Robtech II: The Sentinels Book I: #1-5

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Welcome to the next part of our chronological trip through the Robotech universe! We now begin with the Robotech II: The Sentinels comics (Book I).

The Sentinels #1 (eternity 1988)

Jason Waltrip begins us off on our journey with the same characters we know and love... only looking very different.  

Separated at birth (new Exedore and Colin Fay from Men at Work)



Sorry, where was I?

 

I always felt that new Lang doesn't look 'anime' enough.

 

So far we haven't gotten to see Rick's face yet. A big reveal is coming... then boom! Page 8, we see a much more confident looking Rick Hunter. Let us call him... Rick Hunter Prime.

 

On page 13 there is a cool shot of an Invid troop transport disgorging it's wrathful army! Although in the cartoon they are in little launch bays inside the big clam ship.

 

The attack on Tirol makes me wonder just how Carl Macek would have pulled off the Invid being the overall bad guy in The Sentinels cartoon (if it was to continue). I thought he couldn't get the rights so would we forever have been seeing the Inorganics? Suck.

 

Cabel says that Rem is a 'young Robotech Master'... really? I know the whole Zor connection but I never remember him ever being called a Robotech Master. Interesting.

 

You know, out of all of the different 'quests' in Robotech, the only one that actually worked successfully was the Invid's discovery of Earth. The Zentraedi failed to recapture Zor's battle fortress, the Masters failed to find the protoculture matrix, the Sentinels failed to find the Masters... but the Invid did find a world where the flower of life would grow...

 

The Invid scientist are drawn to represent 'smaller' versions of the Regent, but in the show they looked to be formed different. The RPG shows the scientist to be the Invid form just short of the evolution of the Regent. Just noticed that.

 

On page 25 Ben Dunn does some Robotech for us in an ad for Ninja Highschool. My fellow blogger (Chris) and I are business acquaintances of Ben. He has done some work for us on a game we made (and failed to Kickstart) called Zombie Death Squad, Go!

 

The Sentinels #2 (eternity 1988)

 

On page 4, Jean Grant's uniform looks very RDF. I don't remember that in the show.

 

The Tirol troops facing the Invid's Inorganics appear to be in a normal cockpit but in the show they are simply sitting in a spherical cockpit, simply using their minds to control the mecha. I guess that wasn't exciting enough.

 

On page 9 Rem and Cabel are talking about the flower of life, saying it hasn't been in that sector for generations but if you will remember in previous comics they talk about the discovery of the flower (as a source of power) and the rise of the Masters as if it only happened within the last 15 years or so. I'll just choose to play along...

 

The shot of the SDF-3 on page 12 is great. It really conveys the size of the ship and the size of the factory... something I didn't see the show do.

 

The display table on page 17 looks like something out of Return of the Jedi.

 

Benson is a jerk-hole. Edwards rubbed off on him real fast.

 

Did you see that guy get blasted on the last frame on page 22? Wicked!

 

The last page of the comic (once again) does what the show didn't. We see the Invid's Inorganics herding the population of Tirol. It's an awesome shot. Bravo.

 

In the letters column a fan writes in and he and editor talk about getting a letter writing campaign started to get Robotech re-broadcast. Oh those were the days. When you got to see something it was a treat. Something like Robotech (or any show) wasn't an instant satisfaction thing, it was an event and you were soooo lucky to get to see it on TV.

 

The Sentinels #3 (eternity 1989)

 

Some cool shots of Alphas open this issue. I have mentioned this before but the helmets (and uniforms in general) of the REF have no pizazz. They are DULL. It would have been cool to see a little more New Generation inspired uniforms.

 

The VR battlepods during Baker's training are not the REF versions like in the show.

 

Page 13... Minmei... hubba hubba (wait, what did I just say?!)

 

On page 15 we see a Petite Cola machine! Also I'd just like to say that I am really enjoying Jason Waltrip's attention to detail. We see the Zentraedi factory and a living-breathing home for so many (something the show didn't do). It's kinda like revisiting Macross city on the SDF-1.

 

Page 20, Edwards looks a little 'The Shadow'...

Just sayin'...

Once again there is an advertisement towards the end of this comic for Protoculture Addicts, one of my all time favorite magazines (up till issue 10 at least).

