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RIFTS Sourcebook 4: Coalition Navy starts with an offbeat, original concept -- an in-depth look at the naval war machine of the Coalition States. Since the Coalition is the greatest NPC military presence currently featured in the RIFTS gaming universe, a look at their seafaring weapons and capabilities would seem to be a good way of expanding on their military might. Not only can the Coalition threaten player characters on the ground and in the skies, but now their evil legions can cruise the seas and rivers as well. Pretty neat concept for a set of adventures, right?

Well, not really.

Coalition Navy is supposed to act as a supplement for two RIFTS World Books: Coalition War Campaign and Lone Star. In all honesty, Coalition Navy only has a few loose connections to these books, and these connection often have nothing to do with actual naval operations. The biggest common thread between all three books is that they all feature military equipment for the Coalition States. What's missing from Coalition Navy is a well-defined sense of how the naval forces fit in with the rest of the military plans laid out in the other two books. Yes, the sourcebook indicates some of the operations conducted by the Coalition Navy -- support of ground forces during certain attacks, patrolling rivers, and protecting cities with ports from attack.

However, who is the Coalition Navy really attacking? Why do these cities need protection, and whom are the cities being protected from? These vital pieces of information are either missing or mentioned only in passing. ("Pirates" seems to be the vague one-word answer to some of these questions.) The book does stress that travel by waterways has become critical since most of the roads in North America were obliterated by nuclear weapons, but then why aren't details about civilian cargo ships listed? In addition, with the amount of military air support that the Coalition can muster for its fleets of ships, wouldn't the Coalition be better served by creating civilian transports and merchant aircraft for its population?

The sourcebook is left with a lot of cool hardware. Unfortunately, there is no explanation as to how or where this hardware should be used. The Coalition Navy is an awesome fighting force without a defined purpose, and with no specific adversary to fight. There's not much mentioned about who the navy is supposed to be fighting, expect for a few monsters who aren't nearly powerful enough to warrant the kind of firepower being assembled by the Coalition Navy.

The actual detail of structure and weaponry given to the Coalition Navy is quite impressive. The original material, such as the "Sea Dogs" -- mutant soldiers genetically enhanced for underwater combat, are well developed and show a lot of careful thought. The section on submarines and other underwater weapons is equally good. Even some material that seems adapted from previous books, such as the Sea Spider Skullwalker, are more than just old statistics given a brand new name and some scuba gear. The material itself is excellent. The book just never considers what should be done with this material. If a gamemaster is just looking for a million excuses for naval combat and nothing else, then this book is complete.

However, if a gamemaster wants to know how to incorporate all this new material seamlessly into previous RIFTS material featuring the Coalition States, then the book falls short of its goals. This book really can't be combined with either Lone Star or the Coalition War Campaign without some serious work by the gamemaster.

Strangely enough, the book that actually DOES work well with the Coalition Navy isn't mentioned all that much in the sourcebook. RIFTS World Book 7: Undersea is chock full of aquatic game material and adventure ideas, and the Coalition Navy material would fit in a lot better with the concepts in that particular book. The sourcebook is probably best suited as a supplement for RIFTS Undersea, and not the other World Books suggested by Palladium.

Put simply, RIFTS Sourcebook 4: Coalition Navy has a lot of good material with no place to go. It's an excellent supplement for RIFTS Undersea, and decent for RIFTS Lone Star and the Coalition War Campaign -- provided, of course, that the gamemaster is willing to put in a lot of work and give the Coalition Navy some real purpose. Otherwise, this sourcebook can be ignored. It's a shame. Coalition Navy is a great "shopping list" book -- lots of cool, original features, but unless a need or a purpose can be found for those features, they become little more than window dressing. A little more focus on the specific goals and missions of the Coalition Navy would have made this sourcebook very, very, good on its own. Instead, it only has the potential to be very good -- and that all depends on how much work the gamemaster and the players want to put into the book.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

