Scenario 2 - The Pirates of Mars (click to view)
Commander Okita is never going to let us forget who’s in charge of this Earth-saving mission.
It’s time to start exploring these various submenus – but not all of them! There’s only so many times in an update I can say “look at this menu” and make it sound interesting.
Firstly, the Pilot List and Mech List allows you to check on your units’ stats (same as the screenshots I’ve been posting every time we meet a new ally). If a unit has “EV” next to its name, then they are an Event unit and are automatically deployed sometime during the next scenario.
Battleships like the Yamato get their own little anchor symbol, unfortunately this stops the EV symbol from showing. Once we have a large number of battleships, we won’t be able to tell which are Event-mandatory and which aren’t without going into the scenario first.
We unlocked the Yamato at the end of Scenario 1, but haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. Let’s do that now:
Space Battleship Yamato (Juzo Okita, Susumu Kodai, Daisuke Shima, Shiro Sanada)
Theme: Yamato Descends
Special Abilities:
- EN Regen (M) (Recovers 20% of maximum EN per turn)
- Wave Motion Barrier (Nullifies damage under 2,500; costs 10 EN per use)
Special Skills:
- Commander (raises accuracy and evasion for surrounding units
- Captain’s Order (increases the strength and range of Commander)
- Potential (Accuracy/Evasion/Critical/Defense rises as HP decreases)
- Spirit Endurance (immune to the status effects of enemy weapons)
Ace Bonus: All Yamato pilots gain +5 additional SP per turn.
Battleships in SRW games are all about the pros and cons. They have high HP, but if the enemy destroys one of your battleships then it’s Game Over. They have a large attack range and do decent damage, but most of their attacks can’t be used if the battleship moves. The attacks that cost EN also tend to cost a lot of EN.
Battleships do have two fully-positive qualities. One, they’re often manned by a crew of pilots instead of just one pilot. Each of these pilots has their own SP pool and different Spirit Commands (although the main pilot - Commander Okita - is the only one with actual combat stats). Secondly, the main pilot usually has the Commander skill, an area-of-effect booster for your other units’ accuracy and evasion.
Being the literal last hope of humanity, the Yamato is hands-down the best battleship in the game. It has powerful EN-based and ammo-based attacks! It regenerates EN every turn and blocks damage with the Wave Motion Barrier! Commander Okita has decent-enough stats for a battleship pilot, and the exclusive Captain’s Order skill to maximize his commanding power!
Next up on the Intermission tour, the Power Parts submenu lets us equip items onto our robots. Robots can have anywhere from 1 to 4 equipment slots, with most units having 2 slots as default.
Normally at this early point in the game, we’d have no Power Parts available. However, since I’ve gone ahead and purchased all the DLC scenarios, we have access to the following Power Parts:
- Aura’s Protection (recovers pilot’s SP by 100; usable once per stage)
- Auxilary EOS (+20 Mobility)
- ExC Laser (when equipped unit receives ExC points, they receive an additional ExC point)
- Fairy Breath (casts Spirit Command “Fortune” on all allies; usable once per stage)
- Haro (+25 Mobility/Sight, +2 Move, +1 weapon range)
- High Precision Sensors (+20 Sight, +1 weapon range)
- Megabooster (+2 Move)
- Quantun Computer (+10% skill activation rate)
- Quantum Flywheel (+100 EN, recovers 10% EN per turn)
- Super Repairkit (recovers all HP/EN/ammunition; usable once per stage)
- V Aggressor (+100 damage, +20 Accuracy, +20 Critical)
- V Circuit (+200 damage, +1 Move, +1 weapon range)
- V Crystal (+200 damage, unit/weapons gain A-ranks in all Terrain)
- V Defensor (+500 HP, +50 EN, +100 Armor, +15 Evasion)
- Vitality Down (casts Spirit Command “Haze” on all enemies; usable once per stage)
There’s a lot of technical jargon there, and I’ll be sparing the details of what parts I equip onto what robots before each scenario, but here’s the general guidelines I follow:
- Battleships want additional Move so that they can better ferry other units around the map. (We won’t have a good opportunity to show off ferrying until Scenario 4.)
- Super robots want additional EN for using all their best moves more often. Adding additional HP and Armor isn’t a bad idea. (Sight/Mobility gains won’t help them significantly when fighting real robots.)
- Real robots want damage-increasing parts to put them on par with super robots’ damage output, and extra Sight/Mobility for fighting against other real robots. HP and Armor is good if you have extra parts lying around.
- The big winner (for now) on the above list of parts is the Fairy Breath, which casts Fortune on all our allied units. As you might recall, the Fortune Spirit Command (one of Lottie’s SCs) doubles the money we get from defeating enemies. More money means stronger robots, and we definitely want stronger robots.
That’s enough menu-ing for one update. We equip pilots with parts - Lottie gets the Fairy Breath, the Yamato gets a couple of +Move parts - and begin the next scenario.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB5sgh_djV8&width=690&height=380&rel=0
The Yamato exits Earth’s atmosphere, and the crew takes a final moment to look at their ruined planet before departing. Although some crew members remain skeptical of Chitose’s story, eventually both she and Soji are made permanent members of the Yamoto’s crew. Chitose is assigned to the Aircraft Squad hemled by Lt. Junior Grade Saburo Kato, and to the Accounting apparement staffed by Ensign Akira Yamamoto.
