Fates of the RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type units

[False Prophet]

According to the Gundam Wikia, there has been 28 Gundam Ground Type that have been fielded during the OYW. So I make this list:

- 1 unit, piloted by Shiro Amada, was customized into the EZ8. Destroyed in the battle with the Apsalus III.

- 1 unit, piloted by Matt Healy, was last seen fighting Zeon ace Ken Bederstadt.

- 3 units were heavily adapted to the EXAM system, which resulted in Blue Destiny Unit 1, 2, and 3. All 3 were destroyed in battle.

- 2 units, piloted by Karen Joshua and Terry Sander.Jr respectively, were destroyed in batttle (or not. It has been far too long since I last watched 8th MS Team)

* Unknown status (units whose links with the Gundam Ground Type are unconfirmed)

- The RX-79[G] SW Slave Wraith, piloted by Travis Kirkland

- The Blue Destiny Unit 0, piloted by Yuu Kajima

And there are a number of units fielded in the video games that I've no idea about.
think?
So, what do you

[PowerdGNFlag]

- The Blue Destiny Unit 0, piloted by Yuu Kajima

Wasn't this made off a GM Ground Type?

[Dark Duel]

From what I've heard, Unit 0 is indeed based off/built from a RGM-79[G] Gundam Ground Type frame rather than the Gundam Ground Type as BD 1 through 3 were. IIRC, Unit 0's backstory attempts to hand-wave BD1 having a GM head by stating that once they were done with it, Unit 0's head was simply transplanted onto the new, -79[G]-based body of Unit 1.
(Amusingly, this is similar to what happened to Karen's Gundam after an Acguy punched its head off, though the reasons given are different).

So Units 1-3 definitely count as RX-79[G] derivatives, Unit 0 does not. But of course, the two -79[G]s - Gundam and GM - aren't actually all that different from one another when you really get down to it.
As for the Slave Wraith, I really don't see what's "unconfirmed" about it being based off the -79[G]. It's literally a Gundam Ground Type with a different head and slightly altered shoulder armor.

I suppose the only question I personally have - both in the SW's case and in that of the three BD units - is whether they were built from one of the existing 28, or entirely new machines built from scratch using the same design.

[Gelgoog Jager]

I checked the wiki and it doesn't mention anywhere 28 units produced. It does mention that more than 20 were produced, which is the same vague comment from the MG 1/100 manual. The manual of the GM[G] similarly says that more than 50 units were produced (more than once I have seen people say that about 80 of these [G] type MS were built in total).

I suggest taking a look at this thread:

http://www.mechatalk.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11236

In short Mark mentions that the RX-79[G] and RGM-79[G] are sibling units that share 80% of their components, and while this allows both units to easily share equipment and parts with each other, such as the GM[G]s that use the Gundam [G] backpacks for parachuting in the LWC manga or Karen's quickly patched up "GM Head", it comes with the drawback that they are not compatible with later EF MS based on the standard GM.

I assume that last part leads to the discontinuation of those two particular models after the introduction of the RGM-79 and its variants which become the backbone of the EF forces.

[Kuruni]

Not every machine need to have dramatic operation record.

Just consider the rest of them to took a machine gun round to a knee, so they just use them as base guards. What follow is uneventful and non-adventuring lifetime until they were decommissed.

[Gelgoog Jager]

I forgot to mention the Blue Destiny units:

BD-0: Built/based on a GM [G] frame
BD-1: Built/based on a Gundam [G] frame, but has received the head of the BD-0 in order to shorten development time.
BD-2: Built/based on a Gundam [G] frame, space combat capable
BD-3: After BD-2 is stolen, it's built using spare parts from BD-1 and BD-2.

Check this thread for more info on these units:

http://www.mechatalk.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16682

[JEFFPIATT]

i would think that after the post war mop up operations the remaining non standard rx-79[G] and RGM-79[G] units that survived would have been mothballed or scrapped with maybe 1 or 2 getting decommissioned and transferred to Museums as display units.

[Gelgoog Jager]

It's possible, although considering the EF's tendency to keep old MS in use long after they have become vastly outdated (example, RAG-79 Aqua GM), perhaps they remained in service for as long as possible until the lack of spare parts forced their retirement. It's also very likely that units that survived as far U.C. 0087 participated in the defense of Jaburo and were lost along the base.

That being said, while nothing suggests a larger production run of the RX-79[G], between video games and recent animated works such as MS Igloo 2, there do si grounds to believe that the production run of the RGM-79 could have been larger than what is officially said to be.

By the way, TC might be interested to know that the Spirits of Zeon arcade game introduced the 05th MS Team, consisting of another 3 RX-79[G]:

http://s-zeon.com/character04.html

The same game also provides one of the main Zeon characters a MS-06R-2, which I'm not certain where it came from. It could be a new unit produced after the initial batch of 4, or perhaps it's Johnny Ridden's unit after the switched to this Gelgoog.

