This is a Hack for The Black Hack, though it makes no mention of The Black Hack in any way. It is a super streamlined RPG set in World War Two. It is playable, and looks decent, but it would be nice if the publisher would mention that The Front is based on The Black Hack rules system, as that would have helped in my purchase decision.

Full disclosure: I did not receive a comp copy, but used my own money to purchase the Lulu print, sight unseen, before buying the pdf here.

The Front Field Manual by Mark A. Hunt is a hack of The Black Hack. The system is a Roll-Under d20 based resolution method which greatly reduces the need for lengthy explanation and formulae. Everything about The Front is economical, getting the GM and Players directly into the action of adventures in a war environment, and in the specific case of World War Two. While Europe is assumed to be the centre of action, there are examples of the sorts of campaigns (and how appropriate that term is when dealing with a military RPG) one can run with The Front. Among this section are listed action in the Pacific Theatre, both from an Allied perspective, as well as indigenous peoples' fighting in resistence to Imperial Japanese ambitions. Other campaign suggestions include the Maquis across Europe, as well as more exotic fighters, on all sides of the conflict(s).

In the small framework of The Front, a great variety of information is conveyed in a very direct and approachable manner; Hunt's writing is informal, but not discursive, and each topic feels resolved when one has digested the encapsulated data. I am especially appreciative of his method of resolving short bursts and full-auto rules for SMGs and MGs. Once those two rules are understood, aircraft MGs naturally flow from that and a GM will know how to conduct air to ground fire. Expanded vehicle rules are in the works, but one section that struck me as both interesting and very useful is that during the time of the war, Jeeps are incredibly common. Further on in the text, there is an anecdote about the Officer operating the vehicle with the troops in the back, unlike Wehrmacht cars being driven by underlings. Between the sparing rules and the flavour text, The Front encourages play in the conflict depicted.

Hunt, however, expands things with both the possibility of using the rules set with modern warfare, as well as fantastical fodder, such as ghouls, werewolves, and vampires. With The Front, a GM willing to read a few articles on the Web and spring a unique setting or angle can cater to virtually any group of players. The Front is as mucha toolbox as it is a fully functional RPG.

I am rather taken with it, and its approach has made me think about other, future hacks of theis versitile game system. I highly recommend you give it a try.

Out of 48 pages, 46 are the content, including the introduction. A variety of different covers (colour) that look pretty good.

Errors: only one I've seen so far (P6: pre-war professions): it says roll d220 (I'd like to see that dice).

97% of the WWII pictures are American in source. I saw 1 French (resistance), 3 others that I believe were 1 African (desert war, possibly north Africa), 1 German, the other picture showed a group of Asian partisans. All are B&W and clear. Some pictures of the other nations might have been welcome (British, Japanese, and other nationalities perhaps), to give the players a better 'mind picture' of their players or opponents (but that, I'm guessing, would take more time and work). Players can use the internet for more pictures, etc to give them a better idea of the other nationalities involved (and there were many).

Ranks (P12) only shows American ranks, no other nationalities. Will need to Google those methinks, in case any players want ranks for British, German, etc. Weapons: Generic. No lists of the many different weapons used by the nations involved; but still good. Some weapons have a dice usage that decreases down 1 level if a 1-2 is rolled. Not bad. Page 45 give you the phonetic alphabet (good). This should certainly help the players in certain situations.

Page 3: Kilroy was here! Funny. 1 page devoted to the jeep (Willys). Other vehicles are handled generically.

Equipment (P14) is slightly covered, the list would be quite long. Twilight 2000 by GDW is one example. As for encumbrance, you could use the D&D 3.0 (p142), 3.5 (p162) or even Pathfinder (P171) if you wanted to go 'deeper' into what each soldier is carrying (rations, water, medi-packs, etc). Healing (P32), seems good. OofA I'm guessing is Out of Action?

Overall, it's quite good just as it is, or the GM and players can add more to it (equipment, etc); but that might slow the action down a bit. For £2.08/$3.00, it's definitely worth getting. Recommended.