiation to the face.



Now our problem is just the northern stragglers, Genocidrons, and Heterodyne.






Speaking of whom, it just picked on the wrong GOON.



Karen microwaves a large chunk of the WLF.



Okay, seriously?






Well, it's his life. (Is it just me, or have Genocidrons just gotten weaker?)



Who thinks I can wrap this up in a turn?





We start with everyone who can leapfrog off dying enemies.



Simon learns Strike. Awesome.



Let's pick off the Heterodyne.






I can get used to this Kouji supporting business.







Alto finishes it for the experience, as well as the bounty from killing a boss with Luck activated.



Apparently, anyone can break a Fractal Knot nowadays. The scary part, though, is that Heterodynes are no longer limited to appearing in Japan alone.



Here's what's left of the WLF! Three crappy mecha, a tank, and a landship full of holes.





Now just those last two.



Oh, and Heero's riding the Attack Again train now.




Not that he needs it to put the landship out of its misery.








I'm giving Simon the kill because he's also a little behind on xp for some reason.



He doesn't get a ton of it, but the tank drops E-Carbon Armor. Neat.



Oh and it's a whole turn early for the SR Point.



For some reason, this is what it takes to convince the Gekko crew that we are as heroic as we claim (though Holland is still sulking about something)...



It turns out that GOONZ has been gathered here in the Taklamakan to beat down the WLF once and for all - though the spacetime quake was an unexpected complication. Spacetime quakes and dimensional quakes are so similar, maybe this disturbing new Heterodyne development has something to do with the huge quake that brought us MD. Or was it Ime Liard's doing?



But Tieria is the only one who hasn't been swept up in the tide of heroism. He insists that in Sumeragi's absence, the Meisters were meant to be kept out of today's deployment. Lockon coolly replies that he's a member of GOONZ and will be a team player in all our operations. Tieria insists that no Meister should take action without Sumeragi's, or better yet, Veda's direct approval. Leave the heroics to the rest of GOONZ - they could easily have handled the Heterodyne and WLF without Celestial Being's help.

As Lockon's rage grows, Tieria points out that it's a little hypocritical of a Meister to harbor a grudge against terrorists. But it's Setsuna who steps to his defense, insisting that the WLF is a seed of war and it's a Meister's duty to stamp them down. Allelujah agrees, and Tieria seethes and storms out. (The Meisters storm out a lot, don't they?) Setsuna follows him, but Allelujah pulls Lockon aside and asks what his particular score is with terror. Lockon refuses to answer...



Nakahara comes to thank Lockon for saving her. Seems like whatever was going on between the Meisters and PR Division 2 has been settled - they're allies in the fight for goodness and justice. Lockon isn't so sure Celestial Being deserves to be called good at anything, but Team Dai-Guard insists - everyone has their own idea of what's good and right. A flag to march under, something to fight for. But for now, everyone in GOONZ is pursuing their own ideals in the same direction, and that's what matters.



Sumeragi, who spent the chapter in absentia, turns out to have been in Delhi, meeting... Billy Katagiri? He wants her professional opinion on a strategem that could supposedly take out anyone if it worked - even the infamous Gundam team. Bluntly, fighting them one on one is a losing battle, but if they could be surrounded and exhausted through attrition... Sumeragi points out that there are ways around that, though, even up to the victim self-destructing. Oh well.

Billy moves on to personal matters - won't Sumeragi come back to the military? Professor Eifman's asking about her, you know. She turns him down, sidesteps his questions about her "personal" life (read: does she have a boyfriend), and insists she's busy with work. As she takes her leave, she apologizes to him under her breath - that she's no longer the woman he knew, but his enemy...



I don't think I'll be able to record next week, but we'll see if I can find time. Anyway, it'll be fun - event deployments are Heero, Setsuna, and Tieria.

Spiritus Nox
Sep 2, 2011

I really like this mission, and it really helped sell me on Dai-Guard as a viable unit. I hated it at first because it starts off so awful and I'm not super into its gimmick, but the characters and the machine itself grew on me throughout the game as it became more powerful, and then the game gives you Dai-Guard versus a whole horde of guys and suddenly the runt of the Super Robot litter's chewing straight through an army of terrorists for peace and justice. It's very :black101:. We're getting very close to one of my favorite sequences in the game as well, if I'm not mistaken.

