The core concept of this third-party D&D 5th Edition book is neat - a class called the General that can command a "squad" of soldiers, much like other classes have animal companions and the like. The squad is represented in an abstract way, and levels with the General. They also include a variant called the Hordelord, which has a horde of zombies instead of living soldiers.

The problem is the execution of this concept - very wordy, and very complicated. There are just way too many options for the General and for the squad (including 13 subclasses!), and it's a slog to read through. (The Hordelord has far fewer options, but is still complicated at its core.) It's not very surprising to realize that this was a conversion of a Pathfinder product; the mechanics feel much more at home in that sort of game than they do in the leaner approach taken in 5E.

I imagine there are 5E players who would love these rules, but for most, I suspect this would be just too much. Shame, as the core idea is pretty cool. (Originally posted on Goodreads)