The Macross Valkyrie Thread

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The Macross Valkyrie Thread

I figured we might as well have a thread dedicated to anything and everything Valkyrie.

Instead of starting at the beginning, I figured we could shake things up and start from the end and back. Thus, the first segment will be on the YF-30 Chronos! :) As a note, in the style of the Macross Mecha Manual, white text is known info, yellow indicates a variant from the standard and/or conjecture and green is conjecture.

YF-30 Chronos
Advanced Variable Fighter Custom Prototype


Images:

Fighter
GERWALK
Battroid


Background
The YF-30 was designed specially for the Anniversary game Macross 30: Voices Across The Galaxy by Shoji Kawamori. So far that is the only Macross media it has appeared in.

Description
The YF-30 Chronos is part of the YF-24 family of Vakyrie variable fighters, which includes the YF-24 Evolution, VF-25 Messiah, Y/VF-27 Lucifer and YF-29 Durandal. Like the Durandal, the Chronos wasn't meant to be a competitor for a new type of variable fighter as it was a prototype meant to deal with a specific situation, although it's designer, SMS Ouroboros Director Aisha Blanchette did include a few features that she hoped might be featured in future fighters.
The idea for the YF-30 began when Aisha Blanchette determined that a Valkyrie was specifically needed for the unique enviornment of the planet Ouroboros. The planet is surrounded and permeated by strange Space Fold phenomena, causing various effects (such as large rock formations and whole islands floating in the sky). One phenomena, known as The Ourobors Aura, causes the entire planet to be completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy and only a Macross-type ship can get through the planet's atmosphere. To this end, Aisha decided that the YF-29 Durandal, specifically designed to fight the Vajra, wasn't optomized for dealing with Ouroboros.
The Chronos's main airframe greatly resembles its YF-24 predecessor[Link], especially in the delta wing design. It includes the standard three-mode transformation system present since the very first variable fighters, facilitated by linear actuators for non-contact between moving parts. Unlike its sisters, such as the VF-25 or YF-29, the YF-30 includes the Container Weapon System, a unique featured added to the Chronos by Aisha. The CWS is a large pod mounted on the rear centerline of the fuselage in Fighter mode and above the head in Battroid mode. The CWS in the original prototype was fitted with a 36-port micro-missile launcher, capable of unleashing a truly apocalyptic amount of firepower, practically negating the need for the YF-30 to be equipped with any super or armor packs. According to Aisha, the CWS could be equipped with other times of weapons or equipment, such as a large beam cannon (though this was never seen in-game). The CWS can presumably be used in Fighter and GERWALK modes, though only at slow speeds for Fighter (I presume this because the aerodynamic consequences of putting a big horizontal block in the airflow are dubious).
The other unique feature of the Chronos is the Fold Dimensional Resonance System. Derived from the YF-29's Fold Wave System, the FDRS was designed to deal with Ouroboros's unique environment.
Other features are more standard. Due to the Ouroboros Aura and the unpredictability of supplies, plus the fact that the YF-30 was custom-built, many of the parts of the YF-30 are borrowed from other fighters, most especially the VF-25 and YF-29. The cockpit systems and display resemble the VF-25 and also uses the EX-Gear/ISC system present in the VF-25. It is unknown if there is a secondary seat. The battroid head is equipped with a pair of Mauler ROV beam guns, positioned centerline in Fighter Mode. The legs/engine nacelles are equipped with a pair of smaller micro-missile launchers (animation for this can be seen in-game although open doors are not present). The main weapon is the same Howard/LAI HPB-01A Heavy Quantum Beam Gunpod used by the YF-29 Durandal. It can also be equipped with the SSL-9B Dragunov Anti-Armor Sniper Rifle from the VF-25G, though the Chronos lacks the precision targeting sensors. The engines that provide the main source of power for the Chronos are the same Shinsei Industry/P&W/RR FF-3001A Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engines used in the VF-25 and YF-29. The Chronos is also equipped with defensive systems includeing a pin-point barrier system, chaff/smoke/flare discharger, active stealth system and SWAG Energy Converting Armor. Lastly, for CQC purposes, the Chronos carries a Ka-Bar OTEC AK/VF-M9 Assault Knife.