Monathin
Sep 1, 2011

?????????
?

Spiritus Nox posted:

I really like this mission, and it really helped sell me on Dai-Guard as a viable unit. I hated it at first because it starts off so awful and I'm not super into its gimmick, but the characters and the machine itself grew on me throughout the game as it became more powerful, and then the game gives you Dai-Guard versus a whole horde of guys and suddenly the runt of the Super Robot litter's chewing straight through an army of terrorists for peace and justice. It's very :black101:.

Yeah, Dai-Guard's gimmicks can be take or leave with a lot of people, but it's hard not to love Akagi being a straight laced Salaryman hero among all the freedom fighters, terrorists, and whatever the hell you want to call Team Getter. Dai-Guard's initial event can probably sour it a lot, especially since later on he's supposed to become a heavy tanker through Prevail, even if he's not going to do more damage than Simon or Kallen. He will fight for peace! :black101:

TheLastRoboKy
May 2, 2009

Finishing the game with everyone else's continues
Same with me. I liked Dai-Guard to start with cause I enjoyed it weighty animations and its awesome music, but once that stage hit it became a case of trying to deploy it every single stage even at the cost of a unit that might have been a better choice.

I do love how it grows throughout the game. It's a very nice touch.

Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


Monathin posted:

...and whatever the hell you want to call Team Getter...

The words you're looking for are "Heroic Psychopaths". Armageddon runs close to the Manga, so Ryouma and Hayato can probably rip off peoples faces with their bare hands.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Omnicrom posted:

The words you're looking for are "Heroic Psychopaths". Armageddon runs close to the Manga, so Ryouma and Hayato can probably rip off peoples faces with their bare hands.
Technically, New Getter Robo is the closest to the original manga in terms of characterizations, which made NEO's cast more hilarious because you have batshit insane conspiracy theorist Hayato working alongside the Eldoran kids (to the point where a friend of mine joked that the game would be "Adventures in Eldoran Babysitting starring Hayato Jin"). But Armageddon is a close-second in terms of replicating the manga versions on-screen.

Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


AradoBalanga posted:

Technically, New Getter Robo is the closest to the original manga in terms of characterizations, which made NEO's cast more hilarious because you have batshit insane conspiracy theorist Hayato working alongside the Eldoran kids (to the point where a friend of mine joked that the game would be "Adventures in Eldoran Babysitting starring Hayato Jin"). But Armageddon is a close-second in terms of replicating the manga versions on-screen.

Yeah that's something I loved in NEO as well. For the first couple of missions in Earth Tear the only adults on your team are Hayato and Benkei, and Hayato's immediate response to being pulled into a parallel fantasy world is to load up on home-made explosives.

dis astranagant
Dec 14, 2006

They really, desperately need to put New Getter into a bigger game. I'd say Z3 but they probably don't want it to turn into Getter Robo Daikessen

Fred is on
Dec 25, 2007

Riders...
IN SPACE!

dis astranagant posted:

They really, desperately need to put New Getter into a bigger game. I'd say Z3 but they probably don't want it to turn into Getter Robo Daikessen

They could probably just do what they did with the Z1 to Z2 transition, and phase out the other continuity so your team can go "Another Ryouma?" without having to bog down your team with several versions of the same people.

I'd be happy with that, so long as they don't do the same thing with Mazinger and switch Shin for SKL. :suicide:

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Snot Man posted:

They could probably just do what they did with the Z1 to Z2 transition, and phase out the other continuity so your team can go "Another Ryouma?" without having to bog down your team with several versions of the same people.

I'd be happy with that, so long as they don't do the same thing with Mazinger and switch Shin for SKL. :suicide:
Here's the thing (Z1 spoilers): Z1 actually teased Shin Mazinger and Armageddon through its reworking of the Black History from Turn-A Gundam, as it is now a prophecy of what is to come rather than a record of the past. Z1!Ryoma sees his Armageddon version and nearly shits his pants in fear, while Z1!Kouji sees Shin Mazinger and becomes puzzled. Z2.1 or Z2.2 doesn't tease stuff like that.

Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


AradoBalanga posted:

Here's the thing (Z1 spoilers): Z1 actually teased Shin Mazinger and Armageddon through its reworking of the Black History from Turn-A Gundam, as it is now a prophecy of what is to come rather than a record of the past. Z1!Ryoma sees his Armageddon version and nearly shits his pants in fear, while Z1!Kouji sees Shin Mazinger and becomes puzzled. Z2.1 or Z2.2 doesn't tease stuff like that.

Well I think you're exaggerating Ryouma's reaction, he just feels a more violent version of himself. And Kouji sees a Mazinger he doesn't recognize, which hints more towards Mazinkaiser because even with the God Scrander Mazinger Z is still Mazinger Z

I seriously want to see what they're going to do for Z3.

Wounded Land
Nov 27, 2007
Living in a greenhouse, growing crops that we can't eat...
Dang, why did nobody tell me about this thread when it started?
So, after two weeks of cram-reading, I'm caught up, and I have a couple of silly mechanics questions.
First, it was mentioned that when a support attacker kills an enemy, they get credit for the kill. Do they also get a share of the XP, or is that going to have to wait another 10 years to happen?
Secondly, if you put a pilot who gets extra money/XP/PP on a sub-order, does the bonus activate?

This LP is fantastic, I like this style of summarizing the dialogue over Nidengard's line-by-line recaps, and I think that sometime this or next year I'll get myself a PSP so I can play the game myself.

Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


Wounded Land posted:

Dang, why did nobody tell me about this thread when it started?
So, after two weeks of cram-reading, I'm caught up, and I have a couple of silly mechanics questions.
First, it was mentioned that when a support attacker kills an enemy, they get credit for the kill. Do they also get a share of the XP, or is that going to have to wait another 10 years to happen?
Secondly, if you put a pilot who gets extra money/XP/PP on a sub-order, does the bonus activate?

This LP is fantastic, I like this style of summarizing the dialogue over Nidengard's line-by-line recaps, and I think that sometime this or next year I'll get myself a PSP so I can play the game myself.

Support Attackers DO NOT receive experience. The only exception is if a unit supports themself with "Attack Again". Honestly because XP scales based on the difference in levels it's never hard to level up a character in SRW. In fact giving a support attacker the kill score is often quite nice because even the worst Ace Bonuses (looking at you Ryoto) are still nice a nice thing to have.

Units who gain bonus XP from their ace bonus or have Fortune or a money boosting ace bonus do not use their bonuses in sub-orders. You will always get exactly 500 XP from the simulator and people sent out for money always bring home 500*Level in cash. There's also a glitchy trick you can do in Z2.2 at least to cheat with Sub-orders, but that's neither here nor there.

Caphi
Jan 6, 2012

INCREDIBLE


Shioni Regis goes before the U. N. to petition them to form an organized front against the terrorists, lumping in the Celestial Being, Colony, and Black Knights fighters with the WLF in the process. All the big names on the world stage are there, including Chairman Elgan Roddick, who can't say she's wrong.



Within the Ptolemy's computer core, Tieria notices that 18 class A conflicts have been brought to a close since Celestial Being came out, but 25 new ones have sprung up. Could the tides of politics be moving so fast even Veda's quantum computing power can't keep up? Or is someone seeding it on purpose?



Setsuna pays Marina a visit in Azadistan. He asks her why the world is so distorted - by the fault of man or god? Marina is sure it's neither of those, but can't give the answer Setsuna hoped she'd have. He cries, "Where is the distortion?!" and runs off.



And holy poo poo Orange just met Patrick.

The infamous Sir Orange, I presume.
Who are you?
I can't believe there's someone in this joint army of elite pilots from all three great nations who doesn't know about me.
I'm Lt. Patrick Colaseur, the super ace of the AEU. You'd better remember next time, Sir Orange.
Then, my proud Lieutenant, permit me to introduce myself. I am Marquis Jeremiah Gottwald,
and you slight me with the name "Sir Orange."
My apologies. I thought it was just a nickname.
But just between you and me, what is "Orange"?



