DRIVING SCHOOL MANUAL FOR MOBILE SUIT PILOTS Contents: Introduction: Welcome brave pilot! Pilot 1 Pilot Skills 1.1 Newtype Pilot Skills 1.1.1 Builder Pilot Skills 1.1.2 Pilot Skills Leader 1.1.3 Mobile Suit unit and Vehicles unit 2 Mobile Suit card and the vehicle card 2.1 Upgrade cards 2.2 Button tokens 2.3 Attack 2.4 Aim interference 2.4.1 Other types of attack 2.4.2 Possible outcomes of your hit roll 2.4.3 Movement 2.5 Other types of movement 2.5.1 Weapon control 2.6 Newtype pilots skills 2.7 Special features of Mobile Suit units and vehicle units 2.8 Weapons 3 Weapons range 3.1 Weapons types and effects 3.2 Types of damage 4 Structure damage 4.1 Collateral damage 4.2 Collateral damage cards 4.2.1 Stun damage 4.3 Scenic elements 5 Game turn 6 Match preparation 6.1 Instinct phase 6.2 Initiative 6.3 Alternating activations 6.4 Twist cards 6.5 Game modes 7 Welcome to the Mobile Suit piloting school, during this training you will learn the functionality of the cockpit buttons and the peculiarities and effects of the weapons. Your education will also include information on the different environments in which you will fight, the phases of the game turn and the basic tactics that every good pilot must be able to master. Show due commitment and devotion and, in a short time, you will be ready to take the field to experience the excitement of piloting a Mobile Suit!! INTRODUCTION Sol System, in a not so distant future, Earth’s burgeoning population pushes past 9 billion, straining our precious, pale blue dot to its limits. Part of the Earth's population is forced to move to space, the moon, and to orbital colony clusters known as Sides; each cluster essentially a small self-sufficient nation unto itself, sitting serenely upon the Earth’s LaGrange points. Hundreds of these enormous, cylindrical space islands become the second home for those migrants, allowing them to live as though they were on Earth; here they are born and raised... and die. It is the beginning of a new era for mankind and, for this reason, a new calendar that uses the Universal Century (U.C.) as a unit of measurement is adopted. The furthest colony cluster from Earth, known as Side 3 or Munzo to its inhabitants, eventually finds itself under the sway of the charismatic Zeon Zum Deikun and his philosophy of “Contolism.” Electing him as their new leader in U.C. 0058, their economic independence from the Earth Federation is quickly established and Munzo becomes an autonomous republic. The tension between Munzo and the Federation escalates, and in the following year economic sanctions are placed on Munzo while the Federation establishes the Earth Federal Space Force. In U.C. 0068, this tension reaches its peak. Zeon’s sudden demise leads to Degwin Zabi, his closest advisor, claiming control of Munzo and swiftly placing his children in to positions of power, eliminating any possible competition, including Zeon’s old followers. As well, they were secretly squashing rumors that the Zabis may have orchestrated Zeon’s death themselves. By the time the smoke has cleared, Degwin has become the totalitarian dictator of the nation and his first act was to declare that Side 3 is now known as the Principality of Zeon, and furor over of the death of their leader is used to drum up political hatred for the Earth Federation and their continued pressure on Side 3. In the following decade, the surviving Deikun children go missing and Zeon establishes several new initiatives to pioneer the development of their armed forces and technologies which may prove useful to the growth of said forces. The Federation responds in kind, and relations between Side 3 and the Federation crumble to dust as the former becomes less and less subservient over time. Although no shots have been fired, the cogs of war have already begun to spin. Being denied any request for complete autonomy, the Principality of Zeon quickly moved to conquer the nearby colonies in a swift and brutal campaign that opened with indiscriminate use of weapons of mass destruction. Thus begins in U.C. 0079 the One Year War, a bloody conflict that sees the Principality of Zeon, helped by the subjugated colonies, waging a terrible offensive against the Earth, allied to the few remaining faithful. The surprise attacks against Earth loyalist Sides result in horrific loss of life. The unending, continuous fighting of the first week of the war, known now as the “One Week Battle” results in Operation British, an attempt to drop the captured Island Iffish of Hatte (Side 2) on the Federation’s headquarters, Jaburo in South America. The attempt failed, and portions of the colony fell across the planet, the