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I first came across 3:16 on some random thread here on RPG.net, now lost to the mists of the long dead search engine, the premise of the game sounded like fun and it was super cheap as a pdf so I bought it. I remember flicking through it on my computer and thinking "what the fuck have I wasted my money on here?" There's a cool cgi pic on the cover of several dropships speeding towards some alein planet, very well done, and a nice title emblazoned across with blood splatters and a glimpse of some sort of military badge, all was looking good at first. And then I scanned through the rest of the book and thought that perhaps I had picked up a sketch book that my 3 year old daughter had been drawing in. Badly. I started reading the mechanics and I just didn't get it. It just sounded so crap, only 2 abilities, Fighting and Non-fighting. You roll the fighting for combat and the non fighting for everything else? What is this shit? Where's the attributes, where's the advantages and disadvantages? I thought I was supposed to be able to take this game and go and play 40k Space Marines if I really wanted too? I didn't bother following up any further interest in the game.

But I kept on hearing good things about it.

And then I think I played a game of Trollbabe at my old club in Portsmouth, the basic premise of a split 2 ability pool was pretty similar and I had a blast. Perhaps this 3:16 thing might be on to something.

And then I went to the first Indiecon last year. One of my friends got in on a game and raved about it. The author was there with the Collective Endevour and we managed to persuade him to run a game. I had an absolute blast, it was easily the game of the con for me. Gregor really bought the awesome when running his game and the other players all gave it some as well, I immediately went and bought a hard copy of the rules (which now boasts a special rule in the front cover just for me - it's written by the author so as far as I'm concerned it's cannon!).

There's already a review on RPG.net by Jimmy Bise Jr that details the mechanics ably so i won't launch into that here, instead I will try and convey to you all just how much of a fun game this is. It's just great turning off all that meta-gaming crap and knuckling down to the only thing that matters - killing as many goddamn alien mother fuckers as you possibly can. The game is ripe for inter party conflict and one upsmanship, which may not be to everybody's taste, I love it. The near physical need that takes over when trying to rack up your kill count results in much backstabbing and dirty dealing.

To be sure, a lot of my enthusiasm for the game probably comes from the fact that I've played it with such great guys. And I fully understand that it's not to everybody's cup of tea, the last game I played I thouroughly enjoyed myself, one of my best mates left halfway through because he just couldn't get involved with the system. However I think he's now got it because he's helping to write a zombie mod based on the computer game Left 4 Dead. Which leads me on to another point, the system is so simple it could be used for numerous different settings with ease, most notably the aforementioned 40k, but I've see Imperial Stormtroopers vs Ewoks and I can't see why it couldn't do Vikings, Starship Troopers, ragged human survivors vs Terminators etc.

In my opinion the simplicity of the system is what concentrates the roleplaying, it's so easy to instantly "get" your character, and the strengths and weaknesses system ensures that as you play your character's backstory gets more involved and compelling. However, if you're playing ot with people who's only effort to get into the spirit of things is to say "I shoot them", it's going to turn into an exercise in counter removal and dice rolling very quickly. But if you know people who are likely to embrace the narrative freedom and enjoy the game for what it is then let the good times roll.

I suppose there is a danger of the game growing stale if played too regulary, although the default setting is set up to enable a change in tone as the character's progress, gradually growing more disenchanted with the endless bloodshed and playing on the true horror of war. For now I'm just happy blowing shit up at every opportunity and shafting my best buddy to steal his kill count.

And as to the actual book, I don't know now how I could have hated it so much on first sight, the artwork isn't technically magnificent but it is very stylistic and suits the tone perfectly. If there were miniatures available fot the 3:16th Expeditionary Force I would buy them in a heartbeat. The quality of the writing is great throughout and it's one of the few rules sets I can quite happily just read again purely for the sake of reading them.

Now go out and kick some alien ass!