There never enough stuff for a true Battlelord, but nearly 200 pages of armor, weapon and modifications for both and for the character himself (cybernetics and augmentations) is good step.

Battlelords of the 23rd century, now by 23rd century productions, is determined to show it's still in the positive hitpoints zone by releasing new products as quick as they can. Given the vast amount of earlier edition stuff waiting to be updated to the new 7e rules this isn't much of a problem.

“Warmonger's guide: Bootcamp” is an effort to keep a stream of releases coming. It's about 48 pages of fairly dense material for the new edition. Oddly enough, for a game that has a reputation of being mostly based on combat, there is a lot of RPG material here meant to make your characters more detailed in roleplaying terms.

We start with a look at the current year in the BL universe with a notable event that happened in each of the 10 months of it. (The galactic alliance uses a 10 month calendar.) The GM could start his campaign at the beginning and work his way thru whatever events he chooses of make the aftermaths of these events campaign settings.

Then we get to malachi's primer for homebodies, which has brief notes on how each species tends to act in various situations, this is pretty much all RPG material, not a lot of it will be directly useful in combat. It just gives a few general tips, like why Chatilians don't like talking to most people, it's actually not rudeness, why you might want to run if an Eradani's face turns blue and why you should be concerned when a Mutzachan suddenly stops his near constant talk. Just little notes useful for making alien behavior kind of alien.

Then we get some more detailed info on each races culture and biology. Including reproductive biology. Some of it is interesting, some of it we didn't need to know. But again, it fleshes out the alien races. There are also notes on law, government and customs. Nice stuff and again, meant to encourage roleplay.

Now we come to the racial “I was just growing up” tables. The main book has general set of these, bootcamp adds one for each race. Like most of the character development and history tables in BL, these are optional and for good reason. A low roll will usually buff you character a bit and a high one will nerf him severely. If you feel lucky you can roll on the, but beware that if you roll much over 60 you will likely get a bad result, and if you roll a 90+ you should probably just get you character killed and start a new one. The bad results on these tables can really make your character something you don't want to play. That's why they're optional.

There are the quirks tables that you really have to ask yourself “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do, ya, punk? Because this table is generally not good if you roll over 50.

There are a very few new items in the book. A handful of new weapons, 2 disintegrators, a pulse weapon, an affordable omega weapon that does little damage and two arc throwers. There are some examples of 'bargain basement armor” that would likely not be taken by any player but make good armor for things like cultists and street punks recruited as cannon fodder and giving armor that may make them feel safe but really aren't, I.E. good characters for starting PCs to take on. We have some generic equipment like a hostile identification computer built into a set of sunglasses, spray on healing serum for surface wounds and a 'parasite removal tool” I won't describe.

Lastly there are plot hooks, some quite intriguing and nicely suited to BLs space opera setting.

There are a few typos, the weapons sample isn't on the page it's listed on, but its less than 50 pages, you'll find it.

All in all if you like the new edition of BL it's a nice to have, especially if you want to do some roleplaying between combats. At 10 USD it might be just a little overpriced but not badly, and worth it for a little bit to keep you interested until more major releases come. If you just play for combat, this won;t do you a lot of good but buy it anyway to support the company.

Batttlelords of the 23rd century is clearly a labor of love, by old school gamers for old school gamers. The games history goes back to 1990 when the first edition of it was written by a Lawrence Sims, an American military vet.

The game was focused on the fighting men in war, the front line soldiers which is what Lawrence Sims was. It's set in a very much space opera themed setting where the science is fairly soft. Some reviewers have likened it to Star Frontiers and I can't say that's wrong.

It went thru a flurry of editions from 1990-2000, ending with a fairly well done 6E. For the next 20 years little was done with it, tho there were a trickle of products that supported the game.

In 2019 the 7e kickstarter was announced and the 7e was born under a new company and missing the original designer who has retired.

