Zanscare controlled territory.

[Mafty]

So how much territory in Space did the Zanscare empire control at the start of the war? It's shown that throughout the wars relatively short length (the spring of UC 153) Zanscare ended up controlling or at least attacking the majority of Earth(SPOILERS: the series starts with Zanscare conquering most of continental Europe, later Mexico and the Southwestern United States are ravaged by the Motorad fleet, Asia apparently was sent into an energy crisis after the Highland satellite was seized, older posts and model kits hint at fighting in Africa and South America, which is where the final battle is).

So how much of space was under their control? Did they have one side, or several? Did they even have one side in its entirety? Backstory shows Maria is from the Albania Colony of Side 1 , where Kagatie helped her seize power. However later it is Side 2 that is largely shown to be under Zanscare's power (except for independent colony Macedonia). So did they control both sides; did they capture Lunar Cities to build the mechs and ships, or did they use BESPA Branch Facilities in the colonies?

[Amion]

Alas, most of that is probably unknown. All we know is that the Zanscare had incredible success compared to Zeon. Up until the Angel Halo anyway, where they seemed to be running out of forces. But up until that point the Federation seemed largely non-existent.

Personally, I always considered the Zanscare but mere puppets of the Jupiter Republic. Or was it the Empire at that time? They are the ones who built the Angel Halo, after all. They seemed like just some kind of staging ground for the invasion from the other planetary sphere.

[Seto Kaiba]

So how much territory in Space did the Zanscare empire control at the start of the war?

Hard to say... because the official materials for Mobile Suit Victory Gundam are somewhat vague about many details of the Zanscare Empire.

Every source agrees that the Zanscare Empire arose in the Amelia colony in Side 2 and has de facto control of Side 2 after defeating the Earth Federation Forces garrison there. That said, they didn't actually have control over every colony in the Side as demonstrated with Macedonia colony.

I don't recall if it's ever mentioned in the series as it's been a long time since my last rewatch, but I've seen one or two mentions that Zanscare Empire forces also occupied L1's Side 4 in order to seize control of the SNRI facility in Frontier I and use the Frontier Side as a staging area for operations on Earth.

They're known to have had a military base called Neo Cartagena on the moon, and an airbase somewhere in either Switzerland or southern Germany called Largene that was the headquarters for their planetary invasion force.

One of the MS Encyclopedia volumes alleges that BESPA MS production was also carried out at Side 3, though the status of Side 3 itself is not commented on... whether it had been occupied with by Zanscare or simply colluded with them out of their habitual dislike for the Federation.

BESPA's Mobile Suit development is noted to have been somewhat decentralized, with some units being made at the captured SNRI facilities in Side 2, some in Side 4, some at Neo Cartagena on Luna, and some at Lagene Base in Western Europe.

The reason for their unusual level of success is given as simple technological superiority. Their next-generation MS programs were simply far above what the Federation forces currently had, allowing them to do more with a smaller group of soldiers.

[Mafty]

Thanks, here is some information from the Gundam Wiki concerning the Mobile Suit production facilities that haven't previously been mentioned.

Amelia Colony: The Capital of Zanscare also houses mobile suit production facilities, Where the suits are not only built but tested. This can seen with the Contio during the Amelia Arc, and quite probably with other colonies throughout the Side 2 area(it's not always clear how much space is needed to build MS and Ships; often we see them at Lunar factories and Earth bases, or on the Asteroid bases, but the colonies probably have enough space to make them).

The Super Psycho Research Institute. Whether SPRI is established at the SNRI bases is unclear; however it appears to be where all the Newtype based weaponry is built and where they preform the vaguely defined Cyber Newtype process (if this is at Neo Cartagena is unclear, but I believe the Novel mentions Katejnia getting Cyber training on the Moon).

Also Largane is said to be either in future Vienna Austria (according to some sources) or Future Munich (as seen on a map in ep 17). On a related note was Largane Base built by Zanscare or taken over; the base seems to span several miles and be far too big for Zanscare to have built in such a short period, plus there's damage suggesting a battle.

[Seto Kaiba]

Thanks, here is some information from the Gundam Wiki concerning the Mobile Suit production facilities that haven't previously been mentioned.

Amelia Colony: The Capital of Zanscare also houses mobile suit production facilities, Where the suits are not only built but tested.

Eh... it's not really unmentioned, per se. It's almost certainly part of the Strategic Naval Research Institute's Side 2 presence that was seized by the Zanscare Empire authorities and became the Ballistic Equipment and Space Patrol Armory (BESPA).

This can seen with the Contio during the Amelia Arc, and quite probably with other colonies throughout the Side 2 area(it's not always clear how much space is needed to build MS and Ships; often we see them at Lunar factories and Earth bases, or on the Asteroid bases, but the colonies probably have enough space to make them).

We've seen in a variety of Gundam titles that single units or low volume production units can be assembled in relative secrecy even in something as small as a normal Island-3 type colony. Zanscare's whole schtick being that it used smaller numbers of higher capability Mobile Suits to counter the less capable but more numerous Federation Forces MS's.

Also Largane is said to be either in future Vienna Austria (according to some sources) or Future Munich (as seen on a map in ep 17). On a related note was Largane Base built by Zanscare or taken over; the base seems to span several miles and be far too big for Zanscare to have built in such a short period, plus there's damage suggesting a battle.

It would be... difficult... for "Ra Gaine" (the spelling used in the Newtype 100% book for Victory Gundam to be in Vienna or Munich. Mainly because neither map I can find in official publication shows it anywhere near that far east or north.

The map used as a backdrop in the 1993 July issue of Newtype for the article "Go to Gibraltar" shows the Ra Gaine airbase as being just slightly west of the western coast of Corsica and on the north side of the Alpha, around the vicinity of Berne. The map in Newtype 100%: Victory Gundam Vol.2 shows it much farther to the east in eastern Bavaria north of Munich near the Czech border. (It's noted to be near Bechyne, a real city in the present day Czech Republic.)

It's noted that "Ra Gaine" (probably meant to be "La Gaine", French for "the scabbard") was an international airport that was captured and converted for use as an invasion beachhead by the Zanscare Empire's military.

[Citizen Synapse]

Personally, I always considered the Zanscare but mere puppets of the Jupiter Republic. Or was it the Empire at that time? They are the ones who built the Angel Halo, after all. They seemed like just some kind of staging ground for the invasion from the other planetary sphere.

I agree with this assessment. I also always suspected that Paptimus Scirocco was also an earlier advanced vanguard agent for the Jupiter faction. I believe his purpose was to hijack the Titans and weaken the earth sphere and set the stage for some sort of Jupiter led intervention .

[Mafty]

Seems likely. Throughout UC Gundam we see the influence of the Jupiter Sphere in various conflicts (though not really with Zeon). As has been stated Scirocco was from Jupiter; Crossbone has some of the remnants of Crossbone Vanguard ally with the Jupiter Empire, Kagatie was from Jupiter, and there are some unconfirmed rumors that (SPOILER) one version of Victory's ending would have had Hangleg survive and infiltrate Jupiter, possibly setting up a sequel. I have no idea of the validity of that , but you can see how they would have set that up.