I was really hyped about the MicroWars line when Bandai announced it and the first volume did for the most part live up to those expectations. After all, I've ended up getting four cases so far. The previews for volume two gave me the exact same feeling and I was impressed to see a figure selection that I thought complemented volume one really well.
MicroWars 2 was released in the end of July 2019. The figures have a recommend price of ¥500 and are primarily sold in 10-cases. The figures in volume one were not distributed evenly, so a case would contain two RX-78s, one Char's Zaku II, three mass production Zaku IIs and two of each vehicle. I do not know the exact figure distribution for volume two because I have been unable to secure a 10-case for myself. However I have managed to pick up a number of full sets so I am imagining that this set might be evenly balanced with two of each figure in a case.
Alright, before I get into this figure I just have to point out that I am not digging the individual numbering of these figures. This set should be 6-10 as far as I am concerned. This is how it used to be done with the Shokugan figure like Converge or Assault Kingdom although they did ditch it for Universal Unit. Resetting each set back to 01 just gives the series an ephemeral feel like it could go away at any minute (and it just might, more on that later...).
01 : RX-79[G] Ground Type Gundam
So... no one will be surprised that we're starting out the set with a Gundam figure but this time it is a mass production type. This is perfect for a figure line that is going down the combined arms route; you kind of want to build armies of mobile suits and tanks and it makes less sense to focus on suits like the RX-78 and Char's Zaku from that point of view in my mind. Here's a figure you can happily hoard and give each unit a different call sign, just like how I like it.
Starting with volume two, the ease of assembly has been greatly improved for the MicroWars figures. The mobile suits from volume one would come with a prebuilt torso, and then you got two sprues with parts for the arms and legs. The mobile suits of volume two come with the shoulders, legs and feet already assembled for you, now only the arms and hands need to be cut out which is a nice time saver. The figures steel retain the budget-style hollow look where the legs and some parts on their backs are not properly closed up. This is a pure cost saving cop-out which I doubt will be done away with any time soon.
As you can see from the parts shot the figure is very white, and the equipment selection is rather poor. You'll want to do a lot of panel lining to bring out the decent sculpt detail (on the front side for the most part) and consider using paint or marker pen instead of fiddling with the big wrap around stickers for the feet. Notice that you only get one sticker for the 8th platoon with this figure which is a little weak and its background colour doesn't even match the plastic. Even worse; the figure only gets one weapon, its measly machine gun and not its signature 180mm cannon and there is also no backpack. The Zaku IIs of volume one had three weapon choices and a different head choice between them; here you will have to make do without any such options.
The main gimmick of opening hatches is still around of course, and although the cockpit feels more cramped this time around you can still place the pilot inside and close it up neatly.
The comparison shots above show you the Ground Type Gundam next to the RX-78 from MicroWars volume one as well as the recent Ground Type released in Mobile Suit Ensemble. Overall I like the Ground Type figure but it feels kind of inferior and a bit of a missed opportunity as army building it will not be very fun at all.
02 : RGM-79 GM
The second E.F.F. mobile suit in the set is also an army builder and the perfect opponent to the Zaku. The mass production type GM continues the line of classic Universal Century designs and seems the most obvious choice for the figure line so I am happy to see it included here.
The basic look and feel of the GM is more colourful than that of the Ground Type Gundam although you will still have to deal with very white arms and legs on this machine. Just like the other figures in this set I have accentuated some details with black marker pens including obvious vents, shoulder joints and the like, but there is much more than can be done to further increase their appearance. Again I have used a red marker pen to colour the feet rather than bother with the included stickers. I had enough of those in
Universal Unit.
The equipment selection is again limited to the GM's most common weapon, a Beam Spray Gun and its nice three-colour shield. This is less of a concern for the GM than the Ground Type Gundam but it would have been nice to see a Beam Saber also included as all the E.F,F. figures make use of it.
The GM cockpit feels just as cramped as the Ground Type, it is almost like the figure is about to hit its head in the ceiling but the figure does close up nicely. The instrument panels on the volume two figures can also tilt forward to ease figure placement but not as far as the panels did in volume one.
You can easily create your own Ground Type (GM Head) figure by swapping the heads out between the two E.F.F. mobile suits in this set. You can then have the other unit wander around as a GM with a Gundam head or pretend it is the Z Gundam in Karaba colours or even the Sword Impulse Gundam from SEED Destiny. :)
There are still no beam sabers in the MicroWars series but one of the GM's in this squad went ahead and stole one of the many surplus ones I had from the various equipment sets for the
Mobile Suit Ensemble line.
Here is the full E.F.F. mobile suit line-up as of volume two. Volume three will partially leave U.C. 0079 and instead give us the Nu Gundam which I guess is an ok choice, but I would rather have seen another GM variation or why not the Guncannon?
03 : Type 74 Hover Truck (M353A4 Bloodhound)
The Earth Federation vehicle choice for volume two is the Type 74 Hover Truck which is surprising to exactly no one as it is the perfect companion to the Ground Type Gundam. We recently saw this rare vehicle also in
Mobile Suit Ensemble so I was expecting the design to take a cue from that but this feels like quite a different beast.
The vehicle has an ugly seam line running straight through the middle of it and you will want to work it over with pens or dry brush to bring out the detail more clearly. At least it as a nice metallic painted Gatling cannon.
The Hover Truck figure is of course crucial for the collection since it also comes with all the three E.F.F. pilots and crew members for the entire volume. This is of course a way to lure people into buying the full set rather than just their favourite mobile suit and the practice is just as consumer unfriendly as we've seen time and againfrom Bandai. I think of it as a bit of a neccessary evil.
