Alright, I got another one.
Support unit machine gun calibers: We know a LOT of support units (especially from the original series) are armed with things like "2x 2-barrel machine gun" or "1x machine gun", or have small back-up machine guns visible on their lineart.
The main reason I'm asking this is because I'm going to allow ZR to rig up makeshift handheld or arm/backpack/etc-mounted machinegun (or other weapon type) assemblies from weapons taken off dismantled/salvaged/disabled/destroyed support units and ships (they might also want to take these weapons and put them on vehicles and vessels, but that's just a suggestion).
Anyways I just want to know what types of calibers should I have.
Firstly, lets cover Earth Federation Forces units.
Confirmed machine gun types: (MS weapons included just for comparison's sake)
-
Type 61 > 12.7mm (08th) and 13.2mm (MS IGLOO 2) heavy machine guns, the former basically a
Browning and the later basically a
Hotchkiss (although it might allude to the Japanese copy of said gun).
-
EFF infantry machine guns > 4.85mm & 5.56mm squad automatic/ light (why both are both included seems redundant to me), and 7.62mm general purpose/ medium machine guns. In any case they're all aparently clones of the FN designs used by most "westernized" countries today (basically the
FN MAG and
FN Minimi).
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EFF 60mm vulcan gun >
secondary armament of most EFF mobile suits, as well as the primary armament of their
base defense halftracks. From what I can tell from both the Vulcan Halftrack, and from diagrams I've seen in the past the Vulcan is basically a giant version of
conventional aircraft models (I'd assume in this case it's based on the EFF 25mm type used on the Core Fighter and Toriares).
-
EFF MS machine guns > 90mm and 100mm; the 90mm model seems to be a scaled-up infantry model (possibly related to the 4.85mm M72A1 assault rifle used by EFF infantry, itself basically a British
L85 mixed with features from the
M16 and Chinese
QBZ-95 - while always referred to as the M72, its appearance tends to change from once series to the next, including looking like a bullpup M16 in 08th - which IIRC is impossible due to its design x-x) while the 100mm appears to be a scaled up, handheld/compact version of a Browning machine gun design.
-
Type 74 gatling gun > 20mm, which to me says its basically a more advanced equivalent of the
M61 that can fit in a normal size AFV turret.
-
EZ-8 weapons > 12.7mm gatling (vulcan) and 35mm machine guns. These are said to be taken from support units as a replacement for the original vulcan/multi-launcher, but I dun know what support units use such weapons honestly. However both weapons exist IRL, the 12.7mm gatling as the GAU-19 and the 35mm machine gun as the Oerlikon/Rheinmetall, as well as the Bushmaster III (which is what I sugest we arm the EFF infantry carrier Loki added to the mechlist with - a 35mm machine gun based on the Bushmaster).
-
Core Fighter, Toriares, Saberfish & TIN Cod vulcan guns/machine guns > all 25mm, which seems to be the standard for the EFF, both Air Force and Space Force. Probably based on the US/NATO penchant for arming aircraft with 25mm guns, the vulcans could be considered distant cousins of the
GAU-19 & GAU-22, while the machine cannons could be evolutions of either Bushmaster or Oerlikon/Rheinmetall models.
Unknown machine guns:
-
Salamis & Magellan machine gun turrets: I have no idea what these are supposed to be, however my vote is
90mm simply based on the fact that
1) the variations in MS IGLOO and 0083 use 90mm machine gun turrets (though its possible they've been refitted to have ammo compatibility with the MS they carry), and
2) the EFSF uses 90mm machine guns universally for its wartime MS corps rather than using the 100mm machine gun like the ground forces do.
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Pegasus machine gun turrets > see above.
-
Medea Anti-Air Machine Guns > these seem (from how big the plane is, and how large the turret is in relation) like they'd be in the 60-80mm range IMO. However they might be 90mm given that's an EFF caliber... that might be generous, but possibly not though, I mean if its possible for the
Otobreda 76mm machine cannon to be mounted on a tank or APC chassis, and possible for the
US to mount a semi-auto 105mm howitzer in the side of a cargo plane, I'm sure a 90mm autocannon ala the Skysweeper could fit in something as hugenormous as the Medea. Also, IIRC, one of those 'Luft 46' projects the nazis had in the works involved a 88mm Pak gun modified into an autocannon fitted on the underside of a bomber (they'd already done it with a 75mm Pak gun), so I guess what I'm trying to get at is that a Medea mounting a pair of turrets each mounting 90mm machine cannons isn't too odd IMO.
