RECON: Chow Time Rules

One recurring theme in war movies – especially those set during the Vietnam War – is a soldier’s relationship with food. Whether it’s complaining about “ham and motherfuckers” (a.k.a. lima beans) or trading candy bars with the local hamlet kids, food was a big part of the daily lives – and the attempt to maintain a semblance of normalcy – for soldiers far from home.

The following are the optional, homebrew rules I came up with for RECON to add a little more realism and depth to a character’s time “in country” through food.

Note that these rules require that you also use the optional Morale rules, found HERE.

New Rules:

Chow Time

Meal time with your fellow soldiers is a chance to bond and – for a moment – try and forget you’re a world away from home surrounded by hostile terrain and people trying to kill you.

What’s For Dinner?

MCI Rations

Although commonly referred to as “C-Rations” or “C-Rats”, military issue field rations in Nam are actually a newer form of combat meal called “Meal, Combat, Individual” (or MCI for short). MCIs are complete single meal packages that replaced the aging C-Ration packs issued during World War II. They are a “wet” ration, meaning they can be eaten cold or hot but require no added water.

A single MCI consists of a cardboard box containing several elements: a single “M”-unit canned main meal, a “B”-unit composed of a small can of crackers and candy and a flat can of spread, a “D”-unit small canned dessert, an accessory pack and plastic spoon.

There are several varieties of meals available. When a character is issued MCI rations to eat, roll percentile dice twice and consult the two tables below to see what they get.

1st Roll	Main Item
01-08	Beef in Spiced Sauce
09-12	Tuna Fish
13-16	Chicken & Noodles w/Broth
17-24	Ham & Eggs, Chopped
25-32	Pork Slices in Juices
33-40	Beans & Frankfurters
41-48	Beef & Potatoes w/Gravy
49-56	Ham & Lima Beans
57-60	Meat Chunks & Beans
60-64	Spaghetti & Meatballs
65-72	Beefsteak
73-76	Boned Chicken
89-92	Boned Turkey
93-96	Chicken Loaf
97-00	Meat Loaf

2nd Roll	Dessert Item
01-08	Halved Apricots
9-16	Sliced Peaches
17-24	Quartered Pears
25-32	Fruit Cocktail
33-40	Pound Cake
41-48	Fruit Cake
49-56	Cinnamon Nut Roll
57-64	Date Pudding
65-72	Orange Nut Roll
73-80	Pecan Nut Roll
81-88	Applesauce
89-00	White Bread

The Accessory Pack contains sachets of salt, pepper, sugar, instant coffee, non-dairy creamer, two pieces of candy-coated chewing gum, a packet of toilet paper, a four-pack of cigarettes (removed after 1975) and a book of 20 moisture-proof matches.

MCI rations are bulky and heavy; a single day’s ration pack (four cans plus accessories) weighs 2.6 lb (1.2 kilograms).

LRP Rations

For soldiers needing lightweight rations (such as Special Forces and SEALs), a new invention was created for Vietnam: the “Food Packet, Long Range Patrol” (LRP) ration.

These lightweight individual meal packets – nicknamed “Lurp meals” – were designed to solve the weight issues of older canned “wet” rations and are freeze-dried.

Each ration is packed in a foil packet covered with olive-drab cloth, with a brown-foil accessory packet

LRP rations have less variety, a trade-off for their light weight and newness to the field during the Vietnam War.

1st Roll	Main Item
01-12	Beef Hash
13-24	Chili Con Carne
25-36	Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
37-48	Beef with Rice
49-60	Chicken Stew
61-72	Scalloped Potatoes & Pork
73-84	Beef Stew
85-96	Chicken with Rice
97-00	Pick from any

2nd Roll	Dessert Item
01-12	Orange Cereal Bar
13-24	Coconut Bar
25-48	Chocolate Discs (2)
49-60	Lemon Cereal Bar
61-72	Fruitcake Bar
73-84	Vanilla Fudge Bar
85-96	Chocolate Fudge Bar
97-00	Pick from any

LRP rations include the same Accessory Pack and plastic spoon as MCI rations.

A single LRP ration pack weighs just 11 ounces (310 grams).

One drawback, however, is that due to its freeze-dried nature, LRP rations tend to spoil in wet or humid environments such as the Nam. To reflect this, any character carrying LRP rations should roll percentile dice when they open one to eat; on a 90-00, the ration is spoiled and inedible.

The other drawback is that LRP rations require 1.5 pints (700 ml) of water to reconstitute before eating, which can prove a problem if you’re in the jungle and the local water is full of parasites and bacteria!

Meal Preferences

Characters will no doubt come to develop a preference for certain ration menu items; some will love “Pound Cake” and hate “Ham & Lima Beans”, while others will despise “Boned Chicken” but do anything for “Spaghetti & Meatballs”.

Any character that has spent at least one month in service should pick a three Favorite Meals and three Despised Meals from the list/table above and record them on their character sheet; they can pick from any items on the MCI or LRP ration tables above, but keep in mind which type of rations your character will normally be issued (that is, an infantry grunt will normally be issued MCI rations).

Trading Food

Characters will often look to trade any “unfavorable” menu items with fellow personnel, bartering rations, cigarettes or other trinkets for meals that they prefer. Some will be happy to swap their rations as a friendly gesture, while others – the more unscrupulous types – may demand a higher price. Whether a pleasant meal is worth the trade is up to the character.

Characters bartering food with each other do so by making opposed rolls using their AL.

