GURPS WWII:

Frozen Hell, Dogfaces, and Grim Legions

by Bill Rutherford

Finland in the Winter War and Beyond

Frozen Hell is SJG’s most recent expansion to GURPS WWII, which is their WWII expansion to the popular Generic Universal Role-Playing System. This 48-page expansion continues SJG’s recent trend towards digest-sized (well, 6.5” by 10”) supplements. Production values are typical of SJG – good quality black and white inside and a glossy card cover outside. What’s inside? The first half of the book contains a concise, if necessarily brief description of the 1939-40 Finnish-Soviet Winter War (Soviets invade Finland), the year between the wars (Finland seethes), the 1941-45 Continuation War (Finland reclaims lost territories), as well as the Lapland War (Finland, having negotiated peace with USSR, fights Germany just before WW2’s end).

I wouldn’t pay so much attention to this but a) it’s half the book and b) even for WW2 gamers, Finland’s wars have always been a bit arcane… The next four pages describe basic Finnish infantry organizations, with an emphasis on special units. There are also four pages of character generation notes for GURPS (this is, after all, a GURPS supplement!) and ten pages of equipment notes (this is probably more thorough than other GURPS titles, as Finland simply didn’t have that much equipment). Six more pages provide general RPG campaign notes and gaming flavor (there’s a sidebar on swearing in Finnish, e.g., “Paska!”), followed by a final page with an annotated bibliography. Unlike several of the other GURPS WWII supplements, I recommend this one regardless of your interest in GURPS. It’s an interesting hook into a relatively unknown theater of WWII (and just before), especially for skirmish gamers. Priced at $11.95, you should find Frozen Hell at your local game shop or, failing that, at Steve Jackson Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. You can also visit the GURPS WWII website at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/ww2. Heartily recommended to GURPS players, as well as to others.

Dogfaces

Dogfaces pub. by Steve Jackson Gamesis SJG’s most recent full-sized expansion to it’s recent GURPS WWII, which is itself their WWII expansion to the popular Generic Universal Role-Playing System. Once again, if you’re a GURPS player, this review can be summed up: Get it. If you don’t play GURPS, please read on… This sourcebook brings the USA into GURPS WWII and regardless of whether you play GURPS, is a well-written, interesting collection of articles, anecdotes, and introductory material on the US involvement in WWII. Production qualities are standard for SJG: glossy 3-color card covers, extensive b&w interior art – mainly posterized photos – and lots of sidebars, running 128 pages in length. There are 61 pages of historical notes, including 11 pages on life in the US Army, nine pages of character creation rules (this IS, after all, a GURPS supplement!), 28 pages of equipment data, 9 pages on the home front, six pages of campaign notes, an annotated bibliography, and a two-page index. The historical notes, aimed at the general reader and not the WWII gamer, are nonetheless a good read and accomplish Dogfaces’ main goal – to drum up interest in the US in WWII. The various sidebars (like the one that talked about the US Merchant Marine in WWII) kept me turning pages… The equipment notes weren’t exhaustive, serving mainly as introduction – with GURPS specific rules notes – for the neophyte. All in all, Dogfaces is at the level set by previous books in the series. It’s an atmospheric, mood-setting primer for gamers, with a lot of information useful to the skirmish gamer in particular. weren’t exhaustive - you could easily fill a book with such - and were directed towards what an RPGer would need to know. Any comments I’ve made about previous volumes generally apply here as well. As with the other books in this series, the character generation notes are useful, mainly for skirmish-gamers. Priced at $22.95, Dogfaces is not cheap but (again, as with previous volumes) I think it’s got enough good ideas for even the non-GURPS player to find worthwhile. Available from your local game shop or, failing that, directly from Steve Jackson Games at Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. You can also visit the GURPS WWII website at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/ww2. - Bill Rutherford

Grim Legions – Italy in WWII

GL is SJG’s newest expansion to GURPS WWII, which is their WWII expansion to the popular Generic Universal Role-Playing System. This 48-page expansion continues SJG’s recent trend towards digest-sized (well, 6.5” by 10”) supplements on subjects not meriting (sales-wise, I suspect) a full-sized book. GL has typical SJG production values – good quality black and white inside and a glossy card cover outside – and is similar in style to what’s come before: 13 pages of commentary, tracing Italian history from the end of WW I through WWII; six pages of well-detailed organizational notes; five pages of character generation notes, important if you’re using the supplement to play GURPS WWII; 12 pages of equipment notes, including a pretty comprehensive small arms listing and a few big things – aircraft, AFVs, etc.; ten pages that paint a picture of the Italian soldiers, seamen, and airmen, providing an underlying flavor for any game; and finally, a page of notes regarding campaign styles, along with a bibliography.

GL is basically an interesting primer on the Italians in WWII, and how and why they got there. If you’re a GURPS WWII player you will certainly want this book. If you’re a WWII skirmish gamer you should find it useful as well. Priced at $11.95, you should find Grim Legions at your local game shop or, failing that, at Steve Jackson Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. You can also visit the GURPS WWII website at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/ww2. - Bill Rutherford

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