GM Spartan

[vaKuz]

Any views on how this GM variant came about? The only pics I found of this particular variant is from a resin conversion kit from B-Club.

http://tetchang.hp.infoseek.co.jp/spartan.htm

I'm sure this is no fan-made as this conversion kit seems offical from B-Club. I stumble upon it in HLJ.

[Dendrobium Stamen]

There's an ongoing discussion of this very machine at Gundam Evolution, oddly enough.

toysdream explains it as such:

The GM Spartan was originally created by Hitoshi Fukuchi for the "Fukuchi Mobilesuit Station" (FMS) feature in Bandai's Model Journal magazine. Fukuchi is the same artist who created the oddball variants featured in the Gundam 0080 and Char's Counterattack model kit manuals, and most of his FMS creations are variants of One Year War mobile suits.

According to its profile in the FMS feature, the RGM-79S GM Spartan has extra armor on the front of its body, wire-guided anti-MS missiles on its right shoulder, Minovsky particle dispersion pods, and infra-red camouflage fabric on its back (I think that's what it says - the scan I have is pretty small, so it's hard to read). Fukuchi's illustration only shows its upper body, but it looks a lot like the GM Sniper II with a different backpack and extra armor on its chest and shoulders.

More recently, the "Game's MSV" feature in Gundam Ace describes the GM Spartan as part of a series of heavily-armored GM variants alongside the Armored GM from Zeonic Front, the new GM Striker, and the desert and land warfare GMs from Okawara's M-MSV series. Recent publications have been reclassifying all these machines under the "RGM-79F" designation, so perhaps the same would be true of the GM Spartan.

-- Mark

Hope this helps!

[vaKuz]

So it seems. This is among the coolest GM variant there is. Hopefully Bandai would one day release a full scale model of it though. Just look at it's rifle, it seems to have a gatling barrel type and what it appears to eb a scope. Wicked sick! Feddies are always good with their ground MS. They're not called "Earth Federation" for nothing. Thanks for the info Dendrobium stamen, although I love to learn more of this variant.

[CYNICISM AT IT'S BEST]

Is that a knife over it's left shoulder?

[J-Lead]

That GM varient was around for awhile, and the particular B Club line it belongs to only has katoki-ized versions of each mobile suit in the line. It really looks like a GM sniper II refitted with equipment for special forces on the ground (judging from the equipment loadout that Mark listed.)

PS: Yes, that is a knife on the back, possibly/probably solid state.

[Dendrobium Stamen]

The knife is pretty surely a solid-blade type, since it has a sheath and all to hold the blade in...

Looks like its weapon load out is one knife, two beam sabres on GM Command rear-skirt racks, and a Gatling gun. The Gatling is the interesting part, since the barrels look to be big enough for head Vulcan rounds at best, but with a GM Rifle-sized clip, so it probably has plenty of ammo for some very fast-moving metal. Reminds me of the GINN Type High-Maneuver and its low-calibre, high-velocity rifle, in a way.

[Cardi Doorl]

If that's an official variant, then would that be the first example of a Federal mobile suit fielding a solid-state melee weapon?

[Dendrobium Stamen]

If that's an official variant, then would that be the first example of a Federal mobile suit fielding a solid-state melee weapon?

Depends which timeline your using, ours for design of a fictional mecha, or the Universal Century's for a combat MS. If it's the UC timeline, then this would be the first Federal machine with a physical melee weapon, unless you care to count the Gundam Hammer.

In the real-world timeline however, the first EFF machine with a physical melee weapon would probably be the RGM-122 Javelin, which was designed with shot lancers back in 1993. So very last millennium...

[Draco Starcloud]

I'm fairly sure he means the in-universe timeline.

[Cardi Doorl]

Yeah, definitely in-universe .

Now I wonder if that knife's heated, as I don't think there're any examples of Federal heat weaponry. An unheated solid-state handheld bladed weapon on a mobile suit seems so out of place in UC, after all.

[J-Lead]

The fact that it carries a small size solid-state melee weapon convinces me even further that this GM is built for special operations. I'm assuming since that cylinder on the backpack is probably the infared camoflaging device that Mark mentioned, it would be well suited for night missions. Since solid-state weapons of that size emit little or no light, they would be perfect to take down an enemy mobile suit in the dark without drawing too much fire from nearby hostile MS/vehicles (and the shorter blade somewhat reduces the chance of a reactor explosion, which would be very attention-grabbing.) A beam saber, on the other hand, is much easier to detect due to the generous amount of light it gives off, and a good pilot can lay down the hammer from afar without even so much as a lock on.

In addition, the knife could be perfect for melee combat in an urban/wooded area where there isn't much room for larger solid-state/beam melee weapons (since solid-state melee weapons and even beam sabers are slowed down by obstacles that get in the way of the swing, the knife would give it a nice one-up over the Dom or Gouf. As for the Heat Hawk, well, it's not that effective as an anti MS weapon despite it's small size.) Couple that with the fact that it carries two beam sabers on it's rear skirt armor and a machinegun with what looks like an M203-ish grenade launcher mounted on it, AND camoflage from infrared sensing equipment - A GM Spartan pilot has it made in a ground confrontation.

[ORegan]

i think the heat knife is cool. kinda like the pixie beam knife except no beam. it'd look better with the olive drabbish color scheme though, and maybe into the rambo Sniper GM II will be the greatest GM ever made.

[vaKuz]

I feel the Spartan is far superior compared to the GM Striker. This maybe one of the best powerful ground GM variants there is. According to Mark, i think this is the only MS the Feddie have that is installed with wired anti-MS missiles.

[Toxicity]

I like it. It looks badass and it has the scope thingie on the head that alot of the GM sniper models have. I want one!

[razgriz]

the gm spartan wins for the having the most bad*** looking gun that ive ever seen a gm variant carry.

[Random Zaku Pilot]

ummm is the wire guided anti-MS missile on the shoulder or is it fired inside the grenade launcher looking thing on the gun. This MS must be special forces because it looks expensive but anyways on the head it looks like it has 2 small smoke discharger or whatever next to the antenna or am I wrong. The rifle looks a little like the 0083 GM rifle but yea coolest feddie suit ever

[Cardi Doorl]

As seen in the toysdream quote in Dendrobium Stamen's post:

...wire-guided anti-MS missiles on its right shoulder...

[J-Lead]

ummm is the wire guided anti-MS missile on the shoulder or is it fired inside the grenade launcher looking thing on the gun. This MS must be special forces because it looks expensive but anyways on the head it looks like it has 2 small smoke discharger or whatever next to the antenna or am I wrong. The rifle looks a little like the 0083 GM rifle but yea coolest feddie suit ever

It's not the expense that really makes it a special forces suit, (especially since this suit looks like a heavily refitted GM sniper II,) but rather it's equipment. Remember, The GM sniper II is usually given to ace pilots, however it isn't necessarily always given to special forces. There is a difference between a skilled ace pilot (like Tenneth Jung or Johnny Ridden) and a pilot given special training for specific tasks and conditions. Special task forces are usually heavily trained for specific types of roles and missions, and this also seems to apply to this GM varient. This GM looks like it's been deprived of any unneccessary equipment that the GM sniper II had (such as the removal of thrusters on the back of the legs and a different back pack to accomidate the infrared camoflage thingy,) in favor of extra armor all the equipment necessary to give the pilot the extra edge over a difficult enemy on the ground.

PS: Yeah, those do look like smoke screen dispensers on the head. Thanks for pointing that out, I hadn't noticed them before.