Welcome to an updated version of my Federation playthrough! The original version of this series was written before I really knew how to play the game, and even more crucially, before I was diligent about translating dialogue and cutscenes. This time, we’re going to cover it all.
If you’re new to my playthroughs, I keep the focus on the campaign’s story rather than gameplay (I am admittedly terrible at these sorts of games and lean on the money cheat to get through efficiently). I will be adding additional commentary for context under the assumption this may be a reader’s first introduction to Gihren’s Greed, but you’d like to learn more about the game, please check out the general information pages linked here.
With that said, let’s begin a new adventure with General Revil…
Part 1: One Year War
As with every scenario in Gihren’s Greed, the Federation campaign opens with a slideshow-style cutscene to introduce the faction and their current situation.
Universal Century, 0079. January 3rd.
Calling itself the Principality of Zeon, space colony Side 3 declares war on the Earth Federation government.
This was the beginning of what would later be known as the One Year War.
The Principality of Zeon deploys giant humanoid weapons known as “Mobile Suits” into battle, overwhelming the Federation, who have superior numbers.
Within a mere 40 hours of the outbreak of the war, three Sides had been annihilated, with 2.8 billion lives lost…
However, this horrific massacre was merely a prelude to Zeon’s true objective.
Zeon put an unprecedented plan into action…
Their plan is to treat the space colony as a powerful warhead and launch it towards the Earth’s surface.
The target is the Federation Army headquarters at Jaburo in South America…
The falling colony met with desperate resistance from the Federation forces, breaking apart after entering the atmosphere and going way off course.
In order to recover from the failure of their operation, Zeon commences an attack on Side 5, “Loum.”
Meanwhile, the Federation had launched a space fleet from Luna II led by General Revil.
The ratio of forces between the two armies is 3 to 1…
The Federation forces were overwhelmingly superior.
However, this battle ended with an overwhelming victory for Zeon.
Faced with the might of the mobile suits, the Federation fleet is wiped out without being able to do anything.
The Federation’s flagship, the Ananke, was also heavily damaged in the fierce battle.
General Revil, who tried to escape, was taken prisoner by Zeon as well.
Armed with the glorious results of the battle at Loum, the Zeon government proposes a ceasefire treaty with the Federation Government.
The defeated and exhausted Federation no longer seemed able to refuse.
The ceasefire treaty proposed by Zeon was effectively a request for the Federation to surrender.
Just when it seemed the Federation no longer had the strength to continue the war and that accepting this treaty was inevitable, a miracle happened.
General Revil, who had been held as a prisoner of war, escaped from Zeon and returned home.
He then revealed the painful situation he had witnessed within Zeon at Side 3 and called for the war to continue.
This speech persuaded the Federation military leaders to continue the war.
In the end, this day only saw the signing of a military treaty, and the Principality of Zeon decided to launch an invasion of Earth.
The battlefield will expand from space to the surface.
EFF (Earth Federation Forces) Officer: Due to the three Zeon landings on Earth, roughly half of the Earth’s surface has come under Zeon control, causing great damage to our forces.
Revil: I can’t believe it… To think we’ve been forced into such an unfavorable position in just two months… It may be our fault for underestimating the power of the “Zaku” mobile suit.
EFF Officer: However, the battles we’ve fought so far have worn down Zeon more than us. If we get the chance, it’s not impossible to turn the tide.
Revil: Could this be our chance…? With “Operation V”, then maybe…
Assistant: General, I have a message from Lieutenant Ray.
Tem Ray: The development department has announced that “Operation V”, which has been under consideration as a means to counter Zeon’s mobile suits, is finally on track to becoming a reality. As long as we can get approval from Jaburo headquarters, it will be possible for our own army to develop mobile suits!
First, let’s take a look at some of the Federation’s starting named commanders and pilots. While every unit you construct in the game is able to fight on its own (presumably controlled by an unnamed grunt), named characters boost the performance of the unit depending on their stats.
Our pilots and starting units are spread across the Federation’s controlled territory on the map, shown in blue. Areas in red are controlled by Zeon and gray are neutral. Yellow dots indicate approximately how many of our units are on each area. Those with solid circles in the middle are bases.
As the EFF officer and Revil discussed, the Federation is a quite the disadvantage, but perhaps Operation V will begin to turn the tide in their favor. Like other development plans in this game, it needs to be activated manually from the menu, because how you proceed in this version of events is up to you. For example, if you wanted, you could totally ignore Operation V and continue to fight Zeon with only conventional weapons.
For the sake of making things easier and building cool robots, we’ll move on ahead with the plan as usual.
Revil: Let’s carry out Operation V. But first… we need to convince those stubborn moles at Jaburo…
For the Federation Army, who had suffered repeated defeats since the first battle, this meant more than just the development of a new weapon.
However, many government officials did not understand the purpose and continued to cling to old ideas.
The meeting seemed likely to end without any conclusion.
But Revil, who felt threatened by the emergence of mobile suits, strongly asserted his own viewpoint.
That strong conviction silenced the stubborn opposition and Operation V was approved.
And from this day, the counterattack of the Federation Army began.
While we await the results of Operation V, we’re given our first base capture plan, Peking in East Asia. Which enemy bases you can capture in this part of the Federation scenario is limited to one or two at a time in a specific order, beginning on Earth and then moving on to space.
If needed, once per turn you can boost the morale of your troops by giving a speech, which costs a set amount of resources. Each commander has a unique dialogue scene for this. Here is Revil’s:
Revil: This battle began with the selfish desires of a few people. Their greed has taken many lives and continues to pollute Mother Earth. Gentlemen of the Federation Army, this battle is certainly tough, but the enemy is more exhausted than us and has few troops remaining.
