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titanomancy · 8 months

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Apropos of nothing, all we need is a Captain on Bike and there'll be enough unique, chapter agnostic Captains to run all ten companies.

#games workshop #citadel miniatures #warhammer 40k #adeptus astartes #space marines #ultramarines #primaris space marines #primaris captain #terminator armour #indomitus armour #mk x #tacitus armour #gravis armour #phobos armour

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seat-safety-switch · 1 year

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As human beings, we’re not used to thinking of things being produced in industrial settings by machines. When you go to the grocery store and pick up a can of gravy, you’re not thinking about the immense machinery at the Franco-American factory, behind armoured anti-truck emplacements, pumping it out all day long. Because we are social animals, we don’t like to think about machines doing our work.

You want to believe that it’s done by individual human beings, labouring at the factory, watching for anything going wrong, committed to that product. Even if that product does cost thirty-five cents a can, isn’t a consistent shade of brown, and makes you feel like you might be about to die if you drink a mere five of them in one sitting.

Truth is, the advancement of humanity has largely been done through automation. And one of those automations, the motor vehicle, is the only good one that has ever existed. Horses are lazy and require feeding even when you’re not driving them somewhere, and walking to the next town over wears out your shoes too quickly. Human beings are simply too delicate and inconsistent to trust to any difficult or mind-numbing labour. We stop paying attention to the gravy machine, for instance, when we’re thinking about last night’s TV movie production. A machine is a better use, which frees us up.

Doubters will often say that these machines take away our jobs. And they do, but they’re shitty, awful jobs supervising the gravy machine. The problem is that there hasn’t been any replacement. Our industrial betters sneer at our jobless masses left soaking in the gutter.

This is why, when I become Prime Minister, I will create a whole shitload of cooler jobs for us to do while the machines are busy making products for us to enjoy. For instance, there currently aren’t a lot of astronauts. I will create a thousand new positions for astronauts. Will all of them make it back to earth? Maybe! At least it won’t be boring to find out. What about pinball repair? There’s hardly any jobs in that right now, but that sounds pretty good too. I’ll open Pinball Canada and we’ll make a government-socialized pinball machine that breaks down all the fucking time, so you have lots of little surprises to keep your mind active.

What you won’t have is thirty-five cent gravy. We’re gonna force the factory owner to turn up the “quality” lever to at least thirty-seven cent gravy. You’ll be able to afford the increase with all the tips you’ll make from your pinball repair gig.

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innistrahd · 2 months

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Reinforcements arrive!

A unit of Bladeguard Veterans, a Captain in Gravis Armour, Incursors, Scouts (second attempt at kitbashing scouts from astra militarum bodies), Infiltrators, and some Jump Pack Intercessors.

Overall, real happy with the end result for most of these. The kitbashing for the bladeguard went really well, and I'm happy with the style I went with for their power weapons.

The kitbashing on the captain was subtle but I think worked really good.

And I really like adding the hammer to the jump pack intercessor's sergeant. I've been running all my "thunder hammers" on my units as power fists during our crusade, since not everything that I've got hammers on can technically take thunder hammers (and also thunder hammers are kinda mid to bad this edition from my limited experience). I actually bought a box of Leagues of Votann Cthonian Berserks and used the hammer from one of them to make the hammer for this guy.

Let's see... I think the only other thing of note that came up is that I used two different types of washes for this. Most were washed with an Army Painter Quickshade Dark Tone, but I was running out of that towards the end, so I mixed up some water and Matt Black paint to make a quick temporary wash. Honestly, the latter was probably way better overall. The Dark Tone ended up looking really glossy on the models, but the matt black/water wash looks so much better I think.

I don't think I'm gonna be making more space marines for a bit, as I really shouldn't need anything else to add to the crusade army for a good long while, but I had a real good time putting these dudes together and painting them up.

And now, back to orks.

#eri blogs games #warhammer 40k #space marines #salamanders

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gremlinisjay · 1 year

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It was lying in my unfinished for too long, I will not finish it, so... Yeah... here's that.

[Image ID: It's a digitally drawn picture of characters Sun Wukong and Six-eared Macaque from the show Lego Monkie Kid. They're standing on the gravy, sandy textured cliff and against clouds on the background. Sun Wukong is in his battle armour. He has red scleras and golden pupils. His brows are furrowed and one side of his mouth is turned down. He has his staff in his hand, turned downward. Macaque us standing back to the viewer, with side of his face seen. Macaque has his six ears shown. He looks concerned, looking at Sun Wukong. His mouth is slightly opened, as if he's saying something. He gently cups Sun Wukong's face with his hands. One of Sun Wukong's hands holds Macaque on a wrist. The light is coming from behind Sun Wukong hitting Macaque's face/. End ID]

#lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk sun wukong #lego monkie kid monkey king #lego monkie kid sun wukong #digital art #art #lmk macaque #lmk monkey king #lmk fanart #lmk six eared macaque #lmk wukong #lmk wukong fanart #lmk macaque fanart #yes it is the scene before “we're dying like-#my art #it's the proof that I actually can draw something with the background #...not a good one tho since I didn't finish it #and it's barely a background...

