The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Wow.

What more can I say? DP9's web site said Blood On The Wind was going to "rock the Heavy Gear universe to its core", and it does indeed do that. The face of Terra Nova is irrevocably changed in the first few pages (a surprise I want to leave to the reader), and once again, super-spy Nicosia Renault pores through her accumulated data to find out why and who was responsible. In doing so, five cycles of Terranovan history are portrayed; from the commencement of the Interpolar War in 1935 to a return of focus to beyond the Terranovan Tannhauser Gate in 1939.

The book is broken into three chapters that examine the North, the South and the Badlands in turn. Afterwards, there is an appendix explaining how Blood On The Wind fits into Heavy Gear and summarising what has come before, as well as a "Who's Who" summary of the major players involved in the ongoing storyline, including those who have died. Finally, there is a Timeline of Events for those who want to know what happened in chronological order. All the information presented in these last sections is clear and concise, and explains some of what's going on to those who are unfamiliar with the Heavy Gear universe.

One trend common to the Storyline Books so far is that they don't seem to answer any questions. We don't find out (not from what I could see anyway) whether there is anything more to Second Follower Thor Hutchison's death in Crisis Of Faith than the assassin acting alone (I think this has become the Terranovan equivalent of the JFK conspiracy theory), nor do we find out those responsible for the events at the beginning of Blood On The Wind. Instead, through the various reports, files, correspondences, logs and other data, we are shown how Terra Nova changes, mutates and evolves through the progress of four years. This leaves plenty of meat for GMs to use in their own campaigns, and also allows GMs to come up with their own answers to the questions above.

I think Dream Pod 9 are also setting the stage for not only an inter-planetary, but a multi-generational epic story arc. The plot beginning to develop around the two infant half-GREL twins, Tara and Derek, points toward events in TerraNova's future, probably fifteen plus cycles down the road. Even if DP9 doesn't develop this particular arc any further, I'm sure they'll leave enough plot hooks to allow GMs to develop Terra Nova's further future on their own.

The book itself is larger than Crisis Of Faith, being the same size as, if somewhat thinner than, the Ships Of The Fleet series for Jovian Chronicles. Apparently, many fans demanded a larger size, but I miss Crisis Of Faith's pocket-book size. Also, there are no longer any colour sections, a feature I liked in Crisis Of Faith. The interior of the book is laid out in the same style as Crisis Of Faith; despite the larger font size, I think DP9 have been able to pack more information in. The price of both books is almost identical, with Blood On The Wind being US$1 cheaper than Crisis Of Faith.

Simply, if you follow Heavy Gear, you must get Blood On the Wind. If you're interetsed in getting into Heavy Gear, I'd recommend buying at least one of the core rules sets and Crisis Of Faith first. Either way, Blood On The Wind is definitely a worthwhile buy.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Blood On The Wind: Heavy Gear Storyline Book Two
Author: Dream Pod 9 Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Cost: US$18.95 Page count: 80 ISBN: 1-896776-27-2 Capsule Review by Robert Farquhar on 03/03/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space Anime Conspiracy	Wow. What more can I say? DP9's web site said Blood On The Wind was going to "rock the Heavy Gear universe to its core", and it does indeed do that. The face of Terra Nova is irrevocably changed in the first few pages (a surprise I want to leave to the reader), and once again, super-spy Nicosia Renault pores through her accumulated data to find out why and who was responsible. In doing so, five cycles of Terranovan history are portrayed; from the commencement of the Interpolar War in 1935 to a return of focus to beyond the Terranovan Tannhauser Gate in 1939. The book is broken into three chapters that examine the North, the South and the Badlands in turn. Afterwards, there is an appendix explaining how Blood On The Wind fits into Heavy Gear and summarising what has come before, as well as a "Who's Who" summary of the major players involved in the ongoing storyline, including those who have died. Finally, there is a Timeline of Events for those who want to know what happened in chronological order. All the information presented in these last sections is clear and concise, and explains some of what's going on to those who are unfamiliar with the Heavy Gear universe. One trend common to the Storyline Books so far is that they don't seem to answer any questions. We don't find out (not from what I could see anyway) whether there is anything more to Second Follower Thor Hutchison's death in Crisis Of Faith than the assassin acting alone (I think this has become the Terranovan equivalent of the JFK conspiracy theory), nor do we find out those responsible for the events at the beginning of Blood On The Wind. Instead, through the various reports, files, correspondences, logs and other data, we are shown how Terra Nova changes, mutates and evolves through the progress of four years. This leaves plenty of meat for GMs to use in their own campaigns, and also allows GMs to come up with their own answers to the questions above. I think Dream Pod 9 are also setting the stage for not only an inter-planetary, but a multi-generational epic story arc. The plot beginning to develop around the two infant half-GREL twins, Tara and Derek, points toward events in TerraNova's future, probably fifteen plus cycles down the road. Even if DP9 doesn't develop this particular arc any further, I'm sure they'll leave enough plot hooks to allow GMs to develop Terra Nova's further future on their own. The book itself is larger than Crisis Of Faith, being the same size as, if somewhat thinner than, the Ships Of The Fleet series for Jovian Chronicles. Apparently, many fans demanded a larger size, but I miss Crisis Of Faith's pocket-book size. Also, there are no longer any colour sections, a feature I liked in Crisis Of Faith. The interior of the book is laid out in the same style as Crisis Of Faith; despite the larger font size, I think DP9 have been able to pack more information in. The price of both books is almost identical, with Blood On The Wind being US$1 cheaper than Crisis Of Faith. Simply, if you follow Heavy Gear, you must get Blood On the Wind. If you're interetsed in getting into Heavy Gear, I'd recommend buying at least one of the core rules sets and Crisis Of Faith first. Either way, Blood On The Wind is definitely a worthwhile buy. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Blood On The Wind: Heavy Gear Storyline Book Two