The Sentinels #4 (eternity 1989)

Wow, the Regent is HUGE. Way bigger than he is in the show. I need to find some sort of comparison chart of 3rd war and Sentinels characters.

 

What's up with this big brain? There is nothing in the Robotech universe like these Invid brains. Even when watching the New Generation episode where they blow up the big brain thingy, I was always wondering... 'what the heck?'.

 

The 'on the ground' Invid transport ships look cool. We have never seen them like this.

 

On page 15 the schematic of the Inorganic... looks a bit... dirty.

 

On the next page we scene right out of the cartoon but wait... where is the great 80's moustache?! It's missing!

 

The Sentinels #5 (eternity 1989)

 

Harry Penn is such a worry wart! It doesn't help that Lang openly pours salt in the wound by telling Karen he wants her on the mission as a fighter pilot... jerk!

 

What's up with Cabel's head? It's so misshapen.. true, not as much as Exedore's was but still...

 

On 14 Minmei shows up again in her 'not suitable for outer space' clothing.

 

When Bradley drops off Baker's invitation to the wedding, it is on some sort of cassette (that he puts into a PC that looks a lot like a TRS-80 (or trash 80 as we used to call them in middle school). In the show it is on the traditional note card.

 

All in all not much happened in this issue other than the flight test accident.

 

 

 

Robotech II: The Sentinels

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

You know, I'm not fancy... I don't wax eloquently about stuff using 'ten dollar words'. I'm no analyst of content... I'm here to have fun.

In my research for covering The Sentinels I have run across many websites/blogs/etc... where would-be Shakespeares go on about each and every detail of Robotech. They do it good and in depth... well that's not what you are going to find here. You are going to find 'Robotech-lite'... "tastes great, less filling". Quite frankly I begin to read these sites and get overwhelmed and bored quickly. We live in a society of speed and short attention spans and that's what I am trying to do here. I don't give you big synopsis (you already read/watched/listened to it, why do I need to retell?) or in-depth analysis. I give you what I think is funny and/or interesting (and I do it quickly). That's why you will be and out of my each of my blog posts in a matter of a few short minutes.

Carry on...

The Sentinels! Woohoo!

I am using (as my source here) the E3 bonus disc of the original release of the Robotech DVD set. Also on this disc is the bonus 'commentary' by Carl Macek. It really isn't commentary (he is reading a very short book he wrote about the making of The Sentinels). It is very interesting to learn how The Sentinels was made, and how ground breaking it would have been (in the business of Japanese/American animation collaboration) so give it a listen if you can.

On with the fun stuff!

At the beginning of the first episode Jack is in his training module and a new version of the Zentraedi battlepod comes up out of the water. For some reason I never really noticed it (being a different design of battlepod). Refer to the Robotech RPG Sentinels Sourcebook to get a good look.

Edwards is sitting in his quarters watching the press conference, his mask is off. He doesn't look bad at all! Why wear that monstrosity of a mask?! It's just a flesh wound...

Minmei shows up at the dress shop... she looks pretty close to her Macross original design.

I guess they couldn't get the same narrator from the original series. Although the new guy isn't bad at all.

Doesn't the Invid's Inorganics look a bit (ok, a whole lot) like Zillion's baddies?

Ok, why doe the cougar mecha explode on contact with the cliff face when they fall but you can drop a mountain on the Odeon and they are fine? The Invid really short changed the cougars when they made them.

Back on Earth the gang prepares for space travel to head up to the satellite. That sure sounds like Kyle's voice in the control room! And look at that one guy, he looks like old Max! Infact there are a lot of re-used voice actors placed here and there and it can throw you off sometimes.

Now I know they didn't get the rights to use the Macross character designs but somehow they got the rights to use the Macross footage, that is odd.** Ok, so after listening to Carl Macek commentary, it wasn't that they didn't get the rights... apparently Macross is just one of those series you don't touch, a revered show and the designers didn't want anyone to think they were working on a sequel to Macross (they even went so far as to use code names for characters... which doesn't make much sense since the American version had totally different names). That is why everyone looks so different (most of all Breetai and Exedore).

In the flash back that Rick has we see a bit of footage that was cut from the original Robotech cartoon. Rick fires on the Zentraedi solider several times but you never see the shots go in... here we see the full scene!