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drossna · 2 months

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caduceus lvl.20 redesign i did ages ago but forgot to post

copious amounts of design notes under the cut

tl;dr: my goal with this redesign was to create a coherent design consistent with his previous art, improved enough to hopefully read as lvl.20, but still practical enough to serve as actual adventuring clothes

okay anyways so watch how autistic i can be about caduceus

i wasn't satisfied with caduceus's lvl.20 design. i'm not entirely sure how that design happened. to be fair, critrole designs have never been consistent, but lvl.20 cad abandons nearly every key aspects of cad's design. it drives me batty

why is his hair so straight and pale and dead. why is he draped in so much brown. how do those wing-skirt things work. why does his staff... look like that. like its gonna explode into toothpicks at the first use. why is there honey. why is the gold of his shield so bright. what is the rope on his shoulders for

i mean, who knows what goes on in the critrole art development process. my personal theory is that they continue to design these characters as personal ocs and not as official characters in a huge multimedia franchise, and their personal choices trump all, design considerations be damned. like, i cant really judge. i have the privilege to make whatever choices i want when drawing. i answer to no one. i could tell taliesin jaffe to go fuck himself. yknow. if i wanted to die

regardless, i dont hate everything about the lvl.20 design. i appreciate that it brought back his swirl-patterned pants, but the entire core of his design is so busy with shit that it becomes a problem

i tried to preserve cad's key aspects as much as i could in my redesign, as well as incorporate aspects i enjoyed most from each design. for example, i really like the idea of the goliath beetle armour in lvl.20 cad, but i tinted the black shell towards blue to match cad's signature teal green.

I also tried to create a palette consistent with his previous designs. teal should always be his primary colour, with pink being the most prominent accent. after that, anything thats analogous to those two is gravy. for real, i am begging critrole to at least keep consistent palettes, because this is a problem for most of their designs

my choice to include the red cords is inspired by the winter cad design as well as one of fjord's earlier designs (side note: most of fjord's designs are pretty great; he's the most consistently on-par)

i enjoy drawing aesthetic parallels between connected characters. on that note, the swirly jade earring is a gift from beau :3 because they're fun earring buddies

speaking of cad's winter design, the design sheet showed a lot of asian influence (thats mostly covered by the cloak) and i will take any excuse to add asian influence to a design. the first two tunics below were my main reference for my own tunic choice

the knots on the cords are specifically chinese knot art. the largest knot at his waist is a plate knot which can symbolize the cyclical nature of life and death, and the knot on his cape is a brocade knot which can symbolize (re)unity. i thought these concepts were in-line with cad's general philosophy and the wildmother's teachings. also, the brocade knot acts as his holy symbol with a crook-shaped pin woven through the cord. i really fuck with holy symbols being integrated into a design rather than just slapped on somewhere

lightning round design notes:

the fraying woven material is witch hair moss, which i imagine could be made very soft and warm. this is my version of the neutral-coloured flynet cape in the fourth design

i brought back the iconic pink lichen

i simplied the staff again. my way of visually portraying a growth in power is that the one wooden hand has transformed into many hands grasping the crystal, which is also a representation of cad widening his social circle and of the nein in general

cad curly hair and beard so important to me

cad wide nose so important to me

final note:

the pose i chose for caduceus was very intentional. while cad looks great in a power pose, i feel like it doesnt suit his character. his power isnt so confrontational. his power is quiet and gentle and humble and inevitable. he doesnt need to show off. he's just chilling. i love this dumb silly man

and for the record, while i consider cad to be the worst lvl.20 design, jester is a guaranteed second place. very tempted to redesign her as well, because mature-but-frilly pirate lolita is right up my alley

#cadeuces clay #character design #redesign #art tag #cr2

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cursed-40k-thoughts · 11 months

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Fucking what. Imotekh should be able to body the vast majority of the imperium, both in tactics and in person. He is a walking lightning storm. There just is no excuse for making him weak

I'm not one of the people who think he should necessarily be able to slap a Primarch or whatever, but when you, as one of the more competent duelists and best tacticians in the setting, with a body made from ancient, ultra dense, regenerating metal, and all the eldritch tech of an entire alien dynasty at your disposal, have a slightly worse statline than a Marine Captain in Gravis Armour -

-something is a bit off. Imotekh is also an Epic Hero in a faction that had its mainline infantry absolutely demolished in the 9e-10e rule shift, because GW said that the Necrons are a faction styled to make their leaders matter more. I am not seeing much of anything on his sheet that has me going "whoa, he'll definitely be impactful/helpful for the troops! He matters more!" I'm struggling to see why anyone would willingly pay more than maybe 90pts for him, honestly.