-
Himalaya secondary cannons > considering this is based on the the Russian
Kiev-class, I've always figured it was like that ship, meaning the secondary guns would be like really big autocannons (ala the type the Russians use, like the
AK-130) rather than WW2-style single-shot shell cannons. Though the only calibers I can think of that's an EFF standard which is big enough are 90mm or 100mm... unless people don't mind me putting like a 127mm or 130mm automatic gun on it.
P.S. where it lists
76.2mm and
100mm guns for the Kiev those are automatic cannons. Given that a whole century has passed, I'm sure the RoF has increased while the cool-down time is much lower due to new materials and things like having the barrel fitted with a coolant sleeve.
-
Anti-MS Tank machine guns (
this thing): As small as it is, it almost looks like its somewhere between a .50 caliber and a 30mm machine gun, depending on how big the tank is in relation to the crew (all I know is it looks awfully like a
ZPU-2 or
ZPU-23-2 on a
tankette chassis). My vote is that its either a 12.7mm or 13.2mm heavy machine gun (if its a really puny vehicle, which the whole "electric tractor made for use inside a colony" suggests), or a 25mm chaingun like the kind found on EFF aircraft if not.
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Big Tray machine gun turrets: Yes, it has visible machine guns in both 08th and MS IGLOO 2 (like 10-12 IIRC) so I think they should be added, though I don't know what caliber to make them x-x
I will say, however, that like the Himalaya I envision whatever its armed with as having been devised for busting up both smaller units attacking it with cannons or missiles (in this case armored fighting vehicles and tanks rather than gunboats and such) as well as gutting bomber and fighter-bomber aircraft trying to 'sink' them (since a landship is such a godawful huge target). This means it should have a caliber decent enough that even MS have to worry about taking flak from it.
Also the Heavy Fork should have the same caliber guns just for consistancy as it seems to be a different land battleship hull, but with the same weapons turrets from the Big Tray mounted on it.
-
Fly Manta, Fly Arrow, Dish & Don Escargot machine guns: I'm inclined to think 25mm (especially for the Fly Arrow and the Fly Manta), though I've heard 20mm through 60mm and sometimes even higher for them.
The Don Escargot is big enough that I could see a larger machine cannon being used instead of the usual 25mm model, while the Fly Manta is bigger than every other fighter (its actually a "fighter bomber" which in today's terminology is closer to "strike fighter") so I'm almost inclined to think anything lower than 30mm is a disservice to it. Possibly 35mm, which would explain where the Ez-8 got its weapons... I mean there were Fly Mantas in 08th.
-
Pintle-mounted machine guns on support units:
- That on the APC from 0080 looks to be an MG-42, so I'm just going to go ahead and say its either a 7.62mm MG-3 or a 5.56mm CETME Ameli
- Hover Cargo Truck from 08th: it looks like a M2HB clone like the one on the Type 61, so I'm just going to consider it as such unless someone else has a suggestion to the contrary.
- Jungle Boat from 08th > The size from the lineart looks like they're almost 20mm Oerlikon cannons or possibly 25mm Bushmaster cannons, though IIRC the one time it appears onscreen the boat has what looks like regular 12.7mm HMGs.
- 6x6 Cargo Truck from IGLOO > This looks like some of the FN-made 1930's versions of the Browning machinegun, or some other type of medium/heavy machine gun. It could either be 7.62mm or 12.7mm, some actual lineart of the weapon in question would help.
- M72 Lakota > From what I can tell this is the same FN-clone included with the Type 61 and/or EFGF Anti-MS Squad Hard Graph kits; in other words it'd either be a light 4.85mm or 5.56mm machine gun, or a medium 7.62mm one.
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Jet Core Booster Vulcan & Core Booster II Interceptor Vulcan: First the JCB > In addition to the four in the nose, it mounts some kind of vulcan on its booster unit, albeit smaller than that mounted on the Interceptor Type from IGLOO. I think its made for dogfighting and possibly shooting down things like Do-Dais and other Zeon aircraft, meaning the vulcan shouldn't be too large. That said... considering an entire MS-grade MPC was crammed into the same space as that gun its possible that's a 60mm vulcan while the other side is loaded with a gracious amount of ammo.
As for the Interceptor, it seems to have a long-barreled type that makes me think this unit is meant to be a high-speed, aerial analoque to the A-10 Thunderbolt designed for gunning down MS attacking Jaburo (or other bases) as they launch from their Gaw/Zanzibar carriers. I'm really at a loss for a size here, though considering that a 40mm vulcan that's long-barreled takes up the entire Zaku-sized forearm of the Dra-C, but the compact 60mm vulcan fitted in MS heads can be somewhat crammed onto a large truck chassis.
However I think whatever it is its basically like the GAU- Avenger in that its a high-powered gun capable of puncturing MS armor despite its small size (probably owing to it using Tungsten, DU or even Luna Titanium APFSDS ammunition)