The Inside Scoop on Gaming

For those of us who grew up in the '80's, as well as those gamers who got their start as wargamers, there has always been a soft spot in our hearts for military-oriented games. With few notable exceptions, however, games on modern warfare have not exactly dominated the industry. Whether this is due to the inability of such a game to keep pace with the changing world situation, or the speed with which equipment and doctrinal considerations become so quickly obsolete, or just a lack of general interest in the role-playing community for these type of games, is uncertain. Games such as GDW's Twilight:2000 were appreciated for their attention to detail, and moderately good ability to simulate modern conflicts. Still, although there have been attempts at creating modern or near-future "mercenary" type games, most have met with little success, until now. GURPS Special Ops seems to be one of those rare exceptions that can pull it off.

The book itself is a supplement to the GURPS system, and provides another "world book", useful as source material for an existing campaign, or as a stand-alone game. The interior layout is excellent with much of the work being given over to background and source material. What I found most disappointing about the layout was the artwork, which was poor. This is more a state of the industry, I feel, than any critique of Steve Jackson's choice of artists. Good artists are hard to find, and pay for these days. Even so, some of the art was pretty shabby. The first section defines Special Operations and some of the general aspects that define what they are, versus what they are not. An example would be found in the definitions of some typical types of special operation missions, like direct action or unconventional warfare versus the sidebars which describe how special operations forces are not spies or police. The sidebars deserve a mention in that, in typical GURPS fashion, a wealth of interesting stories and useful information has been crammed into them. I always find it amusing that some of these might be taking advantage of the limited attention span victims of the "media culture" (most of us) have by placing small, very interesting tidbits of information in the margin as an eyecatcher. So much for amateur psychology.

This short definition of special operations is followed by a wealth of historical accounts of special operations, offering not only the facts, but insights into why and how the missions were carried out. My personal favorites were the special ops throughout American history (there's that short attention span again). The historical examples given in the primary text are all fairly recent, and some may even remember the events that precipitated them. Such as the Iranian embassy takeover in Britain in 1980 or operations in Desert Storm in 1991.

The next section of the book details the special operations forces of several major nations, including the U.S., Great Britain, Israel, and Russia. Not surprisingly, much detail is given over to U.S. forces, with several little tidbits like the Ranger Creed added in. The best part of this section, I felt, was the "Who Do I Send?" piece that went over the finer points of the U.S. special ops forces and their mission suitabilities, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The reason this piece proved so useful is due to the immense proliferation of different spec ops units. For those who are not terribly familiar with modern military structure, or who are victims of popular culture, a lack of this kind of definition would practically kill a good portion of this book's usefulness.

Next comes character creation. As with most GURPS supplements of the day, it follows the "template style" of character creation, where skills and minimum stats, as well as point costs are laid out for special ops soldiers of several different nations (mostly from the ones mentioned in the previous section). For GURPS players, the templates are set for 150-200 point campaigns. A little higher than normal, but considering the type of characters, very understandable. Skills that directly pertain to these characters with specific definitions are present (another GURPS standard). A wonderful play aid in the form of how to build the character's military file is also provided. It's useful for upping the "realism" aspect of one's character, or just something to have fun with. New rules for military pay and justice as related to this genre, as well as the added feature of "skill degradation" follow the templates. My players found character creation to be fairly easy, but they were all GURPS veterans. The only complaint was that, in the 150-200 point campaigns, there is little variability in characters, at least on paper. Extra points are necessary, if there is to be significant individualism (not personality, just skills) among the players' creations. Specialties for certain templates help alleviate this, but again, it's a casualty of the type of characters being played. They are "skill heavy" to put it lightly.

Following character creation is the meat of how to run a campaign in special operations. Now that you have the background knowledge, and have created the characters, it's time to build the campaign. Admittedly, I've always felt that GURPS supplements sometimes lacked in this area. It's the nature of the type of work they are. With a few exceptions like Traveller and Fantasy, most GURPS books are stand-alone and don't get much supporting material. Because of this, they sink or swim on how good they are at this. If the author didn't put as much thought into the piece, especially in something so complex as a modern day military setting, a potential GM could be left high and dry, with little hope of a salvageable campaign. Special Ops succeeds, though, because it had a fantastic author and great reviser. Their credentials, a political scientist and a former member of Army Intelligence (insert your own joke there) speak for themselves. I found the information fascinating and completely useful. This material is a good read even if you're not a gamer. It's also the first game book where I've seen an Operational Order (OPORD) laid out in detail and explained. The basics in the "Operations" section details strategic command of these kind of operations, planning, execution, and after-action and debriefing. Again, the material here is thorough and useful. A liberal sprinkling of different fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, along with some game stats (usable to people not even interested in the game), are provided throughout the section, since this is the primary method of insertion and extraction for most special ops missions. This section is very GM-friendly.