Again, this could be an older sheet, it could be incomplete, it could be a display piece. Lots of maybes. If it's not, though, hoo. They hit him over the noggin with a skillet.

#imotekh the stormlord #necron #necrons #Warhammer 40k

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eyelessfog · 2 years

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When Pearl walks into Sausage’s base, it’s familiar. It sounds the way it always has, smells delicious (although it rarely ever smells the same), and has the same warm feel that she associates with Sausage.

The thing is, she notices, just before she gets to the kitchen, Sausage’s base has long since stopped feeling familiar. When it turned cold, empty - when he was always out practicing magic that didn’t suit him - the base stopped feeling familiar. It had felt hostile, even, and she often left before she got a chance to do what she was supposed to do.

Well, she supposes, standing a little shocked in the hallway before the kitchen, she’s doing it now.

But still, oh, the sound. Sausage is half-humming-half-singing a song (presumably of Mythland origin, as Pearl had never heard it before), and there is the sizzling of food on a pan, side by side with something bubbling atop a stove.

The smell too - meat, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots... Spices galore! Gravy too, if she breathes in deeply enough. It wafts through his base, making her sigh contentedly.

All of it was familiar, but most of all, the idea of it. The idea of a Sausage that enjoyed making and eating food. Because he hadn’t, when his eyes were red and his armour dark and magic twirling around him in a way it wasn’t supposed to. He’d eaten only when he needed to heal, with food that was so barely prepared, because it wasn’t about the taste, it was about how quickly he could get his hearts back up. And it made something in Pearl hurt, because her home was food, her home was based so heavily on it, and his kitchen was just as much her home as her kingdom was.

So. She listens to the sizzling of meat and the humming of her friend, and breathes in the aroma of the vegetables cooking in the furnace, holds the basket in her hands tighter. Inside is bread, made the way she’d learned is his favourite, wrapped in a towel, and still warm. For another half minute, she waits there.

Then, she turns, moving to stand at the doorway of the kitchen, and knocking on the doorframe. He turns to look at her, and his smile isn’t mean and his eyes aren’t red and his counter isn’t empty and the room isn’t cold. She grins at him, ignoring the burn of tears behind her eyes because if she cries, he’s going to get sad, and she’s too happy to bring the mood down like that.

She places the basket of bread down and opens the towel up enough to let him see the crust. He recognizes it immediately, and gasps, and tells her that, oh, she didn’t have to, and she tells him that, oh, she did. He tells her what he’s made today, and she walks over to the cabinets to pull out his plates, and they argue over the better way to present it, because they’re both artists, and they enjoy decorating a plate for the other to eat from. They talk food, and his face lights up.

Sausage drags a potato cube through the gravy and lifts it, dropping it onto her plate. She slices a piece of bread from the loaf and lathers it with a generous amount of butter, then places it into his hand. They take a bite of the other’s gift first, savour it, before beginning on the meal of their own plates.

It’s as it’s always been. It’s as it should be.

#[lore texts]#[written in stone]#i was talking about food hcs for the empires w gulfie & logan & one i came up with is that before eating - when youre in a group at least #- you take your favourite part/whatever food you want to share and put some of it on someone else's plate. to share what you love #the whole sausage & pearl eat together sometimes was. gulfie i think? & awaughhgg. its so. <3333 #empires smp #mythicalsausage #pearlescentmoon #empires smp 1

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ladymirdan · 4 months

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Cliché question i know but uuuh ya got a favoured mark of armor? In general or for Ultras.

I like MK III on my Blue Bois, adds some chonk.

Oh but it is a good question!

MKIII I really like the helmets of, but they arent my overall fav.

It is kind of hard to decide on just one, but if it has to be done it has to be MK VI for me. Its just the “classic” space marine mark.

I know MK X looks better and cooler in every way, but VI juat makes me happy.

Unpopular opinion tho, I really like Gravis Armour, that thing is CHONKY. I need more units with Gravis.

Something I really like is that GW is introducing relic armour more and more into the Primaris, so having different mark helmets/shoulderpads/whatever is becoming more acceptable.

#warhammer 40k #40k #warhammer #space marines #asks

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kremptstenkman · 1 year

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Got the bad brain not long ago, so I’ve been not feeling great about posting any painting that I’ve done.

But been feeling sort of better lately so here’s some stuff I painted!

Here’s a gravis Captain I bought of ebay really cheap. It stank of whatever chemicals the previous owner used to strip it, something very ammonia based, so remember folks use Isopropyl for stripping minis because it don’t stank once you’ve finished.

