Mil Spec Tech 2 hat alles, um den Runnern einen gewaltigen Bumms zu geben oder Ihnen deftige Kopfschmerzen zu machen. In der Spielhilfe finden wir mehr als 30 militärische Spielzeuge, die nur darauf warten, in einer Kampagne eingesetzt zu werden.

Erscheinungsbild

Schick und vollfarbig – genau das trifft auf das Layout zu. Die pdf, die uns als Basis für die Rezension dient, existiert in Deutsch und Englisch und kann über die unten stehenden Links gekauft werden. Auf 30 Seiten, zuzüglich Cover und Vorwort, finden wir Waffen, Waffensysteme, militärische Fahr- und Flugzeuge und natürlich Drohnen. Bis auf neun Ausnahmen hat jede Bedrohung eine Abbildung auf der oberen Hälfte der Seite und die spielrelevanten Profilwerte auf der unteren Hälfte. Etwas Shadowtalk rundet das Ganze ab. Ein Inhaltsverzeichnis wie auch ein Index fehlt. Die ingame Logik holt das Dokument an der Stelle ein, als dass es ein Ares Waffenkatalog Upgrade sein soll.

Inhalt

Wie eingangs betont, ist Mil Spec Tech 2 nichts anderes als ein mit Waffen und anderen Spielereien gefüllter Katalog. Nach einem knappen Vorwort, wie üblich aufgemacht wie ein virtueller Jackpoint, geht es auch direkt ans Eingemachte.

Besondere Regeln gibt es nicht, die braucht man aber auch hier nicht. Insgesamt finden wir fünf Drohnen, von denen die auffälligste die humanoid geformte Tan Dem ist. Dazu kommen fünf Fahrzeuge, vom Stadtkampf-APC bis hin zur mobilen Raketenlafette. Ein ganzer VTOL ist zu finden, dafür deutlich mehr Flugzeuge, vier an der Zahl, vom Abfangjäger bis hin zum ultramodernen Tarnkappenbomber. Sogar drei Wasserfahrzeuge, darunter gar ein U-Boot gesellen sich zum Reigen dazu. Für den normalen Runner finden sich drei Schusswaffen, wobei zu bezweifeln ist, dass das Ares Pulse Rifle oft in normalen Runden zu finden ist. Danach wird es richtig dick – Torpedos & Raketen! Ja, Raketen. Sowohl mit persönlicher Abschussvorrichtung oder auch von Bodenstationen abgefeuert, nehmen die wunderschönen Dinger so viel Zerstörungswucht ein, dass ich sie für die übliche Shadowrun-Runde als „zu viel“ empfinde. Dennoch finden sich ganze vierzehn mögliche Ausprägungen von raketengesteuerten Waffensystemen in der Spielhilfe – von der Anti-Panzer-Rakete bis hin zur Cruise Missile.

Ach, ihr spielt im Krieg am Amazonas? Ja dann seid ihr hier genau richtig. Der Rest hebe sich seine feuchten Waffenträume für eine spätere Runde auf…

Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis

Was will man viel erwarten von diesem Dokument? Genau –Waffen, Waffen, Waffen - und..ach ja, die Dinger, die Waffen tragen können. Und sonst? Waffen – dicke Waffen. Und somit ist genau drin, was reingehört. Für den geringen Preis bekommen SL und Spieler zugleich eine schöne Auswahl, wenn’s mal mehr weh tun soll!

Fazit

Mehr als bereits geschrieben kann ich gar nicht über die Spielhilfe sagen. Braucht man die wirklich schweren militärischen Systeme, ist man hier genau richtig. Will der SL seine Runde auslöschen auch. Spielt man allerdings in einem militärischen Setting, kann es das Buch hilfreicher sein, als man zuerst denken mag, hilft es doch auch durch den Shadowtalk, die Macht solcher Bedrohungspotentiale einzuschätzen. Kurz: Kann man haben, muss man nicht

Unsere Bewertung

Erscheinungsbild 4v5 Gehobener Shadowrun-Standard, schick illustriert, gut aufgebaut Inhalt 3.5v5 Über 30 Waffensysteme für den großen Knall Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis 4v5 Muss man nicht haben, kann man aber. Fairer Preis in diesem Fall. Gesamt 3.83v5

MilSpec Tech 2 continues to fill the need experienced by most SR GMs and players - a resource which gives access to more guns, drones and vehicles. For some reason, no matter how many previous books including variations of these three types of gear you read, you’re always open for one more. MST2 is presented as a file hacked from Ares, complete with CorpSpeak and a running commentary from the usual suspects which makes a book of equipment stats much more readable. The highlights for immediate insertion into my campaign are:

• The Tan Dem, a humanoid shaped drone deployed at dangerous sites as security, or in areas where a corp is too stingy to pay for flesh-and-blood troops. Given that they come with weapon mounts as standard, a GM can have a lot of fun building unique variations on this theme.
• The Nizhinyi BMV-3, a 2.9million nuyen troop transport that is also spawning an Ares-funded MMO, and the GD Longstreet, the preferred LAV of the CAS military. Both have a cool visual signature, and more than enough firepower to make a hot zone a very unpleasant place to be (or turn a perfectly liveable area into a hotzone).
• The Ares Pulse Fire reminds us that this is a futuristic setting and that lasers are still coming a long way from their roots in SR1.

