Tiger Force Team 5 Review
As of the writing of this article, Jay Libby's AlphaVerse: Tiger Force Team 5 is available for download from RPGNow for $1.00.
Please note that Dilly Green Bean Games provided me with a complimentary copy of Tiger Force Team 5 for review.
Presentation
I downloaded Tiger Force Team 5 as a sizable (about 6.1 megabytes), 16 page Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) file. This supplement is much larger (about 6.1 megabytes, as opposed to the average 1.8 megabytes) because of the large amount of detailed, color artwork included. Overall, the presentation of this digital document is very clean and easy to read. There is more artwork present in Tiger Force Team 5 than in previous AlphaVerse supplements, and it is appropriately themed. Unfortunately, the color artwork was far more attractive on the computer screen than printed out on a black and white laser printer.
The document also prints out nicely, with adequate margins for most types of binding.
Summary
Unlike other AlphaVerse supplements produced by Dilly Green Bean Games, Tiger Force Team 5 includes only some of Jay Libby's Basic V system. I would have preferred for the entire Basic V system to be included, but suspect the authors omitted it to keep the .PDF file size from growing any larger than it already had. Fortunately, the Basic V system is available for free download from Dilly Green Bean Games - Basic V.
Tiger Force Team 5 begins with a brief and, unfortunately, uninspiring paragraph of game fiction. It then immediately launches into an explanation of the premise behind Tiger Force Team 5. The Tiger Forces are composed of exceptionally talented members drawn from all other branches of the United States military. Lead by Major Rock, they have two main enemies: a terrorist organization known as ASP (Anarchist Socialists for Progression, which is something of an oxymoron), and terrible creatures from beyond. Fortunately, they are well-equipped for the task with powerful alien hardsuits and the best weaponry humanity has to offer.
Characters generated using the Tiger Force Game Skin will be quite powerful, with a strong emphasis on combat attributes and skills. Their advanced equipment and hardsuits, produced by the enigmatic Gray aliens, make them even more formidable. Fortunately, the ASP soldiers and monsters listed in the generic Tiger Force Team 5 adversaries section are also pretty tough and should provide a challenge. My only real complaint about the Tiger Force Game Skin is that the alien hardsuit's many scanning abilities are not well-detailed. The general range and amount of information provided by each type of scanner would have been greatly appreciated.
Like Hellbrand and ImmortalZ, Tiger Force Team 5 includes a number of paper miniatures. They take up approximately three and a half of Tiger Force Team 5's sixteen total pages, and include both small counters for troops and larger counters for vehicles. I personally have little use for paper miniatures, but these are fairly well done and will certainly be useful to anyone running a tactical game.
Conclusion
Tiger Force Team 5 feels conspicuously like a campy combination of G.I. Joe and high-tech Call of Cthulhu. This impression is reinforced not only by some of the names used (ASP is lead by Commander Chrome), but also by the artwork. The Tiger Forces' Wartoad weapons platform, for example, looks conspicuously like a G.I. Joe SkyHawk with mecha legs. Fortunately, I loved G.I. Joe when I was younger, and I have a certain fondness for Call of Cthulhu as an adult - so I find myself curiously fond of Tiger Force Team 5. I would, however, have liked for the information presented to be more detailed and better organized.
Substance: 3
Style: 2