Here’s a blight launcher guy from the Xmas Death Guard box. I gotta say my favourite Death Guard armour is the fat version.

Another Melta guy, for this particular squad I decided to give them all one white right arm because I think Asymmetry is best.

More in Part 2!

#nurgle #warhammer 40k #40k #death guard #mini painting #black templars #plague marines #gamesworkshop #miniature painting #space marines #adeptus astartes #astartes

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knightlightminiatures · 9 months

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It’s me again. And I’ve got some fun news. I’ve resurrected my original Custom Chapter scheme with the release of Leviathan. I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do with them at first. I usually make all my models space wolves or divy them into my “for sale” pile to help fund my studio but I want getting any strong vibes from the space marine half of the box.

However, the tyranid half has been going into expanding my fathers tyranid army. Hive fleet Rhamnusia. And I thought, with his original concept getting love, why shouldn’t I do so?

I had abandon my army in 2018 for a full space wolf legion. And two years before that I had changed the armour design. Still, all wolfified. But, I never felt the primaris marines really fit the space wolf vibe. So most of them waited patiently for me to decide how I’d go about adding them into my space wolf army. And a few did. But many received no such love.

So with Pops nids getting love, I revived my original army. The Angry Dragons. And returned to their original scheme, eating up all the ignored primaris marines and building a fully fledged primaris army. Pulling most of the units from leviathan, Shadowspear, indomitus, Dark Imperium and wrath of the soulforge. My dragons have returns stronger than ever before.

With this new development, my dragons will sport no firstborn. My wolves will take them all for themselves. And I’ll just run both chapters uniquely. It’s nice because I don’t have to really customize the bits to fit the chapter as much. I can take the models at face value and add my colors.

And should the inevitable phasing out of firstborn ever happen, I still have a full functioning army and a super sexy firstborn Space Wolf army to reminisce about.

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wordsandrobots · 8 months

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IBO reference notes on . . . the Gundams (part 3)

[Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Addendum 1]

And now for the late-sequence freaks.

To re-emphasise, spoilers. If you know your Gundam numerical order and you've seen the show, you know why I'm stressing that at this point. If not . . . I really don't want to deprive you of the chance to have your heart torn out of your chest, so be warned.

ASW-G-54 Murmur

Sneaking out right as I was finishing this up, here's the very latest Gundam to be revealed. Fortunately I lucked out and it fits squarely into both the number group and theme for this post, because what in the Hinge and Bracket is this?

I am morally obligated to state that bestowing the world with a chintz Gundam is far from the Fareed Family's worst crime, yet I still find myself dumbstruck by the sheer audacity required to wheel out this hideous offspring of a Qubeley and a craft store and give it floral print armour. Good gravy.

Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to consider the unified aesthetic of the Gundam frames, or rather, its absence. Because while they certainly share the same general structure -- for reasons that scarcely need stating -- the construction of the armour varies wildly from machine to machine. In some cases, there are obvious reasons for this. Yet Murmur is distinctly over-designed for its intended mode of operation. Even the twined swords used for close-range combat appear decorative as much as functional.

One can only surmise that while practical considerations were important, there was space in the Gundam construction effort for personal taste to play a role. In this case, the founder of the Fareed Family (who was named Makie Fareed, by a strange stroke of coincidence) obviously wanted to look glamorous while taking out mobile armours with the world's biggest Stanley knives.

Ah, yes. Those drones. Seems I spoke too soon about the lack of smart-cable weaponry on Gundams. Well, possibly. These 'Surgical Feathers' are linked to the Alaya-Vijana system using cables, but they seem to have flown using the thrusters built into them, possibly making the wires themselves were inert. Nevertheless, this does draw a line through some of my theorising from last time. Gundam Murmur did use a comparable weapon to that of its foes and it worked well enough to grant its pilot a seat among the Seven Stars.

This being said, the equipment is extremely bulky, extending far behind the frame itself, so I would thus assume this was a weapon best used in space and not something that saw generally deployment. Additionally, the released text states the feathers were operated via the Alaya-Vijnana, implying a fairly taxing job for the pilot. That this is the only example we have of this kind of system does still lend credence to the idea the technology was not widely used on the side opposing the mobile armours.

However, they certainly tried and that speaks to how thoroughly they explored all options for the sake of winning.

From the Ars Goetia:

The Fifty-Fourth Spirit is called Murmur, or Murmus, or Murmux. He is a Great Duke, and an Earl; and appeareth in the Form of a Warrior riding upon a Gryphon, with a Ducal Crown upon his Head. There do go before him his Ministers with great Trumpets sounding. His Office is to teach Philosophy perfectly, and to constrain Souls of the Deceased to come before the Exorcist to answer those questions which he may wish to put to them, if desired. He was partly of the Order of Thrones, and partly of that of Angels. He now ruleth 30 Legions of Spirits. And his Seal is this, etc.

