Revisiting Gundam: The 08th MS Team

As I have mentioned before, there is an official Gundam Youtube Channel. It has free Gundam anime on it. What it actually has up at the moment can be a bit of a dice roll, wth stuff being rotated in and out. What is up at time of writing is the late 90’s OVA, Gundam: The 08th MS Team. Well, most of it. They haven’t added episode 12, for some reason, but no matter. 08th MS Team set during the timeline of the original Gundam show, The One Year War, focusing mainly on land combat in South East Asia, and the exploits of a fairly mundane unit fighting for the Federation. Its a personal fave of mine, but I hadn’t seen it in donkey’s years, and here we are.

So here is the thing about 08th MS Team, its doing two rather different things at once, and people tend to only talk about one of those things. The anime is known for being a generally grounded attempt at military realism. There's no child soldiers, just a lot of actual soldiers trying to get on with it. On first impressions, it ends up feeling lighter in tone than some Gundam media as its characters are neither miserable or overtly unsuited for combat, but it is still a war story, so things don't stay that way. Playing into that is the series' main mecha, a limited production, ground combat only variant on the old RX78-2. Its a very "tacticool" design, rationalising the core fighter out of the machine, and adding broadly sensible stuff like its distinctive shield and stowage backpack. It is treated as a good but mundane weapon of war. And one with limited spares, so the three identical machines of the 08th become unique as stuff breaks. This, along with generally good execution, means that the series is highly regarded by military types, and has a solid claim on "best action sequence in Gundam". That's in episode 10 BTW. The other thing it's doing though is the "Star-crossed Lovers" style of romantic tragedy, which isn’t immediately obvious from the gunpla or promotional images. This is evident from approximately 8 minutes into episode 1, when protagonist Shiro Amada meets his love interest Aina Sahalin, and they are on opposite sides of the One Year War. It's something of a tonal mismatch, and brings a number of anime tropes that don't play nice with military realism, like a secondary love interest, Kiki Rosita, whom is girl trope central. On the whole, 08th becomes more of a standard Gundam melodrama as it goes on, and that is not necessarily what the armchair generals are here for. It's tempting to point a finger at the production history as a cause for this, as if you replace both Director and Writer at the same time, it looks like some creative difficulties happened. Then again, this went down 20 years ago, and I don't speak Japanese, so I won't speculate further. Anyway, to stress my point, this anime is doing two things might be considered mutually exclusive, and most people are gonna like one aspect more than the other. However, this anime is doing what would count as military realism in the retro-future, Tominio making up a genre as he went, space nazi robot fight, hey, why is that dude in a mask? that is the Universal Century setting. Its not a mismatch so much as working with what you have. To put it another way, it is a war story with good character and robot bits. But it is also an anime where two people make a light saber hot-spring atop a mountain. It does go places that your average war diary doesn’t usually go. 

 

