The Inside Scoop on Gaming

When I first heard Gear Krieg I was instantly reminded of the bit in Dork Tower where Igor is introduced Ken’s Historical War gaming group, infuriating them immediately by explaining how Fantasy and Historical miniatures are the same thing, referring to artillery as the same as Mages, and such. Well Gear Krieg has a similar hardship in it’s ideal trying to make a World War II miniatures game that is Both enjoyable to fantasy and historical war games. And really for the most part, Dream pod Nine pulls it off quite nicely offering an interesting war game that is both a decent World War II game and a decent Mecha game.

Much like the last miniatures game I reviewed (Junk by Dark Omen Games) Gear Krieg takes a different approach to the Idea of Mecha, The War Walkers of Gear Krieg are not the high speed Mecha of Gundam or Mekton, Hell, even the lumbering Mechs of Battletech’s inner sphere are wonders of technology in comparison to the Mecha of Gear Krieg. In essence the war walkers of Gear Krieg are effectively tanks on legs often having exposed pilots, or limited sights through slits in the armor. Elaborate sensors and such really don’t exist in this game, with good reason. In fact the only real advantage I can see of the war walker is the effect on mobility and additional ability of having Mechs with arms.

The system is relatively straightforward using a system similar to the Icon system seen on (Star Trek by Last Unicorn Games) roll an amount of dice equal to your skill, and use the highest roll. If you roll more than 1 six, add one to the total (so a roll 4 dice having results of 2, 3, 6, 6, becomes a total value of 7) One other unique thing is the use of the MU or Movement Unit as opposed to straight inches/Hexes/centimeters. This ability to scale the battle is really nice for being able to change the focus of a battle. I hope that DP9 takes a bit more note of this and produces a series of their war walkers for 1/285th scale micro armor as well as the current 1/100th scale (15mm) miniatures.

The game does a great job of balancing these Mecha along with traditional World War II games. In fact the game includes a hearty mix of tanks and infantry as well as the war walkers. You could easily have a great time with these rules without even including the war walkers and playing it up for pure realism. The rules are playable as well as realistic (well as realistic as a Mecha game can get)

The book itself is decently produced as a hard cover with a mix of both traditional art and what appear to be doctored photos. Unlike all other Products and product lines from DP9, there is a distinct lack of an Anime style. As many games today are readily embracing Anime art for every game line it is refreshing to see Gear Krieg avoid it opting to adhere strictly to the genre as opposed to trying for the popular and stylistic anime feel. The art however is well done and very classy for the genre in question.

Probably my biggest gripe about Gear Krieg is the lack a full set of charts. Making you have to flip incessantly through the book! This is quite an oversight in my opinion, they were clever enough to put a collection of cardboard counters in but forgot the basic chart collection. Also the rules are a remarkably small part of the book, with the beginning third being taken up with a lot of world data including the ever important how and why of the Mecha and a lot of background data. It is not as if this is a bad thing, but simply an observation, the rest of the book (the sections that aren’t filled with either background or rules) are reserved for scenarios, Vehicle profiles, Troop organization and platoon charts, and of course a few scenarios.

In short, this game does a good job of creating a playable yet realistic system which I think is a great bridge for both historical war gamers and those who prefer a bit more fantasy in their games.

Gear Krieg
Gear Krieg Playtest Review by Jamie Herbert on 27/03/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Mecha and World war II who could ask for anything more? Product: Gear Krieg Author: David Graham Richard Meaden Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Line: Gear Krieg Cost: 24.95 Page count: 127 Year published: 2000 ISBN: 1-896776-72-8 SKU: DP9501 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Jamie Herbert on 27/03/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction Historical	When I first heard Gear Krieg I was instantly reminded of the bit in Dork Tower where Igor is introduced Ken’s Historical War gaming group, infuriating them immediately by explaining how Fantasy and Historical miniatures are the same thing, referring to artillery as the same as Mages, and such. Well Gear Krieg has a similar hardship in it’s ideal trying to make a World War II miniatures game that is Both enjoyable to fantasy and historical war games. And really for the most part, Dream pod Nine pulls it off quite nicely offering an interesting war game that is both a decent World War II game and a decent Mecha game. Much like the last miniatures game I reviewed (Junk by Dark Omen Games) Gear Krieg takes a different approach to the Idea of Mecha, The War Walkers of Gear Krieg are not the high speed Mecha of Gundam or Mekton, Hell, even the lumbering Mechs of Battletech’s inner sphere are wonders of technology in comparison to the Mecha of Gear Krieg. In essence the war walkers of Gear Krieg are effectively tanks on legs often having exposed pilots, or limited sights through slits in the armor. Elaborate sensors and such really don’t exist in this game, with good reason. In fact the only real advantage I can see of the war walker is the effect on mobility and additional ability of having Mechs with arms. The system is relatively straightforward using a system similar to the Icon system seen on (Star Trek by Last Unicorn Games) roll an amount of dice equal to your skill, and use the highest roll. If you roll more than 1 six, add one to the total (so a roll 4 dice having results of 2, 3, 6, 6, becomes a total value of 7) One other unique thing is the use of the MU or Movement Unit as opposed to straight inches/Hexes/centimeters. This ability to scale the battle is really nice for being able to change the focus of a battle. I hope that DP9 takes a bit more note of this and produces a series of their war walkers for 1/285th scale micro armor as well as the current 1/100th scale (15mm) miniatures. The game does a great job of balancing these Mecha along with traditional World War II games. In fact the game includes a hearty mix of tanks and infantry as well as the war walkers. You could easily have a great time with these rules without even including the war walkers and playing it up for pure realism. The rules are playable as well as realistic (well as realistic as a Mecha game can get) The book itself is decently produced as a hard cover with a mix of both traditional art and what appear to be doctored photos. Unlike all other Products and product lines from DP9, there is a distinct lack of an Anime style. As many games today are readily embracing Anime art for every game line it is refreshing to see Gear Krieg avoid it opting to adhere strictly to the genre as opposed to trying for the popular and stylistic anime feel. The art however is well done and very classy for the genre in question. Probably my biggest gripe about Gear Krieg is the lack a full set of charts. Making you have to flip incessantly through the book! This is quite an oversight in my opinion, they were clever enough to put a collection of cardboard counters in but forgot the basic chart collection. Also the rules are a remarkably small part of the book, with the beginning third being taken up with a lot of world data including the ever important how and why of the Mecha and a lot of background data. It is not as if this is a bad thing, but simply an observation, the rest of the book (the sections that aren’t filled with either background or rules) are reserved for scenarios, Vehicle profiles, Troop organization and platoon charts, and of course a few scenarios. In short, this game does a good job of creating a playable yet realistic system which I think is a great bridge for both historical war gamers and those who prefer a bit more fantasy in their games.