An Obsession With Miniature Table Top Games

Heavy Gear Blitz Locked & Loaded! Woohoo what a mouthful! In an industry where short and snappy titles are the norm, its almost quaint to have a title that’s more then 3 syllables. You could probably just chalk it up eccentricity and a one off occurrence but looking at the range of expansion books that Dream Pod 9 have released it certainly seems to be a dramatic theme that they are pursuing here. Following the main rulebook they have “Return to Cats Eye”, “Shattered Peace” and now their latest offering “Terra Nova Gambit”.

I’m not going to go and review the previous books or the game mechanics themselves as that will take far too much time and I’m not being paid for this. However I will go out on a limb for you guys and even toss you a bone by saying the books are “OK”, not great mind you but they do pass muster. The game it self is quite nice but does take some getting used to. Ok satisfied? What I am going to talk about starting from the next paragraph is is their latest offering “Terra Nova Gambit”

Copyright Dream Pod 9

Ok let me start off by saying I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! Ahem… Dream Pod 9 finally seems to be getting their act together when it comes to delivering a quality product. The layout is fresh and inviting directing a reader through the page making it hard to put down. The artwork is top notch, none of the recycled stuff that was found in the main rulebook and Return to Cats Eye nor the horrible Adobe Illustrator overlays of actual photos used in Shattered Peace. Its crisp vibrant and just POPS! A nice touch are the schematics of ships and mecha found in the universe. Even if a few of these are not even available to a player in game it does give you a wider view of the setting.

Content wise DP9 has gone down an interesting road with the development of new list entries. Unlike other games that will just through you a new race from a previously undeveloped corner of their universe, the new factions are more like sub-factions that can be attached to existing forces bringing in new options and abilities. Simply put you can use the models here in conjunction with your existing collection instead of having to go out and buy a whole new army*.

The best thing about the book though is the league system that they have setup. Heavy Gear as a game has a huge amount of alternative actions that can be taken a player apart from combat, granted most of these are a waste of time but the options are there if you want them. From what I can see the league system and the survivor skill upgrades make the extra options alot easier and more rewarding to use. Its all points based too so there is nothing to prevent players from using them in casual games just for the fun of it! I think the best way to describe it would be like the ability upgrades in the old chaos space marines codex (you know the one where you could buy furious charge etc) only nowhere near as game breaking.

The book is not perfect though, errors still exist (though not in the copious amounts found in the previous books). However at the very least they have shored up their wording so that there is none of the ambiguity that plagues the main rulebook. If you were sitting on the fence about getting into the game this is probably the book to synch it for you.

*Caveat here – the models arent compatible with all existing lists.