[HOE] Waste Warriors Review

[Thomas Mayfield <dragonboyblue@mindspring.com>]

At 04:59 PM 2/7/01 -0800, you wrote:
>Oh, come on...  Don't hold back.  Let's have a quick review right now.  I'm
>still waiting for my copy (and I'm beginning to doubt it's going to come
>this week...).  Inquiring minds want to know.
>

I haven't had a chance to give the book a complete read-through since I've
been kinda dead on my feet for the last day or so from three straight days
of speed workouts at track...  Anyway, I'll bow to the wishes of the masses.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the book.  It was (as always) well
written, well organized, and generally well thought out.  One thing that
stuck out to me: the art.  I thought that the art was above the norm this
time.  It was nearly all one artist, and that lent a stronger sense of
theme.  I really like this guy's style, but that's just my opinion...

The books focuses on two topics: the soldiers of the various armies of the
Last War and matrial artists.  The background section is narrated by a
former soldier, and details the Last War and some of the major units
involved.  After that is a brief section on basic tactics.  I really liked
this, as it gives those of us with no military background the ability to
play a soldier who acts like, well, a soldier.  I don't have any military
experience, so I can't vouch for the authenticity or real-world
effectivness of the tactics, but they seemed reasonable enough to work
in-game.

Next come the rules and gear.  The combat mechanics are brought up to speed
with DL 2nd, and a few new rules for stuff like minefields and artillery
bombardments are included.  The rules for firing artillery seem a bit bulky
to me, but I suppose it's not everyday the posse finds a working field
piece...   There are new Edges, Hinderances, and Aptitudes for soldiers.  I
like the inclusion of the veteran soldier edge- basically a soldier's VoTWW
edge that lets them get more gear instead of more points.  Next is the
obligatory plethora of gear.  Not all of the gear here is actually new;
they've gone into more detail about some of the weapons in the main HoE
book, giving them designations (such as "M-10" instead of "Southern
Alliance assualt rifle").  One of my original beefs with the main book was
the lack of even a brief sentance or two on the weapons, and this fixs it
admirably.  Bravo. The new gear looks interesting, and should provide
fodder for the biggest gun nut in your posse.

Next up are the Martial Arts rules.  There's little changed here from the
rules in the Maze boxed set but the conversion to a Strain-based system.
There are rules for both mundane flips and kicks and Matrix-style slow
motion, midair kick-'em-through-a-wall stuff.  Speaking of The Matrix- the
title of the chapter is "I Know Kung-Fu!" and there's a picture of a
fighter doing a slow-mo Trinity in there.

The Marshal's section is the usual, secrets on background, tables and rules
to screw your posse with.  I won't reveal any secrets here.  

Anyway, I'll post a modified version of this to RPG.net later.  Hope that
states the thrist of those Waste-Warrior deprived souls...

-Evil Marshal Mayfield
===============================
Silly zombie.  Brains are for kids!
Hell's Burrow- http://hellsburrow.webjump.com/
Hell's Bunker- http://hellsbunker.webjump.com/