Commander Okita gives an overview of the Yamato’s 336,000 light-year journey to Iscandar and back. To accomplish this feat in the span of a single year, the Yamato is equipped with a Wave Motion Engine capable of warp speed. However, the engine has not been fully completed. To obtain the parts needed for the safe operation of the engine, the Yamato sets course for the abandoned Federation base on the planet Mars…
(The Yamato arrives on Mars, and I already miss the colorful scenery from last scenario.)
That’s definitely the Altinia Base site.
Looks like we’re in for a lonely landing, though.
We can’t waste a lot of time. Let’s get the materials we need, and get to work.
I’m picking something up on radar! It’s a-!
(It’s a squadron of mobile suits!)
Mobile suit inbound! Based on the type, it belongs to the Jupiter Empire!
Impossible! I thought they got wiped out in the Jupiter War two years ago!
Jupiter’s ghosts have resurrected on Mars, haven’t they?
Based on a quick survey of the situation, it looks like they’ve commandeered the Altinia base altogether.
Commander: The Jupiter Empire has entered combat preparations!
Aihara, open every communications channel we’ve got!
Yes, sir!
We wish to negotiate for the materials we need.
(The nearby mobile suits fire on the Yamato!)
They’re attacking!
I guess they’re not open to negotiating!
They’re forcing our hand.
The Yamato was built to make the journey to Iscandar, Kodai. You would do well to remember that. Human or not, they are obstacles on the journey to Iscandar.
Even if they’re from Earth?
We fight evil, Kodai.
But-
Get to your battle stations, everyone! The battle to reclaim the Alitina Base begins now! All gunners, prepare to fire!
Gunners, prepare to fire!
We must crush all opponents that stand in the way of our progress! That’s an order!
It’s going to be a little bit before we see a Victory Condition that isn’t “destroy all enemies”. Of note is the SR Point condition - one of our units has to defeat four enemies.
Our enemies for this scenario are a handful of Batalla mobile suits, and their slighly-beefier cousin the Pez Batalla. Both kinds of units are equipped with Shields that provide a skill-based chance to Defend (halve) any attacks, even while attacking. Just what exactly are these Jupiter Empire mobile suits doing on Mars?
Currently none of our allied units have sortied, so we’re stuck with the Yamato for our first turn. Commander Okita is really protective of his Intermission top-score portrait, so I guess he’s intending to solo the entire enemy force himself.
The yellow squares surrounding the Yamato indicate the Commander effect coming from Okita. If we had any other units out, keeping them within this field of yellow would increase their accuracy and evasion. Normally, allied units closest to the source (the Yamato) would recieve the highest gains, but Okita also has the Captain’s Order skill, so any allied unit within range will receive maximum gains.
If you guessed that the Yamato would spend its first turn moving towards the enemy squadron, you’ve read the other two updates. Sortie dialogue!
Attention crew! This will be the first substantial battle of the Yamato. However! We must not lose sight of our mission, which is to travel to Iscandar at all costs! Think of this as a mission not to eradicate our enemies, but to extend our lives!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnQVZnUFQw&width=690&height=380&rel=0
On our second player phase, now’s a good time to talk about reinforcements. You didn’t think the Yamato was really going to solo the entire map, did you? (Although for the record, it totally could.)
Reinforcements are triggered either when specific plot-relevant things happen (story unit A fighting enemy unit B), or at the beginning of certain player phases. Oftentimes, however, you can force the beginning-phase reinforcements to appear if you defeat enough enemies early enough.
So if we wait until our third player phase, OR if the Yamato defeats two enemies anytime before then…
Will the Aircraft Squad be deployed?
We have no orders to do so.
I could understand that call if these were Gamillans, but the fact that we’re facing off against mobile suits says to me that we should be out there, too.
Commander Okita must consider this some sort of combat test for the Yamato.
I’m picking up more signals on radar! We’ve got more mobile suits inbound!
Argh, enemy reinforcements?
(It’s another Huckebein It’s a Gundam!)
Does that Gundam have a skull on it?
Commander! They’re-
Crossbone Gundams.
The Crossbones! The sea pirates who routed the enemy in the Jupiter War!
I can’t believe they’re on Mars!
Incoming transmission from the Gundam! Reading verbatim!
Thank him for his cooperation at once.
Aye, sir!
Kodai, deploy the Task Force.
Cosmo Falcon Squadron, sir?
Negative. The VangRay, Grungust, and Huckebein.
Understood!
(Why are the sending so many troops to Mars?)
Mobile units, fall in on the Yamato’s position! We’ll be able to turn the tide of battle in our favor if you remain within easy reach! If you drift too far out of range of the Yamato’s comms, we’re going to be in big trouble!
(This is the game’s way of telling us about how the Commander skill works, to mixed results.)
We were just supposed to travel to Iscandar! Now we’re teaming up with a Gundam pirate to fight the Jupiter Empire on Mars? This is crazy! We can’t let the Jupiter Empire walk all over us, though! They’ll destroy Earth! (Wait, what was it Officer Sanada said about the Pilot Verification System? Was there something about it I needed to know?)