Rick's memory is very hazy here. Lisa looks dismayed after she is grabbed by the Zentraedi solider (because originally she dropped the video recorder). That important fact is not here. Then after Rick saves her, she is crying and says that she didn't know what she'd do without Rick... uh... that is NOT the way it happened. She was crying because the video evidence was lost when the recorder fell. Rick was just remembering with rose colored glasses I guess...

It is a true pitty they didn't get the original voice actors back for Breetai and Miriya. They 2 new people just don't so the characters justice. Miriya might as well be someone totally different.

When Edwards goes on and on to Benson about Rick Hunter, Benson looks far less naive than in the comics. I was on the fence about him being coherenced into working with Edwards... now, not so much.

Lang (among others) keep saying RDF, not REF. There are a couple of other messed up bits of identification later too (like when Shock Troopers are called Enforcers).

Rick asks Breetai and Exedore about the physical size of the Masters... really? I know it is simply exposition but still...

Rem getting into that Invid Shock Trooper is pretty cool. Where the heck is the Invid who was in it though?

The REF flight helmets are pretty unimpressive. Also, the wings of the Beta look too long.

Was it just me or did the Invid Regent keep changing the number of fingers on his hands (sometimes 4, sometimes 5).

On Jack's wedding invitation is says Lisa's real name is Elizabeth! It also says Rick's middle initial is A.

The Invid invasion of the capital of Tirol is pretty awesome. Great animation and lots of action.

There is a large amount of shamelessly re-used animation from Max and Miriya's wedding during Rick and Lisa's wedding. There is even a shot of the bridge of the SDF-1 from that old footage! For shame!

If The Sentinels had continued and no other source (comic/RPG/books) tipped it, what a cool surprise it would have been to discover Janice was an android!

The Malcontent Uprisings #7-12

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

The Malcontent Uprising #7 (Eternity 1990)

The cover looks promising. We see Breetai in full battle mode, looking not-to-happy.

First off we see Breetai's new Sentinels helmet... man on man does it suck! I have always hated that piece of junk. Let's not even get to talking how they turned around and gave Edwards a Breetai-like mask either... sheesh. Sorry, I got carried away.

Breetai puts down his cowl and we get a peek on the back side of it. Neat.

On page 4 we get an excellent drawing of an Invid Shock Trooper (and Breetai looking like a dork right before getting his face shot off).

On the next page we see Breetai in the micronization tank. This brings up an interesting point... when someone is shrunk or enlarged, is their old body melted away? Having read a bunch of sci-fi over the years that has been one method writers explain how teleportation work; the conscience is transferred across distances and the left-behind body is disposed of. Kinda freaky but it makes sense.

Next page we get... Dork-a-tron! Yes, I know Harmony Gold couldn't get the rights to the looks of the Macross characters so they had to change them drastically for The Sentinels but still...

Spangler wrote off this drastic change in character-look explaining that Breetai wanted to travel incognito... so new mask.

I'd have to admit that some of the Southern Cross armor is cool, but not much of it.

The Petit Cola van on page13 hovers... does everything after 2015 hover... wait no, next page...

Jevna Parl shows up on page 16. If you remember, he was aboard the factory satellite in The Zentraedi Rebellion. He was the first Zentraedi Lisa had seen bald and with a beard.

On page 22 things start falling apart story-wise. Jevna is going to use Breetai to 'test' the sizing chamber by force. Ok, say it works... Breetai at full size? No one can stop him after that. Next, Breetai see the battlepod and jumps to the conclusion that there MUST be a full size Zentraedi in there. Why? We know that Zentraedi can operate pods in a team of 3. Finally Breetai comes to the (right) conclusion that Jevna is the one in the pod. Why? Re-read this whole paragraph and that theory is shot down (and dumb). Sorry, things just got crazy there for a second.

As many gripes and such as I had for this issue, it was fun. That's what makes this stuff fun for me. I like nit-picking but I do it only in FUN. I'm not angry about it or anything. Just fun!

The Malcontent Uprising #8 (Eternity 1990)

Miriya finally gets to meet up with Seloy. It took long enough!