BL23c is somewhat odd in that it has a very space opera style setting put on a very detailed and crunchy rules set that might be better for a more hardcore setting like traveller. However BL's setting is so open that you can run traveller/starmerc style games in it, and it would be perfect for a mass effect RPG.

BL uses a system called the 150 system, which is a percentile roll under system that caps all stats and chances to succeed at 150, with a 01 always succeeding and a 00 (Double Zodds, in game terms) always failing. (For thing with some states that might be beyond 150, the game uses multipliers to the stats effects, a creature might have a high strength and a modifier of x2 or more to its ability to lift and carry, or it's melee damage bonus.)

At heart it's a pretty normal system. You roll to succeed at actions or attacks by taking half your base stat and adding your skill plus some fairly typical modifiers, like range, cover, movement, equipment quality, difficulty level, etc. Nothing really unusual here.

Where BL catches a lot of flak is how many mods there can be and how complex basic tactical combat can get. Combat is a main feature of BL and yes, it can get detailed. The best example is how the standard armor works in the game.

Basic armor has 4 stats. Threshold, which is the actual external armor layer, its rating stops most damage on a point basic. The next stat is absorption, with is a layer of polymers that absorb most incoming damage and ablate away. Armor integrity is the last stat and when an armor section loses all its integrity, the armor is destroyed for that area. Amos also has spaces to put one of more of a vast list of options and modules into;

Armor is heavily affected by the size class of the wearer. A suit of Bear Armor made for a tiny Mutzachen (Think little grey big headed alien ) will have a few things in common with a suit of bear armor made for a hulking Ram Pythonian (Basically think huge lizard/ogre, or a very large and not too bright Krogan from mass effect) but will in general have a lot of differences. Both will have the same threshold and special rules for the armor, but the size class 7 armor will have more absorption, integrity and spaces than a size class 1 armor, but also cost and weigh a hell of a lot more.

Some weapons ignore some or all aspects or armor. Laser weapons flash right thru your absorption, thudd guns are unaffected by threshold. Each weapon has a damage type that defines how it interacts with armor, and there are like 9 of these types leading to some 'figuring' when some shots hit armor.

Combat also covers a lot of other situations, and goes into things like electronic warfare, with electronic counter measures to defeat advanced targeting and electronic counter counter measures (Yes, this is a real thing) designed to compensate for ECM.

Again, this might make a great system for traveller.

The basic game comes with hundreds of different weapons of different types, from modern-day guns knows as 'archaic powder weapons, to lasers, plasma pulse weapons, 'thudd guns' that deliver a massive impact via a projected kinetic forcefield to gravitational shears which use polarized gravity beams to pull targets apart all along the beam's path. Missiles and drones are available, as are autonomous weapons.

The list of armor options would put Iron Man to shame, with things like auto medics, missile launchers, antigravity systems, forcefield generators, sensors, ECM/ECCM systems....the list goes on for ages.

All this can make the game run a little slower until players remember what they have and what it does., Then things speed up.

The skill system is pretty standard, with 15 skill levels divided into 3 levels that have a rising cost per level. The highest skill mod you can get is +75%.

Star wars has the force for it's surrogate magic in a nominal SF setting, BL has matrix powers available mostly to 3 races, tho members of other races can learn some of these at a cost. They are generally not unbalancing at basic levels.

The setting of the game is basically a somewhat corrupt galactic alliance composed of over a dozen races, nothing like the federation in star trek, it's a union created by the oldest and most powerful race in the known universe to fight against a couple major menaces that threaten most people, but mostly the founders of the alliance.

Many races dislike each other and there are rules for what races each race likes, is neutral towards or dislikes. (Yes, the Fott don't even like their own race.) Of course each member of the race can choose how he reacts to others as an individual, and all are expected to get along in the face of a common enemy. Some modern gamers may be offended by the fact the game acknowledges racial animosity as a real thing. So be it. This is not the game for them and it is not made to accommodate them.

