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The Good: The well researched history of the Warsaw Uprising is very enjoyable to read. The artwork and writing combine to really bring home the mood the game shoots for. The use of the grid and sparse dice rolling seem to do a good job of providing structure while minimizing the involvement of rules in play.
The Bad: If you’re initially turned off when you hear terms like “indie” or “group consensus” then this isn’t the game for you. Most purchasers probably won’t get a lengthy game experience out of Grey Ranks - it’s more like buying an RPG wrapped in a module.
The Physical Thing
This 139 page 6x9 black and white softcover showcases good production values for its $22 price tag. Jeff Bent’s artwork does a fantastic job of both creating atmosphere and painting a picture of the game in action. Even the maps are well done and manage to be useful without being overly detailed. A good index, useful bibliography, excellent editing, and constant stream of helpful side notes results in a very easy to use product. My only gripe is that the book has an awful lot of white space. While initially the extensive sidebars cover this up, later on there are times where only have of the page is being used. Despite that flaw, there’s still plenty of material here.Under the Cover
Grey Ranks enables your group to build a group of 15-17 year old kids doing everything they can to resist the Nazis and (indirectly) serve the Home Army while dealing with the romance that comes with their age. These characters adventure through ten Chapters in the story of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The first Chapter functions as a rules free introduction, while the tenth Chapter is a rules free conclusion. The middle eight, however, make use of a simple scene based resolution system.In each Chapter each player has two opportunities to roll dice – mission and personal scenes. Each character has two dice, one of which can be used for each roll, based on their Reputation and current position on the Grid. These dice range from d4 to d12 in value, and since they are rolled individually the die size is very important. For mission scenes each player describes their character’s role in the mission and then rolls a die. The group, collectively, must get (Player multiplied by Chapter #) total from the dice or the characters failed the mission (Ex: Chapter 2, 4 players, total of 8 required). That doesn’t mean they die or anything, just that this attempt to fight back didn’t work out. For personal scenes the narrating player sets a goal and then rolls a die against Chapter Number. A success means, well, success and pushes the character along the grid in a positive direction. A failure pushes the character along the grid in a negative direction. If success is really important a character may also expose or destroy the thing that they hold dear, for another chance at victory.
Keep in mind that in both instances each player gets a chance to have both a mission and a personal scene. This is great, as it ensures equal spotlight time for everyone. In addition to this one player is chosen to be the mission leader. This player determines, with group input, the overall scope of the mission. So, each chapter the leader throws out a general goal/idea (“Disrupt the Nazi machine gun emplacement”) and then other players are crafting their mission scenes to match. The last person to do a mission scene waits until all the dice are rolled, so that the success or failure of the overall mission can be taken into account.
Grid? Yes, a grid is used to track each character’s emotional development. Each side represents Hate, Exhaustion, Enthusiasm, and Love and where these feelings come together at the corners a character is in danger. At the intersection of Hate and Exhaustion, for example, is Suicidal Depression. The idea here is that as your character succeeds or fails at personal and mission objectives their mental state will change to match. If you move off and then back onto one of the corners then your character is removed from the game at a dramatically appropriate moment. They may die, join the home army, or do whatever else makes sense. The Grid is really the heart of the game, as I see it, since it provides roleplay cues and lets you see how the Uprising changes your character.
Character creation is very simple. Pick a name, age (15-17), home district, sex, starting grid position (4 choices), reputation, and start playing. Other than grid position there’s very little to keep track of during play, and most groups should be able to generate characters together in just a few minutes (perhaps longer if they need setting explanation). Age impacts your character in that younger characters should have more dangerous missions while older characters should have more passionate personal scenes. Reputation, one of the two dice you have available, starts off negative and grows more positive over time. A clumsy character might learn to be a lot more careful, for example, and thus the associated die also increases. The thing to realize here is that Grey Ranks isn’t an RPG where you play a static character. It’s an RPG that’s very, very much about the journey. You’re building a character who is going to change a lot over about three sessions, and those changes are the focus of the game.
In addition to a simple, clever system that clearly supports the journey of the Grey Ranks the book delivers again and again when it comes to setting support. Polish names, maps of Warsaw, German phrases, a long list of grid position concept ideas, an excellent history of the time period, tons of actual play examples, and an exciting Radio Lightning transmission to start off every Chapter with all come together to form a product that is extremely complete and expert at doing what it sets out to do.
My Take
A game about child soldiers in 1944 Warsaw didn’t initially appeal to me. Conceptually I feared it would just depress me and pose a hard sell to my friends. While I can’t speak to the latter part, I can say that I have been very pleasantly surprised with how well done Grey Ranks is. It focuses on the journey of the characters and all the high emotions they face during this turbulent time in history. While the mood can certainly be dark, it can be joyous and everything else too. With everything I need right in front of me – from history to German phrases to game ideas – I can pick up Grey Ranks and run an exciting game at the drop of a hat. That makes this one a winner for me.If you like deep character focus, rules light mechanics, and narrowly structured games then pick this one up.
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