Viletta breaks this foolishness up by reminding Orange that Princess Cornelia has set up this opportunity and it would be the rudest to spoil it with petty infighting. Kewell, who is desperate for relevance, spits that this mission is nothing to be proud of. Britannia sent the Purebloods into this rat hunt, and if that's not enough...



They have to share it with an Honorary! Lloyd smirks and reminds Kewell that he doesn't have a choice in the matter, so he might as well enjoy it. "Look, we've already made friends with Lt. Sodapop, or was it Cider?"



(It's Cola. I mean Colaseur.) Lloyd and Cecille introduce themselves too. As Kewell implied, Suzaku and the Lancelot are going to be in on this operation. "Britannia gave us Sir Orange and a Number?" rages Patrick. "Are they even trying?"



But Britannia isn't the whole Union, and they've sent their other ace pilot. Graham has seen Patrick in action waaaaay back at the Elevator, and he thanks Patrick for letting him witness the Gundam's power. Patrick gets mad again,



until this lady smacks him back to his senses (though she has to do it twice) and introduces herself as Kati Mannequin, the joint operation commander. Patrick falls for her hard and settles down immediately. (She just slapped him, so I guess he's into that.)



This wouldn't be complete without the HRL aces showing their faces.



And Zechs and Noin are joining Graham at the spearhead of the operation. This chapter's gonna be fun!

When Zechs and Graham last parted, it was with the promise that they would meet each other again with new weapons at their sides. Dr. Eifman has completed the Overflag for Graham's team, and Zechs has been finding out some interesting stuff. He's managed to get his hands on the Tallgeese - fairly simple with the aid of the Romfeller Founcation - but the test pilot of OZ's machine simply couldn't handle the G forces. Far from being cowed by this, Zechs vows to master the robot so as not to waste his sacrifice.



There's one new face: a Joshua Edwards, a smug douchebag who rattles Graham's chain, and upon learning of his promotion from flight to high lieutenant, asks if he shot down his commander and warns Graham's subordinates to stay away from his firing line. Graham brushes him off, but Joshua leaves with a smirk.



Suzaku wants to know what those two are so excited about. They're just going to beat down the WLF, right? Count Lloyd reveals the truth: they're actually in on a trap for GOONZ...


Chapter 20: Malice in the Sands



Our current target is a handful of WLF units.



GOONZ approaches from the south.



All of them are suspicious of the WLF's meager defense force. Zero is sure that they've walked into a trap, but where is the trap? Does the WLF even have the power to crush GOONZ if they wanted to?



Tieria demands Setsuna and Heero follow his commands this time. Both respond with a hearty "...".



Right, let's clean this up fast.



There's nothing interesting about blowing up more WLF guys so I'm just going to cut to the trap bit.



GOONZ starts getting comfortable, but Wufei shows up to yell at them for walking right into the trap.







Sure enough, the U. N. joint forces close in from all directions at once! Cathy frantically hails them to protest that there are non-terrorists here, but to no avail. Luckily, Wufei agrees to help - "You're all fools, but I can't let you fall here."



Oh, and here's the fun part - there's finally an SR Point involved, and it's to take out all enemies within three turns.



No problem, right?



So we have Allelujah engaging the HRL.



Heero and Wufei to fight Zechs and Noin.



Setsuna dancing with Graham's Overflag team.



And of course, Zero and Karen dealing with Britannia's Knightmares.



With backup, obviously.




Noin's Aries goes straight for Wufei.

I've finally found you, Gundam! Now you'll pay for Victoria Base!
You again! I told you I refuse to kill women and the weak!
I am a soldier! And I will defeat you in the name of all I believe in!
Then I will show no mercy! Come, fight with Nataku and me!








Meanwhile, Zechs' Tallgeese takes aim at Heero.

It's you and me, Gundam! This Tallgeese is a fine match for your machine!
It's the OZ commander we fought in Africa and Area 11.
My name is Zechs Marquis! And I will fight in a manner befitting the title of the Lightning Baron! For all my fallen men!








Oh well.



I guess Patrick has nothing better to do. He picks on poor, defenseless Ptolemy.

Outta my way! Patrick Colaseur, ace of AEU, coming through!
Wait a minute, I'm being promoted to the ace of the whole world! Gotta look good for Colonel Mannequin!



