Rules of Engagement: The Rebel Specforce Handbook is
an extremely thorough treatment of ever-popular (in role-playing games anyway) topic of
military special forces. It’s also a rather good treatment of the topic as well. Rules
of Engagement does an excellent job in presenting players and referees with the
information and rules modifications that they need to run an enjoyable adventure or
campaign involving special forces. In fact, it’s one of the best I’ve ever come
across for a role-playing game not specifically focused on military matters.
Of course, this is a supplement for the Star Wars role-playing
game and that’s why my glowing commentary above must be qualified. Don’t get me
wrong: I very much enjoyed Rules of Engagement and heartily recommend it to those
interested in the topic. However, I nevertheless think that it’s subject matter
isn’t really all that appropriate to Star Wars campaigns, most of which center
around a rag-tag band of freedom fighters, not well-trained guerrillas. Admittedly, this
is a matter of taste. Some people like their Star Wars games to have a more
military flavor. If so, this book is certainly for you.
If not, there’s still plenty of useful information in
Rules of Engagement to recommend it. In order to give a sense of the book’s
content and how useful I found it to be, I’ve prepared some comments on each of its
chapters below.
Chapter 1: Rebel SpecForces
This is a rather "fluffy" chapter devoted to
the nature of special forces in the Star Wars universe. The information here
pertains solely to Rebel special forces and includes some bits of background color and
history as well. It’s not a bad introduction to the book, but it lacks anything that
really distinguishes it.
Chapter 2: SpecForce Life
This is yet another thin chapter, which is too bad. One
of the things that should distinguish special forces from the regular military is their
peculiar daily life and the esprit de corps that it engenders. This chapter provides
little real insight into this. Instead, it spends much more time detailing ranks and the
slang/jargon of the SpecForces.
Chapter 3: Operations and Missions
This is an excellent, if rather overly detailed, chapter.
In some respects, its the heart of the whole supplement. Here players and referees get an
extremely thorough look at the types of missions commonly undertaken by special forces.
This chapter seems well researched. There’s lots of information here to digest, but
most of it is solid and easily usable as the basis for adventures. Every element of an
operation, from the high level (intelligence gathering) to the low level (securing a
zone), is given fine treatment. Reading this chapter will really get one into the mood of
running a special forces scenario.
There is also a rather detailed set of optional rules
concerning, of all things, contaminated water! To be honest, I found this very odd. I
understand that part of the flavor of special forces games comes from "roughing
it" in the wilds while on a dangerous mission. Yet, I still found the inclusion of
this system unusual. I suppose my surprise goes back to my earlier comments about the
suitability of special forces in the Star Wars universe. Like most of Rules of
Engagement, these rules are good enough to use, perhaps even excellent, but they seem
rather out of place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. My prejudices come through
again.
Chapter 4: Quartermaster’s Supplies
I’m no fan of adding lots of equipment to the Star
Wars universe. I like to keep things simple, but most players don’t. They want
lots of equipment, the more unusual the better. This chapter should more than satisfy
their needs. I must admit that even I liked a lot of the equipment here. It definitely
adds to the special forces flavor of the supplement. Another nice feature of this chapter
are small rules modifications describing climbing, communications, encumbrance (a must if
you don’t want to allow SpecForces to become one man armies), and equipment
maintenance. These are nice little additions that help to differentiate a SpecForces
campaign from a normal Star Wars game.
Chapter 5: Transportation
Like equipment, I can usually do without more spacecraft
and vehicles. In this case, it’s a warranted inclusion in the book. In addition to
the usual cool starships, there are some nice vehicles here, like paragliders and
submarines. These are unusual enough vehicles to inspire adventures all by themselves (and
indeed they already have). There are also some four-footed conveyances and droids in this
chapter.
Chapter 6: Weapons
What special forces campaign would be complete without
cool weapons? This chapter details many, many new weapons for use in a SpecForces game.
Most are just variations on the usual weaponry. After all, how many different ways can you
dress up a 5D blaster pistol? Others, like the garrote, are rather distasteful for a game
centered around the "good guys." However, what really makes the chapter
worthwhile is some good advice about handling the lethality issue of a SpecForces
campaign. It’s all fairly common-sensical, but it deserves to be said again.
Likewise, there are some nice optional rules for combat in this chapter. Some are so good
that I have adopted them for wide-scale use in my games.
Chapter 7: SpecForce Organization
This is a pretty bland chapter, describing as it does the
various divisions of the rebel special forces. Each division includes a short description
and NPC template. It’s not a bad chapter, but it doesn’t add much to the
supplement either.
Chapter 8: Notable SpecForce Units
This, too, is a rather unexciting chapter. It describes a
few "famous" rebel units and their game statistics. This sort of chapter could
have been used to present some more color. Instead, however, the units presented
aren’t very interesting and they didn’t inspire much in the way of adventure
ideas.
Chapter 9: Bases and Staging Areas
Another dull chapter. A chapter like this is necessary,
but should be handled better. I’d have preferred one very detailed special forces
base to the sketches provided in this chapter. My advice is to use the new supplement Strongholds
for more inspiration.
Chapter 10: The Enemy
Admittedly, a lot of the information here is reprinted,
but that’s forgivable. A referee needs all of the stats for every conceivable
Imperial trooper in one place. The Empire is, after all, the primary opposition to rebel
special forces. This chapter describes the Empire’s minions in all their glory, from
the lowly Army trooper to the heights of the Emperor’s Royal Guard. This is a nice
chapter, if only for the two page illustration of all the different Imperial lackeys.
Another nice feature are the discussions of how to make stormtroopers into the crack
troops they’re supposed to be rather than the armored clowns every players know them
to be.
Chapter 11: SpecForce Campaigns
This is a wonderful chapter. It goes along way toward
correcting some of the inadequacies of earlier chapters. The advice offered here is solid.
A referee reading this chapter and taking it to heart should be able to run an excellent
SpecForces game, complete with its own unique flavor. The chapter also concedes that a
SpecForces game would be a very different sort of setting from the usual Star Wars
campaigns. In fact, the entire chapter illustrates this very well, so as to provide all
that’s needed to run a game in this new "sub-genre." The chapter also
includes some optional martial arts rules that some players will undoubtedly love.
Rounding out the book are a lot of templates, one for most
of the SpecForce specialties described in Chapter 7.
The book is a mixed bag, art-wise. There is some rather
nice art by Jacen Burrows throughout. However, the early chapters contain a lot art by Tim
Bobko that is cartoonish and totally unsuited for the gritty feel that a SpecForces
adventure would have. Unfortunately, art of this sort has become common in a lot of West
End’s recent supplements. I can only hope that future supplements will return to some
of the better artists that have graced their pages in the past.
Despite my various reservations, this really is an
excellent book. I rather doubt that I’ll run a special forces adventure in my own Star
Wars campaign, but my campaign will certainly be enriched by a lot of the information
presented here. I am sure that the same is true for most referees as well.
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