To illustrate this, I want to talk about Shiro for a bit, then Aina. First and foremost about Shiro, he's a nice guy, knows the job, and cares about those under his command. He's not a gifted pilot, but he has balls so big a mobile suit was probably necessary just to help him get around. You could not ask for a more earnest and capable squad leader, but one whose attitude is fundamentally unsuited for a gritty war drama. He's a paragon of virtue in a war zone, and the sort of guy you’d expect to have a very bad time once he meets actual reality. Then it turns out that he already has. While the specifics are unclear, it seems that Shiro witnessed the poison gas attack on Side 2, when Zeon forces invented a new means of genocide. This guy is putting a brave face over a war crime, desperately trying not to let anything like that happen on his watch again. When you realise that, everything he does in episode 1 is cast in a new light. Its also what makes things with Aina so fraught, and then intense. She's exactly the sort of person he should hate, but he can't reconcile how she is as person with Zeon as a group, and indeed his fundamental good nature. This causes him to flip a switch as it were, becoming a pacifist in all but name, which everyone else in the series challenges to hilt. When it becomes known that he and Aina are a thing, it puts him and the entire team under suspicion. Not unreasonably, to be fair. And Aina? Well, she has less screen time, so her arc is more subtle, but she has agency, and is going through much the same growth. She is very much his female counterpart, in that she's also a paragon and more innocent than a lot of other characters, although more in a “her ladyship” sense. She is in a position of relative privilege, but it is also a position that binds. Not only is she an aristocrat in reduced circumstances, she spends her time supporting her brother Ginias whom has ambitions. And issues, which I will talk about shortly. She has as many prejudices to overcome as Shiro, while finding what she's a part of as distasteful, but she's much less free. To an extent, Shiro represents an escape for her, but by the finale, neither have anywhere to go. In the later half of the series, events take a bittersweet angle as attempts to play nice simply don’t work due to the sociopaths on both sides. While Aina and Shiro struggle with their idealism, the entire anime is basically about the pair taking a more nuanced view of the war, and giving both the Federation and Zeon the finger. That's actually very appropriate for a spin-off set during the One Year War.

 

Weaknesses? Well, putting aside the absent episode 12, which is an unnecessary epilogue, the animes main weakness lies with its antagonist. Ginias Sahalin is one of the more, say, stereotypical Zeon characters and a lesser aspect of the show, if I am honest. Its like this, you go back and watch the original Gundam TV show, not the movies, the show. What do you get? An awful lot of Monster of the Week type stuff, where the latest Mobile Armour Wunderwaffe prototype goes up against the Gundam and looses. You know the type, some hugely expensive, and equally specialised weapon platform, probably made by a nutjob. Gina's is one such nutjob, an example of why Zeon thought it could win a war with the Federation, and how it lost. The wider plot of 08th, the bones of events, is one such project being played out in more detail. Its almost a deconstruction of such things. Where the anime goes wrong is not selling Ginias decent into madness. As near as I can figure, Ginias was a bastard in the first place, then goes off his meds as a result of Aina not being around to remind him, plus the war going badly, and he goes into full mad scientist territory. This is another trope that is somewhat at odds with the military realism stuff, but is kinda typical for Zeon bigwigs and certain real life militaries. I just wish they spent more time on his characterisation and maybe spelled out what exactly he was taking medicine for. One fan theory suggests he suffers from the obscure Wilson’s Disease, but I’m more inclined to blame the writing. Thematically, if Aina and Shiro are paragons of good, he’s the paragon of evil, and you need a proper bastard in a narrative like this one. Its just the execution that falters, and so he looks a bit cartoonish next to almost everyone else, whom have more nuanced depictions. Fortunately, we have a rather good supporting character whom deals with combat stuff for the Sahalin family, one Norris Packard. Sitting somewhere between a trusted family retainer and Aina's bodyguard, Norris doesn't say much at first, but is effectively characterised, and very much the star of that combat scene I mentioned earlier. People love this guy.

 

All this having been said, does 08th MS team hold up? I'd say it does and it probably benefits from its OVA format allowing for more creative freedom. Consider it a solid introduction to the franchise, with some problems, but generally a good time.

