Having long been a fan of the original Traveller RPG, I was intrigued enough to download this supplement for the Cepheus Engine rules and I have to say I’m glad I did.

This short pdf provides a slightly altered task resolution system, but the majority of the page count is taken up with an overhaul of the combat system. This greatly simplifies the Cepheus Engine rules and tries (and succeeds) at recreating the very free-form nature of original Traveller combat. Its also great to see a version of Andy Slack’s excellent vehicle combat rules included here (originally published in White Dwarf in the 1980s).

Although these rules are probably not to everyone’s taste, if you’re a fan of those original ‘little black books’ and want to give your Cepheus Engine games that OSR feel, the 1970s 2d6 Retro Rules are well worth a look.

I knew nothing of Battlesworn until I saw it on the Wargames vault Top Ten. It immediately caught my eye because a) it was by Ganesha Games (and was designed by the same chap who wrote Song of Blades and Heroes) and b) the look and clean visual style of the actual document really jumped out at me. I picked up copy then and there and I’m really glad I did because this looks like it could be a great little game.

Like SOBH it is a fantasy skirmish game designed for about a dozen figure and quick play. In all other respects it owes nothing to the Song of Blades rules and there are a number of aspects that set it apart from other systems I have seen.

First the game uses a bidding system for initiative and combat. At the start of each turn, players bid for 'initiative' by secretly selecting a number between 1 and 6. The player who bids lowest has the initiative and can activate their forces, but the number of figures that can be activated is equal to their actual bid. The player who lost the bid may also activate figures, but they may only react to what the initiative player’s forces do and are similarly restricted in how many reactions they can take based on what they bid for initiative.

Melee combat also uses a bidding system, again by secretly selecting in a number between 1 and 6. The player that bid the lowest attacks first (combat is not simultaneous) but the number of dice they roll for their attack is equal to what they bid. If their opponent survives they may now attack with as many dice as they bid.

This bidding system looks like it could be a lot of fun as you try to out think (or out guess) your opponent and provides a nice risk versus reward style of play. The nature of the rules also keeps players fully engaged throughout the game with little or no ‘down time’. It also looks like it will play very fast.

Another feature that looks interesting is there are no set movement distances for figures; they can all move any distance the player wishes, but may only move in a straight line and must stop moving when they encounter either another figure, or a piece of terrain. Because of this the game recommends that there should be plenty of terrain on the table to prevent combatants from zooming across the battlefield willy-nilly and also creates ‘hotspots’ of action. This slightly abstract movement system means that in theory you can play on any size (or shape) of table with any scale of figure.

In addition there are no ‘stat lines’ for figures; each combatant simply has a Class (or multiple classes) that slightly alter the way they interact with the rules. This gives each figure a unique feel and role within the combat and by combining different classes you can actually get a lot of variety for your forces. The rules for the different classes are quite subtle and not too game breaking (for instance the Shooter class allows a figure to make a ranged attack at the nearest enemy in LOS, whereas the Sniper class may make ranged attacks against any target within LOS – near or far).

There’s more to the game of course (rules for magic, campaign play as well as advice on adapting the system to other genres including SF and historical play are provided). The rules themselves are not overly long or complicated and look like they will give a very interesting and tactical game. As for the rulebook itself, it is very nice; simply but attractively laid out with many colour illustrations that have a stylised ‘cut-out’ look. The pdf also looks great when printed out in booklet form.

In conclusion if any of the above intrigues or interests you, I heartily recommend you pick up a copy. Although some of the mechanics are slightly more abstract than normal for a table-top wargame, it still seems to feel like an actual miniatures wargame (rather than say a boardgame). I’ve yet to play a game myself so can’t really say for sure, but having read the rulebook a couple of times now, I certainly want to give this system a try because it looks like a heck of a lot of fun.

15mm Science Fiction seems to be enjoying a bit of a resurgence these days, with miniature companies like Ground Zero Games, Critical Mass and Khurasan leading the way. This is nice to see because in many ways 15mm is the perfect scale for Sci-fi gaming. Gruntz enthusiastically embraces this resurgence; being a set of rules entirely dedicated to 15mm Sci-fi gaming.

Just for the record, I do know the author of these rules, but aside from giving some feedback on a very early version of the game I haven't had any part in the game's writing or development. Also the copy of the rules I own has been bought and paid for by myself because what I had seen in the earlier draft I liked. Having got the finished rules I still like it.