largest of which impacting directly on Sydney, Australia and striking with such force that the planet’s crust is penetrated, jolting the world such as that its rotation is permanently slightly altered. The result is an enormous gulf where once the city stood, and devastation across all corners of the planet. Following the unrestricted use of weapons of mass destruction by both sides culminating in the horrific event of the colony drop, and when fatalities from secondary causes such as starvation and disease are included, it is clear that over half of the entire human population has been lost. Billions of lives blinked out in but a few short days. Zeon’s efforts to drop a second colony are thwarted, but dread lingers in the hearts of most of humanity that this war could very possibly lead to an end of civilization. The Federation nearly forms a war-ending truce with Zeon when faced with such significant losses against the much smaller nation, but following a rallying speech by their General Revil, and perhaps because the Zabis sought to take Earth as their own, instead the Antarctic Treaty is signed. The war would continue, but without the use of weapons of mass destruction. Immediately following this was a lightning war as Zeon landing forces dropped on Earth and swiftly conquered great swathes of territory, stretching their much limited supply lines and leading to a months long stalemate. One where Federation soldiers and tank crews would struggle against a new and technologically superior weapon of war Zeon had introduced. The military supremacy of Zeon is guaranteed by the Mobile Suit, huge anthropomorphic robots guided by pilots and designed for close combat. Their power plants scattering particles which interrupt long range communications, guided weapons, and the like, forcing combat to be reduced to ranges which benefitted them the most. To counter Zeon's expansionist ambitions, the Earth Federation Forces began developing a new Mobile Suit model of their own, a secret weapon with which to stem the tide: the RX-78-2 Gundam... Never before has humanity's destiny been on the brink of the abyss: the future of the human race is in the hands of indomitable and courageous pilots who, risking their lives, fight in defense of the ideals of peace and justice. Heroic and brave aces fight on both sides of the war; the likes of Lydo Wolf, Shin Matsunaga, Char Aznable, Brenev Auggs, and Amuro Ray fight valiantly for their nations, their families, their honor, or even for revenge as the final months of the conflict witness mobile suit fighting mobile suit in a new kind of war never seen before. If you're reading these lines then you're hiding the potential to become a Mobile Suit pilot... now the question is: "Will you also make your own contribution in an attempt to restore order in a world that is rapidly on the road to destruction? Or will your ashes scatter across the winds of time as others march onward to glory?” 1. PILOT There are three pilot classes available, each has unique and different skills, choose your class. Newtype Builder Leader This category includes newtypes This category includes This category includes of birth, cyber newtypes and manufacturers, mechanics, commanders, leaders and people clones. engineers and electricians. with special charisma. They are the aces of combat: with They are an excellent support for They are responsible for combat their amplified reflexes and Mobile Suit and combat vehicle planning and coordinate each mental abilities they are the repairs. team member during battle. spearhead of every team. Each new skill in this pilot class Each new skill in this pilot class Each new skill in this pilot class costs multiples of 125 experience costs multiples of 100 experience costs multiples of 75 experience points: points: points: 1st skill - 125 XP 1st skill - 100 XP 1st skill - 75 XP 2nd skill - 250 XP 2nd skill - 200 XP 2nd skill - 150 XP 3rd skill - 500 XP 3rd skill - 400 XP 3rd skill - 300 XP 4th skill - 1,000 XP 4th skill - 800 XP 4th skill - 600 XP … … Take the pilot card corresponding to the chosen pilot class and fill it in with your data. PILOT NAME : Indicates the name of your pilot. RANK : Indicates your pilot's military rank. ALIAS : Indicates your pilot's nickname or battle name. STATUS : Indicates the Stun Damage suffered by your pilot. For each Stun Damage suffered during battle, delete a star. At the end of each turn, before the next Instinct Phase, you can recover a star by rolling a die and getting 5+. If your driver suffers 4 Stun Damage, until he recovers at least one star, he will be knocked out and cannot plan or activate the Mobile Suit.