On the heels of how to run the missions is the equipment section. Some specialized equipment is provided, but I have a feeling the author expected potential players to reference other GURPS supplements for most of their gear. That was a bit disappointing. A general listing of standard equipment with weights and prices would have gone a long way. A small, but well-described selection of weapons, both small arms and heavy weapons, follows. Again, if you're not familiar with the genre, this area is a good start at getting familiar, especially if you don't know much about modern firearms. For all the detail given to the weapons though, some illustrations of firearms would have been nice. The piece is a little lacking because of it.

Following equipment are the enemies of any player group. "Opposing Forces" gives a broad overview of unconventional warfare, and defines the types of forces a team might go against, by varying the degrees of popular and external support an organization enjoys. The ubiquitous sidebars provide several examples of terrorist organizations that act as ready-made villains. Generic force descriptions are provided both for individual types of soldiers and guerillas, as well as units of them. I kept feeling like this section could have been meatier, but it gave the impression of suffering from space constraints. It gives a GM the basic cloth from which to cut his or her villains, and that's about it. The example terrorist organizations gloss over this a little, but not much. A good book on modern guerilla warfare or even a read through some back issues of current events magazines might provide a useful supplement to those GM's caught with villain-block.

The book finishes with a short chapter on building a campaign, as well as variants such as mercenaries, or ones using other GURPS supplements. As small a section as it was, I found it a very well-written way of saying "Yes, we threw all that info at you. Now relax. Here's how best to use it". A nice sidebar on a typical equipment loadout for special ops troops was a great touch. The piece that made the chapter really worthwhile, though, was the part that addressed the problem of players, who are always very individualistic, in a very hierarchical game setting. Surely, this is going to be on every GM's mind (I know it was on mine). How do I get my players to work as a team, follow orders, and accept a leader? For some, this will be a bigger problem than for others. It was a minor one for me. Either way, I was glad to see that topic addressed.

The book finishes with a glossary of terms, critical for a work like this, and the ever-popular index, which Steve Jackson books have become famous for. How many gaming books does the gentle reader own that have no index, or very poorly organized ones?

Overall, GURPS Special Ops achieves its goals. It is a well-rounded, thoughtful and nicely detailed piece that not only allows a group to play in a modern military setting, but provides a decent piece on the state of modern special operations and how they are conducted. I'd recommend it as a must-have to GURPS gamers looking to do much anything with a modern setting, and definitely to game collectors. For those gamers that like military rpg's, this book is a worthy addition to roles of veterans of the industry like Twilight:2000 and Delta Force, and worth the read.