The Bartley family is reunited on page 6. I wonder if we will get to see where Rook ends up before this is all over. I'd think she'd be a bit younger though... yep, in the book she is like 6 months old. That would put her around 16 when the Invid attack. She looks to be about 6 or 7 here. That would make put her in her 20's when the Invid attack.

On page 16 Wolff talks to Max about deserting. In the book Max is shocked and talks Wolff out of it, here it is turned into some sort of mission.

We get to see a Veritech take on a Hovertank, nice.

Not a whole lot of talk in this issue (aside from Seloy revealing her plan to Miriya).

The Malcontent Uprising #9 (Eternity 1990)

Greg Lane takes over as artist in this issue. He has a very different look for Wolf... more hair, less forehead.

The Centaur tanks looks awesome BTW.

I really like Lane's work here. There is a nice technical look as well as nice character renderings too.

At the top of page 9 are some music posters on the side of a building. One is for a Minmei album and the one below it is for Bon Jovi called 'still rockin'. So Bon Jovi survived the Rain of Death? In the picture he seems to be leaning on a cane and at the bottom the title says 'Ben Gay Blues'. lol!

On page 11 Ron Bartley looks a little Roy Fokker-ish.

The Zentraedi on page 16 couldn't find armor in his own size.. it's a bit big on him.

Miriya looks much more... Miriya in this issue (with her tight Zentraedi uniform on and her hair in normal fashion).

That is a cool Stinger on page 20. An armored Veritech hybrid.

Well, that situation with Seloy and Hirano turned bad fast... As I thought before, the idea of Hirano's lineage would have made for some interesting story since he was the only other (besides Dana) hybrid Zentraedi/Human. Kinda strange that they just got rid of him like that.

The Malcontent Uprising #10 (Eternity 1990)

As we begin we see that Miriya's uniform has been ripped quite 'sexily'.

Wow on page 8, the stinger on the left is a real hybrid! It's part Destroid, part battlepod!

There is lots of mech battling going on in this issue. Lane does a pretty good job.

At the bottom of page 22, Max looks a bit Minmei-ish.

I wonder if General Nichols is related to Louie Nichols (from the 2nd War)?

Rolf and Frank appear to be wearing Southern Cross uniforms which appear to be fairly close to the REF uniforms. I never noticed that before.

The Malcontent Uprising #11 (Eternity 1990)

John Waltrip did the cover of this issue. It is a bit over the top.

Greg Lane is back as the artist... lookin' good.

There's Leonard's blimps on page 6 (*snort*). Beware of those 'Battle Blimps'!

The art is good all through this comic but the rear view of the stinger on page 12 is awesome.

On page 14 one of the micro-disease carrying things gets inside one of the pilot's cockpits... isn't that impossible? Aren't those things air-tight?

What the heck... Breetai, again?! This was not in the book (and rightly so). The guy is getting shrunk every ten minutes!

On page 25 it shows Miriya's Veritech opened up. I never knew the VF-1A (or any Veritech) opened up like that (with the head forward). Have I just been blind? I guess so. Just must be so rare to see it.

The Malcontent Uprising #12 (Eternity 1990)

Also known as... 'new looks are in'.

Those toys Dana is playing with are awesome. I wish real Robotech toys looked as good.

Marla's helmet on page 19 looks familiar but unfamiliar... it must be some sort of hybrid (like the stingers).

Is that some 'tommy tongue' I see between Max and Miriya?

The transformation of the game Dana is playing from child's toy to the screen of her hover tank is pretty cool. A nice transition of what is to come for Dana... but not for us!



Join me next time as I watch the next item in the Robotech universe (chronologically, anyway)...
The Sentinels!

The Malcontent Uprisings #1-6

By Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

We are now continuing our quest to cover all the Robotech comics/shows/books in chronological order. Initially this was going to be a one year deal... you know how life gets. Anyway we are back on track with Eternity Comics: Malcontent Uprising. This was a mini series written by Bill Spangler (who will head the unfinished journey into to the Sentinels. I am guessing he had access to Carl Macek's notes as this series (and his Sentinels work) appears to be canon. Jack McKinney also took his (their) basis for: The Zentraedi Rebellion from Bill's work as well.

This mini series take place during (about 2 years into) the book: The Zentraedi Rebellion so I have placed it after reading the book (for ease of following along). In the book these comics begin in chapter 23.

