Mongoose Publishing is pleased to announce a brand new d20 System RPG game line;
WarMech - Armageddon 2089
This is a brand new spin on the Mecha genre, set on an Earth of the near future. The technology is based and expanded upon today’s military technology, with gigantic humanoid fighting machines dominating battlefields. WarMech’s central conflict is a World War with a difference – the main antagonists are the European Federation and the USA, with the rest of the world either taking sides or desperately trying to remain neutral. ‘Star Wars’ satellites rule the skies, shooting down long-range missiles while a desperate sea and air battle rages across the Atlantic. . . Somewhere near you, a small enemy Mech squad just walked out of the ocean from a vast submersible transport. Operating behind enemy lines, using guerrilla warfare tactics but state-of-the-art fighting machines, the Mech squads are both sides’ main method of bringing Armageddon to their enemy’s home countries. An isolationist and paranoid USA wars against a greedy and authoritarian Europe, meaning there are no good guys here – just ordinary (and extraordinary) people struggling to survive in a world gone mad. This is Total War. This is WarMech.
The WarMech - Armageddon 2089 roleplaying game will be available in March 2003 and, like other Mongoose Publishing games, will be heavily supported with sourcebooks and adventures.
Right, that is the official part out of the way! If you have read this far, you may have a few questions about this all new game. . .
What sort of support are you planning for WarMech - Armageddon 2089?
If you are familiar with our Judge Dredd and Slaine roleplaying games, you will know how serious we are about supporting them, and no fan of WarMech will have to wait long for new material after the release of the main rulebook. Inevitably a game of this nature is going to feature many Mech designs, and so we will release the Mech Arms and Armour Catalogue simultaneously with the main rulebook. New equipment and technology are always good to grant further options when designing Mechs, though we are keen to avoid the ‘technology escalation’ problems some of our favourite games in the past have had, where each new supplement makes all the old designs obsolete! We have a couple of campaigns in mind, one for a European Federation Mech squad and the other for US Mech Officers, but both campaigns will offer the option of adaptation for a Mech squad on either side. We also plan to offer several sourcebooks expanding the non-Mech aspects of the game – giving you more options for your infantry or tank battalion campaign, for example.
In addition, we are also preparing a range of novels to support WarMech, currently being written by a few authors one or two of you may well recognise. . .
Why is the game set on Earth? What, no drop-ships, no travelling to new planets to blow them up?
Two of the things we established early on were that we wanted a near-future setting to take advantage of gamers’ knowledge of modern day politics, but we also wished the technology to be as plausible as possible. We figured you would be willing to suspend your disbelief about the technology behind the Mechs themselves, since gigantic humanoid fighting machines are inherently a lot cooler than mere tanks, but for the rest of it we wanted reasonably accurate technology.
What is all this about realistic technology?
This is as close as we can get to a ‘hard’ science fiction setting while still including Mechs. We have done extensive research into current and near-future military weaponry and related technologies so as to keep things as plausible as possible, but always with an eye toward keeping the game playable and, most importantly, fun. For example, it turns out that one of the features of particle accelerators is that, used in atmosphere, their energy tends to disperse in a very short distance and in a highly devastating manner. So in WarMech, particle accelerators are not long-range precision killers – they are a lot more like a highly radioactive and explosive shotgun! Tokamak fusion plants power many Mechs, but breech the magnetic shell of the power plant and you are in trouble – just hope your pilot was in the Mech’s head rather than the torso. You might just have chance to eject before your once-proud Mech turns into a molten puddle. . .
What will the rulebook be like?
256 pages in length, hardcover, and full colour throughout. We have some very talented CGI artists working on the most incredible Mech designs you have seen this side of your imagination, plus detailed rules for Mechs, Mech design, artillery, electronic warfare, unmanned drones, rockets, railguns and much more. Every option imaginable for Mechs has been crammed into this rulebook. For the rest, well, you will just have to wait for the previews, coming soon. . .
Do we have to play Mech pilots?
Not at all. While the five Mech Officer character classes are great for most campaigns, if the setting really appeals to you but prefer things up-close and personal, you could try an infantry campaign – though in a world where 200 ton Mechs armed with electrothermal cannon and kinetic energy missiles are not uncommon, life as a grunt is tougher than ever! Alternatively you could play a tank crew, the less glamorous distant cousins of the elite Mech pilots, trapped behind enemy lines and running out of fuel! Or an ordinary citizen, drawn into conflict or intrigue more or less against your will, desperately fighting for survival in the tough world of 2089. . .