Meals and Morale Effect

Whenever a character gets to eat one of their Favorite Meals, they get a temporary +5 bonus to their Morale for the rest of the day. If they are forced to eat one of their Despised Meals, they suffer a -5 penalty to their current Morale until it’s time for their next meal (hopefully something tastier!).

If the meal they are eating is neither a Favorite nor Despised Meal, there is no Morale bonus or penalty for eating it.

What about the VC and NVA?

In contrast to US and other foreign forces in the Nam, VC and NVA forces mostly carried little more than dried rice as a staple ration, weighing around 2.7 lbs. This meant that they could typically move much faster (and quieter) than those burdened with heavy, noisy cans.

Image Gallery

Carton of MCI rations (shipped 12 per carton)

Typical MCI ration pack

Typical LRP ration pack

RECON: Fear & Phobia Rules

Many other Palladium RPGs feature notes on fears and phobias for player characters, but not RECON. So, I’ve come up with the following optional rules for implementing such things into your RECON games.

Note that these rules require that you also use my optional Morale rules, found HERE.

New Rules:

Fear & Phobias

To flesh out a character realistically, a player should roll on the table below to find out their character’s “greatest fear”; that is, their Phobia.

ROLL                              PHOBIA                                                         
01-10 ………………………… Spiders
11-20 ………………………… Snakes
21-28 ………………………… Insects
29-36 ………………………… Rodents
37-44 ………………………… Enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)
45-50 ………………………… Heights (and/or flying)
51-58 …………………………. Public speaking or public humiliation
59-68 ………………………… Fire
69-78 ………………………… Deep water (and/or drowning)
79-82 ………………………… Doctors or dentists
83-86 ………………………… Sickness or disease
87-90 ………………………… Dogs (or another specific animal)
91-93 ………………………… The opposite sex
94-97 ………………………… The supernatural
98-00 ………………………… Clowns

Whenever a character has to experience their Phobia, they will suffer a -10 penalty to their current Morale, lasting until they can remove themselves from the situation causing their fear for at least one hour.

Additionally, when a character is forced to face their Phobia in a direct and confronting way (such as a claustrophobic being forced to crawl through a VC tunnel network or a character afraid of fire being trapped in a burning hooch), they must roll against their Morale to avoid panicking. Failing this roll means that the character must remove themselves from the situation as quickly and expediently as possible, even if this means disobeying an order or putting themselves (or others) at risk.

Example: Cpl. Louis Bannister – who has the Phobia “Snakes” – is pinned down by enemy fire behind a fallen log. Suddenly, a snake slithers out of the grass and into Louis’ boot. Louis must roll against his Morale of 49 (with a -10 penalty) to avoid panicking. He rolls 41, which is failure (he needed to roll 39 or less). Louis screams and leaps up from cover to yank off his boot, exposing himself to enemy fire in the next round before his buddies can pull him back out of harm’s way.

At the MD’s discretion, the Morale penalty may be increased to -20 if the situation would be especially terrifying for a character, such as an arachnophobe falling into a whole nest of spiders, a character with claustrophobia being buried alive, or a character with a fear of heights falling out of a chopper and needing to hang on to the skids.

Note that some obvious phobias are not listed (fear of blood, death, etc.) as these would be impossible to hide in a war zone and almost certainly preclude a character being sent into active combat duty. The MD may of course allow these (and other unlisted) Phobias, if they and their players agree.

RECON: Pain & Shock Rules

In RECON, combat is designed to be deadly; a small handgun or even a knife can quickly kill a character at full Strength. However, despite the original rules’ attempt at realism in making damage levels high and combat often one-sided, there is a distinct lack of realism (in my opinion) in how a characters go from healthy to unconscious. When it comes to injuries and their threat to mortality, RECON only differentiates between “conscious” (Strength greater than zero) and “unconscious” (Strength is zero or less), and nothing in between. The only way in which reduced Strength (due to injury) affects a character is in lowering their Movement and Carrying Capacity, and in the required recovery time.

For example, a character with a base Strength of 80 could be reduced to a Strength of just 5, yet never be in any danger of dying (from blood loss, shock, etc.) until they lose those last few points!

In an attempt to enhance the realism and danger of combat, I came up with the following optional, homebrew rules that hopefully better reflect the realities of shock, blood loss and trauma relating to injuries, even those that don’t kill or incapacitate a character outright.

Note that these rules require that you also use my optional Morale rules, found HERE.

New Minor Attribute:

Pain Threshold

Pain Threshold (PT) is a new Minor Attribute that determines how wounded a character can get before they risk going into shock.

To determine Pain Threshold, add the character’s base Strength (ST) and base Morale (MO) and divide the result by 4.

This is how many points of damage the character can take before they must roll for shock. When a character’s sustained damage exceeds this value, they must roll percentile dice against their Shock Resistance (see below).

Note that Pain Threshold cannot be improved directly, however if a character raises their base Strength and/or base Morale through the use of Experience Points, they should recalculate their Pain Threshold using the new value(s).

Also note that a character’s base Strength and Morale are what determine a character’s Pain Threshold, not their current values; PT should not be recalculated unless Major Attributes are permanently improved through experience.

New Minor Attribute:

Shock Resistance

Shock Resistance (SR) is a new Minor Attribute that allows a wounded character to resist being incapacitated by shock from wounds.

To determine Shock Resistance, add the character’s base Strength (ST) and base Morale (MO) and divide the result by 2.