History
SMS Ouroboros Director Aisha Blanchette, a young Meltrandi prodigy, began to build the YF-30 Chronos in a hangar onboard the branch flagship, the Northampton-class frigate Gefion. She was somewhat guarded about it as she didn't let her new friends Leon Sakaki and Mina Forte know about it until much later.
During the Ouroboros Aura of 2060 AD, Leon and Mina traveled to the desert town of Jurgen to look for a certain songstress. Instead they ran into the the legendary test pilot Isamu Alva Dyson, who challenged Leon to a Vanquish Race (to learn more about the Vanquish Races, look up Macross The Ride). Unfortuntely for Leon, his current Valkyrie was outmatched by the power of Isamu's YF-19, suffering an engine overheat. Having a flair for dramatics, Aisha decided that a rematch was the perfect way to show off the capabilities of her new prototype and led Leon to the hangar where the YF-30 Chronos was stored. After showing him the different systems, he launched and challenged Isamu to another race. This time he was more than a match for Dyson, easily outpacing even the highly optimized YF-19. This also turned into the YF-30's combat debut as the pair where bounced by a Valkyrie squadron from the NUNS HAVAMAL task force, led by none other than Brera Sterne in his VF-27 Lucifer and Isamu's old friend/rival Guld Goa Bowman in his YF-21. Leon, in the YF-30, was able to outmaneuver the enemy forces and even shoot some down, but Isamu was hit by Brera and forced down.
Pleased with the impromptu results, Aisha allowed Leon to sortie in the YF-30 on several more occasions to continue to evaluate its combat performance. Its next major battle occured when they attempted to remove the AI Sharon Apple's control of the Vajra, as she was being controlled by the HAVAMAL task force (this should technically be true; the main game only allows you to fly the YF-30 twice: once during the race and again during the Final Chapter. However, the cinematic for the Sharon Apple battle shows Leon's IFF being broadcast from the YF-30). This battle had Leon, SMS Ouroboros and their allies and the Macross Quarter up against a Bishop-class Vajra Mothership under Sharon's control. The YF-30's speed, maneuverability and firepower enabled it to strike mortal blows against the mothership and helped the others to disable Sharon and rescue Myung Lone Fang. Sometime later, Leon had completed a test of the YF-30 when Aisha, whose cybernetic implant had been hijacked by HAVAMAL, kidnapped Mina Forte. Leon, accompanied by the Macross Quarter and the legendary pilots and songstresses of the past, sortied to rescue her. Using the YF-30 and accompanied by Alto Saotome in his YF-29 Durandal, Leon was able to carve up the HAVAMAL defenses and penetrate Glastheim Fortress. They didn't find the girls there, instead they were forced to engage HAVAMAL's second-in-command, Leon's old friend turned rival Rod Baltomar, piloting a YF-29B Perceval. Unfortunately for Baltomar, the YF-30 and its pilot where much more than a match for his modified 29. However, Rod's delaying action gave HAVAMAL leader Ushio Todo enough time to activate the ancient Protoculture weapon they had been researching. Yurva Arga, one of the Protoculture's EVIL-Series bio-weapons had enough power to rewrite history itself (good thing the Protodeviln never got it, eh?) and when activated, encased itself in a protective bubble to hide its true form. Leon attempted to use the YF-30 and its Fold Dimensional Resonance System to penetrate the sphere but the system lost power and Leon became stuck. Just when he lost hope, Basara Nekki arrived in his VF-19Kai and with the Fire Valkyrie's Sound Booster (and a rousing rendition of Totsugeki Love Heart) Leon was able to break through the barrier, the FDRS seemingly generating a bird-like aura around the Chronos. Leon then engaged Yurva Arga and Ushio Todo directly. After slicing into the weapon's body and rescuing Aisha and Mina, he then dealt a final blow to the weapon, destroying it and Todo together.
All in all, the YF-30 proved itself an able combatant and worthy of the legacy of the Valkyries, although it remains to be seen wether the Chronos will be seen in any SMS units off of Ouroboros or wether there will be a VF-30 version.

