Product Reviews: Mongoose Publications' Traveller, 2nd Edition

Several months ago, I stumbled across the Traveller Starter Set at The Game Matrix.

I can't claim I've been a Traveller fan since it's initial release, but I can say I purchased the little black box...

...containing the three little booklets...

...within three years after it's debut publication.

Since then, I've collected most of the subsequent editions, ending with the GURPS and "T-20" versions.

I've seen Mongoose Publishing's version of Traveller for the past decade, flipped through some books at game stores, but nothing really motivated me to buy anything new.

So when I bought the Starter Kit on a whim, I didn't think it would lead to anything significant.

Yeah.

This turned out to be the gateway drug to reigniting my dormant interest in Traveller. 

I was impressed by the production quality, because in the past, I've found Mongoose Publication's quality control to be hit-or-miss.  This is Mongoose's second edition of Traveller, and they've done a lot to bring the game up to date from "The 80s With Starships!"

Misgivings aside, and not satisfied with the Starter Set, I purchased the 2nd Edition Core Rulebook.

This in turn, triggered a buying spree of both old and new Traveller material, starting with the Game Master's Screen.

Classic Traveller (starts in the year 1105 of the Imperial Calendar) primarily focused on the Spinward Marches of the Third Imperium.  So I decided to revisit this sector by buying the The Spinward Marches Book...

...along with the map...

...the Spinward Encounters Adventures Book...

...and the Tripwire campaign.

Now here's where my misgivings about quality control became justified.  While 2008 Edition of the Spinward Marches got decent reviews, I thought a lot of readers were pulling their punches.

While the content in every Third Imperium publication I bought was good, I found there was a complete lack of editorial oversight.

Just about every page, in every book contained a grammatical or syntax error.

It's as if the material was written then sent off to Mongoose Publications without anyone bothering to edit or review it.  

The number and consistency of errors made the material hard for me to enjoy reading.  But if you're more concerned about getting material for game mastering a session than you are about the proper use of written English, then Third Imperium books won't be a waste of your money.

These mixed feelings didn't stop me from buying material on the Spinward Marches' "next door neighbor," the Deneb Sector

After reading through all the new material--and hoarding my money for new purchases--I decided to "take a look back" and buy material (now out of print) I couldn't afford to when they were initially published.

For that "big picture" look, my first purchase was the Fifth Frontier War (which erupts in the year 1107).

Since player characters, or "travellers" as they're called in the game, journey around in starships, I thought getting the games Brilliant Lances...

...and Battle Rider would add to any game session.

The rules to both games are complex and actually set in post-Imperial collapse of The New Era (which starts in the year 1116)--but the counters look cool!

It's 1105 again, and Mongoose Publications continues to make products set in the Spinward Marches, like the introductory adventure High and Dry.

In this book, the travellers are given the chance to find and return an abandoned starship.

However, this is a classic case of "easier said, than done."

Most of Mongoose Publication's attention seems to be focused on The Great Rift, a vast volume of space with very few star systems--and refueling points.

There's even "rift-version" of the High and Dry adventure--Islands in the Rift.

In this case, not only will the travellers have to find and return a starship, but they'll have to contend with intrigue and skulduggery in the Old Islands and New Islands subsectors.

 Overall, I'm happy with all my out-of-print and up-to-date Traveller purchases.

Now all I need is some free time to "travel" among the tabletop stars...

Book Review: Templar

It's been almost a year since I wrote a book review.  The reasons are twofold:  First, I don't have the time anymore to produce content about what inspires my gaming and writing.  And second:  What I've read since last summer has been mediocre at best.  Nothing has really wowed me.

Until now.

Last week, on a rare day my wife and I both had off, we ventured to the local library to renew our library cards and to check out what's inside.

While walking past the fringe of the Young Adult section, Jordan Mechner's "Templar" caught my eye.

This hardcover is actually a graphic novel illustrated by husband & wife team of Alex Puvilland and Leuyen Pham.

The story is about several members of the Knights Templar who managed to survive the Friday the 13th Purge, who band together and attempt to restore the honor of their order.

Well, in an "Ocean's Eleven" sort of way, because despite the show trial and all the forced confessions, the fabled Templar Treasure is still up for grabs.