Like Pain Threshold, Shock Resistance cannot be improved directly, however if a character permanently increases their base Strength and/or base Morale through the use of Experience Points, they should recalculate their Shock Resistance accordingly.

Also like Pain Threshold, a character’s base Strength and Morale determine Shock Resistance; it does not get recalculated when temporary changes are made to Strength and/or Morale.

Shock, Pain and Incapacitation

Any time a character’s current Strength drops below their Pain Threshold, they must check for shock. This is done by rolling against their Shock Resistance. If the roll is equal or under the character’s Shock Resistance, they may continue to act normally (though still suffer all the usual Movement and Carrying Capacity penalties their reduced ST causes).

If the character takes any further damage while below their Pain Threshold level of ST, they must roll for shock again.

Any time a character fails a Shock Resistance roll, they go into shock and are incapacitated. Characters who are Incapacitated may take no further actions until they are healed above their Pain Threshold level; that is, their current Strength is at least equal or greater than their PT.

Once a character is Incapacitated, they will lose blood (or otherwise deteriorate in condition due to shock) every turn. For each turn a character is Incapacitated, reduce their current Strength by 1D4 points. As usual, when Strength falls below zero, the character is unconscious and will die unless medical attention is received within minutes equal to their original Strength.

Another character can use their First Aid (acquired from Basic Infantry Training) or Medic (for those with the Medic MOS) skill on an Incapacitated character to try and stabilize them. Success prevents further ST loss and will allow the injured character to move and perform normal actions again, albeit at their reduced Strength.

Note that – as normal – only the Medic skill will restore any Strength points during treatment (5 points per “grade” of Medic training); using the First Aid skill will simply stop the loss of further ST and stabilize them.

RECON: Initiative Rules

The combat rules in RECON don’t have a way to determine the “order of actions” for characters, be they players or NPCs. In a lot of situations, this makes sense: RECON’s realistic combat rules mean that often, a “firefight” is really one side ambushing the other! However, in many cases it is important to know who acts first in a situation.

For example, what if a PC decides to snipe a suspected VC scout and his squad mate tries to stop him, as he’s noticed that this “scout” is actually an unarmed civilian? Or what if two characters are facing off in Close Combat, and one decides “screw this” and instead reaches to draw their sidearm?

Some have suggested using Alertness or Agility to resolve these situations, but the following are my own optional homebrew rules for resolving such issues, as well as a minor revamping of how turn order works in combat.

New Minor Attribute:

Initiative

Initiative (IN) is a new Minor Attribute that determines how quickly a character can take action in combat.

To determine Initiative, add the character’s unmodified Alertness (AL) and Morale (MO) and divide the result by 10 (round down), with a minimum of 1.

At the MD’s discretion, you may apply the following modifiers based on how long they’ve served in combat-active military duty:

• Character is fresh from the world (less than 2 months in): -2
• Character is experienced (more than 6 months in): +1
• Character is seasoned (more than a year in): +2
• Character is a “lifer” (more than two years in): +3

Additionally, if the character is already part of an “elite force” such as SEALs, Special Forces, etc. then the MD may allow an additional +1 or +2 (on top of any applicable modifiers above) to reflect the extra experience and training that they have likely received.

Initiative is not recalculated if/when a character raises their Alertness or Morale. Instead, it may be increased by Experience Points like Major Attributes, but at a cost of +1 per 200 Experience Points spent.

Using Initiative

Under these new rules, Initiative helps determine the order that characters participating in combat (on both sides) may take action.

At the start of every combat round, each character rolls 1D10 and adds the result to their Initiative; the total is their Initiative Value. The round then proceeds with participants taking action in order of Initiative Value, with the highest going first and the lowers last.

If more than one character has the same Initiative Value, the one with the higher Agility (AG) acts first.

Note that this order only applies to opposing forces when all characters are in a “Stand-Up War”. When the situation is a “Turkey Shoot” or “Ambush”, all attackers get to take action first (in Initiative order), followed by the unprepared defenders (again, in order of Initiative).

RECON: Morale Rules

I have adapted following from original material written by Erik Growen, for his now-defunct (and sadly not-mirrored-by-the-Wayback-Machine) Geocities website about RECON. Full credit to him for coming up with the idea of adding Morale as an attribute, though I used a different method for determining the starting value (at Character Generation, as with other Major Attributes) and how Morale is gained/lost.

New Major Attribute:

Morale

Morale (MO) is a new Major Attribute that measures a character’s attitude, mental well-being, coolness under fire and discipline.

Characters with a high Morale will fight hard, stay alert and follow orders effectively. Characters with a low morale will lack discipline and focus, will retreat from battle more often, display signs of stress and mental fatigue.

To determine Morale for a character, roll percentile dice as for any other Major Attribute. If the character was “drafted”, subtract 10 from the result.

A character with Morale less than 30 is considered “4-F” and may be re-rolled, however this value does not count against the recommended 180-point Major Attribute total described in the original rules.

Like Strength, a character’s current Morale can temporarily fluctuate during play. Unlike Strength, it can rise above the base score as well as dropping below it. As with a character’s Strength, base Morale should never be erased.

The following is a list of circumstances that can alter a character’s current Morale, often depending on their Alignment. The MD should feel free to add to this list as they feel fair and fit.