The Hover Truck gives you a couple of jobs for the crew to man. You can place an observer in the turret or stick up to two crew members in the crew cabin. I really love this. Good thing the entire top of the vehicle can open up since the crew door on the side of the vehicle looks really tiny. :)
The art style of the Hover Truck is bulkier than the more graceful looking depiction in the
Mobile Suit Ensemble line. This is of course also in part because the figure is designed as a proper toy with moving parts. However, just like the back sides of the MicroWars mobile suits look horrible the same can be said for the underside of this vehicle. It's pretty bad.
While MicroWars figures are of course not to scale I can't help but feel that the size of the Hover Truck is rather oversized when parked next to the Type 61 MBT from volume one. Not only does the tank itself look tiny, but those dual fifteen centimeter guns sure look weak next to that 20mm Gatling. If you put the Hover Truck on a clear base to prop it up from the ground this effect also increases.
04 : MS-07B Gouf
Moving on to the Principality of Zeon side we only get one mobile suit this time around. This is of course fair and will put the terror balance at three mobile suits each for the two sides. The suit of choice is the Gouf which is a perfect match for the two Zakus from volume one.
Being a full colour design the Gouf doesn't suffer as badly from lack of detail like the white figures but you'll still want to give it some added detail which is simple enough with any black marker pen you might have. While Bandai have for some reason pre coloured the knees in black you'll have to use yellow stickers for the detail on the chest.
The Gouf figure comes with its Heat Sword which has very nice painted detail in both black and golden yellow as well as a great looking shield. The left hand has also has the five barrel machine gun. If you look closely you can also see that the right arm has a peg hole for where the Heat Rod would be extended although no such accessory is included. Perhaps the figure was originally sculpted with such an accessory in mind and it later got cut due to budget constraints? You can probably create your own Heat Rod if you want to and attach it for a nice effect.
The Gouf opens up to allow for Ramba Ral to climb and squeeze inside behind the controls. The space inside the Gouf is very confined and even operating the hinge is a bit awkward since it gets stuck on something and needs to be forced open. Once inside however, the hatch closes up without problem but it must be pretty cramped in there.
The head of the Gouf opens up just like on the Zakus to allow you to manipulate the facing of its monoeye. I noticed that the black circular disk on which the painted eye is attached was very hard to move and didn't bother with it for fear of scratching the paint.
Do not bring a sword to a gunfight. This Gouf team has scavenged a surplus Zaku Machine Gun from one of the Zakus and a Giant Bazooka that I had left over from the Doms in the
Mobile Suit Ensemble line.
The Zeonic line up after the first two volumes looks very solid. This will crumble a bit with MicroWars volume three which will introduce Char's Custom Z'Gok and the Geara Doga from Char's Counterattack. I kind of wish they would have continued working on the U.C. 0079 line-up with a Dom or a Gelgoog next, or at least a mass production Z'Gok.
05 : Cui
The Zeonic vehicle chosen for volume two is the weird Cui infantry assault support vehicle. it is basically a tractor offering foot soldiers some protection from light machine gun attacks head on, along with some extra fire power from two machine guns crewed by a more or less unprotected soldier. As stupid as the Cui design is compared to an APC it is still a funky design.
Useless though it may be, the Cui certainly looks the part. It has a sand brown overall colour with the tracks and machine guns in metallic gray. As usual you'll want to panel line it to bring out the detail in the sculpt.
The contents of this box feels really light weight compared to the others. I feel that Bandai could have put in some more accessories for the other figures in this box, like the ground Type Gundam's backpack and cannon for example, or why not simply to Cui vehicles at once? Pretty poor value to be had here.
Just like with the Hover Truck, the Cui is much larger than the Magella Attack Tank but it kind of makes here since this is a large infantry support unit and basically a moving wall. Still, it kind of makes the tanks from volume one feel unnecessarily tiny.
Here we have the vehicle line-up for volumes one and two. Volume three will introduce a Zeonic aircraft and the Federation Ball space type mobile armor so this may end up being everything we will get as continued support for the MicroWars series seems to hang by a thread.
Four types of figures are included in this volume and you will get a total of six figures per five boxes. The Zeonic Cui comes with Ramba Ral in his mobile suit pilot gear and two Zeonic infantry soldiers that are perfect for army building. Notice how they even made Ramba Ral's dimensions rather chunky. :) On the Federation side we also have two soldiers in grey fatigues that can act as either Ground Type mobile suit pilots or vehicle crew. We also have a mobile suit pilot in orange flight suit ready to pilot the GM also in space if necessary.
The figure line now has a nice selection of personnel to choose from but I do kind of wish we could get one or two additional grunts with each wave since the character specific suits are kind of limited in their use. I can now field an entire squad's worth of red pilot suits and that feels a bit awkward. At least Amuro's white flight suit feels more generic.
Conclusion
If you enjoyed MicroWars 1 you will find that this set is just more of the same. There is nothing here to win over those who didn't like the first installment but oh my how it expands the line for those that do. With two sets we now also have two evenly balanced teams with three suits and two vehicles each, something that will be upset again once volume three released in October (especially so if it turns out to be the final set).
There just isn't any beating around the bush here; it seems that the Bandai brass has already given up on MicroWars. Let's face it, the last known set is dues out next month and we have not been shown any previews or hints that anything more will follow. This would be a minor tragedy as far as I am concerned since the idea behind this series with its pilots and vehicles approach is something we have never seen in Gundam toys before and it deserves to live on. It seems however that MicroWars has been allowed to run its three waves before being cancelled but Bandai please feel free to prove me wrong.