[False Prophet]

It's possible, although considering the EF's tendency to keep old MS in use long after they have become vastly outdated (example, RAG-79 Aqua GM), perhaps they remained in service for as long as possible until the lack of spare parts forced their retirement. It's also very likely that units that survived as far U.C. 0087 participated in the defense of Jaburo and were lost along the base.

That being said, while nothing suggests a larger production run of the RX-79[G], between video games and recent animated works such as MS Igloo 2, there do si grounds to believe that the production run of the RGM-79 could have been larger than what is officially said to be.

By the way, TC might be interested to know that the Spirits of Zeon arcade game introduced the 05th MS Team, consisting of another 3 RX-79[G]:

http://s-zeon.com/character04.html

The same game also provides one of the main Zeon characters a MS-06R-2, which I'm not certain where it came from. It could be a new unit produced after the initial batch of 4, or perhaps it's Johnny Ridden's unit after the switched to this Gelgoog.

Johnny's Unit? That must be the stuff before he joined Chimera.

Anyway, what I really want to know is: How many failure has been made before RX-78 unit 1 and 2 are finally made. While I haven't watched the latest Origin episode, that RX-78-01[N] Local Type Gundam kind of unhinge me - If it were really unit 1, then why the Ground Type's shoulers, shield and machine gun? A possibility that it is the first unit before the design was finalized - A.K.A there was not just "One" Gundam RX-78-1 as we known, but throughout the earlier phase of Project V, they just switched out the parts on a pre-existing frame.

But if so, then why build so many spare parts? And what if there are actually differences (albeit subtle) between some Gundam Ground Type?

[knighief]

[Gelgoog Jager]

Info on the RX-78 is sometimes confusing. The background of the RX-78-1 claims that 8 units of the RX-78 series are built and Amuro's is specified to be the second one. The question here is if there were eight RX-78-1 units that were upgraded in different ways, including the RX-78-2, FA-78-1 and this RX-78-01[N], or if it includes later units like the RX-78-6 or RX-78NT-1 with different frames. Supposedly the RX-78XX do is one particular mode that is counted separately and 3 units are said to have been built.

Weapon-wise, it should be noted that the RX-78-1 supposedly lacked the output to operate a full beam rifle, which is one of the issues addressed by the RX-78-2 upgrade. On the other hand, the 100mm machine gun commonly related to the EF ground MS is hinted to actually be of Zeon design, regularly seen as the weapon of the MS-04 (The Origin version) and more recently of the YMS-07A-0, both units whose development precede that of the EF MS units seen with it.

Anyway, as previously explained the RGM-79[G] & RX-79[G] main issue is their lack of compatibility with other MS, and as new variants based on the standard GM are rolled, specially the F-type GMs: the RGM-79F Land Combat GM and its derived RGM-79F Desert GM & RGM-79FP GM Striker, they are phased out.

Another issue is that these early ground units are supposedly were developed before Zeon began deploying the Dom series, after which the EF began taking a different approach for their ground units, now focused towards higher mobility. We're told that units like the RGM-79D are classified as anti-Dom units simply due to their higher mobility (mainly thanks to its backpack which has 4 thrusters instead of 2 like the original GM, a trait shared by the F-type GMs), and by the end of the OYW the EF's own hovering MS, the RX-78-6 Mudrock Gundam and the RGM-79FD Armored GM, are introduced.

[JEFFPIATT]

of all the retcon gundam units introduced in the oyo ova series the RX079 series has the best excuse as to why it disappears before zeta starts. The entire rx-79 and RGM-79[G] units were basically hand built units cobbled together from the parts produced for the RX-78 units that tem ray rejected but were still considered usable like the RX-78 prototypes there hand built nature doomed them to the same fate as the other surviving RX-78 and RX-77 units being decommissioned as there parts are not standardized even between units from the same run. an Stock RGM-79 GM and the GM C type being final mass production units can take salvaged parts from another GM with out retooling the part to fit. This was also reflected in "08th ms team" where two RX-79[G] units get trashed and the lack of standard parts caused the two field verients the GM Head gundam where an destroyed gundam head was replaced with an salvaged GM ground head. the EZ8 was the most extreme as in order to get it fnctional again it was hand rebuilt in to an an drastically different ms. i would guess that other RX-79 gundam's were also heavily rebuilt in the field and post war would have been quickly phased out with some more interesting models kept active for performance tests.

