Merc Campaign Book I:
Rhodesia

Game Review

Review by William Barton


written by Paul D. Baader
Fantasy Games Unlimited, Inc
Released Dec 1984
Catalog 8303
Price: $5
Complexity: Beginner to Intermediate
Solitaire: Low
***

Merc Campaign Book 1: Rhodesia is the first campaign adventure book for FGU's role-playing game of modern mercenary combat, Merc. It takes the general mercenary-soldier of Merc and places him into the context of the struggle against Communist terrorist and guerilla attack in Rhodesia before that country's fall in late 1979 and early 1980. The book includes some new optional rules on differentiated weapons damage for Merc, a new specialty- Tracker - and its skill tests, notes on mine detectors and their use, campaign background with gaming information on the Rhodesian conflict, and two scenarios.

The campaign notes include data on the various Rhodesian military units in which Merc characters might serve; gaming stats for the terrorist, guerilla, and government troops that might oppose them; historical information on the Rhodesian campaign; and a glossary of slang and military terms used during the struggle. There's even an expanded Equestrian Casualty table for damage to horses to reflect their greater use in Rhodesia than elsewhere. One of the two scenarios is a short one-man operation to introduce new players to the Merc system; the other is a difficult raid on a guerrilla base in Mozambique to rescue three captured mercenaries. The book itself is standard FGU format-8 1/2 X 11 inches, 25-pages, set with very small type with a plain tan cover with title, credits, and line illustrations. The white back cover repeats the Rhodesian map and. military insignias from the interior.

At first glance, Rhodesia wasn't all that impressive to me. But after reading through it, I found it to be quite thorough. You won't learn all there is to know about the Rhodesian conflict from reading this book, but then that isn't its purpose. A bibliography is included, however, for those who wish for more information.

As an extension of the Merc game itself, it gives all that's really necessary for a Gamemaster (GM) to know to adapt the rules of Merc and Merc Supplement 1 to the Rhodesian situation. I was a bit put off by a number of typos-mostly missing and extraneous words-which always makes me wonder if the numbers on charts and tables are correct. At least one on the Equestrian Casualty table was wrong. The maps and building plans could have been labeled better than they were. References are made to a player's map and a GM map in the second scenario which isn't noted, for example.

The book is pretty well organized overall, with rules additions, campaign background, and scenarios each in a section of its own. Its authenticity factor is high, since the information included is based on recent historical fact and accounts by those who actually fought in Rhodesia. Rhodesia could serve as a gaming source book for almost anyone who wanted to know enough about the Rhodesian forces to set a scenario at that time and in that place. The two scenarios are quite effective in their purposes. Bright Light, the one-on-one introductory scenario, if conducted properly, should give new players a firm grounding in the basics of the Merc rules, as well as the specifics of Rhodesian conflict. It's quick and short and could be played any number of times simply by changing the tactics of the terrorist force. I did have a bit of trouble correlating the written description of the terrorists' movements with the map/illustration of the farm the PC is protecting, but not enough to seriously affect the scenario. The second scenario, Three Blind Mice, is well organized and conceived and is a real toughie with several interesting twists.

If you play Merc, and the idea of campaigning in Rhodesia appeals to you, I can recommend Rhodesia as a worthy purchase. If you just want to get the extra rules introduced here, it might be less cost- effective unless you can adapt the scenarios to another campaign area, or several players go together for a copy and split the information. Devotees of other modern combat games, such as Recon or Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes, should be able to adapt the campaign background and perhaps, with a bit of conversion work, the scenarios to their game systems, but again the price might be a bit high for what they're getting, unless they own Merc itself as well. Hard-core Merc fans, however, should find Rhodesia a worthy addition to the system.

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© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
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