More griffons but the key part here is the 'partly of [the order] of angels' line. Because yes. A Gundam that is part-mobile armour seems to about sum Murmur up.

ASW-G-56 Gremory

An answer to the question of what the next step up from nanolaminate armour would be, Gremory possess a 'nanolaminate coat', which has exponentially more resistance and shock-absorbing capabilities than standard. It's basically invulnerable, or at least the black parts of its body are. In the Moon Steel manga, the only effective counter-strategy was to smash it through an ice sheet, immobilising it long enough to have a conversation with the pilot.

At 20.5 metres tall, Gremory is also the tallest Gundam, beating out Kimaris Vidar by a metre. Given its extraordinary defensive capabilities, it's down as being extremely versatile, with the manual stating it can be used in both leadership and reconnaissance roles. Its armament, by contrast, is very straightforward, consisting of the giant 'battle anchor' (which was originally double-sided before being broken into the scythe-like appearance seen above) and a pair of auto-cannons built into its shield gauntlets.

(The Gundam wiki errs on the side of discounting the Generations CrossRays adaptation of Moon Steel that mentions the latter but I think it's a perfectly reasonable addition.)

Three parts of Gremory's armour are articulated beyond what is necessary for movement. The aforementioned gauntlets can swing forward to act as 'handheld' shields. Additionally, the 'hood' and 'mask' can be retracted to expose Gremory's ostentatious head.

Presumably this would allow for greater use of the sensors built into the head, but no official material has shown Gremory in action with its hood folded back.

One final obvious feature are the claws, which are noticeably longer than standard Gundam hands. From Barbatos, we know these can act as weapons in their own right, so possibly Gremory was designed to place greater emphasis on this mode of combat.

Up to a certain point, Gremory must have beem a success story. House Nadira, who I assume are descended from the original pilot, became important within Gjallarhorn, heading up an internal security division called Ollerus (somewhat amusingly, given the smashed-through-the-ice-incident, this is named for a god depicted using skis). But they are not part of the Seven Stars, so Gremory cannot have racked up as high a kill-count. Furthermore, this is the only Gundam among those held by Gjallarhorn wielding a broken weapon; whether that is a mark of pride or not, it's suggestive.

A more concrete line of exploration on this matter is the existence of the Jizin Family (a member of whom acted as field leader of Ollerus) who are notably not descended from a Gundam pilot. Rather, their inherited machine is the Valkyrja Oltlinde, which fought alongside Gremory in the later stages of the Calamity War.

This is the only instance where a Gundam and a Valkyrja are clearly stated as having operated together, despite the two frames being developed for the same purpose (putting an end to the War). While excellent machines in their own right, the Valkyrjas were overshadowed by the more powerful Gundams and saw only a limited production run (9 mobile suits, compared to 72). Given they would form the template for Gjallarhorn's modern 'suits (the Geirail, Graze and Reginlaze), however, the cooperation makes sense.

And perhaps here lies the reason for Nadira failing to achieve sufficient medals to reach the top table: unlike the other pilots, they shared their kills.

From the Ars Goetia:

The Fifty-sixth Spirit is Gremory, or Gamori. He is a Duke Strong and Powerful, and appeareth in the Form of a Beautiful woman, with a Duchess’s Crown tied about her waist, and riding on a Great Camel. His Office is to tell of all things Past, Present, and to Come; and of Treasures Hid, and what they lie in; and to procure the Love of Women both Young and Old. He governeth 26 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, etc.

I should say that current head of the family Deira Nadira definitely belongs in a mecha named for a duke of Hell who appears as a beautiful lady and has power over the love of young women!

ASW-G-64 Flauros

I'm using the Ryusei-Go for the image because 1) I'm an incurable Shino fan and 2) I assume this better represents Flauros' full starting load-out, in contrast to the short-barrelled version used for the official art of the War colour scheme.

It's unclear which configuration it was in prior to being entombed on Mars, since the missing components could simply have been ripped off (and why restore them at all if they weren't recovered along with the main body?).

However, presumably each is a valid variant, so we can probably say it saw action during the War in both forms. And speaking of forms, that's the party trick this time around: Flauros is the only IBO Gundam to be able to fully transform.

Flauro's conversion is not especially complex, but it does provide a stable gunnery platform for the two Dáinsleifs mounted on its back. This is the only Gundam designed primarily for long-range combat; that is, with ranged weaponry as its main armament. And we should probably pause here to take another look at Dáinsleifs because this is kind of a big deal.