There are plenty of warships, submarines, planes, helicopters and rocket launchers to round off the catalog, and it feels as though not a single page is wasted material. This is several steps up from what a regular team will be able to afford; but is the perfect accompaniment to recent books like ‘War’, ‘Hazard Pay’ and ‘Spy Games’ and provides a lot of new opportunities for militarised mayhem in your SR4 game. It is reasonably priced, and production values remain at Catalysts’ usual high standard.

Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2012/07/27/tabletop-review-shadowrun-mil-tech-spec-2/

Mil Spec Tech 2 is another in Catalyst Game Lab’s line of Shadowrun stat block supplements. Much like Parabotany, Used Car Lot and Gun Heaven 2, you’re getting a bunch of stats with a running theme thrown slapped together in a little supplement with JackPoint flavor text and some full colour art to complete the deal. The theme of Mil Spec Tech 2 (not to be confused with Tech Specs from the old Generation One Transformers), is that Glitch (a famous Shadowrunner in the metagame) has acquired the newest Ares (a Megacorp) security catalog. What follows are twenty-nine pages from the catalog, coupled with commentary from the participants of JackPoint and of course, stat blocks for each item.

Remember that all the items in this supplement are high level military items that are expensive even for a small country, so PCs should rarely get a hold of any of them. Rather, they’re going to be on the receiving end. With one of the submarines even Kane (one of the more outlandish and badass Shadowrunners on JackPoint) remarks he wouldn’t think of stealing it as every corporation and government on Earth would try to kill you dead for doing so. Of course, some gamers are going to read that and in true powergaming/munchkin style want to steal one. If you’re the one running Shadowrun for your friends, try not to let the items contained within this supplement turn your campaign into a Monty Haul affair, because some players WILL try and do just that.

So what’s IN Mil Spec Tech 2? Well, at only thirty-one pages, not a lot, but at least what’s here is pretty interesting. You’ve got five drones (one air one robot, three land), two APCs (Armoured Personnel Carrier), an infantry carrier, two missile launching trucks, a VTOL, a stealth bomber, two fighter planes, a frigate, a submarine, a destroyer, three guns, a torpedo, a defense laser, and finally, eleven types of missiles. So that’s thirty-three exotic items that are, while interesting to read about, are things that the vast majority of PCs will never come in contact with unless you are doing a campaign revolving around the Aztlan-Amazonian war down in South America. So to really get any use out of this supplement (other than the joy of reading it), you’ll want to craft an adventure revolving around some of these. Perhaps breaking in to a military base to extract a person, or blow up the new 5.2 million frigate. It’ll take a bit of work to fit anything within Mil Tech Spec 2 into your Shadowrun campaign, but if you can come up with a quality adventure, then the results will be memorable.

At $7.95, it’s hard to recommend something like Mil Spec Tech 2Shadowrun player. While this is a very well written piece with some nice exotic equipment and armaments, the cost is just too high for what you’re getting – especially when this is a very niche product in the first place. When I look at things like the Shadowrun Missions that only cost $3.95 and are also in full colur and roughly the same page length at Mil Spec Tech 2, I find myself wondering why the more useful product is half the cost as a stat dump piece. I think CGL has sort of screwed themselves by offering so many high quality supplements and adventures at a far more affordable price. Then the stat dump pieces, which have far less content and mediocre art, become far less appealing when looked at discerningly. I think the sweet spot price-wise for something like this is going to be around $4.95. Otherwise you’re just paying too much for too little. This is definitely a step up from Used Car Lot in terms of quality, but it also has three less pages so checks and balances, I suppose. Parabotany is another great example of the stat dump concept done right by CGL. It’s the same idea, layout and blocking at Mil Tech Spec 2. It even has the same price point. Parabotany, however, has a page count of 51 compared to 31 and so you’re getting a much bigger bang for your buck there.

In all, I can’t really recommend this supplement unless you pick up everything CGL puts out for Shadowrun. It’s a nicely done piece, but the cost of Mil Tech Spec 2 doesn’t line up with what you’re actually getting – both in terms of page count and content. Wait for a price drop and then pick it up. You might not get much use out of it in an actual game, but it will be a fun read.

Mil Spec Tech 2 is a great addition to the selection of toys and the headaches that any respectable runners may run into. Although if you see some of the heavy-hitters in this pdf coming your way, any runner with half a brain will lay low!

Included in this full color, 31-page sourcebook pdf are drones, military vehicles (air and land), a handful of guns and even a selection of missiles and torpedoes! Basically just a little something to get a rigger's mouth watering, I should think.

Just to be clear, this supplement is something I would only consider using for a well-seasoned SR campaign, as the equipment is nothing you would see on a typical street run. We're talking big-time arms dealing here, chummers!

Mil Spec Tech 2 is a fun read, and you get just about what you would expect for the price; although a table of contents would have been nice.