The Malcontent Uprising #1 (Eternity 1989)

Eternity's Robotech comics are in black and white and that is fine with me. I like this style. Michael Ling does a great and confident Anime-style job with the art.

On page 5 there is a reference (or no-so-subtle copying) of Return of the Jedi 'Zentraedi have died to deliver this tape to Monument City.'

A bit of Max and the '4th wall' at the top frame of page 7. Don't know what I am taking about? Look it up.

On page 13 we see one of the new mecha made for this series.

There is a cool shot of a Veritech pilot and cockpit on page 25. Love it!

On the last page there is a 'bonus pinup!' of Myria in a very unconventional jumpsuit. Not sure if an RDF uniform needs to have so much visible cleavage! lol

The Malcontent Uprising #2 (Eternity 1989) 

The Malcontent's mecha looks like a cross between a Veritech and a female Zentraedi power suit.

Wow, on page 6 Rick looks like he's about 6 weeks past needing a hair cut (and for him, that's saying something)!

Apparently everyone know Miriya got a 'tape' message and she left but she erased it before she left... a tape... what's that? lol

On page 13 we see Cavern City.. whoa look out for those streets, there are no barriers between the narrow streets and the abyss below. The government must have faith in good driving.

They discuss how the 'Southern' Grand Cannon is being dismantled. What is this 'Southern' Grand Cannon of which you speak?

We meet one of Wolff's men named Ron Bartley. Yep, the dad of Rook.

On page 20 we get our first look at the relationship of Jonathan Wolff and his wife. This helps flesh out his character more and his regrets year later when he is back on Earth during the 3rd War.

The tank Wolff is in looks really cool (page 24).

The Malcontent Uprising #3 (Eternity 1989)

The pilot's helmets look strange and pointy here...

Wolf's tank (on page 6) looks insane. What the heck would you use that thing for?!

On page 8 there is an overhead shot of Max's cockpit and it looks cool. An angle you never see. I'm all about angles you never see!

I swear that Max looks like Myria on page 11 at the bottom right frame. I think it's the hair.

On page 15 Wolff looks like Herman Munster.

On the last page of the comic we get a history of some of the Malcontent groups and an overview of the new mecha featured in this min-series.

There a bunch of nice mecha drawings in this comic. Ling does a good job with the mechanical components.

The Malcontent Uprising #4 (Eternity 1989)

I can't imagine that Dana Sterling was the ONLY half breed out there. Certainly Zentraedi/human coupling would have started taking place right away. If I remember correctly Jack McKinney wrote it off to 'the workings of the Protoculture'.

I'm not sure of the shot of the Veritech on the next to last frame on page 11. Confusing since it had nothing do to with what was going on.

Page 15... nekkid Zentraedi.

The birth of the Southern Cross is really an interesting thing. It really does parallel events in real life were a segment of the populace were treated with suspicion and fear. I also see some interesting real life Civil War parallels with the birth of the Southern Cross. I'm sure someone has written about it. Too bad all that interesting stuff deals with my least favorite part of the Robotech saga.

Doesn't Max have a fancy helmet on page 27?

Before the fan mail pages there is another page of backstory about camp Alpha and they picked up on the same thing I did (about the internment camps of WWII).

The Malcontent Uprising #5 (Eternity 1990)

Page 1 looks awesome. The 'techno feel' of the whole page is well done.

On page 3 did Kimball just punch that tech in the nuts?!

There is a can of Petit Cola starring in the 4th frame on page 4... next to 'Tuns of Donuts'.

Max and Wolff (on page 7) talk about the music broadcasting from the Lorelei satellite causing Zentraedi to defect. This is right of out left field (I'm sure we will find out more about it later).

The guy on with the glasses on 9 looks a little too 'cartoony'. In fact the next 2 pages look that way too.

There's a lot of hair in this issue...

It's nice to get a little detail about Wolff's and Catherine's issues here. There are also a few 'cheap' pages during the CCTV viewing about the city coming apart at the scenes but I'm sure drawing this much can be exhausting and having some easy pages is a relief.

The Malcontent Uprising #6 (Eternity 1990)

In steps the Army of the Southern Cross in giant... blimps?!

The Zentraedi Data Retrieval expert (the one with the RDF/Zentraedi overlay symbol on her tunic) looks a lot like Lynn Kyle.