Tech specs to follow! :)
Last edited by Arbiter GUNDAM on Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Valkyrie Thread

You know the Chronos looks less avant-guard that the Messiah. This one probably is based on a real world fighter like most Valkyries right?

As for the game, it sounds amazing. A lot of older character appearing including Nekki Basara doing what he does best tangle!
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Re: The Valkyrie Thread

Someone was kind enough to supply the Japanese wiki site with data on the YF-30 taken both from an interview with one of the game designers and the Macross 30 novelization itself. I present the specs here in the Burkean style. :) Green indicates the one or two guesstimates on my part.

Unit type: experimental prototype variable fighter
Manufacturer: Shinsei Industry/SMS Ouroboros/LAI
Empty mass: 8106 kg
Powerplant type: Shinsei Industry/P&W/RR FF-3001-FC2 Stage II thermonuclear reaction turbine engine x 2 (space max thrust 2110 kn x2)
Vernier thruster type: P&W HMM-9
Design features: LAI ISC/TO22 inertia store converter
Armament: Howard/LAI HPB-01A Heavy Quantum Beam Gunpod x 1, Mauler ROV-217D 12.7mm coaxial beam gun x 2, Bifors micro-missile launchers x2, Container Weapon System (micro-missile pack) x1, Assault Knife x 1
Special equipment: Fold Dimensional Resonance System
Optional equipment: CWS beam cannon x1 (not seen in game)
Pilot(s): Leon Sakaki
Mechanical designer: Shoji Kawamori

Fighter mode-
Wingspan: 15.64 meters
Overall length: 18.84 meters
Overall height (without landing gear): 4.02 meters
Standard atmospheric cruising speed at 10000 meters: Mach 5.3+
Atmospheric ceiling: unlimited (capable of launching into satellite orbit over Earth-class planet)

Battroid mode:
Overall height (with CWS): (?)

Also, here's a video with the YF-30's in-game introduction.
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Re: The Valkyrie Thread

Some high quality scans of the new YF-30 Chogokin DX, coming soon to a store in Japan! :)
Courtesy of MacrossWorld's charger69.
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Re: The Valkyrie Thread

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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

In the interim, here's something we don't see very often, the internal workings of the GU-11 gun pod.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

So if I'm interpreting this correctly, the Macross had Carrier Air Wing 9 (CVW-9) assigned to it from the beginning. Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1), which included Skull Squadron was assigned to the Prometheus. CVW-9 included SVF-48, 38, 6, 22, 13, 44 and 32. CVW-1 included SVF-1, 2, 20, 63, 28, 68 and 37.
SVF-48 are the Blue Hawks and have Valkyries painted in blue and white. I also like SVF-44's insignia, a pair of crossed gunpods over the UN Spacy kite.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

The VF-25 Armored is like, my favorite anime robot war machine ever. Does any clean line art exist of it? Not CG.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

manwiththemachinegun wrote:The VF-25 Armored is like, my favorite anime robot war machine ever. Does any clean line art exist of it? Not CG.
Not that I'm aware of...
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

A shame, as far as expansion packs for mecha goes, it's got crazy firepower, and looks awesome too. The Skull-1 repaint of the Durandal is amazing as well. I wish that had been the design for the film.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

One is pretty clearly derived from the YF-19 series. Excellent, the Messiah was all cool and everything but I've been missing this classic.

The other is new, and Kawamori has returned to using real aircraft as inspiration as this one has lines lifted from the Saab 35 Draken.

http://www.aircraftinformation.info/art_draken.htm

Battroid and Gerwalk modes, please! And I take it no airdate (or even ballpark) has been announced yet?

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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

It has indeed been confirmed that the one Valk is inspired by the Draken and we'll be finding out more details on Oct. 29
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

Arbiter GUNDAM wrote:It has indeed been confirmed that the one Valk is inspired by the Draken and we'll be finding out more details on Oct. 29
Likely we won't start seeing any actual technical details of the fighters in question until the actual magazine/webizine coverage starts up... probably in either Newtype or Great Mechanics G.

