Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Battles (Spoilers)

[Crossroads Inc.]

Re watching Ep71 We see a good example of Ship Armor when due to a "strong solar wind" small asteroids begin impacting into imperial ships. At first the rocks seem to just bounce off the armor till much large ones come.

I am willing to bet that knowing the size of imperial ships, calcs could be done of the size of the smaller asteroids, and by extensions the speed they are moving at. That would give a good upper limit to the physical force Imperial armor could withstand.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Another amusing thing, there's a LOGH wiki (pretty empty for the most part) which has some nice side-view .gifs of the relevant ships.

http://yang-wenli.wikia.com/wiki/Legend ... eroes_Wiki

Some of the ship names are different. For example what the DVD rip says is the Ban-goo (WTF?) is actually Van Gogh!

http://yang-wenli.wikia.com/wiki/Van_Gogh

Actually there is a kanji of the ship's name which shows that it is the deity Pan-Gu

Which is more consistent to the other ship names of the FPA since most of them are heroes/deities.

[Vympel]

Nice catch dude. I'll make the relevant edits in due course.

Either tonight or tomorrow I'll be finished with the Imperial civil war - there's some awesome stuff in Episode 25 / 26 re: the situation with Duke Lichtenlade and I'm deciding which screenshots to use. There's some rare rear views of a lot of Reinhard's admiral's flagships and I love to show as many screencaps of the flagships as possible, they're just too cool.

I've also changed spelling of Admiral Muller's name to the more appropriate Mueller (since I have no omlaut), and noted that following the inaugration of Erwin Josef Marquis Lichtenlade became Duke Lichtenlade, and became Imperial Prime Minister.

[Vympel]

The Westerland Incident

In preparation for a siege of Geiersberg, the Lippstadt Alliance had intensified the exploitation of colonies under their control, confiscating resources for use by their forces. On Westerland, a planet belonging to Duke Braunschweig, Baron Scheidt, one of the Duke’s nephews, tried to suppress the resistance with military force.

A large riot ensued, and the Baron was killed in the chaos. Upon hearing the news, Duke Braunschweig, already reeling from his defeat in the battle outside the fortress, determined that a nuclear strike should be launched on the planet, killing all 2 million citizens.

Even the other nobles on Geiersberg were taken back by this order- the use of thermonuclear weapons on a planet had been taboo since the “13 Day War” that nearly wiped out the human race.

Commodore Ansbach, Braunschweig’s chief adviser, suggested punishing only the ring leaders, but was angrily rebuffed. Worse, upon leaving the Duke’s presence, he was overheard saying:-

“Now the Goldenbaum Dynasty is finished. How can it stand, when it cuts off its own limbs?”

Same was immediately reported to the Duke by Lt Commander Jakob Hauptmann. Those words were classified as treason, and Ansbach was arrested for investigation, with a view to his being put to death.

This news reached Marquis Lohengramm through his agents on the fortress – Lohengramm was about to give orders for a fleet to head to Westerland and prevent the strike.

Oberstein interjected – arguing that it was in their best interests to let the strike occur. By recording the act, they would be able to demonstrate the brutality of the high nobles to the entire Empire, and the citizens and common soldiers still under their control would abandon them.

Oberstein argued that should the nobles win the civil war, this sort of cruelty would be repeated many times. On Lohengramm retorting that the outcome was already clear, Oberstein noted that they currently lacked a definite strategy to take Geiersberg – if the enemy continued to wait out the siege, eventually Lohengramm’s long supply lines would put them at a disadvantage. Further, if Lohengramm was worried over 2 million lives, then surely more lives than that would be lost if the civil war continued.

Lohengramm was not convinced – they were already working to cause disruption in the fortress. At the same time, he did not reject Oberstein’s calculation outright. Without Kircheis to turn to, Lohengramm played for time, asking when the attack on Westerland would begin.

Oberstein deceived Reinhard – saying 6 hours. In reality he knew it would occur in 4. We can only speculate that perhaps Oberstein decided to strip Reinhard of this ethical dilemma, for the good of the Empire.

