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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jaldaen" data-source="post: 2010422" data-attributes="member: 214">**Disclaimer: I have recieved this as a free review copy and have done work for Mongoose in the past, but these facts have no bearring on this review or its score.First Impressions- Cover, Contents, Welcome & Introduction<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Charm: Creativity/Originality/Playability: 4 - As with all books the cover is the first chance to capture a reader's attention and present in pictoral form the "heart" of the matter. Mongoose does this well with their cover for Armageddon 2089: Total War... it places you in the cockpit of a WarMek facing off with three other WarMeks within your cockpit view. My only compliant is the scene is static and might have been more eye-catching and poignant if there was some action going on... after all once one reads this Main Rulebook one discovers it is meant to be a fast-paced and deadly campaign setting and the cover although nice does not drive home this point.  The back cover presents the Armageddon 2089 logo, which is quite striking and is a stylized W with a T piercing it, a nice touch. The backcover blurb is unispiring, but the Welcome chapter is quite creative in the way it lays out the speculative future of Earth. It does an excellent job in presenting a plausible series of events that leads to the ultimate confortation between the United States and the European Federation that results in the Armageddon War and sets the stage for the campaign setting. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: Art/Editing/Layout: 4 - The Table of Contents is simple and only presents an overview of the chapters with no in-depth breakdown of chapter subsections, which for a Main Rulebook is disappointing and would have been quite helpful for those who prefer to have an in-depth Contents page (like those presented in the PHB, DMG, and MM). Also the Table of Contents switches between Warmech, WarMek and Warmek, though from what I gather from the rest of the book WarMek is the official term, still this was slightly disconcerting. The only other major editing gaff in the Welcome and Introduction chapters is the mis-dating of the attack on the World Trade Centre, which is given at 11 September 2002 (should be 2001), but the rest of the book does give the correct date... a bad first impression, but luckily one that is not borne out throughout the rest of the book. Only one piece of art in this first section (which was nice, but not awe-inspiring), but the layout and text density are quite good and that makes up for the lack of art. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: Descriptive Depth/Rules Design: 5 - The back cover has a short introductory blurb on the Armageddon 2089 setting, but in my opinion it does not do the rest of the book justice and is unfortunately very short and not very informative to a prospective buyer. Luckily, the Welcome chapter is presents more background information on the history of the Earth up to the year 2089. Just a little more of this information upon the backcover would have gone a long way towards fostering interest in picking up the book to read right away, especially more context information like mentioning the British War of Independence on the back cover. So the Welcome chapter was well written and places the reader in the world of Armageddon, but it does not just discuss history, it also discusses technology and how it has changed the face of Earth and of the wars fought upon it. In the Welcome chapter, we are introduced to the clever use of "IWN" (Independent World News) sidebars, which present News "blurbs" revolving around important bits of history. Each IWN sidebar has a date, keywords, and article entry, the unfortunate thing about these sidebars is that they are not in chronologic order and so if you want a feel for the flow of the news cycle you'll have to flip around to see what goes where in the timeline, another slight complaint that I have with the sidebars would be that the important Keywords (like Brussels) might have been included in the the Index with page number reference to sidebars that use them for quick reference as one might need to find a particular news piece and has no easy way of doing this currently. The Introduction chapter does a good job of presenting what to expect in the Armageddon 2089: Total War Main Rulebook and has short sections for new and veteran d20 system players with the main differences being a Defense Value (based on Reflex save) instead of Armour Class (armor now grants Damage Reduction)... also the assumption in Armageddon 2089 is that you are going to play a WarMek officer and as such it is noted that those classes not associated with WarMeks are meant more for NPC status and thus lower in overall power.