WarMech - Armageddon 2089
This is a brand new spin on the Mecha genre, set on an Earth of the near future. The technology is based and expanded upon today’s military technology, with gigantic humanoid fighting machines dominating battlefields. WarMech’s central conflict is a World War with a difference – the main antagonists are the European Federation and the USA, with the rest of the world either taking sides or desperately trying to remain neutral. ‘Star Wars’ satellites rule the skies, shooting down long-range missiles while a desperate sea and air battle rages across the Atlantic. . . Somewhere near you, a small enemy Mech squad just walked out of the ocean from a vast submersible transport. Operating behind enemy lines, using guerrilla warfare tactics but state-of-the-art fighting machines, the Mech squads are both sides’ main method of bringing Armageddon to their enemy’s home countries. An isolationist and paranoid USA wars against a greedy and authoritarian Europe, meaning there are no good guys here – just ordinary (and extraordinary) people struggling to survive in a world gone mad. This is Total War. This is WarMech.
The WarMech - Armageddon 2089 roleplaying game will be available in March 2003 and, like other Mongoose Publishing games, will be heavily supported with sourcebooks and adventures.
Right, that is the official part out of the way! If you have read this far, you may have a few questions about this all new game. . .
What sort of support are you planning for WarMech - Armageddon 2089?
If you are familiar with our Judge Dredd and Slaine roleplaying games, you will know how serious we are about supporting them, and no fan of WarMech will have to wait long for new material after the release of the main rulebook. Inevitably a game of this nature is going to feature many Mech designs, and so we will release the Mech Arms and Armour Catalogue simultaneously with the main rulebook. New equipment and technology are always good to grant further options when designing Mechs, though we are keen to avoid the ‘technology escalation’ problems some of our favourite games in the past have had, where each new supplement makes all the old designs obsolete! We have a couple of campaigns in mind, one for a European Federation Mech squad and the other for US Mech Officers, but both campaigns will offer the option of adaptation for a Mech squad on either side. We also plan to offer several sourcebooks expanding the non-Mech aspects of the game – giving you more options for your infantry or tank battalion campaign, for example.
In addition, we are also preparing a range of novels to support WarMech, currently being written by a few authors one or two of you may well recognise. . .
Why is the game set on Earth? What, no drop-ships, no travelling to new planets to blow them up?
Two of the things we established early on were that we wanted a near-future setting to take advantage of gamers’ knowledge of modern day politics, but we also wished the technology to be as plausible as possible. We figured you would be willing to suspend your disbelief about the technology behind the Mechs themselves, since gigantic humanoid fighting machines are inherently a lot cooler than mere tanks, but for the rest of it we wanted reasonably accurate technology.
What is all this about realistic technology?
This is as close as we can get to a ‘hard’ science fiction setting while still including Mechs. We have done extensive research into current and near-future military weaponry and related technologies so as to keep things as plausible as possible, but always with an eye toward keeping the game playable and, most importantly, fun. For example, it turns out that one of the features of particle accelerators is that, used in atmosphere, their energy tends to disperse in a very short distance and in a highly devastating manner. So in WarMech, particle accelerators are not long-range precision killers – they are a lot more like a highly radioactive and explosive shotgun! Tokamak fusion plants power many Mechs, but breech the magnetic shell of the power plant and you are in trouble – just hope your pilot was in the Mech’s head rather than the torso. You might just have chance to eject before your once-proud Mech turns into a molten puddle. . .
What will the rulebook be like?
256 pages in length, hardcover, and full colour throughout. We have some very talented CGI artists working on the most incredible Mech designs you have seen this side of your imagination, plus detailed rules for Mechs, Mech design, artillery, electronic warfare, unmanned drones, rockets, railguns and much more. Every option imaginable for Mechs has been crammed into this rulebook. For the rest, well, you will just have to wait for the previews, coming soon. . .
Do we have to play Mech pilots?
Not at all. While the five Mech Officer character classes are great for most campaigns, if the setting really appeals to you but prefer things up-close and personal, you could try an infantry campaign – though in a world where 200 ton Mechs armed with electrothermal cannon and kinetic energy missiles are not uncommon, life as a grunt is tougher than ever! Alternatively you could play a tank crew, the less glamorous distant cousins of the elite Mech pilots, trapped behind enemy lines and running out of fuel! Or an ordinary citizen, drawn into conflict or intrigue more or less against your will, desperately fighting for survival in the tough world of 2089. . .
Basically it will be a complete game, but it will use standard D20 as a base rather than D20 Modern (far more flexible when you are doing this kind of game design).
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