In the last few weeks I’ve built a GM, and a sorta cousin to the GM. I’m still feeling the itch to build, so let’s keep this “streak” going and build another GM.
This here is the GM Command Space Type, from the 1989 OVA 0080: War in the Pocket
About the Mobile Suit
I’ve spoken about this before, but let’s reiterate. At the tail end of the One Year War, the Earth Federation made an updated GM with better thrusters (among other things), which became known as the GM Cold Districts Type.
Then they made two more variant based off the Cold Districts type that were slightly better still. One was the GM Command, which was designed for combat inside of colonies.
The second variant was the GM Command Space Type, which was … um … built for space.
Ostensibly, the GM Command and Space Command are the same mobile suit, but there are a few small differences between them. The main one is that the Space Command uses a different backpack:
You will notice that the backpack has thrusters placed in different directions all across the perimeter. This allows it to more easily move in multiple directions while out in zero gravity.
Additionally, the Space Command has more propellant and slightly better thrust than its counterpart, on account of needing to move around in space.
Beyond that, they’re visually identical and equally capable.
Limited Production
Like many grunt suit variants, the GM Space Command was built in limited quantities.Often we're not given a reason why a given mobile suit was a limited run, but in this case we do. If the Gundam Wiki is accurate, some of the components used in both versions of the GM Command could only be built in zero G. Since the Feddies didn't have too many facilities out in space, that meant they could only build so many units.
Additionally, for whatever reason, most of the units were not deployed to the front lines, which means that the Space Command rarely got to show off its full potential.
Weapons and Stuff
Like the GM Command and the GM Sniper II - but unlike many other GM variants - the Space Command has two beam sabers instead of just one (and they’re strapped to its butt, which is actually a pretty convenient place to put them).
It also uses the same kind of shield, a sleeker, more rounded version that looks far more futuristic than the boxy shields used earlier in the war.
It’s also equipped with a pretty sweet Beam Gun:
According to the Gundam Wiki, the Beam Gun is something of a middle ground between the GM’s Beam Spray Gun and the Gundam’s Beam Rifle. It’s got a built in battery pack and beam accelerator that give its shots pinpoint accuracy and high penetration through armor.
I guess the implication here is that the Beam Gun doens’t have quite the battleship-quality output of the Beam Rifle, but is much more capable of one-shotting mobile suits than the Beam Spray Gun.
Appearances in Media
The Space Command first shows up in War in the Pocket, where we see it defending the Riah Republic space colony at Side 6.
One of them manages to get in at least one kill:
But another gets destroyed by a Rick Dom:
And two get destroyed by the highly capable Gelgoog Jaeger.
Thankfully, unlike so many other GM variants, there is footage of the Space Command kicking ass. Specifically, it shows up in a promotional animation made to market the Playstation 3 game Battlefield Record UC 0081.
In that short, we see it swoop in and take out a Rick Dom:
And then a Gelgoog Cannon immediately after:
And after barely managing to escape the destruction of its home ship during resupply, it grabs a gun and knocks out a Bigro:
What a legend.
About the Build
Aside from the gun and the backpack, this should be identical to the build for the GM Command. Normally I’d just redirect you to those old build posts, but it’s not very informative. Became the High Grade GM Command is itself so similar to the High Grade GM Cold Districts Type, I guess I only covered a handful of the things that were different between the two.
For the sake of thoroughness, I’ll do a more detailed breakdown for the Space Command.
Other Thoughts
All of the GM variants from War in the Pocket have unique names, but aside from the GM Sniper II, all of them - “Cold Districts Type”, “Command”, and “Command Space Type” - are technically nicknames.
In the case of the two Command variants, they were never strictly intended to be Commander-user mobile suits. They just so happened to be given to commanders and veterans often enough that “Command” became their unofficial descriptor.