With this false information, Reinhard had Oberstein prepare a fleet for immediate dispatch – he would until the last possible moment to send the fleet, and asked Oberstein to leave until he called.

Upon leaving Reinhard, Oberstein ordered Captain Ferner to send out a reconnaissance probe to Westerland.



As planned, the probe recorded the nuclear strike on the planet.



The recon probe



One of the many warheads that detonated on Westerland

Going to the bridge of the Brunhild, Reinhard was shocked at the images displayed before him – Oberstein simply stated that the enemy attack was earlier than expected.

Not one to be fooled, Reinhard asked where the images were coming from. Oberstein’s answer – that it had been sent out ahead as a precaution – made the deception amply clear.

In any event, Reinhard accepted the new version of events – he had dispatched a fleet, the enemy attack was too swift, and the destruction of Westerland at the hands of the nobles was the result. It was now time to “do justice” to the 2 million citizens that had been sacrificed.



As expected, the Westerland massacre caused an uproar throughout the Empire. Duke Braunschweig’s brutality was exposed to the general populace, and Lohengramm, formerly a hero of the Imperial Fleet, became a hero of the Empire’s citizens at large.

Each planet under the nobles’ control rebelled almost in unison – isolating Geiersberg completely. On Geiersberg itself, there was open defiance and sabotage amongst the common soldiers, and many deserters to Reinhard’s side.

Amongst the nobles, they either surrendered, committed suicide – or in the case of Duke Braunschweig and his associates- descended into outright delusion.

Destruction of the Lippstadt League

At a party in the throne room – very sparsely populated by the few remaining nobles – the Duke and his sycophants engaged in a bout of false merriment and excessive drinking. Some of the nobles present would not engage in the charade, and suggested assassinating Braunschweig and offering his head to Marquis Lohengramm, as a means of reconciliation.



Whilst Duke Braunschweig amused himself with wild talk of making a drinking cup out of Lohengramm’s skull – Baron Flegel interjected – if they could actually take Reinhard’s head, their fortunes would be reversed – all they needed was one final battle.

Most of the nobles cheered the idea- as did Braunschweig. All remaining troops would be used for one final attack.

Vice Admiral Fahrenheit wouldn’t hear a word of it - he advocated making use of the fortress to prolong the fight and wait for the enemy to exhaust itself. Clearly having had enough of Braunschweig, Fahrenheit refused to go.



High Admiral Merkatz, however, would launch. Having served the Goldenbaum Dynasty for 40 years, he thought it fitting that he’d be destroyed along with it. He bid Fahrenheit farewell, advising him – still being a young man - to serve Marquis Lohengramm.

The remnants of the Lippstadt fleet charged. The Mecklinger, Kesler and Müller fleets were assigned to intercept.


The Berlin is spotted



Flegel goes all out

After the nobles’ 5th stubborn charge, Lohengramm decided the time was right to respond – the three forward fleets would push the nobles back together. With the enemy offensive having reached its limit, all ships in the fleet charged, following Lohengramm himself. Nothing had so buoyant effect on Lohengramm’s men than following the Brunhild and Reinhard himself into battle.



Brunhild charges




As the nobles' fleet was annihilated, some of Reinhard’s agents in the fortress (led by Jakob Hauptmann) seized the control room for the Vulture’s Claw, ensuring it would not fire on them as they closed on Geiersberg. Landing ships began securing themselves to the fortress.


Firefight for the gun room


Landing ships attach

Baron Flegel meanwhile asked that a comm line be opened to the blonde brat – he would challenge him to single, ship to ship combat. Lohengramm’s fleet was not accepting any messages except unconditional surrender. Near hysterical, Flegel then turned to calling out one of Reinhard’s retainers – Mittermeyer, Reuenthal, Bittenfeld, anyone would do – he only wished to “fall gloriously in mortal combat with a famous enemy”.



Captain Schumacher protested – he had no wish to die for Baron Flegel’s suicidal vainglorious urges.

