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This is the second rulebook in the Quad-S system, which is sort of a "GURPS of Space Battle" system. Each book that you buy is a complete game unto itself (lacking only dice), but all of the books work together to build a larger game. For more details, take a look at the reiview of Quad-S (Strategic Starship Skirmish System) Rulebook 1: The Ku'Son'Ri right here. That way, I don't need to repeat all of the important stuff here.

The Trenon are a race of dualities. Thanks to a global castatrophe of their homeworld, one half of the Trenon downloaded themselves into cyberspace - before they learned that they would not have to evacuate. So, now, the Trenon are really two races in one. The first, those of the physical world, are oval shaped centipedes. The rest are only beings in the machine - cyber dwellers whose only body is the bitstream of the Matrix. This makes for a pretty interesting mix, as the needs of the physical Trenon hardly match the needs of the cyber-Trenon.

Trenon in combat are certainly more interesting than the Ku'Son'Ri. Their ships are, on the whole, much less powerful. Their weapons - the Ruptor and Heavy Ruptor - are greatly effective, as they discount shields when causing damage to a ship. Their other weapon, the Null Beam, completely causes shields to fail. Obviously, the Trenon don't much care for heavily shielded opponents - but are capable of taking them down.

However, the more important thing of note is the Trenon Nanite Repair systems. In the end phase of every turn, Trenon ships can announce what section they are attempting to repair, roll a D10, subtract that from their Nanite Repair rating - and the difference is the amount of boxes repaired. Note that the Nanite Repair on the Trenon ships ranges from 4 on their smallest ship, the Glivv, to 8 on their biggest, the Quiss. This plays a huge role in their tactics - the opponents of the Trenon can never really be certain that the Trenon are out of the fight - more often than not, they can attempt to escape briefly, repair damage, and are back in the fight and looking for vengeance.

The rules for the Trenon are much like those of the Ku'Son'Ri - but please note that, like the Ku'Son'Ri, this book does have the complete rules needed for operation of the Trenon. If desired, both players can used Trenon ships against one another, and then this is a complete game in and of itself.

Included in the book are seven scenarios for using the Trenon in your games - again, with both sides listed with Trenon ships, because it isn't assumed you own any other Quad-S product in order to use this one. These range from the usual line up and shoot out to First Blood, where whoever destroys the first ship wins. (And, remember, with the Trenon, destroying a ship isn't an easy thing)

Next are a few pages discussing honorable play and the creation of scenarios. The Quad-S system does not have points values, so these are absolutely needed to make fair games for both sides. In this, practice makes perfect - as the ships from the Ku'Son'Ri are not always even matches for their Trenon counterparts.

The flaws in this book match those of the first - the mapsheet, the lack of index and examples. These aren't crippling - there aren't so many rules that you can't memorize them quickly, but getting them right in the first place isn't always easy.

The book comes in a plastic spiral-bound format, which has held together well during my absuive playtesting. It has a black and white interior with color covers. The layout is single column, with borders that look the interior of a computer - meant to represent the Trenon Matrix, I suppose.

The Trenon are certainly an interesting race for Quad-S, and are fun to play against themselves as well as the Ku'Son'Ri. (Although balance can be an issue) For $15, it's a nice little system, easy to pick up and challenging to play. I look forward to seeing the rest of the Quad-S books and what those races have to offer.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Quad-S Strategic Starship Skirmish System Rulebook 2: The Trenon
Author: James "Archon" Eisert Category: miniature Company/Publisher: Powercell Games Line: Quad-S Cost: $14.95 Page count: 31 pages, plus counters and mapsheets Capsule Review by Robert E. Allen III on 06/27/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Space	This is the second rulebook in the Quad-S system, which is sort of a "GURPS of Space Battle" system. Each book that you buy is a complete game unto itself (lacking only dice), but all of the books work together to build a larger game. For more details, take a look at the reiview of Quad-S (Strategic Starship Skirmish System) Rulebook 1: The Ku'Son'Ri right here. That way, I don't need to repeat all of the important stuff here. The Trenon are a race of dualities. Thanks to a global castatrophe of their homeworld, one half of the Trenon downloaded themselves into cyberspace - before they learned that they would not have to evacuate. So, now, the Trenon are really two races in one. The first, those of the physical world, are oval shaped centipedes. The rest are only beings in the machine - cyber dwellers whose only body is the bitstream of the Matrix. This makes for a pretty interesting mix, as the needs of the physical Trenon hardly match the needs of the cyber-Trenon. Trenon in combat are certainly more interesting than the Ku'Son'Ri. Their ships are, on the whole, much less powerful. Their weapons - the Ruptor and Heavy Ruptor - are greatly effective, as they discount shields when causing damage to a ship. Their other weapon, the Null Beam, completely causes shields to fail. Obviously, the Trenon don't much care for heavily shielded opponents - but are capable of taking them down. However, the more important thing of note is the Trenon Nanite Repair systems. In the end phase of every turn, Trenon ships can announce what section they are attempting to repair, roll a D10, subtract that from their Nanite Repair rating - and the difference is the amount of boxes repaired. Note that the Nanite Repair on the Trenon ships ranges from 4 on their smallest ship, the Glivv, to 8 on their biggest, the Quiss. This plays a huge role in their tactics - the opponents of the Trenon can never really be certain that the Trenon are out of the fight - more often than not, they can attempt to escape briefly, repair damage, and are back in the fight and looking for vengeance. The rules for the Trenon are much like those of the Ku'Son'Ri - but please note that, like the Ku'Son'Ri, this book does have the complete rules needed for operation of the Trenon. If desired, both players can used Trenon ships against one another, and then this is a complete game in and of itself. Included in the book are seven scenarios for using the Trenon in your games - again, with both sides listed with Trenon ships, because it isn't assumed you own any other Quad-S product in order to use this one. These range from the usual line up and shoot out to First Blood, where whoever destroys the first ship wins. (And, remember, with the Trenon, destroying a ship isn't an easy thing) Next are a few pages discussing honorable play and the creation of scenarios. The Quad-S system does not have points values, so these are absolutely needed to make fair games for both sides. In this, practice makes perfect - as the ships from the Ku'Son'Ri are not always even matches for their Trenon counterparts. The flaws in this book match those of the first - the mapsheet, the lack of index and examples. These aren't crippling - there aren't so many rules that you can't memorize them quickly, but getting them right in the first place isn't always easy. The book comes in a plastic spiral-bound format, which has held together well during my absuive playtesting. It has a black and white interior with color covers. The layout is single column, with borders that look the interior of a computer - meant to represent the Trenon Matrix, I suppose. The Trenon are certainly an interesting race for Quad-S, and are fun to play against themselves as well as the Ku'Son'Ri. (Although balance can be an issue) For $15, it's a nice little system, easy to pick up and challenging to play. I look forward to seeing the rest of the Quad-S books and what those races have to offer. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Quad-S Strategic Starship Skirmish System Rulebook 2: The Trenon