On page 14 Jonathan Wolff's forehead has reached new heights. He looks like Sinestro from the Green Lantern comics.

On page 20 is a shot of that gawd-awful looking SDF-3. Looks like a mutated cucumber.

This is the first issue were we get to see some of the hover technology that was not apart of Robotech until the 2nd war (or until shortly after the end of the 1st).
 

Book 19: The Zentraedi Rebellion

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Don't be sacred because the title says Book 19. Since I am reading/watching the entire Robotech saga in chronological order this book (printed last) takes places after the 6th book (between the end of the Macross Saga but before the Sentinels).

Finally!!!! I did it! I finished reading Jack McKenny's Zentraedi Rebellion. It was a bit like eating cotton wool. As many of you know I dreaded this book quite a bit. It's not because it's bad, but it is not very action packed and it is kinda slow. I read it back when it first came out so I kinda knew what to expect. It is great for diehards because it fills in gaps between The Sentinels and the 2nd Robotech War. It answers many questions like:

1. Why did Max and Miriya leave Dana on Earth?
2. How did the Army of the Southern Cross come about?
3. Why did it take so long for the SDF-3 to launch?
4. How in the heck did Janice Em come about?
5. What's the deal with Lazlo Zand?
6. Why are there no full-sized Zentraedi in the 2nd War?
7. Who is the Wolff guy anyway?

...and many other questions. This is why I feel two ways about this book. It is a tad bit dull but it fulfills a need that the fan wants. I think I might have problems 'getting into it' because I'm not a big fan of the 2nd War or any part of the Southern Cross.

The Zentraedi Rebellion fills in the gaps after the destruction of the SFD-1 and start of the Expeditionary mission to Tirol. While Rick and Lisa are trying to get the REF's mission rolling we see how the surviving Zentraedi are having a tough time of it. Lots of bands of 'Malcontents' are forming and riots and segregation is happening all over the place. Miyria is caught up in it all. The Zentraedi Rebellion seems to be Jack McKenny's reinforcement of Eternity's Malcontent storyline from 1994. It is kinda cool to see how the two mixed together. Infact the events in Eternity's comics begin in chapter 23.

So I am not sure why Breetai and gang wanted to make his flagship look like the SDF-1. Surely that wouldn't fool the Masters. I am guessing that Carl Macek wanted something to 'harken back' to Macross.

The early, secret meetings between Moran, Leonard, and the rest of their cronies makes you think of how the South must have come together before the Civil War. Let's make sure to call it what it is... this whole Malcontent/Rebellion storyline is a analogue of the Civil War.

Jan Morrison (remember her, the former screen queen who Minmei defeated at the Miss Macross pagent) went on and became this sort of New Age hippie. Well, there is this bit at the beginning of one of the chapters that quotes her from her 'audio book'. I just found that funny. That's how I get most of my 'reading' done now-a-days.

As a side note, the comics and the Palladium RPG supplement: The Zentraedi Breakout came out the same year. I took a gander through it but there wasn't any sort of adventures based on the events in the comics. It does do a lot of RDF/Southern Cross blending which is a nice cross over.

The book mentions Conrad Wilbur and the Faithful (from the comics) which is a nice continuity touch.

The Bartley's are introduced here (including a 6 month old Rook). Apparently Rook is related to Lang. That is an interesting tid bit.

We are introduced to T.R. Edwards here, working as a double agent. I just don't care for this character. Sure, we need bad guys but he is too much like Breetai (with the face plate thing) and his reason for hating Hayes and Hunter is a bit much.

Good old Walmart is mentioned in Chapter 15.

We all know Zand is the protégé of Lang but he is super jealous of Lang's mind boost at the hand of the SDF-1's computers. Zand does everything in his power to give himself that same mind boosted advantage. We see him actually give himself Invid cockpit juice intravenously... yuck!

Towards the end of the book Seloy (the female Zentraedi pilot who delivered Miriya onto the SDF-1 to find and kill Max way back when, is the main protagonist of this book (at least of Miriya's part anyway). She pretty much hits the nail on the head when she predicts that in about 20 years the Invid will arrive.

One final thought, Seloy's child Hirano could have REALLY been something interesting to explore but for some reason they didn't.