EVENT	PAC	IDE	OPP	RIG	KAR	MAL	PSY
Caught in an Ambush situation	-10	-10	-10	-5	-5	-15	-5
Witness an ally’s death	-10	-10	-5	–	-5	–	–
Cause an ally’s death	-20	-15	-10	–	-10	–	–
Witness an innocent’s death	-15	-15	-5	–	-10	–	–
Cause an innocent’s death	-25	-20	-10	-5	-15	–	–
Witness a friend’s death	-15	-15	-10	-5	-10	–	–
Cause an friend’s death	-25	-25	-20	-5	-15	–	–
Kill an enemy	-10	–	–	+5	+10	–	+10
Burn a hamlet or village	-15	-10	–	–	–	–	+15
Save an ally from danger	+5	+10	+5	–	–	–	–
Save an innocent from danger	+10	+10	+5	–	–	–	–
Save a friend from danger	+5	+10	+10	–	+5	–	–
Get saved by someone else	–	–	–	–	-5	–	-5
On the “good” side of a Turkey Shoot	–	–	–	+5	+5	–	+10
Win a battle against a superior force	–	–	+5	+10	+15	+5	+5
Forced to retreat/abandon objective	–	-5	-5	-15	-20	–	-5
2+ consecutive missions, little rest	-10	-10	-10	-5	-5	-10	-10
2+ consecutive missions, no rest	-15	-15	-15	-10	-10	-15	-15
Kept awake all night	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5
Morale-sapping propaganda/broadcasts	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5
Morale-boosting event (e.g. USO show)	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5
Just returned from R&R	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5
Get “entertained” by a Mama-San	+15	+10	+10	+5	+5	+15	+10
Abuse or torture an enemy or civilian	-50	-40	-30	–	-20	+10	+15
Forced to face Phobia (see “Phobias“)	-10	-10	-10	-10	-10	-10	-10
Take drugs or get drunk	Varies (see “Drugs“)
Receive important letter/package	Varies (see “Letters From Home”)
Eat a Favorite Meal (see “Chow Time“)	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5
Eat a Despised Meal (see “Chow Time“)	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5
Forced to eat rations cold (no fires)	-5	-5	-5	–	–	-5	-5
Just received a promotion (this month)	–	+5	+10	+5	+5	+10	–

Alignment Key: PAC – Pacifist, IDE – Idealistic, OPP – Opportunist, RIG – Righteous, KAR – Karmic, MAL – Malignant, PSY – Psychotic.

Designer Notes

Below are Erik Growen’s original post on Morale from his RECON fansite, which I based my own rules (above) on, for the sake of comparison and full transparency.

MORALE

I have introduced a new Major Characteristic to the game: Morale. This is to more accurately portray firefights where not everyone becomes “Sgt. Rock”.

Morale starts off at a base level depending on rank (+1D10) and goes up (+1D5) each time the character survives a firefight (even if his/her side loses).

Starting Morale Levels by Rank:
Private-PFC: 35
Corporal: 40
Sargent-Staff Sargent: 45
Platoon Sargent or Sargent Major: 50
2nd Lieutenant or 1st Lieutenant: 40
Captain: 50
Major: 55
Lieutenant Colonel-Colonel: 60

To this add +1D10. Add +1D5 per firefight survived.

Roll for Morale when unit is ambushed, friend gets WIA or KIA, superior gets WIA or KIA, under attack by enemy tanks, under artillery fire, etc.

If failed first time the PC must take cover. He/she may continue fighting, but will not expose themselves.

If failed a second time the PC will do an orderly withdrawal. This does not mean they have to stop fighting, just that any movement made must be towards friendly lines. The idea is to get out of the firefight.

If failed a third time the PC routs possibly even abandoning his weapons and their unit. Survival is all that counts.

Macho Women With Guns: New Weapons

If the primary focus of MWWG is “badass women”, than the secondary thing it encapsulates is surely the “guns” part of the title, or rather, all forms of weapons of destruction (after all, the game encourages sword-wielding as much as it does gun-packing).

The weapons list in the original game is – however – somewhat sparse. Sure, there are the expected pistol, submachinegun, laser blaster, etc. but there are typically only one of each type (which makes sense due to the “rules lite” approach) and some glaring omissions such as a complete lack of shotguns (more puzzling!).

Thus, I’ve homebrewed some weapons for the game. Some are based on real weapons that I felt were essential but missing from the core rule book’s lists, while others are more quirky and unique.

Note: the “Starting Ammo” stat listed is how much ammunition a character armed with this weapon carries in total, whereas “Shots per Clip” are how many shots they can fire before they need to reload. Additional ammunition may of course be bought/found/stolen, but anyone with this weapon receives this Starting Ammo as part of its cost and Encumbrance (Enc) value.

 

SKILLS

Shoot Two Guns (Dex)

Availability: Macho Women, Renegade Nuns, Batwinged Bimbos.

Allows the character to engage in two-fisted combat by firing two pistols at the same time, one in each hand (characters with one hand need not apply).

Characters with this skill who are also carrying two identical guns (i.e. two MAC-10s or two Desert Eagles, not one of each) may choose to fire them both at the same target using both their actions in a single turn. This is handled similarly to attacking twice, except that the character uses their Shoot Two Guns skill instead of whatever shooting skill they would normally use. Additionally, shooting two guns at once incurs a -2 penalty to both shots.

Characters with level +2 or less in this skill can only use it to fire Little Guns, but at level +4 they can also fire two Big Guns at once. At level +6 and higher, they can fire two Really Big Guns at once… as long as they can carry them both!

Also known as the “John Woo Skill.”