My initial assumption was that the foreground fighter was some kind of derivative of the YF-30's design... I've revised that opinion after seeing the art up close.

On examination, the fighter in the foreground looks like a descendant of, or possibly a production version of, Shinsei and LAI's VF-19ACTIVE "Nothung" technology demonstrator, which appeared in Macross the Ride. It seems to have a more extreme cranked arrow delta wing, and put its stabilizers further out onto the wing surface the way the YF-27-5 from Ride did, but to me, this looks like it could be the same kind of 2050's era delta-wing VF-19 as the ACTIVE.

Could this be the prophesied* VF-19 updated to include an inertia store converter and various other 5th Gen equipment that Masahiro Chiba alluded to in Great Mechanics DX back in 2009?



The other VF, based on the Saab Draken, is a little more confusing. It looks like it either has 2 engine nozzles immediately next to each other (which would really get in the way of its thrust-vectoring) or that it may have two nozzles stacked vertically like on the ASF-X Shinden II which Kawamori designed for the Ace Combat franchise.



* The VF-19ACTIVE was, amusingly, a technology evaluation aircraft that was testing equipment that would later be used in the YF-25 Prophecy.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

It's about time this thread was re-activated.

Recently, I've found out that the models of VF-31 used by Delta Flight are not, as I presumed, regular models of the 31 but customs created specifically for Delta Flight to aid/protect Walkure, thought they all still feature the Container Weapon System pioneered on the YF-30 Chronos... which seems to sort of defeat the purpose of specific models, at least to me. Anyone else got info on this?

Also, let's take a moment to appreciate how the transformation of the VF-9 breaks my brain. 0____0
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

Arbiter GUNDAM wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:22 pm It's about time this thread was re-activated.
You must construct additional pylons.


Arbiter GUNDAM wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:22 pm Recently, I've found out that the models of VF-31 used by Delta Flight are not, as I presumed, regular models of the 31 but customs created specifically for Delta Flight to aid/protect Walkure, thought they all still feature the Container Weapon System pioneered on the YF-30 Chronos... which seems to sort of defeat the purpose of specific models, at least to me. Anyone else got info on this?
Ah, you just found out? The reveal that the Siegfried isn't the production VF-31 was made back in the Spring 2016 issue of Great Mechanics G, before the series started airing. The "Why" and "How" of it came to light first through various model kit releases from Hasegawa, Tomytec, etc. shortly after the series went to air.

The production model VF-31 is the Surya Aerospace[1] VF-31 Kairos, the gray model with the proper delta wing shown being used by the Xaos Ragna Branch 3rd Fighter Wing's Alpha, Beta, and Gamma flights and by Arad in the flashback episode. It's the Brisingr Alliance's locally-developed effort at a 5th Generation Main VF to replace their aging fleet of Block II VF-171 Nightmare Pluses, though it was developed cheaply and it uses a fair amount of hardware originally developed for Shinsei & LAI's VF-25. Xaos's Ragna branch has the trial production block VF-31s to evaluate their use in combat before a planned adoption by Brisingr's NUNS defense forces sometime in 2069 or 2070.[2] It's the same sort of arrangement Strategic Military Services' Macross Frontier branch had with the fleet government.

The VF-31 Siegfried is an aftermarket customization of the VF-31 Kairos done in-house by Xaos, to support the field operations of the Xaos-managed Tactical Sound Unit Walkure. The engines were changed out for detuned versions of the FF-3001/FC2 engine used by the YF-30, the caliber of the railgun pods in the arms was reduced from 27mm to 25mm, the internal ordinance bays were sacrificed for storage racks holding a cluster of Cygnus multidrone plates, and they were fitted with a fold wave system and fold wave amps in the same fashion as the YF-29 Durandal. The different variants are all functionally identical, the distinct monitor turret variations and color schemes are there mostly for cosmetic reasons, because Delta Flight's pilots are as much a group of performers as Walkure itself is. There are slight variations in mass between custom models as a result of the cosmetic changes, but not more than 17kg (37.5lb) at most. Equipment changes from the ordinance pack cause way more weight variation than that.

