The Robotech RPG, along with TMNT, was Palladium’s main moneymaker till the lumbering mass of Rifts came along. After that, PB had a new cash cow and they milked it to the exclusion of everything else, leaving RT by the wayside, so much so that many were convinced PB had dropped it back in the early 90’s instead of just this year. Eventually however they began to show interest again thanks to a choice in freelance artists Palladium made in the mid-90’s. Wayne Breaux Jr had a fondness for Robotech and the Robotech RPG that carried on even after he moved onto other projects. The result was a tribute to the RT, Strike Force.
The book kicks off with brand new mecha for the RDF, EBSIS and Zentraedi rouges. The new RDF mecha attempt to fill gaps between the models in use by the RDF and those of the Southern Cross and REF. The VF-1X looks like a cross between the classic VF-1 Veritech Fighter and the later VAF-6 Alpha Fighter, the Tornado Battle Bike resembles a RDF attempt at a Cyclone. While there is an excuse for the inclusion of the new mecha, Zaria won’t know how these new designs operate in battle, it’s still mildly annoying that 50% of the book is devoted to mecha that have only minor changes from existing RT designs. The reason why people play licensed games (opposed to why their created, to cash in on a ready made fan base) is to play in the settings they like, meet their favourite characters and use the props they’ve come to know and love. Finally it provides 6 new OCCs, 3 human ones and 3 Zentraedi classes.
After all the new toys, the book leads into a couple of pages of background for the Indochina Quadrant, main area the adventure will be set in. It mainly deals with local Zentraedi groups, conditions and random encounter tables for travel through the jungles. The other area the adventure will lead to for the conclusion, the Zentraedi Control Zone, is skipped with Game Masters directed to consult Zentraedi Breakout, another book you have to buy. It even gets in a sideways plug to pick up New World Order, just for inspiration sake.
Darkness Flowering, the book’s main adventure covers the reason for the book’s title. The RDF was setting up 4 bases in Indochina to combat groups of rouge Zentraedi, until contact has been lost and all flybys to check have been shot down. The players are transferred into a special Strike Force kited out with new mecha to go take a look-see. Once on the ground, the players face the task of slogging through hundreds kilometers of Zentraedi filled jungle to reach each of the outposts. The adventure slowly moves through Indochina before leading to South America for the finale, centering on the city of Manus, deep within the Zentraedi Control Zone. The main adventure is designed for the early Macross Saga era, though with a bit of fudge work can be made to work during any era of Robotech, though not nearly as well.
While it includes a nice, solid adventure, Strike Force is a toy book pure and simple. If you’re looking for brand new toys to shower on your players, this is a perfect choice. I’d probably suggest looking elsewhere if it isn’t.