Enraged, Flegel pulled out a pistol to kill him – but was quickly shot by two other crewmen on the bridge. Schumacher and his men would escape to Fezzan to live a new life. Anyone who wished to stay could do so.



Admiral Merkatz realized they could no longer return to Geiersberg. He was seconds away from committing suicide with his service pistol before his second in command, Lt. Commander Schneider, convinced him not to. Too old and proud to serve the young Lohengramm, Merkatz was persuaded by Schneider to defect to the Free Planets Alliance- specifically, Yang Wen-li – and fight another day.



Duke Braunschweig returned to an empty throne room – only Commodore Ansbach and two of his men (who had released him from his cell) were waiting for him. Forgetting his plans to have Ansbach executed, he suggested to Ansbach that they make peace with Marquis Lohengramm – he would acknowledge his authority, and offer him his daughter’s hand in marriage – thereby becoming a grandson of Kaiser Friedrich IV. He would then be able to assume the throne without accusations of usurpation.

Ansbach noted it was useless to talk of such things at this point – Lohengramm had no need for Braunschweig and the remaining nobles – the Westerland massacre had become a symbol of the noble’s brutality – Lohengramm could not allow Braunschweig to live.

Accepting his death was inevitable, he asked Ansbach not to let Lohengramm usurp the throne. Ansbach promised he would kill Lohengramm.



Ansbach then offered Braunschweig poison as a quick and easy death. With his end near, Braunschweig quailed – offering Ansbach all his territories and wealth if he just saved his life. Ansbach quickly had his men restrain the Duke, and forced poisoned wine down his throat. He died immediately.



Seeking to keep his promise, Ansbach ordered his men to take the corpse to the infirmary, even though the Duke was already dead.

Lohengramm’s men secured control of the fortress, and the Lippstadt League was defeated. It was September, Space Year 797 (Imperial Year 488).



Ansbach’s Assassination Attempt

Siegfried Kircheis returned from his campaign on the frontier after the fall of the fortress. Having previously been informed by Rear Admiral Karl Robert Steinmetz (former captain of the Brunhild, and now Vice Admiral for his distinguished actions in the frontier campaign, where he secured 17 sectors) of disturbing rumors of what really happened at Westerland, he immediately confronted Reinhard about it.


Barbarossa docks next to the Brunhild in Geiersberg Fortress

Reinhard told Kircheis the truth. Kircheis lectured him, and was angrily rebuffed.

Rumors of the quarrel spread amongst Lohengramm’s subordinates on the same day it occurred. None felt comfortable in meddling between the friendship of the two – except for Vice Admiral Oberstein, who had debated the issue of Kircheis’ favored treatment (which he felt was at the expense of the other Admirals, and particularly Mittermeyer and Reuenthal) with Reinhard in the past.

A victory celebration was held the day following the argument on Geiersberg. Lohengramm had already told Oberstein to make preparations for returning to Odin ahead of the main force. He was to deal with Duke Lichtenlade – who had wasted no time, with the high nobles out of the way, in stirring up discontent against Reinhard amongst the remaining Imperial nobles who stayed behind on Odin.

Reinhard’s subordinates met in the throne room for the celebration. It began with an audience with the POWs. Vice Admiral Fahrenheit was first. Before he could speak, Reinhard chided him for siding with Braunschweig, and suggested from now on, he would obey Reinhard as his commander. Fahrenheit agreed, and he immediately joined ranks with the other Admirals, to all of their approval.


Kircheis’ thoughts during the celebration

Next was Commodore Ansbach – with the body of Duke Braunschweig. Opening the medical capsule, he pulled out a rocket launcher which had been stuffed into Braunschweig’s corpse and took aim.




With Oberstein’s policy that weapons not be permitted in the hall, none of the Admirals were armed - even Kircheis, who had always carried a weapon to protect Reinhard in the past.


Reinhard’s admirals, shocked

Standing to Reinhard’s left, Oberstein leaped in front of Reinhard to sacrifice his own life. In a flash, Kircheis had crossed the distance and had grabbed Ansbach's arm, spoiling his aim and sending a rocket into the rear wall.