Come in, Kisaragi! This is the captain speaking. You have one order! Make it back alive! That is all!
Roger that, Captain! You have my word! Lottie! Velt! Are you ready?
Ready and waiting!
Our opponents are the Jupiter Empire’s mobile suits. This battle will be easy if we remain wary of the Pez Betalla and its formidable rushing capabilities.
I’ve been assigned to lead this squad, but we should work together if we want to make it back safely! If we slip up here, we’re not going to make this 336,000 light-year journey!
The victory/defeat conditions usually get refreshed whenever new ally units show up, telling you not to let said new units get blown up!
Tobia Arronax and the Crossbone Gundam X-1 Kai Kai (so nice the translators named it twice) have spawned to the far west of the Yamato, and the Jupiter Empire forces closest to him will move to intercept. More pilots means more sortie dialogue!
I’m representing the entire Aircraft Squad. I’d better be at peak performance! Well, VangRay, we promised Captain Kato we’d make it back alive. We had better make good on our word!
I thought I understood the selfishness of humans, but upon witnessing it myself, I am enraged! I cannot comprehend how you can entertain such selfish thoughts in the midst of an alien attack!
If they’re not going to talk this out, I’m sure as heck not holding anything back! Let’s go, Grungust! Earthlings or Gamillans, bad guys are bad guys! I’ll crush’em all!
Argh, the Jupiter Empire! Do they think they can use Mars as a stepping stone to attack Earth? Don’t they know what’s happened? There’s no point in torturing the Earth anymore!
Crossbone Gundam X-1 Kai Kai (Tobia Arronax)
Special Abilities:
- Shield (skill-based chance of Defending whenever attacked)
Special Skills:
- Newtype (raises Accuracy/Evasion; extends certain weapon ranges)
- Potential (Accuracy/Evasion/Critical/Defense rises as HP decreases)
- Focus Over Limit (maximum Focus increases)
Ace Bonus: Spirit Command “Valor” cost reduced to 25 SP
There’s not a lot to say about Tobia as a pilot, but we’re not going to say no to more allies. The X-1 has a pirate’s arsenal available, making a nice change from the VangRay and Huckebein’s conventional weaponry.
Tobia has two new Spirit Commands. Guts restores the user’s HP by 30%. Intuition is a combination of two other Spirit Commands we haven’t seen yet, Bullseye (100% accuracy until next player phase) and Flicker (100% dodge rate for one attack).
Lottie uses the Fairy Breath power part at the first available opportunity, so we can start raking in the money. The Aura’s Protection part can restore SP to the user; we put it on Lottie so she could keep casting Fortune on herself for even more money.
We still need to fulfil the SR Point requirement for this scenario - the most likely candidates are Okita (who should already have a few kills) or Tobia (who enters near a group of four/five enemies).
If you ever want to feed kills to a specific unit, Lottie and Chitose are your friends. The Grungust can Support Defend, and the VangRay can Repair as needed. Repairing heals around 25% of the unit’s max HP, and Chitose earns extra experience as a bonus.
Here’s the dialogue if Okita scores four kills first:
(That was flawless. So this is what it’s like to work under Juzo Okita, Earth’s greatest commander.)
Don’t fall asleep on the job, Kodai. You’ve got to confirm that battle has ended.
Y-yes, sir! (We can do this. With this man at the helm, it doesn’t matter who or what stands in our way!)
And here’s the same for Tobia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KjAvPHSjYQ&width=690&height=380&rel=0
I took over this X-1! There’s no way I can lose! (I know you’re still out there somewhere, Kincade. You too, Captain Berah.)
With our ample firepower, we gradually whittle away at the enemy force until Mars is free of the Jupiter Empire. Mission complete!
Enemy forces eradicated. The Alitina Base is officially liberated.
Now we just need to retrieve the materials inside.
I want to know more about the Empire’s movements. Aihara, make contact with that Gundam.
Yes, sir.
Incredible! I mean, I’d heard the rumors, but now I’ve got a front row seat. Gundams are no ordinary mobile suits!
Given that it’s a pirate’s Gundam, I should think the pilot has considerable skill, as well.
I’ll say! I mean, look at those moves!
If that Gundam were to board the Yamato, we’d be pretty powerful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhNqF-X_J5E&width=690&height=380&rel=0
Tobia Arronax, member of the Crossbone Vanguard and veteran of the Jupiter War, has been busy combating both the Gamillans and the remnants of the Jupiter Empire. He requests that the Yamato ferry himself and fellow Vanguard member Bernadette Briett to Jupiter in order to investigate their actions.
Bernadette’s real name is Tetenith Dogatie; she is the daughter of the Jupiter Empire’s former leader, Crux Dogatie, whom was killed in the prior war. With their leader gone, she seeks to understand the reason behind the Empire’s resurrection.
After installing the parts found on Mars, the Yamato changes course for Jupiter…
Next Update:
- We take on the first DLC mission, in space!
- We make use of the ExC system, in space!
- We sink some battleships, in space!