OSR Commentary On Gunboats and Shuttles By Paul Elliot For the Hostile Rpg

 We had a very low key Easter with my folks & over the holiday I've been thinking about the Hostile Rpg. Specifically the Gunboats & Shuttles supplement which includes a pasiche of smaller ships that make up the universe of Hostile. 

Who cares? Well, these are the ships that PC's are going to see day to day working on a corporate colony world. And these are also the ships that are going to be saving the behinds of the PC's. This is especially true of the mercenaries and adventurers. Because these ships are the backbone of any army or force within the Hostile universe. And they are vital on so many fronts from transporation to resupply these ships make up the vital points of the infrastructure chain within a colony or fighting force. 
These ships might also be the only vital link that a colony has to it's resupply ships. 
To say that this is a vital Hostile book is an understatement. Ian Stead one of the artists and illuminataries behind Hostile posted one of my favorite ships from Gunboats & Shuttles on Twitter erm 'X'. 

The Starlifter remains a party favorite and if it looks like it came out of Space 1999. There are reasons for that and that's because this is a boat with mission specific capable cargo inserts. Need a Science mission specific profile cargo insert with a laboratory built in?! The Starlifter has you covered. Right after that your colony needs cargo lifted to the next outreach colony on another world?! The Starlifter has you covered. 
And this goes on and on with this starship/shuttle which is a workhorse and ongoing round about of a craft. 
And I've dropped these seemlessly into our Clement/Earth sector campaigns as well. These ships and gunboats hit the spot to drop into a campaign. For Hostile the high tech level colonies manufacture thier own Starlifters with tonnes of variations available to them. 
The Starlifter is beloved by our players in Hostile rpg because these ships are used by our Russian mercenaries the September Group. And they've saved our guys countless times with shuttles being named after the Russian mythological gods. Our mercenaries have several variatants of the Starlifter that are manufatured exclusively for them. 
Why is the Starlifer beloved?! Because the ship is reliable, tough, and has so many verstile profiles and roles.