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barry_x's review
3.0
I picked this up for the 'Achtung! Cthulhu' game I have recently joined. I've had an itch for a World War II 'weird' game for a while so I'm glad I've been able to get a game in.
First of all, the book looks very nice and does exactly what one would expect. It's a dual system book in that it can be used for Savage Worlds and Call of Cthulhu. Although I've played SW before, since the game I am in is a CoC one I've only skimmed the SW content.
The early part of the book is a rather dry list of events leading up to WWII and a few snapshots of the culture and fashions of the era. Depending on ones preexisitng knowledge this may be useful or not. For me it was easy to gloss over.
The CoC character generation is useful, there are a few tables to help mould your CoC character although they are certainly not essential in character generation. The updated list of professions is good, I can't help thinking I would like a few more civilian professions. It does seem a little unbalanced at first if you choose not to play a military character but that may just be my inexperience.
The military professions section is really good and you really can create exactly the kind of military person you want if the dice are kind. I do think a Keeper would need to handwave significantly why some PC's are associated with others in the context of a military campaign.
The focus of the book is focussed on British and American forces in the European theatre. Want to play a Nazi? Forget it. Want to play a Russian or Italian or Japanese.... (forget it). I'm aware of Sourcebooks for the Eastern, North African and Pacific region which covers other forces but it does feel a little bit restrictive. Admittedly, you can have lots of fun in Europe with this but it doesn't really do much for outside the region. I was a little disappointed of the lack of colour to the Commonwealth regiments. If you come from India, or South Africa you are exactly the same as a British soldier. Off the top of my head I'm thinking there is a gap here not covering the Gurkhas or the Anzacs.
The list of new skills is useful and the equipment list is functional but it's not a thrilling read as such.
Where the book fails a little is there is only just the tiniest hint of the strange. Now, I wasn't expecting 'pulp gonzo a go-go' and I don't want the crack in the door to be opened to much but if you skimmed this book you would think it was just a straight up WWII sourcebook (and to be honest this book is perfectly functional in this regard).
Looks nice, gives you enough to play but not exactly 'wow!'
First of all, the book looks very nice and does exactly what one would expect. It's a dual system book in that it can be used for Savage Worlds and Call of Cthulhu. Although I've played SW before, since the game I am in is a CoC one I've only skimmed the SW content.
The early part of the book is a rather dry list of events leading up to WWII and a few snapshots of the culture and fashions of the era. Depending on ones preexisitng knowledge this may be useful or not. For me it was easy to gloss over.
The CoC character generation is useful, there are a few tables to help mould your CoC character although they are certainly not essential in character generation. The updated list of professions is good, I can't help thinking I would like a few more civilian professions. It does seem a little unbalanced at first if you choose not to play a military character but that may just be my inexperience.
The military professions section is really good and you really can create exactly the kind of military person you want if the dice are kind. I do think a Keeper would need to handwave significantly why some PC's are associated with others in the context of a military campaign.
The focus of the book is focussed on British and American forces in the European theatre. Want to play a Nazi? Forget it. Want to play a Russian or Italian or Japanese.... (forget it). I'm aware of Sourcebooks for the Eastern, North African and Pacific region which covers other forces but it does feel a little bit restrictive. Admittedly, you can have lots of fun in Europe with this but it doesn't really do much for outside the region. I was a little disappointed of the lack of colour to the Commonwealth regiments. If you come from India, or South Africa you are exactly the same as a British soldier. Off the top of my head I'm thinking there is a gap here not covering the Gurkhas or the Anzacs.
The list of new skills is useful and the equipment list is functional but it's not a thrilling read as such.
Where the book fails a little is there is only just the tiniest hint of the strange. Now, I wasn't expecting 'pulp gonzo a go-go' and I don't want the crack in the door to be opened to much but if you skimmed this book you would think it was just a straight up WWII sourcebook (and to be honest this book is perfectly functional in this regard).
Looks nice, gives you enough to play but not exactly 'wow!'
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