I'm struggling to think of any Zeon suit with head vulcans despite how common they are on Federation designs. I believe the Sinanju does, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Well, I knew Garma Zabi's custom Zaku 2 had FOUR head vulcans, so that got me thinking about it and I just looked up Garma's Zaku to see if it would expound on it and lo and behold Eric Mansfield's custom Zaku also had vulcans, but only the usual 2. I am probably going to look into it more but if I had to take a guess I would've thought at least a few of the Zeon ms made by Anaheim Electronics had vulcans, especially in the Unicorn era. I know Sinanju has them but that was originally a Feddie suit...
MS-06FS Zaku II was a limited production suit for commanders and aces before the MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type entered service; it was a modified MS-06F picked from the assembly line for being an especially well assembled machine (much like Soviet WW2 sniper rifles were selected from regular rifles that were noted as being more accurate than usual, then modified specifically for the sniper role), with minor improvements here and there, but the most notable being the head. The usual configuration was four 30mm head vulcans, but these ran out of ammo quickly, had very low firepower, and generally soured Zeon on the idea of head vulcans until Federation designs made them change their mind. Some pilots chose to reduce the number of guns from four to two, replacing the other two guns with greater ammo capacity, and a small number were equipped with a pair of 40mm vulcan guns in an attempt to increase firepower and ammo capacity. The only MS-06FS we really see is Garma's personal unit, which had the original quad 30mm guns. MSM-04 Acguy was an amphibious MS that equipped four 105mm vulcan guns in its massive head, increasing the firepower of the head vulcans and also using up stockpiles of ammo for the MS-05 Zaku's old 105mm machine gun that had been deemed obsolete before the beginning of the One Year War. Some versions of the Acguy replaced the beam cannon in the right arm with a fifth 105mm vulcan gun. These guns had more firepower than any other head vulcan in the OYW, but were still useless against the Gundam's armor, though they proved capable of destroying a GM or conventional vehicle and could still damage the sensors, joints, and other weak points on the Gundam. We don't see head vulcans in Zeon designs again until the United Maintenance Plan takes effect. Then we see: both transitional MS incorporating features that would become standard on UMP MS, and full blown UMP MS incorporating all the features. MS-05L Zaku Sniper: equipped with a pair of 40mm vulcan guns in the head, like the improved firepower version of the MS-06FS Zaku II. MS-09S Dowas, the final production variant of the Dom. It had a pair of vulcan guns in the head of unspecified caliber, but given that the UMP was meant to standardize parts, weapons, and ammo for MS, it's likely of 60mm caliber, like the other UMP MS. MS-14FS Gelgoog Marine Commander wasn't a full-blown UMP design, but like the MS-06F2 incorporated some aspects of the UMP, such as the cockpit and avionics. It had a pair of 40mm head vulcans. MS-14Jg Gelgoog Jager was one of the very last UMP designs produced, in extremely limited numbers, and by far was the best performing MS of the OYW, even beating out the Gundam in every aspect but armor, and had speed/acceleration that wouldn't be matched again until UC 0088 with MS like the Zaku III. Equipped with twin 60mm head vulcans. YMS-16M Xamel was an artillery unit that also had a single 20mm vulcan gun next to its head/cockpit. This is by far the smallest and weakest vulcan gun on any MS, presumably using the same 20mm ammo as the machine guns on the Dopp fighter, while earlier Zeon MS used the 30mm ammo from the Gattle space fighter. Given that the Xamel was exclusively intended for ground combat and, as an artillery unit, wasn't meant to engage other MS directly, much less in close combat, it's likely this was done to take advantage of ammo stockpiles for the Dopp, Luggun, and other aircraft, while keeping in mind that the Xamel wasn't expected to need any real defensive firepower other than the ability to shoot down incoming missiles or artillery shells. MS-18E Kampfer was a limited production MS fully taking advantage of the UMP, and was equipped with twin 60mm head vulcans. The MS-18F version, which appears to have been intended to use beam weaponry rather than the ballistic weapons the E version, also used twin 60mm head vulcans. MS-21 Dra-C used a vulcan gun of unknown caliber as its main weapon, replacing the right arm with a gun, rather than using a standard Zaku II arm (the Dra-C was a combination of parts from the MS-06F2 Zaku II, Gattle space fighter, and new build parts) and weaponry. This was presumably done because of the limited resources available to the Delaz fleet. The vulcan guns are depicted as fairly weak, but still powerful enough to pose a threat to mass-produced MS used by the EFSF, fitting the Dra-C's role as a fast, long-ranged scout and patrol MS that wasn't really suited to actual combat. Zeon makes limited use of vulcan guns during the Neo Zeon War, with the Zaku III Custom, Zssa, and a couple other MS having 30mm vulcan guns in the head, collar, or chest. Interesting that they downgraded the caliber, presumably to increase ammo capacity since they were mainly intended to shoot down missiles and the like. Gyunei Guss's Jagd Doga also clearly has head vulcans in the Char's Counter Attack movie, but they're never mentioned anywhere else and never listed in armaments for the Jagd Doga, regardless of source.