 

WEAPONS

 

SORTA NEW GUNS

Six-Shooter

• Category: Sorta New Guns
• Description: “Saddle up, cowgirl!” This fancy old shootin’ iron is just the thing for any lady gunfighter. Great for performing tricks with, or just blowing away tobacco-chewing, chauvinist cowboy scum in big hats.
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 2
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 1
  • Shots per Clip: 6
  • Starting Ammo: 30 shots
• Notes: When used with the Shoot Two Guns skill (see above), the penalty for both shots is only -1 instead of -2 with this weapon.

Derringer

• Category: Sorta New Guns
• Description: Although unimpressive-looking, Derringers are nonetheless very easy to conceal, making them the true “hide anywhere” pistol… and a definite surprise for those who think you’re unarmed and easy prey!
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 2
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 0
  • Shots per Clip: 2
  • Starting Ammo: 10 shots
• Notes: -1 to all Macho Attacks made with this weapon.

Boomstick

• Category: Sorta New Guns
• Description: Two barrels of up-close nastiness! Not much ammo, not much range, but packs a hell of a punch! Fire both barrels at once for a single, devastating blast of short-range destruction!
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 4 / 5
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 1
  • Shots per Clip: 2 / 1
  • Starting Ammo: 20 shots
• Notes: Range 4. Roll to hit for each character or foe in the target hex. The second stat values are for firing both barrels at once.

Lever Rifle

• Category: Sorta New Guns
• Description: One of the earliest reliable, single shot repeating rifles. You reload each shot by ratcheting the trigger guard… or, if you’re really macho, spinning the whole rifle 180-degrees one-handed!
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 3
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 15
  • Starting Ammo: 60 shots
• Notes: +1 to hit when aiming.

 

NEW GUNS

Pepper Spray

• Category: New Guns
• Description: The original self defense spray women used to rely on before they discovered 9mm hollow-points. Still handy in a pinch, though, especially when you only want to stun, not perforate, your foe.
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: Special
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 0
  • Shots per Clip: 10
  • Starting Ammo: 10 shots
• Notes: Range 4. If hit in the face, target is -2 to all rolls for 1 round and suffers 1 Non-Lethal damage.

Baretta 9mm

• Category: New Guns
• Description: A common handgun made popular by late 20^th century law enforcement and action movies alike. Nothing very fancy, but lightweight and fast enough that a capable user can fire two such pistols at once with ease.
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 2
  • Rate-of-Fire: 2
  • Encumbrance: 1
  • Shots per Clip: 15
  • Starting Ammo: 7 clips
• Notes: When used with the Shoot Two Guns skill (see above), the penalty for both shots is only -1 instead of -2 with this weapon.

Colt .45

• Category: New Guns
• Description: A high-caliber automatic handgun once popular with the military for its power and ease of use. Using two at once may seem unrealistic, but action movies and video games don’t lie… right?
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 3
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 1
  • Shots per Clip: 7
  • Starting Ammo: 6 clips
• Notes: None.

Magnum Revolver

• Category: New Guns
• Description: “Do you feel lucky, punk?” Simply put, when you need the biggest, most intimidating and powerful handgun you can comfortably carry, the Magnum Revolver is your choice. Sure, a Desert Eagle may pack a punch, but does it have a barrel as long as your thigh? I didn’t think so.
  
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 4
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 6
  • Starting Ammo: 30 shots
• Notes: +1 to all Macho Attacks made with this weapon. Cannot be used with the Shoot Two Guns skill.

Shotgun

• Category: New Guns
• Description: A Macho Woman’s best friend when the shooting gets up close and personal. Popular with law enforcement and those who need to “control” large crowds of targets at once; just pump and spray!
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 3
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 8
  • Starting Ammo: 48 shots
• Notes: Roll to hit for each character/foe in the target hex.

Tommy Gun

• Category: New Guns
• Description: You dirty rat-a-tat-tat! Also known as the ‘Chicago Typewriter’, this gun is perfect for sending lead love-letters to your enemies! A popular choice for gangsta gals and mobster molls in any time or place.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 3
  • Rate-of-Fire: 20
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 50
  • Starting Ammo: 4 clips
• Notes: None.

Assault Rifle

• Category: New Guns
• Description: “Atten-shun, soldier! This weapon WILL save your worthless life!” An  assault rifle like this is equally good at cutting down hoards of enemies on full-auto, or taking out a single target with a well-placed shot.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 4
  • Rate-of-Fire: 10
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 30
  • Starting Ammo: 6 clips
• Notes: +1 to hit when aiming.

Sniper Rifle

• Category: New Guns
• Description: When you don’t wish to (*ahem*) “expose yourself” to your enemies, be a sneaky bitch with a long-range rifle and snipe them from afar. Thanks to the telescopic scope, they won’t even know what (or who) hit them!
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 5
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 10
  • Starting Ammo: 4 clips
• Notes: +3 to hit when aiming.

SAW Machinegun

• Category: New Guns
• Description: The ever-popular light machinegun. Great for laying down suppression fire or strafing a target zone, whether mounted on a vehicle, fixed to a tripod, or carried in the field by an especially macho machinegunner.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 5
  • Rate-of-Fire: 15
  • Encumbrance: 4
  • Shots per Clip: Belt-fed
  • Starting Ammo: 100 shots
• Notes: Doesn’t need to be reloaded until you have no ammo left, since it is belt-fed.