Variable Fighter Master File, though not official setting material, introduces an explanation that the Xaos Custom VF-31s aren't even production aircraft, but rather are modified prototypes with a different modular wing attached like the VF-19's 2nd Mass Production type.

Funnily enough, performance-wise the stock VF-31 is actually a slight step down from the VF-25, and the Siegfried's improved performance only puts them roughly on par.




Arbiter GUNDAM wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:22 pm Also, let's take a moment to appreciate how the transformation of the VF-9 breaks my brain. 0____0
Yep, that's why her in-universe nickname is the "Origami fighter". The VF-9 seems to have been, both in-universe and out, the design inspiration for the Sv-262 Draken III's transformation.

(That has some interesting implications for the VF-9's operational endurance, and might explain why it's a dedicated atmospheric unit instead of an all-regime fighter.)




1. A joint venture of the Brisingr Alliance branches of Shinsei Industry, Legodt & Angeloni Industries, and two local companies: Bharat and Hiotori.

2. Per Kawamori's interview in the Spring 2016 issue of Great Mechanics G, in which he says that the VF-31A and VF-31B will be commissioned by the New UN Forces there 2-3 years on from the events of the series.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

Hopefully in the upcoming new Macross TV show, there'll be a replacement grunt unit for the VF-171... that specific unit has been in 2 shows already... and even then its related to a unit from the Macross 7... I know in Macross the grunt valkryies majority of the time get their asses kicked but its getting really old with the Nightmare plus...
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

yazi88 wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:52 pm Hopefully in the upcoming new Macross TV show, there'll be a replacement grunt unit for the VF-171... that specific unit has been in 2 shows already...
Assuming the next series is going to move forward in the timeline rather than backwards or laterally by staying in the same block of time and going to a different setting, we're certainly not short on options for that role.

The various local governments in the New UN Government have been busy developing their own next-gen VFs to replace the aging VF-171, the testing of which has been the excuse for how various PMCs have gotten their hands on a next-gen VF before the military. Macross Frontier's series introduced three of them: the Federal New UN Forces VF-24, the Macross Frontier fleet's VF-25, and Macross Galaxy fleet's VF-27. The VF-24 is used by the Earth defense fleet, federal forces, and monkey models were made available to local governments. The VF-25 is also known to have been sold to, and produced under license in, several other emigrant fleets. The VF-27 doesn't seem to have been widespread, but a couple have ended up in service outside the Macross Galaxy fleet. Macross Delta gave us the VF-31, which is the VF-171 replacement for the ~20 worlds of the Brisingr Alliance, and the Sv-262, which is essentially a non-aligned 5th Generation alternative (in Windermere's case it replaced the Sv-154, a VF-171 alternative). So far, two of the Variable Fighter Master File books have also suggested that the YF-30 was developed into a production VF-30 independent of Brisingr's VF-31 economy model. So that right there is six, and FASCES has at least two of its own... a remodeled Neo Glaug and the Queadluun-Alma variable craft.


yazi88 wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:52 pm [...] and even then its related to a unit from the Macross 7... I know in Macross the grunt valkryies majority of the time get their asses kicked but its getting really old with the Nightmare plus...
The relation is mostly cosmetic... though in some areas the base model seems to have been replaced by the Generation 4.5 VF-171EX, and there are other Generation 4 or Generation 4.5 alternatives like VF-19 monkey models or the Sv-154.
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Re: The Macross Valkyrie Thread

The VF-31 Kairos can make for a possible replacement, as well VF-25. The VF-25 would likely be a upgraded model given the new show is set after Delta. If so, it'd probably look more of a grunt unit, to look less heroic as Kawamori said with the VF-171 being the grunt unit over the VF-19 in Frontier.

Or maybe a whole new unit, different fleets have different units, or develop different units from the same plan as the Frontier and Galaxy Fleet made 2 different units from the YF-24/VF-24 plan.
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