The Gundam Wiki provides a translation of a chart from the Mechanics and World books, which breaks down how military units were deployed against mobile armours during the Calamity War. For ground battles, on Earth, Mars and the Moon, the majority of the combat was handled by Gundams, with other mobile suits operating as their support. Meanwhile, in space, the largest percentage of the fighting force was made up of Dáinsleif launchers.

As I mentioned in the section concerning Gamigin, 'Dáinsleif' refers to a weapon designed to puncture nanolaminate armour with spiked projectiles fired using electromagnetic rail-guns. Examples include:

Gamagin's Revolver Gun Axe

Astaroth Rinascimento's Bastard Chopper (this uses gunpowder as the propellant and is therefore not considered a 'true' Dáinsleif

Kimaris Vidar's Drill Lance

Oltlinde's Double Blade (the Dáinsleif mechanism in this was disabled after the War, so it's unclear how it actually functioned)

Flauros' rail-guns

And of course, the large-scale version that we may consider the template all the others emulate

Everything indicates these are actual Calamity War-era weapons mounted to modern Grazes, an act carried out in contravention of a ban Gjallarhorn themselves instituted after the War was over. Since these things basically amount to hooking an Ahab reactor (a potentially limitless energy source) up to an electromagnet and using it to accelerate ~25 metre long spikes to phenomenal speeds, their destructive potential is enormous. Despite the theoretical restriction of these to space combat, they were at one point deployed on the surface of the Moon.

It did not go well for the Moon.

Undoubtedly something you want aimed at the giant killer robots, but with clear drawbacks when used on the ground, of the 'where did that mountain range go' variety.

Yet what is Flauros if not a platform for deploying Dáinsleifs in a planetary environment?

And we're not talking the smaller varieties here. Both Gamigin and Kimaris use relatively small staves, the kind that might not cause too many collateral craters. Flauros, however, is equipped to fire projectiles that look like this:

Now. We don't have any direct evidence this is what it was using during the battle that left it buried under the Chryse desert. From Tekkadan's deployment of Flauros, we know it was fully equipped to fire conventional munitions, in the same manner that Gjallarhorn has its own rail-guns that are not technically Dáinsleifs.

Still, I can't help thinking it relevant that when I say Flauros was buried, we're talking dozens of metres down, alongside a mobile armour and its entire pluma swarm. It doesn't seem like a massive stretch to speculate this may have been the result of firing something as big as the above point-blank into Mars' surface.

Even setting that theory aside, we still have a machine with a shelling mode clearly intended for ground use. So either this predates the point where it was decided using Dáinsleifs on the surface was too dangerous . . . or it speaks to the urgency with which the War needed to be ended. In either case, Flauros marks a considerable escalation in destructive output.

Which is of course, somewhat ironic.

Oh. Right. Yeah. This is the point where I have to go back and reference from 'If This Is The End' again, isn't it? Fuck.

OK. Deep breath, everyone.

Gundam frames are not themselves indestructible. We already know this by the point Shino is killed, not least because a Gjallarhorn Dáinsleif took Flauros' arm off shortly prior to his attack on the Arianrhod Fleet command ship.

But what the scenes of the Ryusei-Go's demise underline is the limits of the Gundams.

While chunks of the frame survive, the missile attack tears Flauros apart. One thing I have not discussed so far is how mobile suits in the IBO setting are designed to neutralise the beam weaponry utilised by the mobile armours. Their nanolaminate armour can easily disperse such attacks, allowing them to shrug off laser beams capable of annihilating small towns or punching holes through space colonies.

This does not immunise them to conventional weaponry, with the joints remaining clear weak points. Indeed, even Barbatos does not come through its battle with a mobile armour unscathed, losing its right arm in the process.

It's a detail that doesn't quite make it into the show, but from the concept art, the implication is the pluma locked in a death grip with Flauros was attacking the Gundam's cockpit, ripping it open before going offline. This tracks with mobile armours going out of their way to kill the pilots of enemy mobile suits: perfectly logical behaviour, to target the vulnerabilities in their opponents and aim for the human component.

I think this is important to bear in mind when looking at the Gundams. For all the trappings of mythology and demonology, they are not magic. They are machines with firm limitations, intentionally reliant on their pilots to operate.

Their achievement in stopping the mobile armours is made all the greater by that fact that, as Flauros demonstrates, defeat was always a possibility.

From the Ars Goetia:

The Sixty-fourth Spirit is Haures, or Hauras, or Havres, or Flauros. He is a Great Duke, and appeareth at first like a Leopard, Mighty, Terrible, and Strong, but after a while, at the Command of the Exorcist, he putteth on Human Shape with Eyes Flaming and Fiery, and a most Terrible Countenance. He giveth True Answers of all things, Present, Past, and to Come. But if he be not commanded into a triangle, D, he will Lie in all these Things, and deceive and beguile the Exorcist in these things or in such and such business. He will, lastly, talk of the Creation of the World, and of Divinity, and of how he and other Spirits fell. He destroyeth and burneth up those who be the Enemies of the Exorcist should he so desire it; also he will not suffer him to be tempted by any other Spirit or otherwise. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, to be worn as a Lamen, etc.