 

NEATO HI-TECH STUFF

Blaster Rifle

• Category: Neato Hi-Tech Stuff
• Description: From a galaxy far, far away comes this rifle-sized version of the ever-popular Blaster Pistol. As used by evil armored troopers and sassy space princesses across the far reaches of the Machoverse.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 6
  • Rate-of-Fire: 2
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 50
  • Starting Ammo: 2 clips
• Notes: None.

Stun Blaster

• Category: Neato Hi-Tech Stuff
• Description: Set blasters on stun? This one can *only* fire on stun! Perfect for quelling riots or ensuring hostile “scientific specimens” are captured alive. Also good for preventing “accidents” among trigger-happy security personnel and law enforcement.
• Stats
  • Type: Little Gun
  • Damage: 4 Non-Lethal
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 1
  • Shots per Clip: 20
  • Starting Ammo: 2 clips
• Notes: None.

Railgun

• Category: Neato Hi-Tech Stuff
• Description: The last word in long range, woman-portable rifles. The electro-magnetic railgun fires high velocity depleted uranium rounds with terrific kinetic force, allowing massive penetration at a range  of several miles.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 8
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 3
  • Shots per Clip: 10
  • Starting Ammo: 2 clips
• Notes: Hits everyone (friend or foe) in a straight line between the shooter and the target, ignoring all obstacles and cover in between.

Nuka-Bazooka

• Category: Neato Hi-Tech Stuff
• Description: The rocket launcher of the violent, war-torn future battlefield. Firing “clean” miniature nuclear warheads (so you won’t get radiated by your own blasts), this weapon is designed for bunker busting and quick vehicle take-downs.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 12 Boom
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 3
  • Shots per Clip: 1
  • Starting Ammo: 3 clips
• Notes: Hits everything within a two hex radius of the target hex.

 

HOLY WEAPONS

Sun Gun

• Category: Holy Weapons
• Description: When the vampires and succubi come calling, this is one of the few weapons that will save you. Holy (or other mystical) rites have imbued this ancient firearm with the power to shoot beams of genuine UV sunlight.
• Stats
  • Type: Big Gun
  • Damage: 5* (see notes)
  • Rate-of-Fire: 2
  • Encumbrance: 2
  • Shots per Clip: 50
  • Starting Ammo: Recharges in the sun (2 hours for full charge)
• Notes: Causes damage against any target normally hurt by sunlight, but inflicts no damage against everything else.

 

VEHICLE GUNS

Minigun

• Category: Vehicle Guns
• Description: If it bleeds, you can kill it. If it doesn’t bleed, cut it into tiny pieces with 1000-rounds-per-minute from this monstrous multi-barreled rotary machinegun!
• Stats
  • Type: Really Big Gun
  • Damage: 6
  • Rate-of-Fire: 20
  • Encumbrance: 2 Vehicle
  • Shots per Clip: Belt-fed
  • Starting Ammo: 200 shots
• Notes: Doesn’t need to be reloaded until you have no ammo left, since it is belt-fed.

Laser Cannon

• Category: Vehicle Guns
• Description: In settings where Neato Hi-Tech Stuff is allowed, vehicles can be equipped with this powerful laser that shoots focused, pretty-colored beams of lethally destructive light. Also good for putting on light shows.
• Stats
  • Type: Really Big Gun
  • Damage: 10
  • Rate-of-Fire: 2
  • Encumbrance: 3 Vehicle
  • Shots per Clip: 150
  • Starting Ammo: 150 shots
• Notes: None.

Missile Launcher

• Category: Vehicle Guns
• Description: A rack of light missiles are just the thing for taking out aircraft and other vehicles. Several missile types are available, as detailed below.
• Stats
  • Type: Really Big Gun
  • Damage: Varies
  • Rate-of-Fire: 1
  • Encumbrance: 4 Vehicle
  • Shots per Clip: 4
  • Starting Ammo: 4 missiles
• Notes: Damage depends on the missile type. Sample missiles:
  • Explosive: 12 Boom damage
  • Heat-Seeking: 10 Boom damage, +2 to hit vehicles
  • Napalm: 6 (normal) damage to target hex and all adjacent hexes
  • Smart/Guided: 10 Boom damage, +3 to hit target
  • Blessed: 10 Boom damage, +5 Boom damage against “demonic” targets

Macho Women With Guns: Retrospective

Blacksburg Tactical Research Center‘s (now out of print) tongue-in-cheek comedy roleplaying game “Macho Women With Guns” (hereafter abbreviated to “MWWG”) is all about combining two things: badass women and heavy weaponry. In a game that might appear sexist at a glance, it is actually far from it in the fact that all the players will be playing female characters, in a world where all males are either useless or evil. Sure, the titular Macho Women may dress scantily, but they are heroes and the only ones with any agency or competency in the setting! The only centralized authority comes from valiant warrior nuns, while the only sympathetic villains (i.e. not despicable Mad Max style raiders, slobbering monsters or lawyers) are female succubus demons who just as often align uneasily with the forces of “good”.

I first came across MWWG via a catalog for Australian games wholesaler Military Simulations. Back in the 90’s, MilSim was one of the only way to get rare RPGs (this was pre-internet & eBay) unless you were lucky and a had a local game store that sold second-hand or obscure titles.

The catalog description labeled the game as “beer and pretzels” fun, but it wasn’t clear whether it was a boardgame or role-playing game. As both a teenager and a self-professed fan of movies with bad-ass female leads – be they sci-fi, action or kung-fu – I was definitely curious, but not enough to attempt to order it.

