A rare sidestep from rpgs for a moment if allowed...
Today is a important day for me. A the son of a man who served in the Army for World War II, and the father of two sons currently serving in the Coast Guard and the Navy, it's a time for reflection.
Reflection both upon the amazing man who raised me, and that I somehow managed well enough to raise my boys such they that too serve the highest ideas of my country. I stand humbled, between one great generation, and the best of the next.
Heartfelt thanks to all who serve- past, present and future.
With that sidestep, one little bit on rpgs. There have been few rpgs about military service, and sadly they didn't last long. Of them I've played two that were a significant influence on how I approach rpgs both in play and in design.
The first was SPI's game Commando from 1979. It was published as a wargame, but had in its optional rules everything needed for a kick-backside rpg campaign.
Behind Enemy Lines was published in 1982 by FASA, and while I considered it's cover rules flawed, it captured the danger of warfare, and the heroism of those who endure it.
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One other RPGs dealing with military service was Palladium's Recon which, according to Wikipedia, is the only RPG set in Vietnam.
I owned a copy of Recon for a while. For some reason I didn't like the game, but I can't recall the reason why today.
I was going to mention Recon as well.
God Bless Our Heroes!
Wish I could remember what I didn't like about it.
The best Vietnam game I ever played was SPI's game Search and Destroy
It played up the insane media coverage in that as the US player you gave your opponent victory points for things like calling artillery fire or air strikes.
You'd often find yourself easily winning by any normal measure of military success- only to lose the game because you applied 'too much force' or because VC controlled 'non-combatants' got caught in the line of fire.
Think a wargame designed by a person who understand wargames- but with victory conditions and point assignment determined by anti-war hippies (if they were smart enough to understand points in the first place).
Nothing else has quite drove home the impact of politics on war as well (and easily)...
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