Unlike the 1st Reclamation Force, the 2nd is shown extensively for the first 15 minutes of EP-61 "Invid Invasion". Although there are numerous scenes which show the 2nd Reclamation Force, five are of critical importance.
Scene-1: EP-61 "Invid Invasion" (2:50 and 3:24) Composite Panoramic
The first scene of importance in determining the size of the 2nd Reclamation Fleet is a composite panoramic shot which occurs at both 2:50 and 3:24 in EP-61 "Invid Invasion".
Ship composition shown in Scene-1 (note: some ships are hidden on this composite pan shot)
Scene-2: EP-61 "Invid Invasion" (3:25)
Immediately after the panoramic shot at 3:24 the camera pans down over the second Ikazuchi shown to the left of the panoramic shot at 3:24. The two Garfish cruisers and the lower of the two Horizons are likely the same ones which are shown on the left side of the panoramic shot at 3:24. The two Horizons closest to the camera are likely new ships not shown previously.
Ship composition shown in Scene-2 (note: one Garfish is hidden underneath the Horizon dropship on the left)
Tallying the total ship composition from Scene-1 and Scene-2, one arrives at the following composition:
Scene-3: EP-61 "Invid Invasion" (6:48)
Scene-3 does not show many capital ships, only one Horizon and the infamous "small Horizon"; however, it does show thirty alpha-beta fighter combinations. Although both the Garfish and the Ikazuchi could carry and launch the combo fighter from within their larger mecha bays, the animation only shows these fighters deployed from the bottom of the Horizon dropship. Therefore, there are likely thirty Horizons which have launched these fighters shown in this scene.
Scene-4: EP-61 "Invid Invasion" (7:46) Composite Panoramic
This picture shows numerous Horizons and Garfish Cruisers immediately before the fleet is decimated by the Invid counter-attack. From this picture a total of four Garfish and eleven Horizons are visible.
Ship composition shown in Scene-4
Scene-5 EP-6 "Invid Invasion" (8:10)
Scene-5 shows a frontal view of the 2nd Reclamation fleet. Although there are only five Horizon (six in Mospeada), directly identifiable in the scene, there are numerous dots in the rear which could be additional Horizons which launched the thirty Alpha-Beta fighter combinations shown in Scene-3.
Ship composition shown in Scene-1 (note: one Garfish is hidden underneath the Horizon dropship on the left)
Other Scenes
As mentioned previously there are numerous other scenes which show members of the 2nd Reclamation fleet. Here all the times which capital ships are shown in EP-61 "Invid Invasion" along with some screen captures.
Scenes with Ships Destroyed / Damaged (11:47)
The 2nd Reclamation Fleet was destroyed by the Invid counter-attack. Another estimate of the size of the fleet can be determined by counting the number of ships destroyed in the episode. Unfortunately, the total number of ships destroyed and/or damaged is less than the estimate of the fleet in scenes-1 and -2 shown earlier.
(Destroyed Ships) 2nd Earth Reclamation Force (September 2042)
(Damaged Ships) 2nd Earth Reclamation Force (September 2042)
Estimates of the 2nd Earth Reclamation Force (September 2042)
The minimum composition of the 2nd Earth Reclamation Force is calculated by determining the maximum number of each type of starship shown in any given continuous scene showing the 2nd Reclamation Fleet and then adding these values over each starship class. This estimate is the minimum bound as it counts only starships directly shown in the episode, assumes scenes with lesser numbers of starships are all accounted for in the scene with the largest number, and does not assume any starcraft exists which are not shown (or off camera). The minimum composition of the 2nd Reclamation Force is thus:
(Minimum Composition) 2nd Earth Reclamation Force (September, 2042)
The minimum composition is only a lower bound to the fleet size. As one really does not know how many ships are off screen, any estimates which try to present the "likely" number of ships are to some extent educated guesses. There are numerous scenes which identify only two Ikazuchi Battlecruisers (I-46 and I-48); however, I find it unlikely that after the failure of the 1st Reclamation Fleet that REF high command would send anything less than an equally sized fleet, albeit with transformable fighters, to make the second attempt. For similar reasoning, there should be at least twenty five Garfish class cruisers sent with the 2nd Fleet to equal the numbers in the 1st. Scene-3 shows thirty Alpha-Beta fighters which implies thirty Horizon Dropships which are possibly shown in Scene-5. With thirty Horizon class dropships and a full compliment of transformable fighters, the 2nd Reclamation Fleet would have, in the eyes REF high command, been a more formidable force to retake the Earth.
(Likely Composition) 2nd Earth Reclamation Force (September 2042)