As to the races, well, if you liked the races in Mass Effect, you should be ok with these. In fact some of the races in ME remind me of the races in BL. I'm not saying ME had people who played BL on the design team, I'm saying it would not surprise me a'tall of they did.

The default game setting, the alliance, is a pretty typical dysfunctional corporate ran dystopia, with unchecked capitalism basically ruining what could be a great world for most people. Again, it ain't star trek. One thing the setting does not really embrace is the 'transhumanist' field. There are massive cybernetics, bionics and even genetic engineering, but the game does not get into transhumanism to any real degree.

Some people might be offended that huge corporations and uncontrolled capitalism are portrayed fairly negatively in the setting. Again, this may not be the game for them.

BL mostly remains a tactical combat game, tho other things are possible to a good RPG group. The somewhat amorphous setting lends itself to a variety of popular SF themes. This setting would work with novel series like David Drake's Hammer's Slammers (And his Forlorn hope novel), the traveller starmerc setting, the mass effect universe and the like.

A full vehicle and spacecraft combat system rounds out this massive 550 page tome. This book is a complete game with everything.

There are flaws, the layout isn't always clear. You'll see a term like “bumps” mentioned several times early on but not get it defined for a few dozen more pages. The PDF is not hyperlinked so you can't click on a term to go to it's source page. Sometimes rules are laid out in overly complex terms, but mostly a set of handy examples come with each rule to clarify them. A good editing could make the pdf better.

All in all BL is a fairly well done 90's style RPG writ large, very, very large. The stock book comes with enough stuff to make gun bunnies, treadheads, missile monkeys and other gearheads think they've died and gone to the good place.

Batttlelords of the 23rd century is clearly a labor of love, by old school gamers for old school gamers. The games history goes back to 1990 when the first edition of it was written by a Lawrence Sims, an American military vet.

The game was focused on the fighting men in war, the front line soldiers which is what Lawrence Sims was. It's set in a very much space opera themed setting where the science is fairly soft. Some reviewers have likened it to Star Frontiers and I can't say that's wrong.

It went thru a flurry of editions from 1990-2000, ending with a fairly well done 6E. For the next 20 years little was done with it, tho there were a trickle of products that supported the game.

In 2019 the 7e kickstarter was announced and the 7e was born under a new company and missing the original designer who has retired.

BL23c is somewhat odd in that it has a very space opera style setting put on a very detailed and crunchy rules set that might be better for a more hardcore setting like traveller. However BL's setting is so open that you can run traveller/starmerc style games in it, and it would be perfect for a mass effect RPG.

BL uses a system called the 150 system, which is a percentile roll under system that caps all stats and chances to succeed at 150, with a 01 always succeeding and a 00 (Double Zodds, in game terms) always failing. (For thing with some states that might be beyond 150, the game uses multipliers to the stats effects, a creature might have a high strength and a modifier of x2 or more to its ability to lift and carry, or it's melee damage bonus.)

At heart it's a pretty normal system. You roll to succeed at actions or attacks by taking half your base stat and adding your skill plus some fairly typical modifiers, like range, cover, movement, equipment quality, difficulty level, etc. Nothing really unusual here.

Where BL catches a lot of flak is how many mods there can be and how complex basic tactical combat can get. Combat is a main feature of BL and yes, it can get detailed. The best example is how the standard armor works in the game.

Basic armor has 4 stats. Threshold, which is the actual external armor layer, its rating stops most damage on a point basic. The next stat is absorption, with is a layer of polymers that absorb most incoming damage and ablate away. Armor integrity is the last stat and when an armor section loses all its integrity, the armor is destroyed for that area. Amos also has spaces to put one of more of a vast list of options and modules into;

Armor is heavily affected by the size class of the wearer. A suit of Bear Armor made for a tiny Mutzachen (Think little grey big headed alien ) will have a few things in common with a suit of bear armor made for a hulking Ram Pythonian (Basically think huge lizard/ogre, or a very large and not too bright Krogan from mass effect) but will in general have a lot of differences. Both will have the same threshold and special rules for the armor, but the size class 7 armor will have more absorption, integrity and spaces than a size class 1 armor, but also cost and weigh a hell of a lot more.