Ansbach misses

An expert in hand to hand combat, Kircheis quickly disarmed him. Unfortunately Kircheis could not have known Ansbach was wearing a ring with a hidden beam weapon – he fired two shots, one in Kircheis chest, the other in his neck as they fell to the ground.





Wahlen, Kempf and Bittenfeld rushed in and restrained Ansbach, whilst Kircheis’ final act being to pull Ansbach’s arm down with him, breaking it in the process.

Having failed, Ansbach took comfort in the fact that he had deprived Lohengramm of Kircheis. He then bit down on a suicide pill hidden in his mouth, and died before anyone could stop him from swallowing.



Reinhard was able to share some final words before Kircheis died.



Unable to accept what had happened, Reinhard shut himself off from the world, sitting quietly next to Kircheis body.



Power is taken

Reinhard’s men were at a loss at what to do. Reuenthal took the lead – they would have to snap Reinhard out of his malaise, or else all they had fought for would be lost. He suggested they speak to Oberstein.

Oberstein suggested that he inform the Countess Grünewald, Reinhard’s sister, of Kircheis’ death (thereby forcing Reinhard to speak with her and get much needed contact) – whilst the admirals would catch the criminal who had killed Kircheis - that criminal being Duke Lichtenlade. It was true enough, Oberstein reasoned – sooner or later Lichtenlade would have to eliminate his rivals, and that was how Lichtenlade’s faction saw them now.

It was agreed that the fastest ships from each fleet would be selected, and dispatched immediately to Odin (a 20 day journey from Geiersburg). Duke Lichtenlade would be arrested and the State Seal taken from him, establishing Lohengramm’s right to rule. Mecklinger and Lutz would stay behind to defend Geiersberg.


Beowulf


Müller’s flagship Lübeck


Königstiger


Vice Admiral Fahrenheit’s temporary flagship


Jotunheim


Salamander


Kesler’s flagship Forseti


Vice Admiral Steinmetz’s flagship, the Forkel

With Mittermeyer and Reunethal at their head, upon arrival at Odin the fleet flew about the Imperial city, dropping paratroopers and forcing a landing anywhere they could – suburbs, lakes, forests.


Beowulf, Lübeck, Königstiger and Tristan above Odin


Tristan, in foreground, and Beowulf descend with other ships


Above the Imperial city, ships being to drop paratroopers and light armor


Landing is forced at the main space dock …


… and elsewhere

Reunethal arrested Duke Lichtenlade personally.




The State Seal is secured

As Odin was taken, Oberstein informed Reinhard that his sister wished to speak to him, and made his own efforts to snap Reinhard out of his grief.



Accepting the news (and almost certainly having been in love with Kircheis, as he had been with her) she told Reinhard she had nothing left but the past, whilst he had only the future. Therefore she would move out of Reinhard’s mansion, and would not see him again until he was “weary” – and that he was not weary yet.


Countess Grünewald

Reinhard agreed – after he kept his pledge to Kircheis – after he had won the universe – he would return to her.



Immediately after speaking to the Countess, he opened communications with Reuenthal on Odin. Commending him for his distinguished actions, he would return to Odin.

Reuenthal was ordered to offer Duke Lichtenlade suicide. His family – contrary to prior practice – would not all be executed. The women and children would be exiled to the frontier. All males over the age of 10 would be put to death. Uncaring of the risks to himself in the future, Reinhard casually noted that any of the boys under 10 who wished to challenge him in the future could do so (Reinhard himself had been 10 when he entered the Academy) – incompetent rulers could expect to be overthrown. Reinhard also told Reuenthal that when any of them were ready, they could try to do so as well.



Reuenthal assumed that remark was a jest.

Aftermath

On his return to Odin, Marquis Lohengramm became Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces. He was given the concurrent position of Imperial Prime Minister, and thereby became Duke Lohengramm – with absolute authority over the Empire.

The death of Kircheis also had consequences for Oberstein's relationship with Reinhard's other admirals - he would be loathed for having been the indirect cause of Kircheis' death, and constantly viewed with suspicion.