During a battle, pilots and commanders that fought together or against each other in canon will sometimes have interaction lines. Allies will talk to each other when their units are placed adjacently on the map, and enemies will talk after their units engage in combat. I will be translating all that I came across in this playthrough.
The following are lines between Yuu Kajima, Philip Hughes, and Summona Fulis, characters from Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny, a series of games for the Sega Saturn.
Yuu: ……
Summona: It’s been a while, Yuu-san! I can tell without you having to say it, you’re happy to see me!
Yuu: ……
[Yuu is a silent protagonist in the games he debuted in, so it’s a running joke that he doesn’t actually have any spoken lines in this game either]
Yuu: ……
Philip: Hey, if it isn’t Yuu! You’re still as silent as ever… If you keep that up, Maureen’s* gonna hate you!
[*Maureen is combat operator of Yuu, Philip, and Summona’s squad]
Summona: Is that you, Philip-san? I may look the same, but I’m improving my skills too. Let’s do our best together!
Philip: Whoa, looks like you’ve gained some confidence too, Summona-chan. I look forward to working with you!
As the turns pass, we receive the first results from Operation V, Guntank and Guncannon.
Tianem, a commander of the Earth Federation Space Forces, contacts us with a proposal to upgrade the ships in our fleet.
Tianem: General Revil! Our forces cannot win the war with Operation V alone. We cannot attain victory unless we rebuild the space fleet lost in the previous battles. I propose the space fleet reconstruction plan “Vinson”!
Here are a few more interaction lines as we slowly work to retake territory from Zeon. From here on out, I’ll keep sprinkling these in between other events as they happen.
Shiro: Michel! Follow me! You and I will attack from the front!
Michel: That’s ridiculous! I don’t want to get involved!! Please do it yourself!
Terry: I am… the Grim Reaper… Everyone dies because of me.
Shiro: Don’t pay attention to that stupid slander! I won’t die, and I won’t let anyone else die in battle!
Karen: Eledore! Are you hurt?
Eledore: Nah, but I pissed my pants a little… What about you?
Karen: I was saved, thanks to you.
Eledore: Good… If you die, my plans for the future would be ruined.
Karen: Eh…!?
Woody: Matilda… When this war is over, will you marry me?
Matilda: …Yes, Woody… I love you.
Soon enough, the testing at Side 7 is complete, and we’re treated to a montage of the new mobile suits.
EFF Officer: The operational testing of the new MS at Side 7 has concluded. The results were good and they are expected to be ready for immediate deployment.
The RX-75 Guntank is equipped with high firepower and is designed to support frontline troops with artillery fire.
The RX-77 Guncannon excels at mid-range support, and can be expected to achieve great results in cooperation with frontline forces.
The RX-78 Gundam is a multi-purpose mobile suit created by bringing together the best of our military technology.
The armor and shield made of Luna Titanium that can repel some attacks
Hyper Bazooka
Powerful weapons such as beam sabers
In operational tests, the beam rifle, which has the firepower of a battleship, recorded results that surpassed the performance of the Zaku in every respect.
If these MS could be mass-produced, the Federation’s victory would be assured.
Revil: The mobile suits that once tormented us will now torment Zeon. This is what it means to wage war…
On this same turn, we unlock the ability to build the RX-78-1 Prototype Gundam, a predecessor to the famous RX-78-2, that first debuted in MSV (Mobile Suit Variation).
Next up is getting those new prototypes to Jaburo. The Pegasus-class carrier White Base and Captain Paolo Cassius have been chosen for the job. When characters go on story-related missions like this, they are removed from any units they are in and you can’t use them in combat until they return.
Tem Ray: Operation V has been completed. However, unless the research results are brought back to Jaburo, the objective of Operation V will not have been accomplished. Please dispatch the Pegasus-class assault carrier White Base to Side 7 to retrieve the prototypes and development data!
EFF Officer: Understood, we are commencing the “RX Series Recovery Plan”. We will order Captain Paolo Cassius of the White Base to immediately head to Side 7.
In the meantime, we attack our first Zeon base at Peking (Beijing)! Activating a base capture plan costs a set amount of resources but is necessary to progress in the story.
Revil: Our army will now begin the operation to capture Beijing! Our target is Peking on the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. I look forward to your efforts!
Shiro: Eledore! We’re on standby until further instructions! Let’s have something to eat before the battle begins!
Eledore: Keep it down… I’m picking up a familiar sound! Dinner will have to wait!
Shiro: I can’t see the enemy’s movements from here! I’m relying on your ears!
Eledore: All right! Leave it to me!
Shiro: I’ll just say this, don’t die under any circumstances! And I’ll try even harder to make sure you don’t!
Karen: Well said. Anyway, let’s see what you can do.
After taking this base, the next capture plan unlocked is for Hawaii. However, right now there are bigger problems…
Assistant: Urgent message from Luna II! Side 7, which was conducting research on Operation V, was attacked by the Zeon Army. The damage is serious.
Three Zakus entered the Side, destroying the research facility and causing many deaths among the White Base’s crew.
Two of the invading Zakus were destroyed by our army’s mobile suit, the Gundam.
The White Base also loaded up the remaining prototype mobile suits and successfully escaped.
After that, they survived two more battles and escaped to Luna II.
It’s hard to believe, but both the White Base and Gundam are operated by civilians, not by regular crew members.
Moreover, the pilot of the Gundam that took down four Zakus was apparently only a 15 year old boy.
Revil: A group of amateurs on equal terms with the Red Comet… Maybe the Gundam’s performance was better than expected… Or perhaps there’s something else going on…