</li> </ul>Section Score: 4.3Chapter 1, 2, 3, & 4: Characters, Skills, Mercany Companies, & Equipment<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Charm: Creativity/Originality/Playability: 5 - From what I can see based on these chapters this Main Rulebook is quite playable and character creation should be relatively easy. The WarMek officer classes are quite flavorful and each have an appropriate niche they fill in a WarMek squad, while the other classes (such as Civilian, Officer, and Soldier) are necessary, but meant more for background purposes. The new and revised skills and feats are creative in the manner in which they portray the various aspects of WarMek combat. I especially like the way Concentration was handled as an important element of combat where lossing focus can not only cost you a lapsed moment, but a lost life. The Mercenary chapter was pretty standard faire with a lot of bullet points and tables, until I got to the Negotiations section, which although it started with a table and ended with one gave me in the middle a nice spark for the imagination with its suggestions for possible missions and what the ins and outs of the negotiating table looks like. A big "Kudos!" to the person who wrote that section ;-) The Equipment chapter was pretty standard stuff, but well done and playable with nothing that I noticed that was difficult to implement or adapt to. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: Art/Editing/Layout: 4 - The layout of the Character chapter was well done, the class tables seemed to have everything in order and the art although not spectacular, is neither inappropriate or bad. The Skills and Feats chapter is as the previous chapter well organized and edited with my only complaint being the use of green text on a slightly green background within the tables making it dificult to see words on the page at any great distance. No art is presented in this chapter, but to be honest I didn't really miss it as the focus of this chapter was rules. The Mercenary chapter has a few editing mistake the most striking one being the two different "starting budget" amounts they describe at the start of the chapter (at first 25 million, then 20 million)... with a 5 million dollar difference this can have a huge affect on what an upstart mercenary group starts with. The example company they give uses the 20 milion mark, but the "Typical Budgets" table gives 25 million as the amount, so there is no definitive amount that I can determine (which means I'll need to go over to Mongooses forums and ask ;-). The rest of the chapter's presentation is intuitive and organized with no real complaints, but again no art... which is quite a departure for Mongoose (at least in the books I do have) and one that in light of the rich material was not noticed until I started this review. Art does return with the equipment chapter and appropriately so... the illustrations are done in a simple skimatics style and although not spectacular are function with is fine by me. The tables were all straightforward (although their are a couple columns for Piercing Armour - which should probably be Armour Piercing - and Area Effect between Damage and Critical which caused me to look around for Critical since in most books damage and critical are next to each other) and in order and I noticed no editing mistakes that are worth mentioning. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: 5 - Descriptive Depth/Rules Design: The Characters chapter presents the only race for Armageddon, humans and the five main character classes (all of which are WarMek officers): the field officer (good all-round WarMek pilot, jack-of-all-trades), assualt officer (good close in WarMek fighters), comms officer (Scanning and Electronic Warfare experts), scout officer (survivalists with WarMeks to back them up), and WarMek weapons officer (expert WarMek marksman, but only part time pilot). Looking through the Character chapter the WarMek officer classes all seem balanced with each other and although they have similarly named and progressed class features (like basic training, bonus feats, cross-training, advance training, etc...) they are in fact quite diverse with each class feature having its own unique benefits based on their chosen profession. Three NPC classes are presented the Civilian (a skill monkey, with worst BAB and saves), the officer (part of the military leadership capable of rallying troops, making battle plans, etc...), and the soldier (with specialized training in one specific area of interest from armour to support weapons). The Skills and Feats chapter is next and the rules here are solid as well with new and old skills and feats blending together to make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. There are eight new skills and a couple renamed and restructured one and some appropriately dropped altogether. The new and revised skills are on the all and all clear and concise in what they do though Electronic Warfare should have referenced sections in the book that explain what specifically can be done with an Electronic Warfare check like the other skills that do this. There are over 50 new feats in this section with about 20 being the newly introduced WarMek feats, which can only be taken by those with WarMek officer class levels. Some feats pull double duty with benefits base on whether one is a WarMek officer or a non-WarMek officer class. Overall the feats seem balanced and appropriate, though the former will take some playtesting to make sure. The Mercenary chapter is quite useful and provides a step-by-step process for building all sorts of mercanary companies, corporate companies, and Military squads. Perhaps the most intriguing portion of the chapter however is the Negotiations chapter which provides a detailed breakdown of the all important aspect of mercenary life called, "Making the Deal!" It gives understandable and easy to use rules for determining everything from the initial offer to the give and take of haggling over certain elements of a deal, to signing the papers that could lead to a sweet deal or a bitter end. The Equipment chapter is well designed with no crazy critical threat ranges and appropriate information for each weapon and item of interest from armour to quickcuffs.