The Mecha Hack: 4 Ideas for Realer Real Robots

So, here's the thing, say you want "realism" in your Mecha Hack. That's realism as a design motif, not an actual function of the rules mechanics. It's a simple game, and giant robots are not realistic in any serious sense. But you mean realistic as in "not a Super Robot, a Real Robot". The next question is how realistic? Oh you mean militaristic? Gotcha. Well, the first thing you do is look at the Gundam franchise and throw most of it out. While the original series was a trope maker, one thing it did not do was apply the idea of a “squadron” well. In a real world military, vehicles of different types are not deployed together as a unit. Its a matter of logistics and practicality, the vehicles have to be able to keep pace with each-other, do the same tactical role, and as simple as possible to supply. You can see hints of this with antagonists, but the famous White Base has a mixed unit of a melee specialist with a bazooka, mid-range artillery, long-range artillery, and whatever you count the core block vehicles as. To be fair to Amuro & company, they were just refugees playing the hand they were dealt, and we're dealing with matters of drama, but this arrangement was fairly influential. This sort of thing however isn't Gundam's invention or fault. We are talking some seriously foundational storytelling dynamics. Think Journey to the West. Think Fellowship of the Ring. Think Five-Man Band. As a result, most mecha animes are often only Mildly Military in tone and execution, I.E. something outside the usual framework and without the attitude of a professional soldier, and obviously merchandise driven, like most anime is. If you want something that at least looks broadly sensible you have to go a bit more obscure, like Votoms, Gasaraki, Front Mission, and the outlier that is is Gundam: The 08th MS Team. This article presents some ideas on how to do that in The Mecha Hack, presented in a clickbait format.

 

Idea 1: Use Maps and the Optional Rules

While not specific to the Real Robot genre, there is a serious-mindedness that is common amongst its proponents. Just using a map will add a more considered and and technical feel, but would require more preparation from you as GM. The Mission Manual meanwhile presents a megaton of optional rules which could be layered onto a campaign, specifically Environment Templates and Hard Mode. Ammunition is an obvious one, as are Fire Team tests. On-foot skills may also be a good fit for smaller scale mecha settings. Try to aim for thematic, rather than tiresome, however.

Idea 2: Modifying Chassis

A basic tenant of the Real Robot style is for everything to be a mass produced item, often with a comparatively small number of main designs. The quickest way to introduce that feeling of uniformity is to simply have one chassis, letting pilot types and modules do the heavy lifting. You just need to ensure your chosen chassis does not present an obvious balance issue in bulk. Having a squad of strikers for example would hamstring the reactor mechanic without a modification. So, that's what I did for a game, I took that ability out and replaced it with stuff from other classes. modules and weapon qualities to create the feel of unified team, but each having a speciality.

Idea 3: Modify Level-ups

Following on from the above, you could change how a mecha levels up. It's far from unheard of for a generalist mecha to be customised for a specific person, so even if the basics are common, people can specialise in more subtle ways than new Chassis Abilities. There's a whole trope about it, the Ace Custom. So, while things like Hit Die could remain fixed, the other stats may level up differently. So, you might use the brawler as a base, but allow players to be "Scout Specialists" and level like a scout.

Idea 4: Command and Supply Vehicles

A concept that pops up occasionally is the idea of a non-humanoid support vehicle. Say a truck loaded with sensors to guide the Mecha, or supplies to assist. This might be an NPC, but then again you do get people whom enjoy playing support/healer/Auxillary, so here's some rules for that. This inspiration here is mainly the example in 08TH MS Team, although the modules lean on Front Mission.

 

Support Truck Chassis

Hit Die D6 Damage Die D4 Reactor Die D6

Levelling

Roll your hit die to gain new hit points. Roll to see if attributes increase, rolling twice for System and Presence. At levels 3, 6, & 9, gain a new module.

Starting HP

1d6 + 3

Proficiencies

Light Ranged Weapons, Light Amour.

Starting Equipment

Comlink, Defensive Turret (Light Ranged Weapon), Light Armour.

Sensor Boom

You gain Advantage on System tests to detect Distant and beyond-distant foes. You also gain Advantage on Initiative tests, provided at no foes are Close or Near.

Target Designator

See the Auxillary's Reinforce ability.

Support Truck Modules

Weapon Rack: You have stowage for weapons and shields, equivalent to 6 hands. You or a friendly Close Mecha may retrieve and henceforth operate a single piece of equipment with a Use action.

Emergency Repair Beam: As a Use action, immediately repair 1HP to all Close friendly mecha. Mecha with no AP remaining also gain a 1AP as well. Roll your reactor die.

If you do end up using these rules, please let me know how it turns out.