The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Note that I got this game from Justin Mohareb, who only plays the RPG side of the game, so he kindly gave it to me. Thank you, Justin. On with the review…

Northern Guard is a supplement for Dream Pod 9's Heavy Gear RPG. It is primarily aimed at the tactical player, although there is some stuff related to the role-playing side of the game.

The book begins with a chapter appropriately called, "Life in the Army." The chapter explains the organization of regiments, advancement through the ranks and pay, and the various medals and awards given out. It also provides a few new weapons and has some diagrams of army uniforms. Although brief, the chapter accomplishes its purpose and is very well done.

The next three chapters contain the heart of the Northern Guard sourcebook: rules for designing custom regiments. The rules are based around a pyramidal concept with standard squadrons, where you must have basic squadrons to have advanced squadrons. For example, you must have both a Recon and a Fire Support squadron to have a Strike Squadron. The rules are simple and fast, allowing you to build a regiment in ten or fifteen minutes, less if you already know what you want.

Unfortunately, they also don't allow much room for customization. There aren't any rules for using squadrons outside the ones given in the book-no exotic or custom gears can be used without creating some of your own rules. The pyramid structure ensures game balance by forcing regiments into similar structures, unlike the more cumbersome threat values, which allow disparate forces to be created and matched against each other. Players of the tactical game who entertain visions of designing the perfect regiment which will crush all their opponents through innovative combinations of vehicles will be disappointed; people who just want to quickly make a regiment so they can play will find it to their tastes. However, people who just want to play would probably be content with pre-made regiments. For a sourcebook mainly dedicated to regiment creation, Northern Guard should have been a bit more complex and versatile.

While the Gear chapter strictly enforces a pyramidal structure, the infantry, and in particular the armor chapters are more loose. Heavy Assault squadrons(with Aller tanks) don't require Light Assault Squadrons to use them. A minor peeve is that all three chapters take twice as much space as they need to by using individual icons of Gears and Armor, which are aesthetically pleasing, but take up too much space.

After the three chapters on regiment creation, Northern Guard segues into a brief chapter on the support structure. While its more interesting than it sounds, its primarily fluff, with explanations of stuff like "Supply Forecasting."

The next chapter is another bulky one, "Regiments of Note." It describes several Gear and a few Armor and Infantry regiments, including the Cat's Paws. The regiments are well thought out, and have excellent histories and flavor text. However, they also illustrate the problems with the regiment creation rules. Almost every regiment has a custom squadron or two, which help add flavor, but aren't covered by the regiment creation rules. Also, the Cat's Paws, despite breaking the rules a little, are quite underpowered for such a famed regiment. Like most other regiments, they have many standard General Purpose, Recon, and Fire Support Squadrons, giving them lots of generic hunters with qualified pilots, when you would at least expect Veteran Jaguars.

A chapter of new gears follows. The gears described are primarily either Night variants of common gears, like the Jaguar(adding stealth and a few gizmos), or are scaled back and more practical versions of the prototypes shown in the NVC1. The realistic design process of adding lots of new features, then scaling back and removing defects is a nice touch.

Another quick chapter about Military Doctrine, which is fairly useful, follows, then the requisite Personalities of Note, both of which are well done.

If you are play only the RPG side of Heavy Gear, or just want to get into the action of the Tactical Game, don't bother picking up this book. If you enjoy playing the Heavy Gear tactical game and prefer simple to versatile, buy Northern Guard, because it is aimed right at you. If you are a grognard who wants to tweak every single feature of their regiment, you probably won't find the system suited to your needs, although it might serve as a decent framework.

Whew, that was a longer review than I expected. Also, I forgot to congratulate DP9 for cleaning up most of their typos which appear in other books.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Northern Guard
Author: The DP9 Crew Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Cost: $18.95 Page count: 96 ISBN: 1-896776-37-X Playtest Review by Andy Wills on 03/28/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Anime	Note that I got this game from Justin Mohareb, who only plays the RPG side of the game, so he kindly gave it to me. Thank you, Justin. On with the review… Northern Guard is a supplement for Dream Pod 9's Heavy Gear RPG. It is primarily aimed at the tactical player, although there is some stuff related to the role-playing side of the game. The book begins with a chapter appropriately called, "Life in the Army." The chapter explains the organization of regiments, advancement through the ranks and pay, and the various medals and awards given out. It also provides a few new weapons and has some diagrams of army uniforms. Although brief, the chapter accomplishes its purpose and is very well done. The next three chapters contain the heart of the Northern Guard sourcebook: rules for designing custom regiments. The rules are based around a pyramidal concept with standard squadrons, where you must have basic squadrons to have advanced squadrons. For example, you must have both a Recon and a Fire Support squadron to have a Strike Squadron. The rules are simple and fast, allowing you to build a regiment in ten or fifteen minutes, less if you already know what you want. Unfortunately, they also don't allow much room for customization. There aren't any rules for using squadrons outside the ones given in the book-no exotic or custom gears can be used without creating some of your own rules. The pyramid structure ensures game balance by forcing regiments into similar structures, unlike the more cumbersome threat values, which allow disparate forces to be created and matched against each other. Players of the tactical game who entertain visions of designing the perfect regiment which will crush all their opponents through innovative combinations of vehicles will be disappointed; people who just want to quickly make a regiment so they can play will find it to their tastes. However, people who just want to play would probably be content with pre-made regiments. For a sourcebook mainly dedicated to regiment creation, Northern Guard should have been a bit more complex and versatile. While the Gear chapter strictly enforces a pyramidal structure, the infantry, and in particular the armor chapters are more loose. Heavy Assault squadrons(with Aller tanks) don't require Light Assault Squadrons to use them. A minor peeve is that all three chapters take twice as much space as they need to by using individual icons of Gears and Armor, which are aesthetically pleasing, but take up too much space. After the three chapters on regiment creation, Northern Guard segues into a brief chapter on the support structure. While its more interesting than it sounds, its primarily fluff, with explanations of stuff like "Supply Forecasting." The next chapter is another bulky one, "Regiments of Note." It describes several Gear and a few Armor and Infantry regiments, including the Cat's Paws. The regiments are well thought out, and have excellent histories and flavor text. However, they also illustrate the problems with the regiment creation rules. Almost every regiment has a custom squadron or two, which help add flavor, but aren't covered by the regiment creation rules. Also, the Cat's Paws, despite breaking the rules a little, are quite underpowered for such a famed regiment. Like most other regiments, they have many standard General Purpose, Recon, and Fire Support Squadrons, giving them lots of generic hunters with qualified pilots, when you would at least expect Veteran Jaguars. A chapter of new gears follows. The gears described are primarily either Night variants of common gears, like the Jaguar(adding stealth and a few gizmos), or are scaled back and more practical versions of the prototypes shown in the NVC1. The realistic design process of adding lots of new features, then scaling back and removing defects is a nice touch. Another quick chapter about Military Doctrine, which is fairly useful, follows, then the requisite Personalities of Note, both of which are well done. If you are play only the RPG side of Heavy Gear, or just want to get into the action of the Tactical Game, don't bother picking up this book. If you enjoy playing the Heavy Gear tactical game and prefer simple to versatile, buy Northern Guard, because it is aimed right at you. If you are a grognard who wants to tweak every single feature of their regiment, you probably won't find the system suited to your needs, although it might serve as a decent framework. Whew, that was a longer review than I expected. Also, I forgot to congratulate DP9 for cleaning up most of their typos which appear in other books. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)