</li> </ul>Section Score: 4.7Chapter 5, 6, & 7: Personal, WarMek, Vechicle, & Electronic Combat<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Charm: Creativity/Originality/Playability: 5 - The Personal Combat chapter mixes the old with the new in creative ways that makes sense for a modern setting, but nothing spectacular here. However, the WarMek and Electronic Warfare rules were inspiring! They really made me want to roll up a character and try out the system right then and there... I loved the idea of Special WarMek Features based on the design philosophy of the WarMek's designer and production company (though unfortunately only a few WarMeks have this entry). The idea of power points to "fuel" a WarMek's actions during a round was a perfect fit as was the introduction of hit locations, called shots, and the fire and explosion rules (nothing like vaporizing a WarMek with a Tokamak fusion reactor and watching his immediate surroundings disappear in a flash of nuclear energy ;-) The WarMek chapter also provides a section on using WarMeks in Combat Engineering roles, which was a nice addition because it expanded what I thought to that point WarMeks were used for. The Electronic Warfare chapter was even better as it really drives home the importance, complexity, and posibilities available in the field of electronic warfare... everything from codebreaking to electronic deception is handled in this chapter with an understandable and relatively simple (and more importantly playable) set of rules. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: Art/Editing/Layout: 5 - Art disappears for the Personal Comabt chapter and I now realize why I don't mind not having the art... all the IWN sidebars paint a great verbal image of the Armageddon 2089 setting and I must say I prefer this tecnique as it increases the word density and makes for great little side treks from this appropriately rules heavy book. All of the chapters are well edited with no major hiccups along the way and the tables are spot on and well organized. Art does make a sparse appearance in these chapters, but again you can count these computer graphic illustrations on one hand over the course of 40+ pages! </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: Descriptive Depth/Rules Design: 5 - The rules design is quite good in all the chapters with a couple high-lights and low-lights in the following areas... The use of Defense Value based on the Reflex save to determine how difficult something is to hit, armour providing damage reduction, and armour piercing weapons makes for a cinematic and sometimes deadly mix. Also the introduction of rapid fire weapons and their ability to spray and suppress an area is a nice touch. Stray shots are dealt with, which is good addition... the rest of the chapter deals with environmental hazards for personel including a the chemical, biological, and radiological effects, which was a nice additon. However I am not quite certain about the portrayal of certain chemical and biological weapons (I don't think they are deadly enough ;-), but I must admit that I am not an expert on these matters and as such will probably use their indicated effects at least until I can do some more research and satisfy myself with how "on target" these effects are scientifically. The WarMek combat chapter was straightfoward, well done, and favorful and my only question concerns terrain and the reason why Manually Enabled WarMeks (ones with hands) find it easier to navigate forests, mountains, polar, and woodland areas, than those without hands (I take it is because they can use their hands to push aside branches and grab handholds, but the text does not really explain it as such). Finally, the Electronic Warfare chapter is perhaps the most interesting one in the entire book... it has a lot of good flavor and rules based on science that it draws you into the theme of the chapter and makes you want to jam a WarMek's comms at a critical point in the battle where 6 seconds of silence can make the difference between life and death. There is an excellent example of Scanning and Electronic Warfare in this chapter and it does well to get across its usefulness and importance in WarMek warfare.