The document itself is 88 pages and looks extremely good. It is full colour throughout, attractively laid out and packed with many images; mainly of the author's own beautifully painted collection of miniatures. One downside of all this eye-candy is that printing out such a graphic heavy PDF is going to be hard on your home printer. However it almost begs to be in hard copy and doing it through something like Lulu or the like would give you a very nice looking book indeed. The PDF itself is not bookmarked, but the contents page does provide clickable links to the various chapters for ease of navigation.

The rules mechanics are simple and straightforward, with a definite 'cinematic' feel. The game uses six-sided dice, with most actions being resolved with a 2D6 roll, the result of which is added to the relevant unit's stat and then compared to a target number (usually another unit's stat) to determine success or failure. The game makes use of counters to keep track of a unit's condition so book keeping is minimal. Dice or gaming tokens can be used to track these states, but it would have been cool if a printable counter sheet had been provided with rules.

The game is organised around squads of infantry (the eponymous 'Gruntz' of the title) and looks like it works best as a platoon level game. Aside from the squads of gruntz, forces also include individual 'hero' type figures and specialists as well as heavy weapons and vehicles; which range from the ubiquitous tanks and APCs, to flyers and mecha.

The stats for all units in the game are listed on their individual unit cards (about the size of a MTG card) that contains all their relevant game information, so there are no charts to refer to and minimal 'book-flipping'.

In addition to all the basic stuff you would expect (moving, shooting, assaults etc. etc.) the PDF also includes rules for electronic warfare, a points system for unit building and several scenarios. There is also background setting material included, but this is entirely optional and the game can be used with any setting.

Also bundled in with the rules are a set of blank unit cards (which don't look like they will be too much of an 'ink hog' to print out) as well as a set of pre-generated cards for various modles from Critical Mass miniatures line. There is also a unit builder spreadsheet included. One thing to note however is that this spreadsheet is in .xlsx format. This wasn't a problem to open in OpenOffice, but might cause some issues for those using older versions of Excel.

All in all this seems like a fast, fun, light, wargame written with a real love of 15mm miniatures. It is a very nice looking document that gives you all you need to play and for the price is excellent value for money.

The first supplement for BASH! (Basic Action Super Heroes) RPG presents an entire campaign setting for the system in the form of Megapolis: A City of Supers.

The PDF is 81 pages in length with the text formatted into two columns and includes a generous number of illustrations. There is also a printer friendly version included (basically the same text and formatting but without illustrations) and that comes out at 66 pages. The illustrations are all black and white (apart from the cover) and although not as consistently good as those in the BASH! rulebook they are still okay. The small font size, compact formatting and lack of wasted space all ensure that there is a lot of information included here.

As stated this is a sourcebook for the fictional city of Megapolis. Located somewhere on the East Coast of America - its actual location is left intentionally vague so that GMs can locate it where they please. Information on the history of the city is given, as well as the various boroughs that make up its environs. There is also some more detailed info on various places of interest to be found within the city, including; the local air force base, super prison (and inmates) the other-dimensional realm of Arcadia (for those who want to mix superheroes with fantasy) and various organisations to help or hinder your heroes.

As well as the information on the city, about half of the book is given over to its numerous super-denizens. These include individual heroes and villains as well as teams. Some of the characters have already appeared in the BASH rulebook, but the majority are new.

Finally there is a short section of additional rules and information for the GM. Also included here is a sample timeline of events for the city, outlining a complete campaign year to enable GMs to kick start their own games.

All in all this is a nice supplement for BASH! There is nothing particularly new here, but nothing outrageous either that might prevent it from easily being added to any existing contemporary superhero campaign. You get a setting that is detailed enough to be useful but not so complete that you can't make it your own. The inclusion of the timeline also makes it a great option for time-poor GMs wishing to start their own campaign.

If you are looking for a setting for your BASH! game and don't want to put in the work yourself this is worth getting. Even if you don't need a new campaign city for your games this supplement is probably still worth getting if only for the numerous superhero and villain NPCs included within. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A good solid setting with lots of ready-made supers and the ability to kick off a new campaign with very little effort, plus includes a printer friendly version.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A few typos and no bookmarks, but these are relatively minor problems.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

ScreenMonkey is a piece of software designed to allow you to use traditional pen and paper RPGs online. There are a number of these packages about, some free and some commercial. ScreenMonkey is not tied to any particular system and you can (in theory at least) potentially use it with any RPG system.