It would be a year or two later that I actually saw the game in a big city game store. It was the “second edition” single book version (the first edition was actually four short booklets that each added new character classes and rules) and I immediately bought it. It turned out that MWWG was both a roleplaying game and miniatures game. The first edition had been very much intended as a miniatures game with RPG-lite rules, while the second edition – while still strongly encouraging the use of maps and miniatures (or cardboard standees) for combat, also allowed the game to be played like a full RPG in the “theatre of the mind” (i.e. the players’ imaginations).

Only two of my regular gaming group were very interested in playing the game, but the rest wanted to keep playing the RPGs they were familiar with (Star Wars D6, Recon, Cyberpunk, etc.) so the game went unplayed. I didn’t regret purchasing it, though, as the rulebook was amusingly written and very unique, with lots of fun quirks and concepts.

I was very pleased – years later – to come across nearly a full set of first edition booklets in a local gaming store’s second-hand bin. With the help of eBay a few years later, my collection was finally complete.

Although very “rules lite” and with almost no setting, what little there was sparked my imagination and I ended up developing a detailed campaign world based the bare bones of what was in the book, as well as some new character classes, rules, gear and even adventures. All of this has sat on my hard drive… until now.

MWWG fansites are quite rare, and the game hasn’t received a new edition or supplement in years. I still like it, though, and still feel it is worth playing – either as a campaign or just “one-shot” adventures when your group want a change of pace from serious dungeon crawling or laser battles. I’ll therefore be posting my material – salvaged and cleaned up as best I can manage (some of the files were written on word processors requiring MS-DOS!).

I hope this will help add to your MWWG fun, or encourage you to seek out and try the game if you haven’t already. In today’s highly politically correct world, it can be a breath of fresh air, especially when approached with the right mindset and sense of humor.

Footnote: Mongoose obtained the rights to create and sell a D20-based RPG variant in the early 2000’s, however while some of the material was fun, the expensive hardcover never really gained ground (just one supplement was released), IMO due to the over-complexity of a concept better kept simple, as well as requiring a D20 rulebook as well (like a lot of smaller D20 games, the basic rules are not in the system’s core book, requiring an additional purchase of something like D20 Modern or AD&D). The fact that the book has – IMO – almost entirely terrible artwork for a game where the art (i.e. badass sexy ladies) is a big selling point really didn’t help, either.

Related Links:

The most comprehensive fan site for MWWG is Matt & Mav’s unofficial MWWG Homage Page. Lots of fun stuff!

LEGO Battle Of Hoth: Official Rules

LEGO’s buildable boardgame Star Wars: Battle of Hoth suffered a limited release (no US sales, hard to find, poor advertising) and thus went barely noticed in much of the world despite being a great game with a fun theme. Making it even harder to play was the fact that unlike their Heroica line, LEGO never made the rules to Battle of Hoth available online in PDF format.

After much fruitless searching, I eventually scanned my own copy to use (as I find digital rulebooks much easier to use – and less likely to get damaged – than physical paper ones). I’ve never posted these scans publicly before, but since the game is now long out of print and quite expensive on the secondary market, I felt it would be okay to share them now so that those who’ve lost them or acquired an incomplete set can play.

A few weeks ago, I actually found another set of images of the rules online here; these were the complete rulebook (i.e. in multiple languages) but the quality was quite low. I have converted these images into a pdf and am posting it here along with my own scanned (English only) rulebook so that those who would prefer to have the rules in their native language – regardless of quality – can download them too.

Finally, I’ve also uploaded the official build instructions for the set.

Enjoy… and may the Force be with you. Always.

 

Download Links:

Battle of Hoth Boardgame Building Instructions (PDF)

Battle of Hoth Boardgame Rules (English, PDF)

Battle of Hoth Boardgame Rules (English, raw scans)

Battle of Hoth Boardgame Rules (Multilingual, low res, PDF)

 

LEGO Battle Of Hoth: Retrospective

LEGO produced several great boardgames during their short-lived line of “LEGO Games” circa 2011-2013, the greatest IMO being “Heroica“. Most others were fairly simple games, but the other complicated one was the awesome “Star Wars: Battle of Hoth.” This was actually a combination of chess and an entry-level “wargame” of sorts, a two-player affair with one side playing the Empire and the other the Rebellion, recreating the epic snow battle scenes from the movie “The Empire Strikes Back”.

The game is played on a brick-built board, with each player controlling their own set of pieces. Each turn, a player has two “actions” they can use on any of their pieces, and can choose to Move or Attack (so, a player may move twice, move once and attack once, or attack twice, and with the same or different pieces).

The forces for each side are different (AT-ATs for the Empire and Snowspeeders for the Rebels, for example) and work a bit like chess pieces with each Unit having different movement abilities as well as attack ranges and power. The number of microfigures on each Unit measures its “health”; these figures are removed as the Unit suffers hits, and the Unit is removed when all figures are gone.

Attacks are carried out by rolling the special LEGO dice which determines of the shot hits 2 in 6 chance), misses (2 in 6 chance) or “Force hits” (2 in 6 chance). Hits remove 1 figure from the target unit. A Force Hit is a normal hit except when the attacker is a “Hero” unit (Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, etc.)), in which case they can destroy the entire target at once!

The rules are simple, fast and fun. The objective is to either reach the other side of the board (the player’s “Base”) or destroy all your opposition’s forces.

There are a number of “advanced rules” also included, that add more Heroes, greater complexity and suggestions on reconfiguring the modular game board. Being that the whole game is made of LEGO, you can easily design new units or come up with your own rules, too.