</li> </ul>Section Score: 5Chapter 8, 9, 10, & 11: WarMeks, WarMek Construction, WarMek Technology, Ground Vechicles, & Aircraft<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Charm: Creativity/Originality/Playability: 5 - And so here it is the reason why anyone would really pick up this book... the WarMek illustrations and their weapons layouts found in the WarMeks of the World chapter... So how innovative are they? Well its a mixed bag, but not out of any fault of the designers it is actually (if I understand correctly from my reading of this chapter) purposefully done... that's right not all of the WarMeks presented are actually top of the line sweet spot WarMeks, instead there are quirky WarMeks (such as those who cannot run or have some design flaw built into them), budget buy WarMeks (cheap, but you get what you pay for), and gimick WarMeks (one trick ponies that are more style than substance)... at first I must admit that I was slightly disappointed with the Warmeks, but once I realized that the point was not to present the best of the best, but instead to present a wide range of varying quality WarMeks I thought to myself that it was a gustsy move and only added to the feel of the campaign setting by giving WarMeks and the corporations that make them a "niche" they fill like Volkswagen and Lexus do for automobiles! The originality of the WarMeks of the World chapter is astounding and I only hope that the future releases have so much flavor and hopefully more! The Construction rules are normal fair and necessary as are most of the WarMek equipment and vechicle presented in the other chapters, but all are solid and playable, but none quite comes as close to the style presented in the WarMeks of the World chapter. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: Art/Editing/Layout: 3 - Unfortunately, although the WarMeks of the World chapter is quite creative it suffers from editing and layout flaws that can confuse the reader. Some examples of these areas of concern are the use of "*" and "**" which has no immediate explaination though by deduction (after reading the WarMek Technology chapter) I discovered that the former meant "See weapon for special rules" and the latter "For ripple fire rockets and missiles, IR signiture is -1 per additional rocket fired." Also some WarMeks especially those with rocket packs have their columsn ofset by one such as Power Point cost being placed in the Range Increment column which it turn is placed in the damage columns, etc... A few othe Meks don't have components listed on their WarMek Features table like the Bushi and Spyglass's lack of placement of their cockpit. For the most part I like the computer illustrations of the WarMeks and believe they do a good job of getting across the feel of the character and power of each WarMek, but I do wonder how some of the Manually Enabled WarMeks make use of their hands... especially in light of the equipment that surrounds them ;-) This slight "glitch" was the only on that really bothered me especially in light of the benefits that Manually Enabled WarMeks get over their counterparts... As for the WarMek Construction, WarMek Technology, and Vechicle/Aircraft chapters, they were well laid out with spare pieces of art to detail the basic WarMek weapons and bare bones sketches for the vechicles and aircraft, which in a way were jarring not due to their illustration, but in light of the computerized illustrations presented over the previous few chapters. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: Descriptive Depth/Rules Design: 5 - The WarMeks of the World chapter does a good job with the rules it sets forth earlier and the flavor text introducing each new design is spot on for the most part and entertaining to read. The Construction rules provide a step-by-step process to create customized WarMeks and the Technology chapter has solid and detailed rules for each weapon or piece of equipment that a WarMek might use. All the vechicles are well done and provided with short introductions, but unfortunately no vechicle or aircraft creation rules are provided, but than again Armageddon 2089 is about WarMeks and not more mundane vehicles and aircraft (still it would have been nice ;-)  </li> </ul>Section Score: 4.3Chapter 12, 13, 14, & Beyond: World of 2089, Corporations, Campaigns, Glossary, Designer Notes, Index, & Record Sheets<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Charm: Creativity/Originality/Playability: 5 - I really liked the World of 2089 chapter for its creativity and original perspective on how the events of our current times might affect the next 80+ years of world history. It does a great job of drawing you into the feel of Armageddon 2089 and that is exactly what this type of chapter should do... my only complaint is that the World of 2089 was not placed earlier in the book (right after the Introduction) as it provides some great character information... also reading this chapter makes me wish their was more than just the human "race" to chose from and that perhaps having nationalities that modified or granted characters some distinctive flavor might have helped set the tone for the factions portrayed in the book. The Corporations chapter is a nice touch due to the importance they have over Earth in 2089 and the Campaign chapter follows this with a great primer for dealing with possible problems and running unique and interesting campaigns in Armageddon 2089. The Glossary is a good if sparse addition and as always the Designer Notes are quite interesting to read... The Character, WarMek, and Mercenary record sheets are okay, but the WarMek one is a little too color intensive, which hopefully will be addressed when Mongoose puts up downloadable ones. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: Art/Editing/Layout: 3 - The World chapter is again sparse on illustrations, but it has one of the most important ones in the book... the map of the World of 2089. Unfortunately the map is chalk full of errors in its shadings of USA/USA Aligned and EF/EF (European Federation) Aligned countries. I has Canada as USA Aligned, but in the description Canada is now EF aligned... Mongola is a sea according to the map, but nothing is mentioned about it in the World section... Also all of South America is colored for the EF, but according to the text not all of South America is EF Aligned (although most is)... the are a couple other mistakes, but the point is made... I liked the logos for the corporations and the editing was by and large good. My biggest complaint, especially in light of the sparse Table of Contects to begin the book is the lack of an extensive Index... which is sorely missed as it means I will have to waste time trying to find things and have less time to make WarMeks. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: Descriptive Depth/Rules Design: 5 - The description of the World of 2089 and the breakdown of the nations and the factions they follow was well written and again draws the reader into the world, this however does not mean there were not points when I was disappointed, but mainly these points are due to omission of information, the biggest being the lack of information on the Tiger Combine (a group of Southeast Asian countries), which is the creator of WarMeks and whose pilots are described as making up "the bulk" of WarMek pilots... However there are no "Roleplaying a Tiger Combine Character" like they do for the USA, EF (European Federation), and UK powers... nor is their a "Living in the Tiger Combine" section like for the other powers. The Corporations chapter is quite good, especially the "Creating New Corporations" section, while the Campaign chapter is superbly done with great advice on preparing, portraying and running campaigns in Armageddon 2089. It should be noted here that XP is not gained by defeating enemies, but instead is doled out in steady increments of 1,000 to 2,000 XP per session depending on the GM's preference... I like this way of handling XP as in a way it encourages the characters to be less reckless and more cautious in a world gone mad. Which might just keep them alive a little bit longer... </li> </ul>Section Score: 4.3Final Thoughts<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Charm: Creativity/Originality/Playability: This being a Main rulebook and not a camapign setting itt still did a wonderful job of being creative, especially through the use of the IWN sidebars, and from my initial estimation seems to be quite playable. The Themes behind the setting are also take into original directions such as the pervasive nature of corporations and the privatization of the USA military and its subsequent dependence upon mercenary forces to work outside of the USA, which is an intriging concept. The British War of Independence is a great historical twist and is the perfect catalyst for the Armageddon War and other event in the World of 2089... the WarMek designs are also unique and only help to make Armageddon 2089 even more appealing. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Presentation: Art/Editing/Layout: This is the weak point of Armageddon, but not because the art is bad or the editing is off, but because the Table of Contents and Index are unfortunately lacking and some of the important illustrative pieces (like the map and Manually Enabled WarMek designs that I mentioned earlier) and tables are slightly off kilter... still on the all and all the presentation is above average in most other respects... </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Content: Descriptive Depth/Rules Design: If you are looking for an in-depth treatment of the campaign setting behind Armageddon 2089 this is not quite what you are looking for it is in truth (as it says on the cover), Main Rulebook that sets out to give you a good introduction to the world, but sets out to provide you with the rules to run WarMek combat... In this regard I can only say that this product succeeds with flying colours ;-) The rules design are straighforward, easy to impliment after you've had some experience with them (you'll probably want to run through a few combats before actually starting a campaign as it will be helpful for players to figure out the rules and the possibilities they present them), and most importantly they seem to be fun, which is really what I want from a game and this delivers in spades. </li> </ul> Overall Score: 4.5Good Gaming!Joseph MillerPS: Please feel free to comment and provide constructive critisms of this review (it's the only way I'll ever learn to be good at it ;-)</blockquote>

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