Macross F (Frontier) information and preview video.

Dendrobius · Post by **Dendrobius** » 2008-03-07 07:20pm

The VF-19 had been judged sufficently safe to be put into limited mass production (Emerald Force, Mac7; one was also heavily modified for Basara), same goes for the VF-22 sans BCS. The YF-19 was a wild horse, but the VF-19 wasn't too hard to pilot as it was already being issued to front-line squadrons and was slated to replace the VF-11 completely.

It just doesn't make sense that UN Spacey would scrap BOTH the 19 and the 22 after 6+ years of development then go and make a derivative off an already obsolete spec ops fighter (VF-17), and keep it as their main line fighter for the next 13 years.

Project Supernova was done in 2040, Frontier's set 2059. Limited Mass production was initiated by 2046 (Mac7). So 6 years between YF to VF, then nothing for the next 13? Geez.

I wonder if it's external forces ie "We need to sell more toys/merchandise" which drove this decision?

Dendrobius · Post by **Dendrobius** » 2008-03-07 07:33pm

Vendetta wrote: Also, the 19 and 21 didn't have FAST packs or armour packs.

19 and 21 didn't have armour packs, but they certainly did have FAST packs.

YF-21
http://www.steelfalcon.com/Macross/Images/YF21fast.gif

YF-19
http://www.steelfalcon.com/Macross/Images/YF19fast.gif

And also the Foldildo I mean Fold Booster
http://www.tmpanime.com/images/medium/y ... ly_MED.jpg

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2008-03-07 07:40pm

Dendrobius wrote: 19 and 21 didn't have armour packs, but they certainly did have FAST packs.

Don't recall that happening in canon anywhere. Might be in a game I haven't seen, but certainly not a TV series.

Dendrobius · Post by **Dendrobius** » 2008-03-07 08:57pm

Nope, both the 21 and the 19 had their FAST packs on for the final combat over Earth in Plus, both for the 4 episode OVA and in the movie. I'd send some screenies but I'm at work and also I'd have to dig my Macross Plus DVD out, but definitely they had the FAST packs on.

Actually, this will do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRWa1rn_ ... re=related
That's the original 4 Ep OVA for Plus

@0:10, you see the underbelly FAST pack for the YF-21 - the green part with the gunpods recessed
@2:03, you see the leg side FAST pack in action for the YF-19 - normal YF-19 doesn't have legside missiles
@2:06, you see the hip side FAST pack for the YF-21 - normal YF-21 doesn't have the gunpods mounted on the hip (ref http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3012 ... odewa6.gif)
@2:28, you clearly see the shoulderguards and leg FAST pack for the YF-19

So yeah, no armour pack, but FAST pack, definitely.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-03-07 10:25pm

Dendrobius, promise me that you will NEVER link to Steelfalcon again.

VF-19 Super Booster

Also I think you guys are reading too much into the fact that every new Macross production needs a new Valkyrie so that they can make a toy. [/url]

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-03-08 05:50pm

Yeah, but remember what board we're posting on? EVERYTHING must be subject to SOD and rationalized

Are they going to be able to make the 25 cheaper that the 19/22?

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-03-08 05:59pm

I don't know, how much do you think a crazy powerful robot space plane costs?

I bet it's a lot.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-03-09 01:28am

Exactly, although I though that you in your expansive Macross knowledge you might remember a unit price for the Excalibur and maybe Sturmvogel. It it possible that the 25 is a lower cost rollout mecha frame using technologies developed in the original AVF project?

Dendrobius · Post by **Dendrobius** » 2008-03-09 08:29am

So far as I know, there is no material on unit cost of any VFs in any official canon material. VF5SS would not want you to go down the path of the RPG game (as accurate to canon in Macross as the WEG RPG game is to Star Wars)...so all is guesswork.

Apart from the "we need new shiny from Kawamori to make the toys sell better" angle, there's not much to go on. It doesn't make sense at all in universe. Even if the 25's cheaper, why so late and still only just match the performance of VFs from 15 years ago? What happened to the 19 and the 22 when they were already being put into initial low rate production? When was the 171 developed? Why a derivative of an obsolete spec ops fighter and not a refined or even toned down version of the 19 or the 22? Lots of questions, no real answers.

Hey, crazy powerful robot space planes cost a lot, but a crazier, more powerful robot space plane has to cost more, right?

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2008-03-09 08:29am

Dendrobius wrote: @2:03, you see the leg side FAST pack in action for the YF-19 - normal YF-19 doesn't have legside missiles

It does. Their use, or otherwise, is a recurring plot point in M7.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-03-09 10:44am

This is all that has even been said about the cost of a Valkyrie. From Macross Compendium.

"[A VF-1's cost] Not publicly disclosed, but reported to be about 20 times that of a standard Destroid."

