So I'm working on a big overhaul of my UC timeline. (After all, we now know when the animated version of Unicorn ends.) As part of this, I've been poring over a lot of the old obsolete timelines that have been absorbed into the current versions, and after all these years I've managed to obtain a copy of B-Club issue 50, which has some rare timeline info about the Char's Counterattack mobile suits.
There's one set of data whose source continues to elude me, though. Many of the timelines on the Japanese and Chinese fan sites include the following dates...
MSM-03 Gogg rollout: March 27, U.C. 0079
MSM-07 Z'Gok rollout: April 30, U.C. 0079
YMS-09 Prototype Dom rollout: June 4, U.C. 0079
MSM-04 Acguy production start: August 2, U.C. 0079
MSM-10 Zock rollout: August 23, U.C. 0079
So what do we think? Is this reasonable?
I touched on the Gogg's development history in this thread. The current claim, from the MG kit manuals etc. is that Zeon essentially began development of amphibious mobile suits when it launched the Earth invasion operation in February, U.C. 0079. There's also a general consensus that the Gogg was initially deployed in late May, and mass production and full-scale deployment of the MSM series began in July. As per EB 39, the Battle of Midway (August 11-14) was the first use of them in a major battle.
In this case, the rollout date for the Gogg could be plausible, but that of the Z'Gok isn't. What's more, the Acguy is supposed to have been completed pretty quickly relative to the Z'Gok.
The Mobile Suit Museum Catalog also says that the first shipment of the Z'Gok from the California Base takes place in August, prior to an attack on the Jaburo base - presumably the one that EB 39 says takes place in September.
The Zeon Military File CD-ROM has some more hints. We're told that Zimmad began development of amphibious mobile suits (namely the Z'Gok) one month after the Gogg. The Acguy's development plan was drafted after that of the Z'Gok, but its experimental combat deployment began in September, only one month after the drafting of the plan.
What that last item suggests is that some of these mysterious "rollout dates" on the Japanese timelines may actually work better as the date the plan was drafted. The Z'Gok plan is finalized on April 30, shortly before the deployment of the Gogg. Full-scale mass production and deployment of amphibious mobile suits begins in July. The Acguy plan is finalized on August 2, one month before its experimental deployment begins. The Zock plan is finalized on August 23, shortly after the Battle of Midway.
One last data point to consider is the Jurick profile from the MSV-R series, discussed here. This indicates that the basic design of the MSM-06 Jurick is completed around March; its development is halted, and the Principality doesn't order the construction of prototypes until August, with the first prototypes rolling out in early November.
Putting this all together:
U.C. 0079.02: Principality of Zeon begins full-scale development of MSM series.
U.C. 0079.03.18: MSM-01 (formerly MS-06M) sent to California Base for testing.
U.C. 0079.03.27: MSM-03 Gogg design completed.
U.C. 0079.03~04: MSM-06 Jurick design completed.
U.C. 0079.04.30: MSM-07 Z'Gok design completed.
U.C. 0079.05 (LATE): Experimental deployment of MSM-03 Gogg.
U.C. 0079.07 (EARLY): Principality begins full-scale production and deployment of MSM series.
U.C. 0079.08: MSM-06 Jurick development resumes. MSM-07 Z'Gok production begins.
U.C. 0079.08.02: MSM-04 Acguy design completed.
U.C. 0079.08.11-14: Battle of Midway.
U.C. 0079.08.23: MSM-10 Zock design completed.
U.C. 0079.09: Experimental deployment of MSM-04 Acguy. First attack on Jaburo base.
As a narrative, this suggests a period of tentative experimentation between March and July, during which the Principality orders up a bunch of MSM designs without really committing to them. The formation of the submarine fleets, and the full-scale deployment of the Gogg, gives a new impetus to MSM development.
In August, the Principality restarts old MSM projects and commissions a bunch of new ones, while the Battle of Midway proves the power of amphibious mobile suits in a major battle. In September, the Principality goes so far as to use its new MSM types - the Z'Gok and probably the Acguy - in a bold attack on Jaburo, which ends in failure for unknown reasons. And that, apparently, is the state of play by the time First Gundam begins.
-- Mark
Gogg's Birthday
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Gelgoog Jager
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Re: Gogg's Birthday
Mark, do you think that the deployment of the Gogg, as well as the restart of the other MSM series units, may also be related to the need of overall better units? What I mean is that since most MSM's units end up equipped with mega particle weapons, Zeon might have turned towards MSM units not for their actual role, but mainly as an alternative to roll out more units with greater firepower than a Zaku.
However this assumption also brings an important issue to the table: ground mobility, an area where the Gogg doesn't excel. Still, the Gogg might be the one unit that do was properly developed and produced with amphibious comabt in mind and it was only after it was coming along that its mega particle weapons drawed more interest from the higher ups.
