Please inform me. My group is going to be playing it soon and I played through Operation Jungle Drums recently which was a fun scenario I guess full of drawn out combat and total tactical confusion (which wasn't very fun) in which our team was predestined to fail (which wasn't fun at all).


Anyway, I guess I don't really get the game. What is cool about it? Any opinions?

I want to enjoy the game but I don't seem to be. And though I've statted up several characters I'm having trouble fitting them into the setting.

If you don't like the tactical side of the game, don't play Gear pilots. That's the first mistake most people make - without Gears etc. the rules are a lot easier to swallow.

The thing I like best about HG is the world itself. It's very well thought through, and there's a ton of easily-digested information about it that's available in supplements. It's a ton of fun to go exploring the world.

System-wise, without vehicle combat, HG's Silhouette (or SilCore or whatever it is these days) is basically a rules-light system that supports PC taking wild risks. It's a good game for cinematic firefights, leaping from building to building, and using a four metre tall mecha to chuck a car at someone.

Finally, HG has the best integration of metaplot into the gameworld that I've ever seen. While the actual published adventures are of mixed quality, the metaplot opens up all sorts of possibilities for play. Supplements are dated in Terra Novan time right on the back of the book, and pregenerated NPCs are given ratings that detail how important they are to the metaplot.

This means that it's very easy to find a "spot" in the chronology of Terra Nova that fits the kind of story you want to tell, and then to identify supplements that contain useful ideas for your game without having to buy and read through the whole thing. It also allows you to identify the major and minor characters in the supplement, so you know that if you kill off a king or queen, that supplements dated later in the chronology may be of less use to your game.

Quote from: PseudoephedrineSystem-wise, without vehicle combat, HG's Silhouette (or SilCore or whatever it is these days) is basically a rules-light system that supports PC taking wild risks. It's a good game for cinematic firefights, leaping from building to building, and using a four metre tall mecha to chuck a car at someone.

I have to strongly disagree with that part. Silhouette is firmly rules-medium, IMO. Perhaps leaning toward "heavy" by today's standard. All the bells and whistles you expect such as a meaty character sheet, weapon stats, traditional gameplay, detailed combat and so on.

It's in the ballpark of Unisystem, Interlok, Savage World, etc...

Quote from: mrlostI want to enjoy the game but I don't seem to be. And though I've statted up several characters I'm having trouble fitting them into the setting.

What kind of game did the GM pitch? What seemed interesting about it? What is different about it than what s/he pitched? Otherwise, anybody here can tell you what they find interesting about Heavy Gear but that doesn't help if your GM doesn't focus on any of it.

The black and yellow caution color on the binding makes it look really exciting sitting on my bookshelf with other games I own but never played.

Buttwheel racing! (shake your cheap hiney, Ferret)


The system is like a MegaTraveller variant that works out of the box, with damage from AHL/Striker (scratch, wound, out of action) for fairly fast play, and the tactical/miniatures game is faster & less "gamey" than Classic Battletech. The setting did all this Appleseed on 11 stuff beforehand then shifted into Votoms rollerspikepunch mercs in jungle/desert mode. Gladiators.

I never got into the metaplot but the books I have/had were consistently well done with great & fun art and writing. I came into Heavy Gear from DP9's Guinness-soaked   Mecha Press magazine (now on PDF) which I picked up from reading its sister publication Protoculture Addicts. House rules for games, modelkit scratchbuilding, show and game reviews & writeups (I first learned of Full Thrust & GZG games there). Towards the end of its run they start raving about Heavy Gear & its game system. Buying Heavy Gear after that was a no-brainer.

The early Heavy Gear books (up until about 2nd edition left Terra Nova) still had a lot of that same geeky group of friends fun feel while at the same time looked very professional. :pundit:

QuoteThe system is like a MegaTraveller variant that works out of the box, with damage from AHL/Striker (scratch, wound, out of action) for fairly fast play, and the tactical/miniatures game is faster & less "gamey" than Classic Battletech. The setting did all this Appleseed on 11 stuff beforehand then shifted into Votoms rollerspikepunch mercs in jungle/desert mode. Gladiators.