I'd love to say more about this book I consider the best story I've read in ages.  There were a couple things I wish were different about the finale, but upon reflection, I think the ending was appropriate, and more importantly, satisfying.

I'd love to carry-on but I don't want to spoil any more of the plot than I may already have.

As to the artwork: It reminds me of what one would see in an animated film, which isn't surprising since the artists have actually worked in animation.  The images are neither too detailed or too sparse, and the portrayals of the heroes and villains are delightful to gaze at.

Templar has a nearly a 4-star rating on Goodreads, while it has an average 4.6-star rating on Amazon.com.

I loved this book so much, I intend to buy my own copy of what I feel is a 5-star story.

(Image found on:  Mediocrity is the New Genius)

Book Review: Hammer & Anvil

(Image from Goodreads)

Sometimes all it takes is a few scenes to turn a good book into a great book.

That's the case with Hammer & Anvil, the sequel to Faith & Fire and the subject of my previous book review.

In this story, Miriya and Verity are looking for peace and closure after the events of their initial adventure.  Instead, they find anything but.  Both wind up on the barren rock known as Sanctuary_101, ten years after the massacre at an Adepta Sororitas fortress-convent, in effort to reconsecrate the site.

Or so they're told.

As with all things Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K):  Factions within the Imperium of Man, in this case the Inquisition, the Adeptus Mechanicus, have their own hidden agendas.   Even Canoness Sepherina isn't completely forthcoming about full scope of their mission.

The book starts off as something of a mystery, and on page 55 of this 410 page book, the Sisters of Battle learn it was Necrons who were the mysterious attackers that wiped out their original convent (WH40K's "robot zombies").

(Image by Nicholas Kay)

The mystery continues to unfold, and by page 194 they learned the extent of the Necron threat to the Imperium. Although for WH40K fans who've already read the Fluff, this reveal isn't so revealing. What is finally disclosed on page 259 is the item Canoness Sepharina has been searching for:  An artifact known as the Hammer and Anvil, believed to have been lost in the initial Necron attack. Which makes Hammer & Anvil something of a MacGuffinTitled book.

Even as the Second Battle of Sanctuary-101 got underway, I was about to give Hammer & Anvil a 3-star rating, like it's predecessor.  However, the story took off with a "Hell Yes!" Moment on page 334, where--spoiler alert--a tormented survivor of the original massacre exorcises her personal demon while fighting a Deathmark (an assassin android).

A few more "Hell Yes!" scenes followed close on the heels of the Deathmark's death:  There is something of a "Men of Harlech" scene as the Necrons silently closed-in on the beleaguered Battle Sisters; when the treacherous Techpriest Tegas finds the Hammer and Anvil, hoping it's an ultimate weapon, but turns out to be merely a Memento MacGuffin; and finally the often-overlooked Verity helps bring down the Nemesor leading the current assault.

Among these high points of the last 76 pages are split action scenes of Verity assisting in battle at the fortress-convent, first as a healer, then as a combatant; and Miriya with a commando team infiltrating the Necron lair in Sanctuary-101's moon.

What I also found amusing was how the machine logic of both the Necrons and the techpriests were constantly confounded--and ultimately thwarted--by human illogical behavior and raw emotions.

All this was enough to bump Hammer & Anvil to a 4-star read.  Average reviews on both Amazon.com and Goodreads are almost as good with 3.80 and 3.79-stars, respectively.

While Ciaphas Cain is still my favorite WH40K character, (because he's Harry Flashman, IN SPACE!), Miriya and Verity come in at #2 and #3 for me.

A Sisters of Battle Omnibus is due to hit the shelves next month.  This tome will contain "... Faith & Fire and Hammer & Anvil, along with the prose version of the audio drama Red & Black and a new short story 'Heart & Soul', available in print for the first time." 

(Image from Amazon.com)

Book Review: Faith & Fire

One of the more popular factions among Warhammer 40K players, but sporadically supported by Games Workshop, are the Adepta Sororitas (a.k.a. Sisters of Battle), the actual military arm of the Ecclesiarchy.

I stumbled across a copy of Faith and Fire at Half Price Books.