RIFTS Sourcebook 4: Coalition Navy
Author: Patrick Novak Category: game Company/Publisher: Palladium Books Line: RIFTS Cost: $12.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 157457-003-X Capsule Review by Mike Ferguson on 04/08/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Far_Future Post-apocalypse	RIFTS Sourcebook 4: Coalition Navy starts with an offbeat, original concept -- an in-depth look at the naval war machine of the Coalition States. Since the Coalition is the greatest NPC military presence currently featured in the RIFTS gaming universe, a look at their seafaring weapons and capabilities would seem to be a good way of expanding on their military might. Not only can the Coalition threaten player characters on the ground and in the skies, but now their evil legions can cruise the seas and rivers as well. Pretty neat concept for a set of adventures, right? Well, not really. Coalition Navy is supposed to act as a supplement for two RIFTS World Books: Coalition War Campaign and Lone Star. In all honesty, Coalition Navy only has a few loose connections to these books, and these connection often have nothing to do with actual naval operations. The biggest common thread between all three books is that they all feature military equipment for the Coalition States. What's missing from Coalition Navy is a well-defined sense of how the naval forces fit in with the rest of the military plans laid out in the other two books. Yes, the sourcebook indicates some of the operations conducted by the Coalition Navy -- support of ground forces during certain attacks, patrolling rivers, and protecting cities with ports from attack. However, who is the Coalition Navy really attacking? Why do these cities need protection, and whom are the cities being protected from? These vital pieces of information are either missing or mentioned only in passing. ("Pirates" seems to be the vague one-word answer to some of these questions.) The book does stress that travel by waterways has become critical since most of the roads in North America were obliterated by nuclear weapons, but then why aren't details about civilian cargo ships listed? In addition, with the amount of military air support that the Coalition can muster for its fleets of ships, wouldn't the Coalition be better served by creating civilian transports and merchant aircraft for its population? The sourcebook is left with a lot of cool hardware. Unfortunately, there is no explanation as to how or where this hardware should be used. The Coalition Navy is an awesome fighting force without a defined purpose, and with no specific adversary to fight. There's not much mentioned about who the navy is supposed to be fighting, expect for a few monsters who aren't nearly powerful enough to warrant the kind of firepower being assembled by the Coalition Navy. The actual detail of structure and weaponry given to the Coalition Navy is quite impressive. The original material, such as the "Sea Dogs" -- mutant soldiers genetically enhanced for underwater combat, are well developed and show a lot of careful thought. The section on submarines and other underwater weapons is equally good. Even some material that seems adapted from previous books, such as the Sea Spider Skullwalker, are more than just old statistics given a brand new name and some scuba gear. The material itself is excellent. The book just never considers what should be done with this material. If a gamemaster is just looking for a million excuses for naval combat and nothing else, then this book is complete. However, if a gamemaster wants to know how to incorporate all this new material seamlessly into previous RIFTS material featuring the Coalition States, then the book falls short of its goals. This book really can't be combined with either Lone Star or the Coalition War Campaign without some serious work by the gamemaster. Strangely enough, the book that actually DOES work well with the Coalition Navy isn't mentioned all that much in the sourcebook. RIFTS World Book 7: Undersea is chock full of aquatic game material and adventure ideas, and the Coalition Navy material would fit in a lot better with the concepts in that particular book. The sourcebook is probably best suited as a supplement for RIFTS Undersea, and not the other World Books suggested by Palladium. Put simply, RIFTS Sourcebook 4: Coalition Navy has a lot of good material with no place to go. It's an excellent supplement for RIFTS Undersea, and decent for RIFTS Lone Star and the Coalition War Campaign -- provided, of course, that the gamemaster is willing to put in a lot of work and give the Coalition Navy some real purpose. Otherwise, this sourcebook can be ignored. It's a shame. Coalition Navy is a great "shopping list" book -- lots of cool, original features, but unless a need or a purpose can be found for those features, they become little more than window dressing. A little more focus on the specific goals and missions of the Coalition Navy would have made this sourcebook very, very, good on its own. Instead, it only has the potential to be very good -- and that all depends on how much work the gamemaster and the players want to put into the book. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 4 (Meaty)