Siegfried Kircheis was posthumously promoted to Fleet Admiral, and awarded a position in the Triumvirate of the Imperial Forces. His grave was located on Odin. The Barbarossa was permanently docked next to the Brunhild’s assigned docking port on Odin, never to leave port again.


Kircheis’ grave

The death of Kircheis had a profound effect on Reinhard. He would fight – as he always intended to do with Kircheis – to gain control over all of space – both to fulfil his promise to Kircheis, and to gain something to quench the thirst in his heart – whether a great friend, or a famous enemy – such as Yang Wen-li.


The locket Reinhard would wear for the rest of his life

[Crossroads Inc.]

To think, so many specialized and custome flagships all in one epasode, and most of thier shots are from the rear only! A lot of those are ones I've never seen before, or at least don't recall.

Have to say that once again it is said what happens to the Berlin I remmember watching this the first time and seeing how it was wasted. Of course as other have said it is a ship that seems designed by a coward.

Massive amounts of deffensive armour, yet it is made to be dropped to allow for a quick escape at the first sign of trouble!

[takemeout_totheblack]

Thanks Vympel! These are very well put together posts!
Man, Oberstein's just kicking morals in the teeth! His birthday is supposedly really close to Machiavelli's, and boy does it ever show! That's one of the things I like about this series, it doesn't shy from showing that sometimes those pesky moral choices are best left to those without conscience! Really, how would have Reinhard's coup against Lichtenlade and the other nobles on Odin have gone if Oberstein hadn't arranged the Westerland incident to bolster Reinhard's image? You can tell that Oberstein had the whole thing planned out from the second he heard about the warships heading to Westerland, sending a probe to capture the necessary shock images, misleading Reinhard, all of it!
As for the death of Kircheis, well he was definitely on Oberstein's list of 'People Who Could Fuck Things Up', what with his pesky morals and essentially being the angel on Reinhard's shoulder, if Ansbach hadn't intervened Oberstein may have just arranged an assassination himself. Really, everything came together in the end for Ol' Paul, with Seig getting corpsey being icing on the cake.

Keep up the good work Vympel!

[Vympel]

Yeah, Oberstein got everything he wanted out of that - though I'm positive he didn't intend for Kircheis to be killed, he just did not approve of Kircheis' special treatment at the other admiral's "expense". What Oberstein didn't appreciate was that there were no signs whatsoever that any of the other admirals were at all jealous of Kircheis' position - in fact I'd say he was as much loved as Reinhard himself. That reminds me, I forgot to mention Oberstein in the aftermath - added.

[MarshalPurnell]

I think Oberstein was concerned that Kircheis would come to be seen as an alternative center of authority to Reinhard. In a paranoid autocracy like the Empire was, such an alternative could only breed plots or rebellion and undermine the position of the Kaiser. Arguing about Kircheis' privileged position being unfair to the other admirals was just a way of getting what he wanted without setting off Reinhard's own scruples. If Oberstein had argued directly that Kircheis' elevation was a potential threat Reinhard would have brushed him off immediately, and probably with some degree of anger. Instead the indirect approach let him put Kircheis back on an even level as a full subordinate of his own master. It seems unlikely he ever planned to kill Kircheis or plot against any of Reinhard's loyal retainers (though he could be fooled with evidence of disloyalty manufactured by others) but his sinister reputation and quasi-responsibility for Kircheis' death distanced himself from the rest of the admirals. It was clearly deliberate to some extent, since blaming the King's wicked adviser is a time-honored tradition and it drew fire for "necessary" evils away from Reinhard. In any case that had some very long-lasting repercussions throughout the series which is one example of the level of complexity the series managed.