[Gelgoog Jager]

Only the RX-79[G] used parts from the RX-78 project, while the RGM-79[G] was essentially a GM built in RX-79[G] production lines, mainly intended as a stopgap unit and as a means of gathering combat data for the actual has production model. Therefore, I would presume that it's easier to get spare GM[G] parts for repairing either model, but in the end these parts are not compatible with any other EF MS. Ultimately, I think it's safe to assume that a large number of both type of units were lost during the OYW, which added up to their incompatibility with other EF models led to their retirement.

Speaking of the RX-77 series, it's interesting noting that it's the lone RX unit that appears as far as U.C. 0087 in the form of the slightly upgraded RX-77-3. In comparison, the RX-75 gets replaced by the RMV series. Also, the RX-77-2 is frequently depicted as the most common of the 3 RX units: White Base had 3 in the third Gundam movie, the Thoroughbred had at least 2, and some some pop up in Zeonic Front and Cross Dimension as well. Unlike the RX-77-4, the RX-77-3 has more in common with the RX-77-2, and is fact is referred to as a retooled RX-77-2, which probably means that a RX-77-2 can be upgraded into a RX-77-3. It also happened to have at least one sub-variant, the RX-77-3D.

Looking at the standard GM series, we know that later on the EF could simply swap some parts of improved GM models to produce units such as the GM II Semi-Striker from the UC OVAs (a GM II with the beam scissors and some armor parts from a GM Striker) or Yazan's Gable GM III Night Seeker (appearing in the MSV-R manga).

That being said, the RX-81 seems to hint that the do EF was hoping to produce a single type of MS that could fulfill all their needs, just with some equipment change depending the situation. But their adoption of Zeon MS, along the post-OYW/pre-Operation Stardust emphasis on rebuilding their gunship fleet likely led to abandoning the project and instead use cheaper alternatives.

[JEFFPIATT]

Only the RX-79[G] used parts from the RX-78 project, while the RGM-79[G] was essentially a GM built in RX-79[G] production lines, mainly intended as a stopgap unit and as a means of gathering combat data for the actual has production model. Therefore, I would presume that it's easier to get spare GM[G] parts for repairing either model, but in the end these parts are not compatible with any other EF MS. Ultimately, I think it's safe to assume that a large number of both type of units were lost during the OYW, which added up to their incompatibility with other EF models led to their retirement.

Speaking of the RX-77 series, it's interesting noting that it's the lone RX unit that appears as far as U.C. 0087 in the form of the slightly upgraded RX-77-3. In comparison, the RX-75 gets replaced by the RMV series. Also, the RX-77-2 is frequently depicted as the most common of the 3 RX units: White Base had 3 in the third Gundam movie, the Thoroughbred had at least 2, and some some pop up in Zeonic Front and Cross Dimension as well. Unlike the RX-77-4, the RX-77-3 has more in common with the RX-77-2, and is fact is referred to as a retooled RX-77-2, which probably means that a RX-77-2 can be upgraded into a RX-77-3. It also happened to have at least one sub-variant, the RX-77-3D.

Looking at the standard GM series, we know that later on the EF could simply swap some parts of improved GM models to produce units such as the GM II Semi-Striker from the UC OVAs (a GM II with the beam scissors and some armor parts from a GM Striker) or Yazan's Gable GM III Night Seeker (appearing in the MSV-R manga).

That being said, the RX-81 seems to hint that the do EF was hoping to produce a single type of MS that could fulfill all their needs, just with some equipment change depending the situation. But their adoption of Zeon MS, along the post-OYW/pre-Operation Stardust emphasis on rebuilding their gunship fleet likely led to abandoning the project and instead use cheaper alternatives.

The large run of guncannon's was the direct predecessor to the RX-79 gundam series and probaly led to the GM useing an slightly improved version of the RX-77 head rather than an stripped down rx-78 style head. the info i could find on the RGM-79[G] units mentions that it has 80% parts compatabilty with the RX-79[G] Gundam and 42 units were produced with the run of 20 gundams my guess being that after testing the first 20 units build from rejected rx-78 parts they decided to reconfigure and the gundam head may have been dropped due to the parts running out or being diverted to white base to keep it's gundam running. The 42 gm's produced on the ground gundam frame retained the rx-78 class power system but returned the cooling sytem to the dual chest vents from the single and took input from the space use test GM type [E] units at luna II but even though it's labeled mass production it's still being built as an prototype unit with non uniform parts as the EFF hasent begun tooling standard production lines so each GM ground and Gundam ground is being fitted individually with leftover parts at jabero base and being deployed in an emergency action to get test data and to test ms strategy. i would think the few units that survived out oi 20 those who were destroyed would have been heavily customized to keep them running. I would guess that ther deploymen would have ended once the war ended and the EFF coul have deployed new GM B or c units to fill the roles and either scrapped them or placed them in an reserve fleet or museum display.