The facet of Flauros as a shape-shifter, moving between a four-legged and human form certainly fits well, as does the part about 'burning up' enemies. Interestingly, the concept art I mentioned depicts this seal decorating the back of the 'head' that covers Flauros' torso in shelling mode. While this is not 'canon' from what we see in the show, it is rather cool. I also think there is a nice through-line with Shino's character, if we read the mix of absolute honesty and absolute lies with respect to self-delusion. I might come back to that at some point.

(I've actually worked up my own version of a theoretical IBO sigil for Flauros, trying to follow the pattern of changes seen in other examples. Fun exercise!)

ASW-G-66 Kimaris

I want it on record (again) that Gargin Bauduin was so wedded to the colour lilac, he dyed his Gundam frame and then his entire family line.

That aside, Kimaris is an interesting entry in the line-up because at first, its gimmick appears to be speed. Its legs open up to deploy extra thrusters, it is extremely fast anyway, and its primary weapon, a lance, is geared for charging attacks.

Looks are deceiving. What Kimaris really is, is an example of a single frame being provided with multiple sets of equipment to suit different situations.

If the first configuration is designed for use in space -- in conjunction with its booster unit -- the second is to afford it comparable manoeuvrability under gravity. The 'Trooper' form adds an extreme version of the flight units we see on other 'ground type' variants, making this one of the most agile machines in the list.

Variants of Kimaris' main weapon also existed, going from the Gungnir lance used by the flight form, to the Destroyer Lance used by the Trooper form, to the Drill Lance that would be used by this Gundam's final modern iteration, Kimaris Vidar. This form too is reliant on equipment dating from the Calamity War, though we can't rule out some modern adjustments due to the intervening steps required to disguise Kimaris as ASW-G-XX Vidar.

As previously discussed, the Drill Lance contains Dáinsleif launchers, loaded via the shield armatures, in a step up from the conventional guns built into the first two lances. Indeed, everything about this last form seems to be about maximising defensive and offensive power, sacrificing the speed of the earlier incarnations for raw strength. Interestingly, it is this version that bears a place for the Bauduin Family crest -- a feature that appears in key art for the other Seven Stars Gundams but absent from the plain Kimaris or Kimaris Trooper.

All this optional equipment being stored alongside the frame up to the present day highlights that versatility was an integral part of the mobile suit's intended operation. This includes a wide variety of less obvious weapons, including flash-bangs fired from the head, a sword stored in the Trooper form's shield, foldable knives, razor-disc launchers, and even drill knees for extreme close-range kills.

As relatively simple as the giant lances might appear at first glance, Gargin seems to have been something of a tricksy fighter, putting him a little at odds with the chivalric knight Kimaris' aesthetics evoke. But of course, in a war to save humanity from extinction, such concerns must take a back seat. We know nothing about the man save his coming out of the War with a great number of kills to his name (and his favourite colour). Yet we can make an educated guess at the adage he lived by:

It is better to be prepared than dead.

From the Ars Goetia:

The Sixty-sixth Spirit is Cimejes, or Cimeies, or Kimaris. He is a Marquis, Mighty, Great, Strong and Powerful, appearing like a Valiant Warrior riding upon a goodly Black Horse. He ruleth over all Spirits in the parts of Africa. His Office is to teach perfectly Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, and to discover things Lost or Hidden, and Treasures. He governeth 30 Legions of Internals, and his Seal is this, etc.

Well, it's got the horse motif that goes with the Bauduin Family crest. And the association with grammar, logic and rhetoric feels fitting for the aristocrats the Bauduins are in the present, for good and ill.

In a blink and you'll miss it moment (I certainly did!), we can glimpse the Gundam sigil for Kimaris at the back of its hangar on Vingolf, showing the usual alterations, not least a 90 degree rotation!

I'm genuinely not sure why its orientation should have been adjusted like this, save that once more, it centres the cross element.

ASW-G-70 Seere

We know next to nothing about Seere, so perhaps grouping it in with the freaks or indeed including it here at all is unnecessary. Even its appearance in the panel above is subject to this being the memory of a traumatised kid, so we don't know if it looking so similar to Astaroth is accurate to life.

The solid facts are that Seere remains in operational condition and it was used to destroy a shuttle flight departing the Avalanche colony cluster (situated in the vicinity of the moon) some time during P.D. 318. It is highly likely that it is under the control of a Gjallarhorn bureaucrat named Ville Klaassen, the man responsible for framing and ruining the Warren Family. Exactly why he should have wanted to down this particular flight and what became of the Gundam since are mysteries.