If someone were going to follow my trek through the Robotech universe I'd almost advise them NOT to read this book in order. There are a few surprises in the Sentinels that would get spilled here. I won't mention characters or events (like character's deaths) but a few of the chapter intros (those little and sometimes not so little blurbs) and some content give away stuff. Jack McKenny assumes anyone reading this book already read The Sentinels and wouldn't think anything of it.

P.S. Someone uploaded it in PDF format if you want to read it...

Book 6: Robotech: Doomsday

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Doomsday (by Jack McKinney) is the last of the 'First Robotech War' of books. It finishes out the final of the 36 episodes of the 'Macross Saga' part of Robotech. It begins a little out of sync of the show with the Robotech Masters detecting that something has happened in the war of the SDF-1 and the Zentraedi grand fleet.

During the first chapter there is some very interesting re-capping of the story of Zor that I never really thought much about in the past. The series never goes into the explanation of how Zor was the master of the secrets of Protoculture and exactly how the 'Masters' of Robotech came into power. It is pointed out that it was Zor who started it all with his discovery of turning the flower of life into a power source. The book goes on to tell us that it was with this power that the Zentraedi were created and put to work on Fantoma as miners. The 'Masters' manipulated Zor and took control of the Protoculture, put themselves in power, and turned the Zentraedi into warriors. A plausible storyline but this all means that the rise of the Robotech Masters and their empire happened only within Zor's lifetime. Zor didn't appear to be that old (at least his clones didn't (and he didn't in the comics). That means that the WHOLE of the events that put the Masters in power and such happened in just a few short years. From the show, comics, art, and books (an the unoffical Robotech timeline) it always seemed to me that the Masters and their Zentraedi had been around for a long time... apparently not! There is some food for thought.

I finished this book then promptly let life overtake my ambitions to run headlong through the Robotech universe so there was quite a bit of a gap from when this post was initially started to now (the point at which I am finishing this post). While reading the book I would take notes on my phone for later remembrance (since I forget stuff so easily).

When Max and Miriya take little Dana into the Robotech factory (an absolutely insane idea BTW), the book describes Dana in an EVA suit. For a split second I was thinking of Evangelion... lol

I thought the usage of the word Shibboleth to be strange. I think the writer was overthinking us as a target audience for a moment.

In this whole mess of bringing an infant into the middle of a military action made me think of one other thing. When Reno saw the mutant why o why didn't he just shoot it? He had enough time to wax eloquently about it being an abomination but the simple solution of incinerating it didn't cross his mind.

Later in the book Khyron is doing some inner monologuing about him being the Master's one last hope. When did that happen. After the destruction of Dolza's fleet Khyron seemed to want to do only what Khyron wanted to do. Never anywhere did anyone ever say or think anything different. Khyron is a mad devil who really only answers to himself. Not to mention the fact that it is apparent that all 'infected' Zentraedi are destroyed and Khyron is certainly infected.

When Rick ditches Lisa at the outdoor cafe before their picnick so he could go drool over Minmei he drinks so much (after the whole Kyle debacle) the bartender cuts him off. He then gets into a car and drives!

He heads out to help crush the Zentraedi that attack the airfield. He gets in a Destroid... Why? There was a Veritech there and when you are one of the top Veritech aces you don't get in a Destroid (the stormtrooper of the Robotech universe). Maybe it was cause he had a bit too much to drink.

When Khyron is looking for the Protoculture Matrix in the city the book mentions that Azoina's troops are also looking... in Quadrono Battalion Invid Scout Ships... what the heck are those?

Anyway in the end the story wrapped up nicely. Unlike a visual format like comics or cartoons you have to do a lot of Character interaction and such and although it helped to tie up stuff, having the visual only of the show was more powerful when it came to the destruction of the SDF1/2 at the end.

So long ago when I first finished this book I went to the only book that I even considered to read next (the first book of the 2nd Robotech War). Ofcourse that skips over 15 whole years. When I re-read the series years after that I did it in the right order but the Zentraedi Rebellion I read out of order because it came out after my 2nd read though. Now I shall be reading it all in order so the next book I will cover is The Zentraedi Rebellion. Keep an eye out for it and the comics that take place at the same time.