Welp.



A couple of downed mooks later, some extra blips appear on the radar.



It's the PMC Trust's Red Shoulders, led by Riemann...



as well as Ali al-Sachez in his new Mobile Armor!



He traps Exia in the MA's immobilizing Plasma Field.



And grapples Virtue with the armor's bulk when Tieria intervenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAmWdV35LUk
So Tieria purges Virtue's armor, revealing the Gundam Nadleeh at its core, but curses at himself for having to show his hand and reveal the Nadleeh's existence.



He's really beaten up about it.



And the clock is still ticking.

This is perfect! I'll show Graham Aker and the whole world what I can do!
I'll show them that Joshua Edwards is the real ace of the Overflags!



By picking on Zero and failing. Good job!



Actually, Zero gets harried by several Overflags, though he manages to evade all their fire.



And Graham, of course, goes straight for Setsuna...



with an attack called the Graham Special?!

Together at last, my beloved Gundam!
Him again?
I see many Gundams here today, but only you made my heart skip a beat when you descended from the sky bathed in divine light!
My feelings have not waned since that day! My chest leaps at your sight!
I have no time for this. This ends now!







That was pretty disappointing, Graham.



Meanwhile, over in the HRL's team, goddamn snipers.



Pieres targets Allelujah. Surprise.

Gah! This headache... it's the HRL soldier from orbit!
Pathetic, Hallelujah! Let me handle this!
(Hallelujah!)
Bird of Celestial Being! I will destroy you and complete my mission at last!
What's your name, girlie?
He's hailing me!
Tell me already.
Second Lieutenant Soma Pieres, Augmented Soldier #1!
Soma Pieres. I like it.
It's a good name to die with!
What?!
(Hallelujah... get back...)
(You're no fun. Fine. If you insist, knock yourself out, Allelujah.)
I'm not like you... I don't enjoy murder!







Ouch. Allelujah blames the headache.







And Sergei wants after Allelujah too.



But what does he know? He's not a super soldier.

(We're ordered to crush Celestial Being and all their associates, even if it harms civilians...)
(There is something deeper to this operation. And it is trying to force the three nations, no, the whole world to change...)



Britannia is last of all.

(The three are trying to remove the Peacekeeping Council's forces under the guise of attacking the WLF.)
(Fine, it's suspicious that the Chairman has deals with the Gundams and Black Knights, but that doesn't mean we should attack the civilians too.)
(I can't tell what's right and what's wrong with this world anymore...)








At last you are at my mercy, Zero! I will redeem myself of the humiliation you have caused me!
If it isn't Sir Jeremiah. This desert is making me thirsty, so an orange sounds lovely right now.
Stop calling me that! I am Jeremiah Gottwald, a proud knight of Britannia!




Orange does not get a break.



At last, the PMC moves, with Riemann shooting for Chirico.

(If Proto One's strange behavior is due to what happened on Rid, then Chirico is likely involved.)
(Chirico Cuvie. You cannot continue to exist - and I will negate your power myself!)






Apparently Chirico's RSC parts got unequipped at some point. I'm not sure when, but I'll fix this posthaste.



Riemann repeats that Chirico can't have survived.



And at long last, the turn ends.



Nadleeh is extremely different from Virtue. Its weaponry is mostly (P) and relatively close range. Its armor is thin, but the machine is fairly nimble and comes with a jamming field to increase its mobility (as well as that of other units nearby).

As a bonus, Tieria will continue to deploy in Virtue, but can purge its armor at any time in a stage to convert it to Nadleeh and will automatically do so to survive if Virtue ever falls to 0 HP.



But let's not forget the guy who did it to him. Sachez' Agrissa is big and nasty, he has all his godawful boss skills, and he has full access to his Plasma Field, which leaves any unit it hits unable to move, attack, or even take defensive or evasive actions when targetted.



Anyway, let's take turn 2 from the top.







Noin drops an ISC unit.



With Captain Jeffrey's guidance, Heero has a pretty good chance to hit Zechs now - and it looks like Zechs isn't the best at handling the Tallgeese yet.