This, of course, is the status of the majority of the 72 Gundams: lost, hidden, abandoned by the organisation that created them, and forgotten by the world they once saved. Regardless of the few that retained some prominence or emerged to retake it, they are the products of a bygone age, rendered unnecessary by their own triumph.

In some ways, that might be for the best. In others . . . well. An unknown mobile suit swatted a spacecraft one day and dozens of people died. Keeping better track of that sort of thing might be in everyone's interests.

From the Ars Goetia:

The Seventieth Spirit is Seere, Sea, or Seir. He is a Mighty Prince, and Power-ful, under Amaymon, King of the East. He appeareth in the Form of a Beautiful Man, riding upon a Winged Horse. His Office is to go and come; and to bring abundance of things to pass on a sudden, and to carry or re-carry anything whither thou wouldest have it to go, or whence thou wouldest have it from. He can pass over the whole Earth in the twinkling of an Eye. He giveth a True relation of all sorts of Theft, and of Treasure hid, and of many other things. He is of an indifferent Good Nature, and is willing to do anything which the Exorcist desireth. And this his Seal is to be worn, etc.

The coming and going in the twinkling of an eye certainly fits. We also have the 'true relation of theft and hidden things', which ties in to the intrigue surrounding Klaassen, the Warrens, Seere and Astaroth.

ASW-G-71 Dantalion

Dantalion is the highest-numbered Gundam we know about and canonically it only saw action right at the very end of the Calamity War. Consequently, it should not come as a surprise that it represents a synthesis of many of the armour and weapons options we have seen previously.

The base machine is stripped-down in comparison to other models, to the point of being extremely lightly armoured. This gives it a uniquely skeletal appearance, intended to accommodate combination with two external booster units. The T (top) and B (bottom) boosters could be used independently in various 'half cowl' configurations, but unlike Kimaris, where the add-on simply increased the Gundam's thrust, they can also transform into enhanced limbs, granting Dantalion greater strength and armour coverage.

A similar transformation function can be seen in the main armament provided, a 'bayonet rifle' that could unfold into a sword and fire in either form. This permits extremely quick switches from ranged to melee combat, especially as two such rifles could be wielded at once.

Furthermore, combining both booster units with an optional shield unit allowed Dantalion to assume its 'perfect cowl' mode, turning it into an all-round juggernaut. This includes extra armour for the head and chest, upping the protection for the pilot quite considerably.

The same philosophy behind Kimaris' multi-tasking design has been turned into an integrated function. Unlike its predecessor, Dantalion does not require anything to be swapped out ahead of time to adapt its operations, and the interchangeable modules can easily be slotted on and off. At the same time, its arsenal emphasises handheld blades and guns, in addition to raw strength. We come full-circle, even as we see previous advances and enhancements merged together.

If we can call Dantalion the summation of Gundam development history, it came too late to match the earlier machines for sheer quantity of kills. Although the Zalmforts became one of Gjallarhorn's high-ranking families, they fell short of joining the Seven Stars. Still, to have risen so high in the waning days of the conflict marks Dantalion out as a success story.

Did the engineers take pride in that, as their penultimate creation cut a swathe across the battlefield? Or were they merely relieved the necessity for it was nearly over.

From the Ars Goetia:

The Seventy-first Spirit is Dantalion. He is a Duke Great and Mighty, appearing in the Form of a Man with many Countenances, all Men’s and Women’s Faces; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsels of any one; for he knoweth the Thoughts of all Men and Women, and can change them at his will. He can cause Love, and show the Similitude of any person, and show the same by a Vision, let them be in what part of the World they Will. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits; and this is his Seal, which wear thou, etc.

Obviously the 'man of many faces' aspect is what's important here. But I do think the 'showing the appearance of another' is an interesting angle to take with Zadiel Zalmfort, who eventually brought his family down by making a show of following his father's orders in a battle with Tanto Tempo.

----

And there you have it. The fifteen known Gundam frames that survived the Calamity War, the origins of their names, and a certain amount of musing concerning what they tell us about the circumstances of their creation.

At this point, we are missing three of the Seven Stars Gundams, those of the Issue, Kujan and Baklazan Families. We do not know for certain all of these survived to the present day, though its seems likely this is the case -- and that the Iron-Blooded Orphans MSV will eventually get around to completing the set.

In the meantime, while I want to write a similar post up for the mobile armours to complete this exploration of the Calamity War backstory, I shall probably have to wait until the Urdr Hunt reaches its conclusion before doing so. Given the hints of what's to come, I don't think any such essay would be complete without what awaits the Afam gang at the end of their quest.

So until then, thank you for reading!