I'm struggling to think of any Zeon suit with head vulcans despite how common they are on Federation designs. I believe the Sinanju does, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
OMG you are blowing my mind.I may have Mandela Effected myself.
Well, I knew Garma Zabi's custom Zaku 2 had FOUR head vulcans, so that got me thinking about it and I just looked up Garma's Zaku to see if it would expound on it and lo and behold Eric Mansfield's custom Zaku also had vulcans, but only the usual 2. I am probably going to look into it more but if I had to take a guess I would've thought at least a few of the Zeon ms made by Anaheim Electronics had vulcans, especially in the Unicorn era. I know Sinanju has them but that was originally a Feddie suit...
MS-06FS Zaku II was a limited production suit for commanders and aces before the MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type entered service; it was a modified MS-06F picked from the assembly line for being an especially well assembled machine (much like Soviet WW2 sniper rifles were selected from regular rifles that were noted as being more accurate than usual, then modified specifically for the sniper role), with minor improvements here and there, but the most notable being the head. The usual configuration was four 30mm head vulcans, but these ran out of ammo quickly, had very low firepower, and generally soured Zeon on the idea of head vulcans until Federation designs made them change their mind. Some pilots chose to reduce the number of guns from four to two, replacing the other two guns with greater ammo capacity, and a small number were equipped with a pair of 40mm vulcan guns in an attempt to increase firepower and ammo capacity. The only MS-06FS we really see is Garma's personal unit, which had the original quad 30mm guns.
MSM-04 Acguy was an amphibious MS that equipped four 105mm vulcan guns in its massive head, increasing the firepower of the head vulcans and also using up stockpiles of ammo for the MS-05 Zaku's old 105mm machine gun that had been deemed obsolete before the beginning of the One Year War. Some versions of the Acguy replaced the beam cannon in the right arm with a fifth 105mm vulcan gun. These guns had more firepower than any other head vulcan in the OYW, but were still useless against the Gundam's armor, though they proved capable of destroying a GM or conventional vehicle and could still damage the sensors, joints, and other weak points on the Gundam.
We don't see head vulcans in Zeon designs again until the United Maintenance Plan takes effect. Then we see: both transitional MS incorporating features that would become standard on UMP MS, and full blown UMP MS incorporating all the features.
MS-05L Zaku Sniper: equipped with a pair of 40mm vulcan guns in the head, like the improved firepower version of the MS-06FS Zaku II.
MS-09S Dowas, the final production variant of the Dom. It had a pair of vulcan guns in the head of unspecified caliber, but given that the UMP was meant to standardize parts, weapons, and ammo for MS, it's likely of 60mm caliber, like the other UMP MS.
MS-14FS Gelgoog Marine Commander wasn't a full-blown UMP design, but like the MS-06F2 incorporated some aspects of the UMP, such as the cockpit and avionics. It had a pair of 40mm head vulcans.
MS-14Jg Gelgoog Jager was one of the very last UMP designs produced, in extremely limited numbers, and by far was the best performing MS of the OYW, even beating out the Gundam in every aspect but armor, and had speed/acceleration that wouldn't be matched again until UC 0088 with MS like the Zaku III. Equipped with twin 60mm head vulcans.
YMS-16M Xamel was an artillery unit that also had a single 20mm vulcan gun next to its head/cockpit. This is by far the smallest and weakest vulcan gun on any MS, presumably using the same 20mm ammo as the machine guns on the Dopp fighter, while earlier Zeon MS used the 30mm ammo from the Gattle space fighter. Given that the Xamel was exclusively intended for ground combat and, as an artillery unit, wasn't meant to engage other MS directly, much less in close combat, it's likely this was done to take advantage of ammo stockpiles for the Dopp, Luggun, and other aircraft, while keeping in mind that the Xamel wasn't expected to need any real defensive firepower other than the ability to shoot down incoming missiles or artillery shells.
MS-18E Kampfer was a limited production MS fully taking advantage of the UMP, and was equipped with twin 60mm head vulcans. The MS-18F version, which appears to have been intended to use beam weaponry rather than the ballistic weapons the E version, also used twin 60mm head vulcans.
MS-21 Dra-C used a vulcan gun of unknown caliber as its main weapon, replacing the right arm with a gun, rather than using a standard Zaku II arm (the Dra-C was a combination of parts from the MS-06F2 Zaku II, Gattle space fighter, and new build parts) and weaponry. This was presumably done because of the limited resources available to the Delaz fleet. The vulcan guns are depicted as fairly weak, but still powerful enough to pose a threat to mass-produced MS used by the EFSF, fitting the Dra-C's role as a fast, long-ranged scout and patrol MS that wasn't really suited to actual combat.
Zeon makes limited use of vulcan guns during the Neo Zeon War, with the Zaku III Custom, Zssa, and a couple other MS having 30mm vulcan guns in the head, collar, or chest. Interesting that they downgraded the caliber, presumably to increase ammo capacity since they were mainly intended to shoot down missiles and the like. Gyunei Guss's Jagd Doga also clearly has head vulcans in the Char's Counter Attack movie, but they're never mentioned anywhere else and never listed in armaments for the Jagd Doga, regardless of source.
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