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. 

Review & Commentary On Gunboats and Shuttles By Paul Elliott From Zozer Games For The Cepheus Engine Rpg & The Hostile Rpg Campaign

"Escape pods, lifeboats, shuttles, gunboats and dropships – vital smallcraft that play an important part in the gritty American Sector setting of HOSTILE. Nearly all of the smallcraft featured in the setting are covered here, with write-ups, external views and comprehensive deckplans. Included also are two pieces of shuttle-related fiction and a bonus: 11 pages scanned in from the ICO’s Flight Handbook published in 2178!"

 Gunboats & Shuttles by Paul Elliott has been sitting on the gaming table for a couple of months now. It stares at our gaming group like an angry marine waiting for its due. So after a couple monthes reading through the book. Using it & really diving into it helps to not take  Gunboats & Shuttles for granted. You get a full spectrum of mid to small level ships in this book. These are not incidental & their very well done. These are working marines, roughnecks, spacers, & even cargo haulers ships. And in Gunboats & Shuttles you get a full spectrum of ships across the board: 

• Neumayer Escape Pod
• Orchid Lifeboat
• Nomad Ship’s Boat
• Sabre Gunboat
• Starlifter Modular Shuttle (and 10 module variations)
• Halo Heavy Shuttle (all three versions)
• Thunderchief Heavy Shuttle
• Mustang Dropship

The layout is really well done & stats are right at the DM's or player's fingers you get a whole lotta bang for the dollar amount for  Cepheus Engine and the HOSTILE setting. And these craft could potentially be applied for other Cepheus Engine settings as well with the same tech axioms. Everything in Gunboats & Shuttles  is oriented towards actual use & play. 

We really liked where the author took the craft giving us a very nice overview, application, & even possible game use in each entry. And this ties well into the Hostile setting as a whole. The ships here are very useful with artwork by Ian Stead, Algol, & Maxim Zhuravlevthat really makes it easy to show players yes this is what the PC is flying. 

The Heavy lift shuttle is extremely useful for Roughneck or Explorer with a really nice entry. Gunboats & Shuttles brings the heat for adventurers looking for solid mission profiles. And it really feels like a Janes Weapons or vehicle books. 

Gunboats & Shuttles  is a great book for the DM looking to really add in a cinematic feel to their Hostile games. We get some great fake advertising & entries for Gunboats & Shuttles within the Hostile universe.  And these could be used as in game player hand outs. Within this book are some excellent diagrams & maps for use with Cepheus Engine rpg games. 

 Gunboats & Shuttles is an excellent support book for craft that you need for both Cepheus Engine rpg as well the Hostile setting itself. The craft here are great support ships for both marine & even explorer or roughneck PC's.  Gunboats & Shuttles  is an excellent quality book to add to your own Cepheus Engine rpg collection.