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

GURPS Special Ops - Second Edition
Author: Greg Rose, Rev. by John Goff Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Cost: $19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-366-3 SKU: 6029 Playtest Review by Rob Beck on 11/26/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Historical Espionage	For those of us who grew up in the '80's, as well as those gamers who got their start as wargamers, there has always been a soft spot in our hearts for military-oriented games. With few notable exceptions, however, games on modern warfare have not exactly dominated the industry. Whether this is due to the inability of such a game to keep pace with the changing world situation, or the speed with which equipment and doctrinal considerations become so quickly obsolete, or just a lack of general interest in the role-playing community for these type of games, is uncertain. Games such as GDW's Twilight:2000 were appreciated for their attention to detail, and moderately good ability to simulate modern conflicts. Still, although there have been attempts at creating modern or near-future "mercenary" type games, most have met with little success, until now. GURPS Special Ops seems to be one of those rare exceptions that can pull it off. The book itself is a supplement to the GURPS system, and provides another "world book", useful as source material for an existing campaign, or as a stand-alone game. The interior layout is excellent with much of the work being given over to background and source material. What I found most disappointing about the layout was the artwork, which was poor. This is more a state of the industry, I feel, than any critique of Steve Jackson's choice of artists. Good artists are hard to find, and pay for these days. Even so, some of the art was pretty shabby. The first section defines Special Operations and some of the general aspects that define what they are, versus what they are not. An example would be found in the definitions of some typical types of special operation missions, like direct action or unconventional warfare versus the sidebars which describe how special operations forces are not spies or police. The sidebars deserve a mention in that, in typical GURPS fashion, a wealth of interesting stories and useful information has been crammed into them. I always find it amusing that some of these might be taking advantage of the limited attention span victims of the "media culture" (most of us) have by placing small, very interesting tidbits of information in the margin as an eyecatcher. So much for amateur psychology. This short definition of special operations is followed by a wealth of historical accounts of special operations, offering not only the facts, but insights into why and how the missions were carried out. My personal favorites were the special ops throughout American history (there's that short attention span again). The historical examples given in the primary text are all fairly recent, and some may even remember the events that precipitated them. Such as the Iranian embassy takeover in Britain in 1980 or operations in Desert Storm in 1991. The next section of the book details the special operations forces of several major nations, including the U.S., Great Britain, Israel, and Russia. Not surprisingly, much detail is given over to U.S. forces, with several little tidbits like the Ranger Creed added in. The best part of this section, I felt, was the "Who Do I Send?" piece that went over the finer points of the U.S. special ops forces and their mission suitabilities, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The reason this piece proved so useful is due to the immense proliferation of different spec ops units. For those who are not terribly familiar with modern military structure, or who are victims of popular culture, a lack of this kind of definition would practically kill a good portion of this book's usefulness. Next comes character creation. As with most GURPS supplements of the day, it follows the "template style" of character creation, where skills and minimum stats, as well as point costs are laid out for special ops soldiers of several different nations (mostly from the ones mentioned in the previous section). For GURPS players, the templates are set for 150-200 point campaigns. A little higher than normal, but considering the type of characters, very understandable. Skills that directly pertain to these characters with specific definitions are present (another GURPS standard). A wonderful play aid in the form of how to build the character's military file is also provided. It's useful for upping the "realism" aspect of one's character, or just something to have fun with. New rules for military pay and justice as related to this genre, as well as the added feature of "skill degradation" follow the templates. My players found character creation to be fairly easy, but they were all GURPS veterans. The only complaint was that, in the 150-200 point campaigns, there is little variability in characters, at least on paper. Extra points are necessary, if there is to be significant individualism (not personality, just skills) among the players' creations. Specialties for certain templates help alleviate this, but again, it's a casualty of the type of characters being played. They are "skill heavy" to put it lightly. Following character creation is the meat of how to run a campaign in special operations. Now that you have the background knowledge, and have created the characters, it's time to build the campaign. Admittedly, I've always felt that GURPS supplements sometimes lacked in this area. It's the nature of the type of work they are. With a few exceptions like Traveller and Fantasy, most GURPS books are stand-alone and don't get much supporting material. Because of this, they sink or swim on how good they are at this. If the author didn't put as much thought into the piece, especially in something so complex as a modern day military setting, a potential GM could be left high and dry, with little hope of a salvageable campaign. Special Ops succeeds, though, because it had a fantastic author and great reviser. Their credentials, a political scientist and a former member of Army Intelligence (insert your own joke there) speak for themselves. I found the information fascinating and completely useful. This material is a good read even if you're not a gamer. It's also the first game book where I've seen an Operational Order (OPORD) laid out in detail and explained. The basics in the "Operations" section details strategic command of these kind of operations, planning, execution, and after-action and debriefing. Again, the material here is thorough and useful. A liberal sprinkling of different fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, along with some game stats (usable to people not even interested in the game), are provided throughout the section, since this is the primary method of insertion and extraction for most special ops missions. This section is very GM-friendly. On the heels of how to run the missions is the equipment section. Some specialized equipment is provided, but I have a feeling the author expected potential players to reference other GURPS supplements for most of their gear. That was a bit disappointing. A general listing of standard equipment with weights and prices would have gone a long way. A small, but well-described selection of weapons, both small arms and heavy weapons, follows. Again, if you're not familiar with the genre, this area is a good start at getting familiar, especially if you don't know much about modern firearms. For all the detail given to the weapons though, some illustrations of firearms would have been nice. The piece is a little lacking because of it. Following equipment are the enemies of any player group. "Opposing Forces" gives a broad overview of unconventional warfare, and defines the types of forces a team might go against, by varying the degrees of popular and external support an organization enjoys. The ubiquitous sidebars provide several examples of terrorist organizations that act as ready-made villains. Generic force descriptions are provided both for individual types of soldiers and guerillas, as well as units of them. I kept feeling like this section could have been meatier, but it gave the impression of suffering from space constraints. It gives a GM the basic cloth from which to cut his or her villains, and that's about it. The example terrorist organizations gloss over this a little, but not much. A good book on modern guerilla warfare or even a read through some back issues of current events magazines might provide a useful supplement to those GM's caught with villain-block. The book finishes with a short chapter on building a campaign, as well as variants such as mercenaries, or ones using other GURPS supplements. As small a section as it was, I found it a very well-written way of saying "Yes, we threw all that info at you. Now relax. Here's how best to use it". A nice sidebar on a typical equipment loadout for special ops troops was a great touch. The piece that made the chapter really worthwhile, though, was the part that addressed the problem of players, who are always very individualistic, in a very hierarchical game setting. Surely, this is going to be on every GM's mind (I know it was on mine). How do I get my players to work as a team, follow orders, and accept a leader? For some, this will be a bigger problem than for others. It was a minor one for me. Either way, I was glad to see that topic addressed. The book finishes with a glossary of terms, critical for a work like this, and the ever-popular index, which Steve Jackson books have become famous for. How many gaming books does the gentle reader own that have no index, or very poorly organized ones? Overall, GURPS Special Ops achieves its goals. It is a well-rounded, thoughtful and nicely detailed piece that not only allows a group to play in a modern military setting, but provides a decent piece on the state of modern special operations and how they are conducted. I'd recommend it as a must-have to GURPS gamers looking to do much anything with a modern setting, and definitely to game collectors. For those gamers that like military rpg's, this book is a worthy addition to roles of veterans of the industry like Twilight:2000 and Delta Force, and worth the read. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

GURPS Special Ops - Second Edition