Fire certainly comes into play throughout the novel.  The Sisters of Battle believe that the only good witch/mutant/heretic/traitor is one who's not only dead, but burnt to a crisp.  Meanwhile, their psyker enemies often retaliate with "witch fire."  So in just about every combat scene there's flames, screaming, smoke and burnt-flesh odors.

The story itself revolves around Miriya, a Celestian, and Hospitaller Verity, in their attempt to recapture renegade psyker Torris Vaun.  During their investigation, and the battles they're swept-up in, they uncover a plot by deluded Deacon Viktor LaHayn to restart an Artifact Of Death hoping to revive the comatose God-Emperor of Mankind.

Their Odd Couple partnership resembles the Cop And Scientist team-ups from Holmes & Watson to Scully & Mulder.

I found Faith & Fire to be a predictable, but entertaining story and give it a 3-star rating.  The finale has an element of Deus Ex Machina to it.  However, this can be justified, since the story revolves around the characters' religious zealotry for the God-Emperor.

Readers generally liked Faith & Fire, which has a 3.5-star rating on both Amazon.com and Goodreads.  Warhammer 40K fans either loved it, or hated it.  The fans who disliked the book thought the characters were wooden, flat, unremarkable and even unlikable, along with sounding more like men, than women. 

I didn't pay attention to these valid observations, because the characters are members of Imperium's Church Militant.  Their lives revolve around prayers, singing hymns, and incinerating the enemies of the God-Emperor.  This doesn't leave much room for deep character development, or more feminine pursuits, beyond religious fervor.

Faith & Fire does follow the standard story lines of the Warhammer 40K 'verse--

--The heroes demonstrate insight and initiative.
--Which in turn, causes them to run-afoul of their dogmatic superiors.
--The agency the heroes are members of have a hidden agenda.
--Which in turn, runs afoul of one or more other agencies operating on their own agendas.
--There's a conspiracy afoot to take over a planet/star system/quadrant/the entire Imperium.

Despite these standard tropes, I still liked Faith & Fire enough to start reading the sequel,  Hammer & Anvil, right off the bat.

Book Review: The Last Chancers

The Last Chancers, a Warhammer 40K series of omnibus novels by Gav Thorpe, is in short, The Dirty Dozen--IN SPACE! 

It's a tale about the 13th Penal Legion, or what's left of the unit, told from Lieutenant Kage's point of view.  Who after the first story, turns out to be the team's Ax-Crazy "Maggot"--with latent psychic abilities.  Oh, and who eventually becomes possessed by a daemon.

Since this is about the most notorious of the Imperium's penal legions, the "grim darkness of the far future..." is cranked up to 11.  Also, in each of the three books, the team ends up drearily slogging through the most inhospitable terrain the dystopian galaxy has to offer.

The narrative ends abruptly, when Kage sacrifices himself on their last mission.  So we don't know what happens immediately afterwards.

The Last Chancers has an average 4.1 out of 5-star rating on Amazon.com.

But I'm only going to give it a subjective 3-star rating, because there isn't a single character in any of the stories I could identify with.  If there was anyone I came close to liking, they either showed their truly depraved colors later in the story, or died a horrible death.  More often than not--both. 

Book Review: The Art of Total War

(Image from the book used by New Gamer Nation)

Most computer and video games make me ill.

It's not because of the quality--or lack thereof--of the products.  It's because I'm prone to motion sickness.

Despite my ailment, I've still purchased over a dozen games during the past several years.  Ones that I could play without getting sick.

However, I've hardly played any of my computer games because:

1. I'm too busy with my writing and "analogue games" (as boardgames and miniatures are now called).

2. I suck at playing computer and video games.

One of the game series I've heard good things about is Total War.

I've collected some of the titles in the series, starting with the original, Shogun:  Total War.

They're still sitting on my shelf, unplayed.

However, this didn't stop me from buying a copy of The Art of Total War at Half Price Books.

The Art of Total War is a lavish collection of concept sketches and promotional pieces, along with a short history of the series.

I finished reading the book in less than two hours and flipped through it one more time just to admire the artwork.

Someday I'll upload one of the games on my computer and actually play it.

The developers went to great lengths to maintain historical accuracy in their games. 

