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The cover says "Campaign Setting One." Until I read this book, I did not believe that something so slim could hold so much. I'm used to great boxed sets and encyclopedia-sized books, not something so small that I could tuck it into my folder and sneak it into a meeting. I had my doubts, despite my experiences with Dream Pod 9's excellant work.

Once again, Dream Pod 9 astonished me.

These 136 pages hold enough information to run two complete and wholy intergrated Heavy Gear campaigns. One half is for Northern characters and the other half is for Southern characters. Each half takes place aboard one of Terra Nova's fantastic landships, so that makes both of these pure military campaigns. Military games are where Heavy Gear is strongest, so this works beautifully.

The book is also tied to the Heavy Gear desktop game, so there is some crossover appeal. (This is deliberate, and the writers say so.) It's hoped that the tabletop gamers peek at the PC game and vice versa; it worked for me, and I'm glad that I did.

In playtest, I noticed that a novice GM could easily overwhelm himself with the plentiful subplots this book provides. Some are obvious and are intended to be used, such as the romance with Faith Leloup, while others are subtle but strongly implied- such as the triangle between Elina Jameson, Edward Scott and Henry Janus. With all of this grist lying about, the tempation to use it is strong and unless the GM can manuever them about adroitly he'll soon be mired in a B-grade soap opera ala "Heavy Gear 90210."

Another problem concerns the tactical missions. The setting demands a certain heavy realism, but the PCs are meant to see their story arc to its conclusion. (It's a lot like Babylon 5 that way.) That conflict comes forth during the battles. Unlike the above glitch, this is easy to fix. Make certain that your players know the Emergency Dice rules, then use them liberally to see that the PCs survive those firefights. (Ideally, pain and suffering should be regular visitors while death remains rare.)

What did I like? That's a long list, but I'll pick the biggest reason for getting it- the landships. If you're into designing new machines, then you'd get a kick out of the appendix in the back. Both landships have their construction stats spelled out for you. These things are every bit as scary as they should be; the stats back up the story by putting the fear of the Dice Gods into players of all stripes. (The AA lasers alone do x20 damage! Point, click, die.) The other cool part about is that they have plenty of artwork to show you what this or that section of a landship looks like; this is a perfect example of how art in RPG books should be used.

What didn't I like? That's a short list. What stuck in my craw most was that this book requires all of the gear & vehicle books to make maxmium use of it. I made due with far less than that, but I'm sure that if I had them it would make a big difference.

What cannot be denied is that this book is a great value. It's so much more than a bunch of adventures slapped together, but it's not a sourcebook with a lame adventure tacked on to the end either. It's a finely integrated fusion of the two, and I know that I'll return to it again and again for many reasons- the least of which is to base my own landship designs upon these two, once the rules for doing so come out.

Get this book, especially if you're a Heavy Gear fan. You won't be disappointed.

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

The New Breed: Battle Before The Storm
Author: Jean Carrieres, Tyler Millson-Taylor, Mark-Alexandre Vezina, Philippe Boulle Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Cost: $24.95 (US) Page count: 136 pages ISBN: 1-896776-20-5 Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 07/16/98. Genre tags: none	The cover says "Campaign Setting One." Until I read this book, I did not believe that something so slim could hold so much. I'm used to great boxed sets and encyclopedia-sized books, not something so small that I could tuck it into my folder and sneak it into a meeting. I had my doubts, despite my experiences with Dream Pod 9's excellant work. Once again, Dream Pod 9 astonished me. These 136 pages hold enough information to run two complete and wholy intergrated Heavy Gear campaigns. One half is for Northern characters and the other half is for Southern characters. Each half takes place aboard one of Terra Nova's fantastic landships, so that makes both of these pure military campaigns. Military games are where Heavy Gear is strongest, so this works beautifully. The book is also tied to the Heavy Gear desktop game, so there is some crossover appeal. (This is deliberate, and the writers say so.) It's hoped that the tabletop gamers peek at the PC game and vice versa; it worked for me, and I'm glad that I did. In playtest, I noticed that a novice GM could easily overwhelm himself with the plentiful subplots this book provides. Some are obvious and are intended to be used, such as the romance with Faith Leloup, while others are subtle but strongly implied- such as the triangle between Elina Jameson, Edward Scott and Henry Janus. With all of this grist lying about, the tempation to use it is strong and unless the GM can manuever them about adroitly he'll soon be mired in a B-grade soap opera ala "Heavy Gear 90210." Another problem concerns the tactical missions. The setting demands a certain heavy realism, but the PCs are meant to see their story arc to its conclusion. (It's a lot like Babylon 5 that way.) That conflict comes forth during the battles. Unlike the above glitch, this is easy to fix. Make certain that your players know the Emergency Dice rules, then use them liberally to see that the PCs survive those firefights. (Ideally, pain and suffering should be regular visitors while death remains rare.) What did I like? That's a long list, but I'll pick the biggest reason for getting it- the landships. If you're into designing new machines, then you'd get a kick out of the appendix in the back. Both landships have their construction stats spelled out for you. These things are every bit as scary as they should be; the stats back up the story by putting the fear of the Dice Gods into players of all stripes. (The AA lasers alone do x20 damage! Point, click, die.) The other cool part about is that they have plenty of artwork to show you what this or that section of a landship looks like; this is a perfect example of how art in RPG books should be used. What didn't I like? That's a short list. What stuck in my craw most was that this book requires all of the gear & vehicle books to make maxmium use of it. I made due with far less than that, but I'm sure that if I had them it would make a big difference. What cannot be denied is that this book is a great value. It's so much more than a bunch of adventures slapped together, but it's not a sourcebook with a lame adventure tacked on to the end either. It's a finely integrated fusion of the two, and I know that I'll return to it again and again for many reasons- the least of which is to base my own landship designs upon these two, once the rules for doing so come out. Get this book, especially if you're a Heavy Gear fan. You won't be disappointed. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The New Breed: Battle Before The Storm