Otto. You gave your life to complete this Tallgeese, and I won't let your sacrifice go to waste.
But I ca't give you your other wish just yet. The Peacecraft name is still too heavy for me to bear...




Now Heero's getting even more of Jeffrey's influence.



Heero, Wufei, and Jeffrey should be enough to take down Zechs in a turn.






Patrick's set up to go down soon as well.





Also Sergei.



"I'm not letting a single person die. That includes you!"

Akagi so cool.





So this is going well.




Crowe learns his third Spirit at last - Snipe. More range, sweet!



Ozma, for those of you paying attention to the S.M.S., learns Trust.



Now that west side is pretty much covered, we need to worry about the east half of the map. Let's pull everyone north so they're clustered up and the enemies give chase.



Orange screams incoherently and drops an Adrenaline Ampule. Go figure.



And I seriously have to start hammering on Sachez' Agrissa. Mostly using things like Alert to harmlessly drain away all the energy he's using on his Plasma Field.

Hey, it's the kid from Kurzis! I think you've played with your fancy new toy enough, don't you?
Ali al-Sachez...
You aren't gonna win against me! I taught you everything you know about murder!
But then I learned that you are not a servant of God... when I learned there is no God at all!
So I... will become Gundam!



This might actually not happen, you guys. :ohdear:

You Celestial guys and the WLF sure made this planet into a party, huh?
It's a pretty good day to die, huh? And a good day for me to kill!




Well, this is bad.






All right. It looks like someone needs a taste of Gurren-Lagann.



Kamina's Sense comes in ridiculously handy.




That's a little better.



And it frees Kouji to worry about Lancelot.




That's more like it.




This'll just about end the turn.



Oh, better pull the vulnerable Ptolemy out of the line of fire.



Just one more round of dealing with these people.



drat it.



Oh drat it I forgot about Graham.

I don't care what's going on behind the scenes. Lady Fate has given me another chance to dance with the Gundam.
I'll trample anyone that stands in my way!







So that's how it goes for all the bosses.



Riemann coughs up a Sniper's Kit.



Now it's just about wiping up.



We have Zechs, Ali, Suzaku, Pieres, Sergei, Patrick, and a bunch of useless assholes.







Whoops I guess these two just took out Zechs.



He drops Gundanium armor plating and runs away.





Allelujah gets the honor of finishing Pieres (with help).



She drops a precision lens.





Sergei drops an EM Antenna.



Now to see who in the now-clear west side can help out with Britannia.



Takeru and Duo take down Joshua's Overflag.




Ozma, one of the pilots with Chain Actions, takes down Patrick and steals his E-Carbon Armor.



He and Karen pick off the last two Overflags.

The white knight of Britannia! Ever a danger to my plans.
(The Black Knights are responsible for much of the terrorism in Area 11.)
(If I can take down their leader Zero, Area 11 will have peace.)






Suzaku's loot is an Yggdrasil Drive.






Ali's is a Barrier Field.






And finally, Graham's is a totally sweet Flight Module.




Simon finishes the job and gains a level in Spiral Power, putting him ahead of Kamina once again.



Here's the usual proof that I don't suck at this game.



But the U. N. joint forces are far from done. They really want our heads.



Kati demands we drop our weapons and surrender. Sumeragi needs just a moment to hatch an escape plan, but with this many forces bearing down on us, what are the chances of that?



So Heero takes it upon himself to give Sumeragi that moment...



by blowing up Wing Gundam.



He wakes up in the Ptolemy's sickbay. No one can explain how he survived, not even himself, though he's pretty badly maimed. Even the Gundam, though beat up pretty badly, is under repairs using Deathscythe's and Sandrock's spare components. Duo shrugs and says that if he didn't cough up the parts, Heero would just steal them himself.



Of course, Setsuna's the one that went back to retrieve Wing Gundam and Heero's body. Heero says his life would have been worth paying if the other Gundam pilots' mission could continue. Awww.



Even Tieria is moved by Heero's (attempted) sacrifice. He was so wrapped up in giving away the secret of Nadleeh, and there's Heero willing to give so much more for his mission. By which he means that he, Tieria, should have blown up his own solar furnace to keep his secret. Heero's only reply to that is a warning: "It hurts enough to kill you."