But after all of humanity was nearly wiped out I'm sure the need for profit dwindled a little bit. At the very least they stopped making Destroids because they kept dying against anything other than unarmed Zentradi. I imagine the costs of a Valkyrie have gone down by the Macross 7 era if civilians can afford to buy modified VT-1Cs and if poachers can get a VF-17 through the black market. I imagine the use of Factory Satellites helped drive production costs down.

Oh and Dendrobius, the YF-19 has "2 x Stonewell/Roice B-7 standard internal pallets (mounted ventral side fuselage in Fighter mode, lower legs in GERWALK/Battroid modes) featuring air-to-air/air-to-ground general-purpose micro-missile pallets, Bifors BMM-24 all-regime high-maneuverability micro-missile cluster, OR 2 x [4 x] B-19A YF-19-exclusive internal weapons pallets." So yeah, the regular YF-19 has weapon bays. The FAST packs only add more missile launchers.

Oddly enough there has been some discussion at Macrossworld about the misconceptions surrounding the deployment of the VF-19. Since the shows only focus on specific fleets (Macross 7 and Macross 25), we're not seeing the full range of Valkyries employed by the UN Spacy. If anything, most of the VF-19s are on Earth but they have been deployed on Macross 7 and have made their way to planet Zolan.

Dendrobius · Post by **Dendrobius** » 2008-03-09 07:37pm

Vendetta wrote:It does. Their use, or otherwise, is a recurring plot point in M7.

VF5SS wrote: snip

I keep thinking that the FAST packs on the legs hold the bigass long range missile for the YF-19. Oh well, learn something new every day. Still, the point was that both the 19 and the 21 have used their FAST packs in canon, so that's all good.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-03-12 10:43am

Poor Klan-chan doesn't come out of a micronization chamber the way she should.

For whatever reason this reminds me of Hydra from UFO Princess Valkyrie. Hopefully there will be many lulz.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2008-03-12 02:27pm

VF5SS wrote:Oddly enough there has been some discussion at Macrossworld about the misconceptions surrounding the deployment of the VF-19. Since the shows only focus on specific fleets (Macross 7 and Macross 25), we're not seeing the full range of Valkyries employed by the UN Spacy. If anything, most of the VF-19s are on Earth but they have been deployed on Macross 7 and have made their way to planet Zolan.

Also, the VF-19 and VF-21 didn't get deployed to Macross 7 until quite a while after the Protodeviln threat had arisen and escalated.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-03-29 10:58pm

Just a quick update from the manga. Spoilers of course.

This old bird is gonna fly again.

Remember, the show premieres April 3rd at 25:15 hours, which is more like April 4th. It's on late enough that people in the west could watch at a more reasonable hour.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2008-03-30 03:12am

VF5SS wrote:This old bird is gonna fly again.

I hope she realises she's looking at history right there.

And I love this show already; it kindled an interest in Macross with a friend, which allowed me to make him into a full blown fan.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-03-30 02:46pm

A day in the life of a VF-1.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-03-31 02:15pm

Hey, I actually watched the preview episode the other day! Tragically late, but I thought it looked pretty tight. Loved the last shot and its homage to Ichijo's first encounter with the enemy. I think it also featured the most gruesome death I've seen in Macross.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2008-03-31 08:34pm

VF5SS wrote:I thought the Phoenix name for the VF-0 was dropped in favor of just calling it Zero.

They should have called it the Phoenixhawk.

Hey, have you seen the Macross Mecha Manual?

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-04-01 08:11am

Galvatron wrote: They should have called it the Phoenixhawk. :)

But then it would overheat like crazy and take massive damage from falling on its ass. And it would also be badly drawn.

Hey, have you seen the Macross Mecha Manual?

Yeah, I've already linked to it a few times. I know the guy who runs it even. I'm glad he put MMM together. Otherwise people would perpetuate the shit from Steelfalcon or the Robotech Reference Guide. You know, the places where people just make shit up.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-04-01 11:13am

Yeah, but Deitrich could get away with that a lot easier when the web was still shiny and new

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-04-02 09:03am

This is a familiar scene...

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-04-03 01:16pm

So the first episode aired today. It is different from the Deculture edition that was part of the 1 hour special back in December. Some changes include:

-OP and ED sequence.
-Eyecatch
-New scenes with the characters
-Concert has been redone
-Some scenes removed.

Also you can see Battle 25! in the OP. It's a bit different from Battle 7 and Macross 13 from VFX-2. It's interesting that each New Macross class ship is slightly different from the last. Battle 25 has some big SDF-1 Macross style shoulder cannons.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2008-04-05 04:41pm

Why hello there, little girl!

That's a pretty epic cameo.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-04-06 02:18pm

Nothing particularly important removed?

Battle 25 looks badarse for sure. Looking forward to seeing that main gun used.