[takemeout_totheblack]

Marshal has a point I didn't consider. Oberstein has an *almost* noble devotion to the Goldenlohen Dynasty, evidenced by his split second leap in front of Reinhard (taking a bullet? Hah! Oberstein would take a fucking missile for his Empire!)
He would do nothing to potentially destabilize it, even if it means employing circuitous means to neutralize tender points like the Seig/Reinhard dynamic, having Kircheis killed would be far too risky for someone as unfailingly cautious and calculating as Oberstein. So instead he worked it so that Reinhard made it clear that he was Kircheis's superior first and friend second, then Kircheis died and that whole thing was rendered moot.
However, it was this friction before Kircheis's death that probably made it that much more devastating to Reinhard, the whole 'we parted on bad terms' thing. This will pop up several times right up until the last few episodes, as Reinhard often 'consults' Kircheis on what to do next, basically second guessing himself based on what he thinks Seig's opinions would be. A lasting impression indeed!

[Vympel]

Good thoughts all round.

Holy shit. I just realised something. Look at Steinmetz's flagship, the Vonkel. Then see there are streaking stars in all those shots. Those are the only times in the series we see ships travelling explicitly at FTL (as opposed to the one time we see them coming out of FTL).

[takemeout_totheblack]

I have to say that scene there made my heart race. With only music and some streaking stars it carried the mood of the scene so perfectly I felt like getting up and saying 'Hurry! For Reinhard! For the Empire!" and the whole 'land! I don't care where, just get your ships planetside and drop your troops!' is just epic!
I still hate using that word, it's tacky in any other case, but this series certainly lives up to the overused term's former meaning!

[Crossroads Inc.]

Bloody hell you are right Vympel. I can;t recall Any other time we see ships actually traveling in light as opposed to jumping in and jumping out.

[Vympel]

Whilst doing an initial watch of the Alliance civil war episodes I'm struck once again by how much I didn't notice when I first watched the series - like the character of Commodore van Hugh, one of Yang's sub commanders. I thought he was a one off commander introduced in the fortress vs fortress battle arc (the guy with the tiger-striped battleship), but he was introduced way back in Season 1- where he had the same ship in the Yang fleet, but different paintjob (the Mauria). This guy's an Alliance Bittenfeld - but yeah, not as smart

I've updated the Amlitzer entry to change Ban-Goo to Pan-Gu. I also turned a bunch of images into links because there were so many simultaneous connections it was actually crapping out a friend's wireless network connection (!) forcing him to continually reset his network.

[Vympel]

Updated Battle of Astate to include Merkatz's unique flagship, which does not make an appearance in the series proper (in the series version of Astate, Merkatz has a standard design battleship, as he does in the Imperial Civil War)



Looking at old webpages about LOGH miniatures (1/12000 scale, so really fucking small, and ludicrously expensive to boot) the name of the ship might be Nerutolingen, but there's no way to be sure (it could be referring to another ship in the set?) so I'll keep it unnamed.

EDIT: the miniatures I'm talking about:- http://www.hlj.com/product/YLSAG-005

We can assume from this "retcon" that Merkatz may not have had access to his unique ship by the time of the civil war - it may have been confiscated by Reinhard's forces before it could escape Odin, perhaps?

[Tornado Ninja Fan]

I just googled Nerutolingen and it seems the German name is Nördlingen (or Noerdlingen).

(Here is a Japanese page with a miniature of the ship.)

[Vympel]

Thanks, I'll edit accordingly.

It'd be nice if I could read Japanese webpages

EDIT: luckily I can look at the URLs and find the proper spelling for most of the ships now!

[Companion Cube]

If you go to that miniatures page and look at the Augsburg, you can see that the "wings" on the Berlin-type flagships are separate (presumably unmanned) ships flying in formation with them, which is something I never noticed in the original series.

Thanks for this tremendous thread, Vympel

[Crossroads Inc.]

If you go to that miniatures page and look at the Augsburg, you can see that the "wings" on the Berlin-type flagships are separate (presumably unmanned) ships flying in formation with them, which is something I never noticed in the original series.

Thanks for this tremendous thread, Vympel

Are you sure? It really looks as if they are physically connected to the ships, I can't imagine specialized "ships" flying that close without being physically connected.

They may indeed be able to function on thier own, but I do think they are physically attached.