But the author, Martin Robinson, admitted they also allowed some Hollywood influence to creep in for entertainment purposes.

(Image from the 1963 film Cleopatra)

Apparently, there's a debate as to whether or not video games are an art form.

I'm no high-brow art critic, but after reading this book I'm convinced video games are indeed art forms.

Either way, The Art of Total War can be found on Amazon.com, with a well-deserved near 5-star rating from eight reviewers.

Book Review: Zulu Dawn

After writing my double feature movie reviews last month, I decided to finally read the old copy of Zulu Dawn that's been occupying space in my library for, oh, I don't know for how long.

Zulu Dawn was written by Cy Endfield, who co-wrote the screenplay of the same name.

The book provides in-depth character backstories and introspection, as well as a more detailed narrative about the chain of events...

...that led up to the Battle of Isandlwana...

...along with its immediate aftermath.

Many of the scenes play out differently in the book than in the movie, but end with similar, if not identical results.

The Zulus themselves have a greater role in the book.  This part of the story focuses on the young warrior Bayele, who is selected for one of many scouting missions.  When he returns with news about the British invasion, he's chosen to lead a deception operation by allowing himself, along with two others, to be captured.  Only after getting thoroughly roughed-up, he and his comrades try to mislead the British about the location of the main Zulu army.

Bayele gains his revenge by killing Colonel Henry Pulleine...

...and Lieutenant Vereker...

...who's fate in the movie was never clarified.

Since I like the movie, I liked the book, even though it doesn't even show up on a Google search for the best books about the Battle of Isandlwana.

While Zulu Dawn may not be the most scholarly work, Enfield's narrative is very readable, especially when describing the chaos of battle.  Plus, after watching the movie so many times, it was easy for me to visualize the story.

Zulu Dawn gets a sunny 4-star rating.

Book Review of a Bundle of Battlefields Graphic Novels

During the Thanksgiving Weekend, when I wasn't helping my wife decorate the house for Christmas, I caught up on some of my reading. 

I selected the remaining unread Battlefields graphic novels in my collection, all written by Garth Ennis.    

The first story, Happy Valley, is about a newbie pilot joining a veteran Wellington bomber crew in 1942. 

It might sound cliche, but this story made me laugh--and yes--made me cry.

 

I decided to continue with the air war trend and read The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova.  This story is actually book three in a trilogy about Anna.  The first being Night Witches followed by Motherland.

I haven't read the first two books, because I've been buying the Battlefields series haphazardly at Half Price Books.

Anna's Fall and Rise covers a twenty year time span where she experiences a double-whammy of cruelty.  First from her German captors in the final days of World War II, followed by her own country's cruelty to it's own citizens.

The final book in my ad-hock trilogy was Dear Billy.  

This story is an extended letter by Nurse Carrie Sutton to her pilot boyfriend Billy Wedgewood.  In her letter, she confesses to Billy how she was captured, raped, shot and left for dead by the Japanese during the invasion of Singapore.  She then goes on to explain how she exacted personal revenge--and her inability to cope with the impending peace.

I've always enjoyed war stories more than any of the other genres of comics, but I only vaguely recall any of the Sgt. Rock, or Sgt. Fury stories.  

Garth Ennis knows how to tell a poignant 5-star war story you never forget.

Book Review: Conan the Roleplaying Game (2nd Ed)

I've been a fan of Conan the Barbarian ever since I started sporadically reading the comics back in the '70s.

I saw the original movie when it came out...

(Image:  1982 movie poster)

...but have skipped the 2011 box office bomb.  Although I do have the DVD, which I still haven't watched yet, in order to complete my Conan movie collection.

(Image:  2011 movie poster)

I've always considered Howard's Hyborian Age one of the best fantasy settings, second only to Tolkien's Middle Earth, but certainly more bawdy and sensual.

So as a role playing game (RPG) enthusiast, I was happy to stumble across an inexpensive copy of  Conan: The Roleplaying Game (2nd Edition), produced by Mongoose Publishing.

 This 420-page tome is divided into the following chapters:

1.   Introduction
2.   Overview
3.   Races
4.   Classes
5.   Skills
6.   Feats
7.   Equipment
8.   Combat
9.   Sorcery
10. The Hyborian Age
11. Gazetteer
12. Religion
13. Bestiary
14. Campaigns
15. Index

The book also includes a two-page character sheet, and color maps of Hyboria inside the front and back cover.

