Review & Commentary On the Colonial Troopers table top rpg & Colonial Troopers: Knight Hawks By Thomas Denmark Game Campaign Expansion Book

"What if the first RPG was inspired by hard Science Fiction as written by Robert Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, and Frank Herbert instead of Tolkienesque fantasy?
Colonial Troopers is a science fiction RPG compatible with the original fantasy roleplaying game and subsequent editions, and other “OSR” games that follow in the mold of the original like, Guardians, Warriors of the Red Planet, and others. If your tastes run towards battle hardened combat armor, some attention to real physics, and explorations of just what it is to be human, you’ve found the right book. As in the fiction of the above writers, the players are confronted with an unforgiving universe full of wonders and deadly quirks of science ready to astound and enchant, and cull the unwary." 

Sometimes I need a break from the constant fantasy network of Dungeons & Dragons to get back to the roots of my hobby. In this case it was the fact that many of the games that I started out with in the heady days of Seventies war gaming were sci fi or science fantasy games. Games such as the mico game such as Starfire, Warp War,  & many other classic sci fi war games which brings me to Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers by Steve Perrin, & Thomas Denmark. Now this table top role playing game brings together many of the classic races, PC classes, etc. of military science fiction which during the Seventies was huge. Even in the niche circles of wargaming & among science fiction paper back & book fans this was the golden age. But what if Gary Gygax & Dave Aneson had designed original Dungeons & Dragons along these hard Sci fi influences lines?! The result would be the Colonial Troopers table top rpg. 



Basically this game plays like a combination of Dune, Star Ship Troopers, Alien, & many of the 70's thru 90's military sci fi I love so much. I really do love the game but its been heavily & almost totally overshadowed by Stars Without Number. While SWN is a fantastic game Colonial Troopers has all of its own original Dungeons & Dragons feel in military space thing going on right outta of the gate. This is  brings me to the promised space war game/adventure expansion book for Colonial Troopers & yes I'm speaking of  Colonial Troopers: Knight Hawks By Thomas Denmark. Now I went to Mr.Denmark & asked for a copy for review. Fortunately I'm happy to report that this game expansion clocks in at eighty pages of Colonial Troopers goodness.  Yes it comes with a hex map in the PDF so you can run right outta of the the space battles, squad level adventures, dungeon & ruin battles, that you've come to expect out of Colonial Troopers.   Colonial Troopers: Knight Hawks By Thomas Denmark takes space combat, ship stats, ship stat sheets & marries them too the  the Colonial Troopers table top rpg.  So that the dungeon master & players gets the sort of action one might see in an alterative 70's sci fi rpg & table top enivorment especially if your using sci fi minatures or paper minatures.



You can see the intent with the included adventure campaign Zombies on Zeta mini-campaign which encapulses all of the squad level themes within  Colonial Troopers: Knight Hawks By Thomas Denmark. It takes the dungeon clearing action & marries it up with the Bug Hives,
Bugs types, etc. within this book. Yes I love the smell of roasting bug in the morning! There are Conversion Notes for the other games within the Night Owl Worshop lines especially Warriors of the Red Planet.  With Warriors of the Red Planet you get Mars through a Barsoom lens & Colonial Troopers: Knight Hawks By Thomas Denmark you get the rest of the solar system through a military post colonial campaign lens. The game book is well done & the material lives up to the  the Colonial Troopers table top rpg. moniker. I was rather impressed & pleased to grab copies of both of these  games!