[Companion Cube]

Check out the "The Berlin is spotted" screenshot above.

You can see the Berlin itself in the upper-left, coming right at us. I can't make out any physical connection between the main hull and the wing-thingies.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Bloody hell. I can't tell you how many times I looked at that without noticing. That is just wierd.

That means those "things" are indeed selfcontained ships and, in theory, could be used to provide addtional protection to ANY starship. That just seems wierd.

[Vympel]

Also take a look at Kircheis vs Littenheim, the view of the Ostmark from the bridge of the Barbarossa. No obvious connection there either.



Actually thats interesting, the Augsburg IIRC is in Overture to a New War. I'll check my video when I get home. It might be worth taking a screencap and adding her too. She's not in Mittermeyer vs Staaden though - Staaden's got a regular battleship.

[Vympel]

Added the Augsburg, Staaden's flagship, to Astate - it could actually be the same ship that he fights Mittermeyer in, just without the side ... thingies.



Notice its a standard battleship design without the extra guns - while Muckenburger's flagship (seen in the 4th Tiamat Battle, there's a screenshot of it with a cruiser exploding behind it) has the extra guns, but no side thingies.

I also added a picture of Fogel griping.

I noticed an interesting error/ discrepancy too - Mecklinger says that Fogel and Erlache are Rear Admirals, yet their uniforms are clearly Vice Admiral. The original Episode 1 shows them as clearly Rear Admirals. I therefore haven't changed anything, and kept referring to them as Rear Admirals, on the basis that this was the original intent and is reflected by Mecklinger's comments.

[kalnaf]

Uh.....

OK.

I just stopped by while searching for LOGH screencaps. And I went through all 7 pages of this long discussion here.
I am very glad to find that there are a lot of westerners, such as you lots, who are also enjoying the charm of LOGH.

The enthusiasm shown here made me want to participate too, and thus I joined the forum.

(Well, about LOGH, I have actually read the novels through my youth and then watched the anime version.)

You guys mentioned 'side-ports' of Berlin class flagships being not connected. Well, that one screencap is just a mistake made by the animator, and they are indeed physically connected.


(Otto von Braunschweig's flagship "Berlin")
(Wilhelm Von Rittenheim's flagship "Ostmark")



And...

Somebody mentioned 'only seeing the rear' of cool Imperial flagships, so I'll put the front shots here.


Neidhart Müller's Flagship "Lübeck"


His later flagship "Parcival"




Karl Gustav Kempf's flagship "Jotunheim"



Karl Robert Steinmetz's flagship "Forkel"






On the other hand, there was something VERY disturbing about that LOGH WIKI link up there, and that was the classification of ships.

In that wiki, Imperial Battle Ship is portrayed as New Imperial Flagship class (used by young admirals like Alfred Grillpalzer), while Imperial Destroyer is portrayed with the image of the Battle ship. And 'Gunship' is portrayed by the image of Destroyer. Duh!

Let me correct that here.

THIS is the destroyer


Standard Battleship


Only difference with standard flagship and standard battleship is the coloring on the side.

Anyhow, I think FPA ships have more militaristic flavor and thus more realistic and 'cool', to my liking.



Oh, and one more thing. Why did the author depict Tomahawk and Crossbow wielding ancient hand-to-hand combat in LOGH?
Well of course, to graphically show the cruelty and gruesome nature of war! Blood and Gore is the best way of showing how bad wars are, right?








However,... just usual space combat is cruel as well.

http://pds6.egloos.com/pds/200711/14/68 ... 38a4c8.jpg

This blood and gore is one of the reasons why I love LOGH so much.


Well, sorry for the long rambling here, but I just wanted to say something.

[kalnaf]

Oh, and if anyone's wondering...

This is how the most recent Japanese RTS LOGH looks like.

[Vympel]

Awesome, thanks for the screencap contribution! I too noted the substantial errors on that wiki. I had to personally correct the Jotunheim entry, they mistakenly claimed it was destroyed during the Lippstadt Civil War!

Alliance Civil War is coming soon!

Wish that game was out here ...