Anyway, let's consider the other MSM units we know about:
MSM-04 - Mass produced
MSM-06 - Prototype only
MSM-07 - Mass produced
MSM-10 - Prototype only
My point is, development and production of models that could double as ground units was given preference. There's also the important fact that the Z'gok is actually poorly equipped for marine battles, given that it's equipped with mega particle guns (whcih ahve reduced effectiveness under water) and missile launchers (rather than torpedo launchers or SUBROC launchers). Its improved fan-based cooling system also seems desgined with ground combat as its priority. Then there's the Acguy, which despite its unique traits is usually considered like a more economic version of the Z'gok and much like the later seems to have decent ground mobility.
On the other hand, the Jurick and Zock follow the heavy MS development line (though the Zock supposedly has a hover system to aid it on the mobility area, even if we don't actually see that), giving them high firepower, but low mobility, which leads them to get the short stick when command decides which models are to be mass produced.
Taking a step back, we know that despite their mobility shortcomings, the Zaku generally had more firepower than any EF combat vehicle out there, with the exception of battleships. Despite this, Zeon did pursued the development of more powerful weapons, namely the Giant Bazooka which became the staple weapon of the Dom. I believe Zeon pursued this increase of firepower as a preventive measure in the case the EF began deploying MS, as otherwise, charactersitics such as lower clip capacity of the Giant Bazooka would have normally been seen as a downgrade for dealing with numerous non-battleship threats.
Last, but not least, there's the case of the Hygogg and Z'gok E, basically the last MSM units developed, have been given rapid fire capabilities for their beam weapons, which while very effective for ground combat, is hardly useful underwater as these rapid fire beam should be weaker than regular beam and by consequence, even less effective underwater. By the way, the Gelgoog Jager, which is basically the ultimate OYW Gelgoog, uses a beam machinegun which does point towards rapid firing beam weapons as something mainly developed for anti-MS combat, though equally effective for dealing with numerous smaller targets.
Combined with the specialized equipment for propelling these MSM from the water towards objectives far away inland seems to confirm what Zeon was actually looking for when restarting the MSM series projects.
Food for thought: I want to note that the Zock's phonon maser basically confirms that the technology to provide MSM units with actual marine combat beam weapons did exist, thus indicating that the inclusion of mega particle weapons in other MSM models was likely due to the emphasis on ground combat.
However this assumption also brings an important issue to the table: ground mobility, an area where the Gogg doesn't excel. Still, the Gogg might be the one unit that do was properly developed and produced with amphibious comabt in mind and it was only after it was coming along that its mega particle weapons drawed more interest from the higher ups.
Anyway, let's consider the other MSM units we know about:
MSM-04 - Mass produced
MSM-06 - Prototype only
MSM-07 - Mass produced
MSM-10 - Prototype only
My point is, development and production of models that could double as ground units was given preference. There's also the important fact that the Z'gok is actually poorly equipped for marine battles, given that it's equipped with mega particle guns (whcih ahve reduced effectiveness under water) and missile launchers (rather than torpedo launchers or SUBROC launchers). Its improved fan-based cooling system also seems desgined with ground combat as its priority. Then there's the Acguy, which despite its unique traits is usually considered like a more economic version of the Z'gok and much like the later seems to have decent ground mobility.
On the other hand, the Jurick and Zock follow the heavy MS development line (though the Zock supposedly has a hover system to aid it on the mobility area, even if we don't actually see that), giving them high firepower, but low mobility, which leads them to get the short stick when command decides which models are to be mass produced.
Taking a step back, we know that despite their mobility shortcomings, the Zaku generally had more firepower than any EF combat vehicle out there, with the exception of battleships. Despite this, Zeon did pursued the development of more powerful weapons, namely the Giant Bazooka which became the staple weapon of the Dom. I believe Zeon pursued this increase of firepower as a preventive measure in the case the EF began deploying MS, as otherwise, charactersitics such as lower clip capacity of the Giant Bazooka would have normally been seen as a downgrade for dealing with numerous non-battleship threats.
Last, but not least, there's the case of the Hygogg and Z'gok E, basically the last MSM units developed, have been given rapid fire capabilities for their beam weapons, which while very effective for ground combat, is hardly useful underwater as these rapid fire beam should be weaker than regular beam and by consequence, even less effective underwater. By the way, the Gelgoog Jager, which is basically the ultimate OYW Gelgoog, uses a beam machinegun which does point towards rapid firing beam weapons as something mainly developed for anti-MS combat, though equally effective for dealing with numerous smaller targets.
Combined with the specialized equipment for propelling these MSM from the water towards objectives far away inland seems to confirm what Zeon was actually looking for when restarting the MSM series projects.
Food for thought: I want to note that the Zock's phonon maser basically confirms that the technology to provide MSM units with actual marine combat beam weapons did exist, thus indicating that the inclusion of mega particle weapons in other MSM models was likely due to the emphasis on ground combat.