Robotech RPG Tactics: Our campaign. Update 1

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Robotech RPG Tactics (2014-2015)

An introduction: 

After building the majority of the minis in the Robotech RPG Tactics core box set (along with some of the Kickstarter extras) I began thinking of a campaign where Chris and I could begin playing and learning the game. Neither of us has been a fan/player of table top army v army type games (wahammer, etc). This is all new to us so we are starting small.

I wanted to this to be a more cartoon-based game, that is to say I don't want to just open the box and start playing random games. I want there to be a background to the mission, etc... Below is my effort to do that.

The campaign that begins here is a (in game-time) year-long adventure following the playing character (a newly minted pilot in the RDF) beginning in March of 2008) with his training, moving into missions, on into actual battle with Zentraedi when they arrive in November of 2009.

At this point the game is purely based on the Tactics side of the game with an RPG generated character attached. If the game moves into the RPG side is yet to be seen. Chris has picked the name Rusty Dale Higgins because everything HAS to mean something to him. The (imo dorky) name is based on some King of the Hill references. Never the less, not everyone can be Rick Hunter or Jack Archer...

Campaign begins ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is March 3^rd, 2008. The location is Macross Isand in the South Pacific ocean. The alien ship known as the SDF-1 is nearing it’s completion with litte more than a year left. The RDF Academy has been in operation for six years now, producing military men and women accustomed to the alien ‘Robotechnology’. 2^nd Lieutenant Rusty Dale Higgins is in his 7^th month of Veritech pilot training. The coursework begins moving into

the area of military encounters.

The Academy has a wealth of Robotechnology and complex, realistic combat simulators are where pilots get their training. On the schedule of training will be up 4 mandatory VR missions, then a live war game with other pilots at the end of the month. 

The VR missions will progressively get more difficult before the pilot will take to the skies. The combat simulators are available 24/7 so Lieutenant Higgins may choose to play additional VR missions of this basic type until the live event.

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Mission 1 (03/7/08)

The first VR combat flight will be against another Veritech VF-1J. The encounter will be restricted o jet mode. This mission is to familiar the pilots with their own weapon system in a combat enounter. The object to the mission is to eliminate the enemy VF-1J.

Report: Lieutenant Higgins succeeded in eliminating the enemy Veritech, taking a few turns to come to grips with the effects of the Afterburner effects of the aircraft and unfamiliarity of the weapon system. Although useful, the GU-11 gunpod and twin head lasers under the pilot’s canopy are not as devestatingly useful as the Veritechs compliment of missiles.

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Mission 2 (03/14/08)

This mission is a repeat of the first but each Veritech is limited to missiles only. The Veritech with the least amount of damage at the end of the last missile payload (of both Veritechs) is the winner.

Mission Override: At the beginning of this mission, combat parameters were over-ridden and all weapon systems were activated due to the power of the missile payload.

Report: Lieutenant Higgins won this mission quickly.

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Mission 3 (03/19/08)

In this mission both units will be limited to Battloid mode only with no weapons. This mission will familiarize the pilot with the hand to hand combat methods of the Veritech in Battloid and Guardian mode.

Report: Spending the meager 1 command point (by both pilots) came in useful in Hand to Hand combat mode. It allowed for multiple attacks, speeding up combat. The VR pilot attempted a Jump Kick a couple of occasions but failed to attack on the first action (thus, denying the attempt of the Jump Kick).

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Mission 4 (03/24/08)

This final VR mission will place a team of 4 Veritechs against 4 Veritechs. The match is over once 3 of the 4 Veritechs of any team are defeated.

Mission Override: Lieutenant Higgins and the VR pilot were both given a Leadership ability of 2 to allow for more command points in this battle.

Report: Once again missiles ruled the day as the VR team defeated Lieutenant Higgins’ Veritech squad. The Lieutenant kept his squad in jet mode while the VR pilot kept his in Guardian mode. The flexibility of movement (along with the missiles) gave the VR pilot the edge in battle. The inflexibility of jet mode (inability to turn more than 90 degrees in either direction led to the VR pilot being able to use Back Strike for +1 to strike.

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VR Missions Summary:

These simple missions (much like the ones in the game manual) were designed to familiarize players with the basics of game play and the pros/cons of different weapon systems and modes.