If you're familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, or any other "D20 Open Game License (OGL)" game, then you'll find Conan:  The RPG easy to understand, because the game mechanics are identical.

Since I like the D20 System, I look forward to the day when I can either run a session as a gamemaster (GM), or participate as a player character (PC).

While I enjoyed reading the Fluff about the late Hyborian Age, at the time Conan is king of Aquilonia, this was a difficult book to read.  Not because the content was hard to understand, but due to the poor quality of the materials and layout.

I like reading hard cover books like this while I'm working out on a stationary cardio machine.  It alleviates the boredom.  However, I couldn't lay this book flat and read it without holding it with my hands, which makes working out more difficult.  When I tried pressing the book flat--the binding ruptured.  Fortunately, the pages didn't come loose.

There's also the problem with the page format.  Each page is illustrated with the same racy, black and white montage artwork along the borders.  (Apparently this was suppose to be an improvement over the scandalous full-color artwork).  As a result of keeping the artistic border, the print is set very close to the spine, making it even harder to read anything within the center of the book.  Also, the pages themselves also feel flimsy and composed of cheap paper.

Despite these quality-control flaws, I'm glad I have this in my RPG collection, as long as I don't read it from cover-to-cover again.  Content-wise, I'd rate the book at 4-stars.  Quality-wise, I'd give it 2, maybe 3-stars.

Conan:  The RPG received high praise on RPG Geek, and  snagged a 4.5-star rating on Amazon.com.
The two 3-star raters didn't care for the game using the D20 system.

The new Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of should have been released a few months ago.  Because of this new release, it seems that the Conan: The RPG (2nd Ed) and other Mongoose Publication material is available for (free?) download.

Book Review: Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG

Several years ago, I inadvertently started collecting playing pieces from the Pirates Constructible Strategy Game (CCG) produced by WizKids.

Normally, I don't care for games with the word "collectable" in the title.  This means each package contains random playing pieces, some being extremely rare, and therefore expensive.  As a wargamer, I want to know exactly what's in the package.  So when the first set of this game, Pirates of the Spanish Main (PotSM), was released, I ignored the hoopla.

A few years later though, while visiting my mom in my hometown, I ventured into the local game store, Fat Cat Comics.  While at the checkout counter I flipped through a binder containing individual pieces of PotSM organized in baseball card holders.  I liked the flat pieces representing terrain, such as islands, reefs, sargasso, and fog banks.  So I bought every bit of terrain Fat Cat had to offer.

I figured these pieces could be used for the Age-of-Sail boardgames I already owned.  Then I started scouring the local game shops in my area, and eBay, for:  Pieces of Eight coins as play money for the pirate role-playing games (RPGs) already owned, along with character cards for quick non-player character (NPC) sketches. 

My addiction tapered off when Wizkids started releasing Pirates of the Mysterious Islands (steampunk) and Pirates of the Frozen North (Vikings).

But since I still held on to my unassembled  collection, I decided to go just one step further and buy Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG (shortened to "Pirates RPG" to avoid confusion with the CCG).

This RPG, was produced by Pinnacle Entertainment Group and based on their Savage Worlds rules.

The book weighs-in at 255 pages, and is divided into a dozen chapters:

1.  Getting Started
2.  Characters
3.  Gear
4.  Age of Piracy (setting overview)
5.  Game Rules
6.  Flashing Blades (a listing of fencing schools)
7.  Life at Sea
8.  Gamemaster Section--Gazeteer
9.  Running the Game
10. The Lady's Favor (an introductory adventure)
11. Encounters (NPCs and Bestiary)
12. Index

Among the illustrations similar in style to the original CCG, you'll find:

Character Sheet and Ship Chart
Blast and Turning Templates
Map of the Spanish Main (on the inside front and back covers)
Two grid maps of the Caribbean (one showing the prevailing winds)

(Image:  Map found on page 2 of the rulebook)

The book does a good job of incorporating the CCG material into the Savage Worlds rules.  In keeping with the CCG, this is not an historical game, but a constructed world "...loosely set in the late 17th Century or early 18th Century" (page 62).  There's even some magic and supernatural hazards players may encounter.