ScreenMonkey has two main advantages over the competition. It?s 'keep it simple' approach and the fact that only the GM needs the software installed - players simply use their favourite web browser to connect to the game. This is a brilliant idea that really distinguishes it from the rest of the field and this feature, together with its general ease of setup and use are its main selling points, however...

The downside of this simple approach is that the package seriously lacks some features; especially for a piece of software that costs over $30. In fact it is also lacking some very basic utility and in places is 'clunky' enough to be a real headache for the GM - not unworkable or 'buggy', just clunky and clumsy in the way it does certain things. Some critical features (like stats) can't be modified despite it's claim to be extendable and to be honest it feels a little ?pre-alpha? in places.

There also doesn't seem to be a lot of development by nbos at the moment - although this may change now that FM 7.0 and AS 2.0 are finished. This is a real shame because at its core this is a wonderful piece of 'kit'. There is a small but dedicated band of users out there pretty much single handedly dragging this piece of software into the realms of true usability, but when a company doesn't seem to want to support or promote their own product you have to wonder...

You can certainly modify this package yourself to meet you own needs, but to do this you will need a good knowledge of VBScript and HTML. The online documentation is a little sparse though it does its job, but the more technical material assumes you have a good working knowledge of the above two disciplines - there is no beginners guide to modifying ScreenMonkey provided.

Ultimately I would suggest that you try the free 'lite' version before you buy. If it works for your specific needs then the full version is definitely worth getting. If not then don't expect much more in the way of features or utility from the commercial version of ScreenMonkey 1.5 - unless you have a good knowledge of VBScript and HTML.

With a little love and attention this can become a 'stonking' piece of software. Save your money and wait for version 2 (or 3) - I don't know if there will be a version 2 or 3, but if there is you may have a piece of software that both lives up to its true potential (and its price tag). I wouldn't want to see this become bloated or over developed, I like its K.I.S.S., cut-down approach, but it does need to be easier and better organised for GMs to use and modify.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Simple to use, easy to set up and if your needs are modest should work brilliantly, especially if your VB and HTML is good.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Undernourished, a little clunky and a bit pricey for something that is generally lacking some very basic features.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Designed to expand on the possiblities of the previous releases by allowing for more variation in layout, this collection of tiles certainly seems to accomplish this aim. When combined with the other sets the tiles here look like they provide for some interesting variations in your ship designs choices.

As well as expanding the usefulness of previous releases, they can also be used 'as is' to create a complete ship(s) from just this tile set. In fact although I have yet to experiment with them, this set looks like it may allow for more variations of layout than many of the other e-Future pdfs and they seem to be able to create some interesting ship designs all by themselves. Time and experimentation will tell on this point...

If you are finding some of the other sets in this series a bit restrictive and limited (I am) this release will certainly help you out. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is more like it! Looks like this will open up the possiblities of the e-Future tiles and I'm looking forward to seeing what can be done with them.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A general point about the e-Future starship sets. The pattern on the flooring is designed to fit together one of two ways (and still look neat and tidy). If the tiles had used the same flooring design from (the excellent) 'Future Tiles: Starships' set it would have greatly increased the overal modualrity of all these sets.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Star Patrol presents and nice interesting ship. As with a number of other sets in this series there seems to be only one basic ship design possible with just the tiles you get here, but the alternative tiles provided do allow some significant variation within that design. Basically you can create two versions; a larger wider ship, or a slightly smaller, shorter range vessel.

A nice set of tiles up to the usual standards and looks like it could combine nicely with other sets.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A ship design with an interior wider than the usual two tiles across making it more interesting if used for combat type boarding actions.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Only one possible ship design with the tiles provided, but the inclusion of the alternate tiles gives a genuine (though not significant) variant.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A small set of tiles with limited use on their own. Basically you can use them to create a single ship with some fairly minor variations. That being said the price is right and used in conjunction with other sets will no doubt expand their usefulness. I do like the e-Future tiles very much, but these single layout ship packs (the freighter set being another example) lack modularity on their own. Personally I would like to see larger sets of tiles with greater versatility than these smaller single use sets - Ronin Arts' Future Starship series covers the single spaceship ground nicely and at least with those you get some background information on the ship.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: More tiles.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Limited usefulness, but can't complain for the price.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I originally became aware of these tiles through a friend who had bought the Fiery Dragon hardcopy release. I was instantly taken with them and happily messed around with them for hours trying different configurations. The PDF version is just as good, consisting of the same 35 5"x5" geomorphic tiles depicting; cabins, flight decks, corridors, engine rooms and more.