This gets Trowa laughing, then the other terrorists. Heero doesn't get what's so funny. Setsuna tells Heero that he, too, is Gundam.



Back in New York, Shioni is pretty mad about the joint forces losing GOONZ. But it's okay - the U. N.'s eyes are still on the fleeing GOONZ, which means no one's around to interfere with Project Uzume. Shioni gets mad at Carlos for taking it all so lightly when she's made enemies of the whole world for this plan. Speaking of which, he reminds her that she'd better get back to Limonesia or she'll miss the project going live. He's brought champagne!



Elgan Roddick swings through to cryptically warn to Shioni to step back. "You don't have what it takes to change the world," he growls. He may not have the evidence to go against her directly, but GOONZ can handle whatever the coalition has up their sleeves.

Apparently, he knew they were after GOONZ the whole time and didn't make a move against the joint attack? But why? "Because," he says, "if they couldn't handle that, we have no hope of winning the battles to come. Remember this, Shioni Regis: if GOONZ falls, this world and all the people in it are doomed!"

She curses his back as he leaves for daring to try to intimidate her, and calls out to Ime Liard to help her and her country...

Spiritus Nox
Sep 2, 2011

Another favorite mission of mine. This whole string of five or so missions is really cool for all the series involved and watching them bounce off of each other, especially as the original plot begins to ramp up a bit.

Not really a big fan of Nadleeh, though. I suppose it at least extends Tiera's survivability a bit, but Tiera himself isn't really specced out for dodging instead of hiding behind a GN field, so I usually just keep him in Virtue for the improved defense and heavy attacks.

Brunom1
Sep 5, 2011

Ask me about being the best dad ever.
Urgh, this mission.

I believe that this is one of the worst SR Points to get on a first playthrough, if only due to how many bosses there are and how spread out they enter the battlefield.

When I went for this, I almost got it but I couldn't get past Sarches' Prevail in time... :argh:

Spiritus Nox
Sep 2, 2011

Ali's the only one who really gave me trouble. Of course, he gave me a great deal of trouble - I nearly lost the mission because I was burning through everyone's SP trying to deal enough damage to break his barrier, while staying accurate enough to actually hit the bastard and nimble enough not to get my reals one-shotted. Basically what I'm saying is that Ali-Al Sacheez can eat a dick.

Omnicrom
Aug 3, 2007
Snorlax Afficionado


As I've mentioned a couple times before Gundam Wing in Z2.1 only goes up through episode 10, and so we're done here. There will be more stuff with the Wing Pilots and more Wing mobile suits, but Heero self-destructing the Wing Gundam is as far as the plot really goes. From here on the Colony fighters will be here as characters in the 00 Storyline, and frankly there are worse ways to split Gundam Wing across two games.

And yeah, this mission is pretty rough even if you aren't aiming for the SR Point. I rather enjoy it though, the bosses are appropriately tough to be challenging but not tough enough to be annoying.

Caphi
Jan 6, 2012

INCREDIBLE

Spiritus Nox posted:

Not really a big fan of Nadleeh, though. I suppose it at least extends Tiera's survivability a bit, but Tiera himself isn't really specced out for dodging instead of hiding behind a GN field, so I usually just keep him in Virtue for the improved defense and heavy attacks.

Tieria is awful at dodging. Also, he doesn't even have Focus. Nadleeh is a terrible, terrible Gundam for him. It's all right on its own, but Tieria doesn't make it work. If you've lost Virtue, you keep him out of harm's way so you don't get charged for the robot's destruction and maybe get a little bit out of his jammer.

ActionZero
Jan 22, 2011

I act once more in
imitation of light

Caphi posted:

(If I can take down their leader Zero, Area 11 will have peace.)

Oh Suzaku, I forgot how much of a poo poo you can be at times.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

I love how Elgan basically flat-out told Shiony to gently caress off with her little combined forces because he knows that GOONZ is going to hold the line and emerge victorious. And believe me when I say (without giving spoilers): this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Elgan's plans.