While I can enjoy a romp through alternate history, I wish the folks at Pinnacle, and Wizkids for that matter, put a bit more effort into being more accurate about ships and naval artillery.

For example:  "Frigates carry goods around the Main and back to Europe"  (page 118).

This isn't even close to the true definition of this well-known ship type.

Then there's the ship weapons, listed on page 123 as :  Bowchaser, 4-pounder (pdr) cannon, 8-pdr, and 16-pdr.

Not only are these gun ratings off-base, but this also means the ships in both games are seriously under-powered.

Despite these nautical inaccuracies, I liked what I read in the Pirates RPG, which received a 4.4-star rating on Amazon.com, and a 4-star rating on RPG.Net.  I'd rate the game about the same, but one 3-star rater's comment on Amazon is worth mentioning:  That no other support material, supplements or active user community, except for a handful of downloadable material.

So if you want to make use of all those CCG ships for swashbuckling adventures of derring do, then grab a hold of an available copy of the book, or download it from Drive Thru RPG.

(Image:  Pirates RPG publication announcement)

Book Review: The Savage World of Solomon Kane

(TV Tropes for Solomon Kane)

Almost four years ago, I posted a review of The Saga of Solomon Kane just in time for Halloween.

Now that we're approaching official autumn, I thought I'd devote my latest Fluff-reading to The Savage World of Solomon Kane rule book. This Savage Worlds-based role playing game (RPG) actually predates the graphic novel omnibus I read.

(Savage Worlds RPG entry in TV Tropes)

By the way, I still haven't seen the film...

...anyway, in the RPG book, players take on the role of fellow "wanderers," receiving a mystical call to help the Avenging Puritan rid the world of evil.  Being a dour puritan isn't a per-requisite to becoming a wanderer, as there are nearly two dozen character-types players can choose from--including dour puritans.

The Savage World of Solomon Kane is lavishly illustrated, and divided into the following chapters, after a Prologue and Introduction:

1.  Solomon Kane--a biography of the title character, including story synopses.
2.  Characters--Player Character (PC) creation.
3.  Arms and Equipment--A list of items common in the 16th Century and their effects.
4.  Game Rules--A condensed version of the Savage Worlds rules
5.  Magick & Devilry--A list of spells and their effects of gameplay.
6.  The Art of Storytelling--Beginning of the Gamemaster's (GM) Section.
7.  Creating Adventures--Advice on running Plot-Point or Savage Tales game sessions.
8.  The Savage World of Solomon Kane--An overview of the 16th Century.
9.  The Old World--Specific details about Europe.
10. The Dark Continent--Specific details about Africa.
11. The New World--Specific details about the Americas.
12. Cathay and the Orient--Specific details about China and Asia.
13. Horrid Beasts of Solomon Kane--A bestiary and rogues gallery.

Getting back to creating adventures, the Plot-Point ones are loosely connected story lines, where the heroes, and allied non-player characters (NPCs, known as "wild cards") must retrieve several artifacts scattered across the globe, bring them together in order to perform an arcane ceremony, which will imprison or kill Eldritch Abominations en-mass before they conquer the world.  Meanwhile, the Savage Tales are stand-alone adventures.

The following "splatbooks" can still be found, which add more details--and horror--to one's campaign:

(Travelers' Tales on Amazon.com)

(Savage Foes entry on Amazon.com)

(Path of Kane entry on Amazon.com)

For the moment, I'm holding-off  on buying any of these supplements.  It's not that I consider them to be poor in quality.  The two I've come across seem just as good as the core rulebook--and about as pricey.

It's more of an issue of limited shelf-space and limited game time which is holding me back from investing more into the savage setting of Solomon Kane.

The Savage World of Solomon Kane snagged an average 4.8-star rating on Amazon.com.  If I were more familiar with the literary adventures of the Puritan Avenger, I'd probably give the book a 5-star rating too.  For now I'll give it a 4.

An extensive review can also be read on RPG.Net.

(Image found on:  Notes From the Peculiar, The Many Faces of Solomon Kane)