Each tile has a 1 inch grid on it and they can be arranged and rearranged into numerous configurations. Using just the original 35 tiles you can create a pretty large starship, the ability to print out duplicate tiles as you need them makes this set truly versatile and useful. Edward Bourelle's graphic style is crisp, clean and attractive and the tiles themselves don't appear to be too toner heavy (although only time will tell on this point).

Not technically part of the e-Future releases(?) this PDF does provide you with 4 additional bonus tiles to help link this set with the tiles of that line - however I have not been able to find the bonus tile indicated as being available from the Skelelton Games website. Although they have the same distinctive graphic style of the e-Future tile sets I haven't yet tried to integrate them with this line so don't know how easy that will be, given the newer tiles do not follow the same 5x5 format. Regardless of these points however this is a great little PDF, in many ways probably more versatile than the e-Future sets. With the ability to print out multiple tiles the possiblities are huge. Although they appear to be designed for 25-30mm figures, the 15mm miniatures I am intending on using don't look too out of scale on these tiles.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Everything. Nice design, versatile, good looking and ideal if you need to knock up a quick floor plan for your miniatures or RPG session.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Honestly can't think of anything.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

As described, this set allows you to create a basic small freighter, however the tiles provided can really only be used to create one ship configuration. The only significant way of varying the design of the ship is by adding more cargo holds; creating either a longer or shorter version of the same design. The bonus tiles included do not change the overall structure, simply providing variations of existing tiles (i.e. empty cargo bays instead of full ones, bunks instead of cryo-berths etc). However it is nice to see a company responding so positively to customer feedback. :-)

Like other sets in this series, the ship design is quite narrow (only two tiles wide) a fact particularly apparent here as the ship is essentially a long corridor with rooms off it. NOTE: I have been buying these sets for use with miniature combat which may skew my view slightly as they don't tend to make for very interesting combat environments. I would really like to see a future release that can be used with existing sets and allow for larger, more intricate, non linear ship interiors. However the Star Command set has gone some way to rectifying this shortcoming.

Although limited the tiles look good as always, but I suspect this release will be of most benefit when used in conjunction with the other sets in this series.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The usual good graphics and the inclusion of grey scale versions of all the tiles.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Really only one configuration possible, making it of most use when used with other sets. Also maybe a little expensive given its limited versatility. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

The Star Command set goes some way to address one of the drawbacks (from my point of view) of the previous e-Future Starship tiles sets by allowing you to create bigger more intricate ship interiors. The tiles in this set allow you to create ships larger than two tiles across. On its own this is a nice set, in conjunction with the rest of the series it greatly increases the possibilities, allowing for larger ship designs.

I would still like to see a dedicated set of tiles soley for creating larger interiors even if it did not have stand alone usability i.e. you must have x,y,z sets to use. While I'm on the subject how about releasing a starbase set that would allow you to create space stations? If the tiles were compatible with the starship sets, it could kill two birds with one stone. Anyway very useful addition to the series and maintaining the strong graphic tradition of previous releases. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Looks good, allows for much more interesting design possibilites.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: If I had to pick something, I would have like to see more tiles that are purely for use in the interior, i.e. tiles without reference to hull sections.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Though I'm still using the 1st edition rules I got this anyway and my initial impression is that almost all the forms can be used with the earlier version. A very useful product for GMs, either in planning a new campaign, or organising an existing one. Suitably impressed I will no doubt pick up CP 2 in the near future. Good stuff.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Ready made forms to direct your imagination. The forms are crisp, clear and very useful.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A fair amount of solid black formating is used on the forms, possibly making printing a little toner-heavy than it needed to be, but otherwise top marks.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Like the first one, this contains more forms to help the GM organise his games. These are more oriented to the actual running of games and scenarios than the CP 1. Again almost all of these forms are generic enough that they can be used with the 1st edition rules, as well as any other superhero system for that matter. Good stuff.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: More of the same useful material.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Lots of solid black on the forms and no 'save toner' print option that I could see. Still well worth having though.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>