Battle Armor and Battle Armor II: Bigger Tougher Cooler are "armor sourcebooks" for d20 Modern. Each contains a number of suits of combat armor (10 for Battle Armor and 12 for Battle Armor II so at least the second book really is "longer") complete with game stats a history and commentary and a full head-to-toe illustration. Both have a color cover and one color illustration (of the same suit as the cover)while all other art is black-and-white. Both also have a "printer friendly" version with no color and no vast, ink-eating, fields of black or gray. As far as I can tell, these are only available as pdf files on RPGNow.
The d20 game mechanics seem fine and reasonable though I may not be the best person to make that call. I'm not sure how well you can make high-tech armor work in a "armor makes you hard to hit" system but these books do as good a job as possible. (The author Mr. Stephens seems well aware of this and provides rules for people that use armor as a damage-reducing element instead, as logic would dictate). Each suit lists the d20 standard stats (Defense, Move, Max Dex, Armor Check, Abilities, Weight, Endurance, Equipment, Type, Proficiency, Progress Level and Purchase DC). The interesting parts are the equipment (including such things as Ready Racks and equipment Mounts) and the Strength and Movement Augmentation. The game stats differentiate between armors that augment the user's abilities (such as user - Strength +2) and those that replace the user's abilities with the armor's (such as armor - Strength 22).
Different suits of armor have different equipment and abilities including force fields, enhanced sensors, built-in weapons, claws, flightpacks, jump-jets, electronic camouflage, and even a robotic pilot that can run an OGRE suit without a pilot's help. The armors are also all tied to some kind of future-history that includes deathsports, plagues, worldwide riots, and a war between Earth and governments on the Moon and Mars. All of it is great material for futuristic campaigns, but you can ignore anything you don't like.
The suits of armor are all very well thought out. In both books there are armors for pulp games set in the 30s or 40s, modern suits for the here-and-now, and suits for the future from day-after-tomorrow to far-flung space opera. Some are simply very well-built modern tactical suits while others have full robotic exoskeletons. Almost anything you can think of as a suit of armor is included. Also every suit is given a reason to exist. The logic behind them is very strong and even if I needed to make changes for my own campaigns knowing why each armor was developed made that easy.
The concepts and writing are highly evocative and easily enhance any game that would even consider using modern to futuristic suits of armor. These armor suits are not rip-offs of every movie, comic or novel you've seen. They share some similarities with popular armors but only where those are driven by logic. I've found them extremely useful in my non-d20 games, and think they work well on a pure sourcebook level ignoring the system. I think buying both books, a cost of $10 for 22 suits of armor, is a better value than most big companies give me. I'd much rather have this kind of fully thought out well-done book focused on one topic than a book of dozens of pieces of equipment with very little to let you know where they came from, how they work, or what they look like.
What makes the product really stand out are the full-length illustrations. Each is a perfect match for the armor description. In too many rpgs it seems like the writer and the illustrator never talk to each other. In both Battle Armor books it's clear they were in constant contact, and there are no irregularities. If the text mentions equipment, weapons, or jump jets, you can find them on the armor. Those that have life support are fully enclosed. Those that provide more protection are heavier and thicker. And they are all detailed well enough to be worth the price by themselves.
My only issues with these books are minor ones. The first book has an odd layout, with armors spread across multiple pages. The second book is better about this with each description and picture filling exactly one or two pages. A few things that might seem obvious aren't like how long it takes to activate life support. And while I know it's impossible for a book this cheap I'd love to have seen all of these armors in full color.
My copies included an "added bonus" that may or may not be kept in future books. Each included a number of SJG-style cardboard heros of battle armors. This allows a GM to print as many suits as they need so the armors can be added to a game with no additional miniatures bought. Even if you don't use miniatures in your games these let you know what the back of the armor suits look like so the additional space is worth it.
Honestly I think the books should have provided game stats for more game systems because the material is too good to be limited to d20 games. But anyone with any interest in the very specific subject matter should pick both of these books up, and hope the author and illustrator do many more.