Spiritus Nox
Sep 2, 2011

Yeah. Probably the second hardest part of writing a Super Robot Wars story (the hardest bit being writing such a huge crossover without being too fanficcy) is finding a plausible reason for any of the villains to gently caress with the amassed forces of Earth's Greatest Heroes and still come across as a credible threat. Z1 had a somewhat interesting way of handling this (In that the Original Villains and some of the Gundam and other series' baddies were content to manipulate and mislead your forces in an attempt to turn its two factions against each other at the climax of the second act, and then the third act becomes mostly a matter of rolling around like a bunch of conquering heroes and systematically loving over all the villains' assorted plans) that I'm not sure Z2 quite matches - though we're only a few stages away from being as far as I've gotten, so I can't say too much about that.

Alacron
Feb 15, 2007

-->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh
Fun Shoe
I forget, is Elgan Roddick from something, or is he an original character like Crowe?

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

Alacron posted:

I forget, is Elgan Roddick from something, or is he an original character like Crowe?
He's a Banpresto Original like Crowe. Although, like Traiya, despite Elgan having a large role in the Z2 games, he does not have a voice actor.

Alacron
Feb 15, 2007

-->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh
Fun Shoe

AradoBalanga posted:

He's a Banpresto Original like Crowe. Although, like Traiya, despite Elgan having a large role in the Z2 games, he does not have a voice actor.

Thanks, it can be hard to keep track when I already don't know half of the series that appear in this game :v:

Yon
Oct 7, 2003

Just one spice?
Just one spice
Just one spice...
This is one of my absolute favorite missions because there's just soooo much going on, but I invariably screw up the timing because I miscount how many turns it's been from Zechs' arrival and have to redo the SR point.

TheBystander
Apr 28, 2011
Yeah, this was one of my favourite levels in the game, which is funny, because it's based on one of my least favorite episodes of Gundam 00. Still, the massive amounts of enemies and plentiful interesting bosses made this stage a blast to play, even if the SR point is a bit rough. The only thing I dislike it Saachez's Plasma Field attack: I hate having a character just removed from battle like that.

TwoPair
Mar 28, 2010

Pandamn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta
Grimey Drawer

Caphi posted:

This gets Trowa laughing, then the other terrorists. Heero doesn't get what's so funny. Setsuna tells Heero that he, too, is Gundam.

Oh man, I've never watched Gundam 00, but I love this Setsuna guy.

GimmickMan
Dec 27, 2011

That's one hell of a stage, that you actually overcome all these odds (when the heroes of Gundam 00 failed at it, no less!) is amazing and moreso with the SR point. Do we get Wufei for good now?

Materant
Jul 22, 2010

see, what you don't understand is he now has

THE MANLIEST MUSTACHE

it defies physics


TK-31 posted:

That's one hell of a stage, that you actually overcome all these odds (when the heroes of Gundam 00 failed at it, no less!)

Admittedly, you have a lot more dudes than Celestial Being did during that fight. It's not literally 4 vs. 120 anymore, and that changes a lot of that fight.

GimmickMan
Dec 27, 2011

Materant posted:

Admittedly, you have a lot more dudes than Celestial Being did during that fight. It's not literally 4 vs. 120 anymore, and that changes a lot of that fight.

Yes, and that keeps it from feeling like an asspull, because you have a lot more series on your side than the 00 antagonists brought with them. For the most part I'm just glad that it didn't go like in the show because it would have been silly for the Thrones to turn the tide by themselves. And the fact that your sponsor is completely aware of how overpowered the party is and dares the enemies of ZEXIS/GOONZ to try standing up to them is icing on the cake.

Wounded Land
Nov 27, 2007
Living in a greenhouse, growing crops that we can't eat...
I forgot how drat ridiculous Nadleeh looks. Did Tiera really think it was important that his Gundam have streamers, and did he also opt for a banana seat?

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Son Ryo
Jun 13, 2007
Excuse me, do you know where Saiyans hang out?

Wounded Land posted:

I forgot how drat ridiculous Nadleeh looks. Did Tiera really think it was important that his Gundam have streamers, and did he also opt for a banana seat?

I guess it would look pretty ridiculous if I hadn't seen the actual show. Those are actually the wires that connect Nadleeh to the Virtue parts.

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