If you’re reading all this and thinking “sounds awesome, why have I never heard of this game?”, that’s because Battle of Hoth received practically zero publicity when it was released, and was never sold at all in the USA (due to ridiculous licensing issues). It was also one of the last LEGO Games released, meaning the line was already winding down by that point and thus (at least here in Australia) was quite hard to even find on store shelves.

It’s a real shame, because the game is fun and the Star Wars theme surely should have made it one of the best-selling LEGO Games. The real tragedy IMO, though, is that this was the only Star Wars themed game Lego ever made, meaning these were also the only Star Wars microfigures produced. Due to the Hoth theme, that means no “regular” Stromtroopers, or more iconic-costumed Luke/Han/Leia. No Prequel Trilogy characters (not that I care about those, but I know some would!). No Lando, 3PO or R2.

We could have – should have – got at least one game based on each of the original movies: a Death Star escape themed one for “A New Hope” and a Battle of Endor one for “Return of the Jedi” would have been awesome. Instead, the game sold poorly (with no US release, being hard to find and having no publicity, is that a surprise?) and the LEGO Games line ended shortly after.

Fortunately, being a LEGO game, you can pretty much build the whole set yourself with a big box of spare parts, besides the unique printed microfigures (which can be found second-hand or proxied with brick-built replacements). You could even use printed tokens or other hamebrew components to play it if you were willing to put in the effort.

Regardless, Battle for Hoth was a great game from LEGO that could introduce children to both wargaming and chess, yet one that was ultimately doomed to failure and obscurity at launch.

That doesn’t mean I don’t continue to play it, or haven’t come up with my own homebrew rules, units and other fun stuff!

Lego Heroica: Caves of Caros

Another small set, I actually imagined this being not as small as the official Ganrash polybag promo, but something half the size of Draida that is intended more as a “booster pack” where the small map can be played as-is or it can be added to existing sets for new play value; IMO, Caros would best fit with Andrew Borntreger’s Sands of Kemet or the official Draida or Narthuz sets, due to the “sandy cave” theme.

 

CAVES OF CAROS

Description:

The desert of Caros is said to be home to a cave that hides a mysterious treasure: a magical genie’s lamp that grants three wishes to whoever possesses it!

Such a relic could greatly aid in saving Ennon from the monsters now threatening it, but first the heroes must get past the giant scorpions guarding the caves…

 

Heroes:

• Barbarian
• Wizard

Monsters:

• x3 Scorpions (Strength 1)
• x1 Fire Scorpion (Strength 2)

Items:

• x1 Life Potion
• x1 Invisibility Potion (see here)
• x1 Genie’s Lamp (relic)

Genie’s Lamp:

The Genie’s Lamp is a powerful relic. It may be kept between missions or sold for 2 Gold Pieces. The player who possesses the Lamp also gets the Wish Bar, which contains 3 Wish Tokens.

At any time during a Quest, a player with the Lamp may discard one Wish (put it back in the box) to do one of the following:

• Gain 1 Gold
• Pick one single-use item of your choice (any potion, key, bomb, etc.) and immediately apply its effect once, as appropriate.

If you sell this relic – or when all 3 Wishes have been used – put the Lamp and the Wish Bar back in the box. The Lamp cannot be sold once it has less than 3 Wishes left.

Note: if you are playing using only this set (and thus have no access to Gold or other potions), you may prefer to simply allow players to spend a Wish at any time to re-roll the Lego dice.

 

Quests:

Map #1

Goal: Obtain the Genie’s Lamp relic!

Designer Notes:

Because this is designed to mimic the “introductory” set concept like Draida, the Hero Packs included here are the “simple” ones as found in that set rather than the full-size ones used in other sets. Also, there are no weapons, Gold Pieces or Shop (as with Draida). Of course, this set can easily be played using the full rules by just adding gold pieces to the map, using full-size Hero Packs and allowing normal use of the Shop.

For Scorpions, use the common Lego animals that are often found in  sets such as the Egypt, Ninjago and Prince of Persia lines. The Fire Scorpion is best represented by a red scorpion (usually sold as a “lobster” in several restaurant or beach-themed sets) but any non-black scorpion (gold, dark grey, etc.) you have on-hand can be substituted.

The Genie’s Lamp was (to my knowledge) only sold with the Collectable Minifigure “Genie” figures: the Genie (Series 6), Genie Girl (Series 12) and Genie of the Lamp (Disney Series 1). As such, it’s quite a rare part, sadly. Obviously, you can substitute a brick-built alternative or even just a pearl gold brick for the “pickup” item, as the only thing you need for play is the Wish Bar and tokens, which are made from much easier-to-find (and substitute) parts.

The game mechanics for the Genie’s Lamp was kept as simple as possible; by giving the player the choice to pick any single use item, including potions, allows pretty much anything they might want to do: you can pass through monsters (invisibility potion), move further (speed potion), re-roll (luck potion), defeat a monster (strength potion), recover health (life potion), avoid damage (defense potion), use a skill (skill potion), open a locked door (key) or blow up a cracked wall (bomb)! Obviously, this is limited using this set alone since it only contains the Life and Invisibility potions as options, but with other sets combined, the “wish” possibilities are awesome (which is why the relic is limited to three uses full stop, not per Quest).

 

Image Gallery:

Download Links:

LDD Digital Files (.lxf)

 

Feel free to suggest/send alternate Quest layouts for this set!