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Heavy Gear is one of the newest entries to the sci-fi mecha arena. The book is a hefty 250 pages, with tons of art, a suprisingly good layout, and a highly functional index. The art is anime-esque grayscale art, very high quality with a distinctive style. I rarely find a game's art that important, but Ghislain Barbe's work does a lot to add to the feel of the world.

The game is set in the far-flung future on the harsh desert world of Terra Nova. Centuries ago, internal strife forced Earth to abandon its colonies, forcing them to survive or die without interstellar contact. Earth recently tried to reclaim Terra Nova and found themselves up against an alliance between the Northern and Southern continents. The Earthers were beat back, and now the North and South are about to go back to their normal warring.

Heavy Gear is both an RPG and a tactical miniature game. Skill lists are fully fleshed out and plenty of non-combat equipment is included, something missing from most other RPG+tactical games. Heavy Gear uses Dream Pod 9's Silhouette Game System. This is a very quick system, using the margin of success to determine the effectiveness of the roll. There are plenty of modifiers available for GM's to use and ignore, but they aren't overwhelming by any means. It works well in both the RPG and the tactical game.

The mechs are called Heavy Gear, and are the culmination of centuries of constant warfare. They are equipped with nearly-sentient AI systems to allow them to be run by a normal human being. Weaponry is, surprisingly, not all that advanced from 20th century military. While armor has advanced dramatically the rigors of a desert environment and the massive power demands make "high-tech" weapons like lasers and particle beams uneconomical compared to mass-produced reliable 20mm autocannons and rockets. Even infantry troops are effective against all but the heaviest hardware, making a Gear-less special forces team an option even in this high-artillery game.

As an added perk, the system includes all the rules to create new vehicles of all kinds, and how to generate their Threat ratings to compare against existing hardware. While slightly complicated, it is a very good method for generating anything from cars, trucks, motorcycles, hovercraft, boats, submarines, to Heavy Gears.

This core book is rules heavy and story light, with bits and pieces of the plot and world scattered throughout the book. It makes the image of Terra Nova rather sketchy, but the module they include in the back does give a basic feel of the world. But given that it is 250 pages of solid rules, this is readily excusable. Several supplements for Terra Nova, additional hardware, and the armies of the North and South are available in stores to flesh out the rest of the system.

All in all, this is a very promising game. The main rules by themselves are worth it just for the tactical and weapon creation system. If the supplements are as useful as the core rules this system should rapidly acquire a strong following between the miniature combat fiends and the sci-fi RPG crowds.

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

Heavy Gear Rulebook
Author: Jean Carrieres, Gene Marcil, Martin Quellette, Marc A. Vezina Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Reviewed by James McPherson on 07/04/97. Genre tags: none	Heavy Gear is one of the newest entries to the sci-fi mecha arena. The book is a hefty 250 pages, with tons of art, a suprisingly good layout, and a highly functional index. The art is anime-esque grayscale art, very high quality with a distinctive style. I rarely find a game's art that important, but Ghislain Barbe's work does a lot to add to the feel of the world. The game is set in the far-flung future on the harsh desert world of Terra Nova. Centuries ago, internal strife forced Earth to abandon its colonies, forcing them to survive or die without interstellar contact. Earth recently tried to reclaim Terra Nova and found themselves up against an alliance between the Northern and Southern continents. The Earthers were beat back, and now the North and South are about to go back to their normal warring. Heavy Gear is both an RPG and a tactical miniature game. Skill lists are fully fleshed out and plenty of non-combat equipment is included, something missing from most other RPG+tactical games. Heavy Gear uses Dream Pod 9's Silhouette Game System. This is a very quick system, using the margin of success to determine the effectiveness of the roll. There are plenty of modifiers available for GM's to use and ignore, but they aren't overwhelming by any means. It works well in both the RPG and the tactical game. The mechs are called Heavy Gear, and are the culmination of centuries of constant warfare. They are equipped with nearly-sentient AI systems to allow them to be run by a normal human being. Weaponry is, surprisingly, not all that advanced from 20th century military. While armor has advanced dramatically the rigors of a desert environment and the massive power demands make "high-tech" weapons like lasers and particle beams uneconomical compared to mass-produced reliable 20mm autocannons and rockets. Even infantry troops are effective against all but the heaviest hardware, making a Gear-less special forces team an option even in this high-artillery game. As an added perk, the system includes all the rules to create new vehicles of all kinds, and how to generate their Threat ratings to compare against existing hardware. While slightly complicated, it is a very good method for generating anything from cars, trucks, motorcycles, hovercraft, boats, submarines, to Heavy Gears. This core book is rules heavy and story light, with bits and pieces of the plot and world scattered throughout the book. It makes the image of Terra Nova rather sketchy, but the module they include in the back does give a basic feel of the world. But given that it is 250 pages of solid rules, this is readily excusable. Several supplements for Terra Nova, additional hardware, and the armies of the North and South are available in stores to flesh out the rest of the system. All in all, this is a very promising game. The main rules by themselves are worth it just for the tactical and weapon creation system. If the supplements are as useful as the core rules this system should rapidly acquire a strong following between the miniature combat fiends and the sci-fi RPG crowds. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Heavy Gear Rulebook