Now THAT´s a decent description!
You should do some reviews.

Quote from: WilWhat kind of game did the GM pitch?

SAS special forces miltary paratrooper game. The only available spot left is the demolitions expert. Hence I built a demolitions expert. I don't really have a concept behind my stats other than demo guy.

 

Quote from: WilWhat seemed interesting about it? What is different about it than what s/he pitched?

Don't know I missed the pitch. And the GM is a geographer who is going to be out of state doing work in the boondocks until the day of the first game.

 

Quote from: WilOtherwise, anybody here can tell you what they find interesting about Heavy Gear but that doesn't help if your GM doesn't focus on any of it.

Well I keep reading in the corebook about all the intrigue which I think would be interesting except I don't see any intrigue in the corebook.

Quote from: mrlostSAS special forces miltary paratrooper game. The only available spot left is the demolitions expert. Hence I built a demolitions expert. I don't really have a concept behind my stats other than demo guy.

Honestly, a combat engineer works better. If the game is Gear based, they have their own specialized Gears. Also, most demolitions work is done using drones (you can see one on the bottom left):

QuoteDon't know I missed the pitch. And the GM is a geographer who is going to be out of state doing work in the boondocks until the day of the first game.

So how are you supposed to know what kind of character to create? What nationality is the unit? When is the game set? During the War of the Alliance? Before? After?

QuoteWell I keep reading in the corebook about all the intrigue which I think would be interesting except I don't see any intrigue in the corebook.

Setting is inert, it doesn't create intrigue; the players and the GM do. There are a lot of conflicts on Terra Nova, between the North and South, both of them and the Badlands, the Earth and Terra Nova, between factions within all of them. Without specific information about the game (which you don't have) you're not going to get a lot of details beforehand. I suggest you get good at being a "develop-in-play" sort of person.

What's not fun about Heavy Gear? I wish I had a group who wanted to play it right now! The setting is extremely detailed and open to almost any style of campaign you can think of. Gears do not have to be the focal point of the game, although if you're mecha mad like me you'll most likely use them as such. My only complaint about Heavy Gear is the total focus on miniatures-only wargaming by DP9 for the last few years, but I think that the wealth of information provided by the many previous HG supplements could easily keep a campaign going for years.

Quote from: gale_wolfMy only complaint about Heavy Gear is the total focus on miniatures-only wargaming by DP9 for the last few years, but I think that the wealth of information provided by the many previous HG supplements could easily keep a campaign going for years.

Yeah but miniatures make money...enough to keep them producing more miniatures. Roleplaying games...not so much. I'm not fond of it either, but there's a good reason for it.

Quote from: WilYeah but miniatures make money...enough to keep them producing more miniatures. Roleplaying games...not so much. I'm not fond of it either, but there's a good reason for it.

Agreed, I understand the reason for it, so have no issue there. I'm just looking forward to some of the miniatures revenue eventually trickling back into the RPG development cycle. I do like the recent mention of consolidating plot threads and moving the storyline foward.

Quote from: mrlostPlease inform me. My group is going to be playing it soon and I played through Operation Jungle Drums recently which was a fun scenario I guess full of drawn out combat and total tactical confusion (which wasn't very fun) in which our team was predestined to fail (which wasn't fun at all).

If it was with the GM whom you're going to be playing with, I'd be concerned. I don't know HG, but I have a lot of the Jovian Chronicles 1e stuff and while reading through the introductory adventure, I saw precisely the same element: plot points where the characters must fail, even if mechanics and common sense suggest they ought to have a chance of succeeding. If the GM is going to use prepared materials and handle them "literally", or model new scenarios on the ones provided, then you could be in for a lot of no fun at all.

Quote from: mrlostWell I keep reading in the corebook about all the intrigue which I think would be interesting except I don't see any intrigue in the corebook.

Again, in the JC scenario, there's intrigue, but it's all done by NPCs. I.e., saying that a game has "intrigue" could just as easily mean that there's a deep story on which the PCs play at the margins, as that the PCs will really be in the thick of it as movers & shakers.