Some weapons ignore some or all aspects or armor. Laser weapons flash right thru your absorption, thudd guns are unaffected by threshold. Each weapon has a damage type that defines how it interacts with armor, and there are like 9 of these types leading to some 'figuring' when some shots hit armor.

Combat also covers a lot of other situations, and goes into things like electronic warfare, with electronic counter measures to defeat advanced targeting and electronic counter counter measures (Yes, this is a real thing) designed to compensate for ECM.

Again, this might make a great system for traveller.

The basic game comes with hundreds of different weapons of different types, from modern-day guns knows as 'archaic powder weapons, to lasers, plasma pulse weapons, 'thudd guns' that deliver a massive impact via a projected kinetic forcefield to gravitational shears which use polarized gravity beams to pull targets apart all along the beam's path. Missiles and drones are available, as are autonomous weapons.

The list of armor options would put Iron Man to shame, with things like auto medics, missile launchers, antigravity systems, forcefield generators, sensors, ECM/ECCM systems....the list goes on for ages.

All this can make the game run a little slower until players remember what they have and what it does., Then things speed up.

The skill system is pretty standard, with 15 skill levels divided into 3 levels that have a rising cost per level. The highest skill mod you can get is +75%.

Star wars has the force for it's surrogate magic in a nominal SF setting, BL has matrix powers available mostly to 3 races, tho members of other races can learn some of these at a cost. They are generally not unbalancing at basic levels.

The setting of the game is basically a somewhat corrupt galactic alliance composed of over a dozen races, nothing like the federation in star trek, it's a union created by the oldest and most powerful race in the known universe to fight against a couple major menaces that threaten most people, but mostly the founders of the alliance.

Many races dislike each other and there are rules for what races each race likes, is neutral towards or dislikes. (Yes, the Fott don't even like their own race.) Of course each member of the race can choose how he reacts to others as an individual, and all are expected to get along in the face of a common enemy. Some modern gamers may be offended by the fact the game acknowledges racial animosity as a real thing. So be it. This is not the game for them and it is not made to accommodate them.

As to the races, well, if you liked the races in Mass Effect, you should be ok with these. In fact some of the races in ME remind me of the races in BL. I'm not saying ME had people who played BL on the design team, I'm saying it would not surprise me a'tall of they did.

The default game setting, the alliance, is a pretty typical dysfunctional corporate ran dystopia, with unchecked capitalism basically ruining what could be a great world for most people. Again, it ain't star trek. One thing the setting does not really embrace is the 'transhumanist' field. There are massive cybernetics, bionics and even genetic engineering, but the game does not get into transhumanism to any real degree.

Some people might be offended that huge corporations and uncontrolled capitalism are portrayed fairly negatively in the setting. Again, this may not be the game for them.

BL mostly remains a tactical combat game, tho other things are possible to a good RPG group. The somewhat amorphous setting lends itself to a variety of popular SF themes. This setting would work with novel series like David Drake's Hammer's Slammers (And his Forlorn hope novel), the traveller starmerc setting, the mass effect universe and the like.

A full vehicle and spacecraft combat system rounds out this massive 550 page tome. This book is a complete game with everything.

There are flaws, the layout isn't always clear. You'll see a term like “bumps” mentioned several times early on but not get it defined for a few dozen more pages. The PDF is not hyperlinked so you can't click on a term to go to it's source page. Sometimes rules are laid out in overly complex terms, but mostly a set of handy examples come with each rule to clarify them. A good editing could make the pdf better.

All in all BL is a fairly well done 90's style RPG writ large, very, very large. The stock book comes with enough stuff to make gun bunnies, treadheads, missile monkeys and other gearheads think they've died and gone to the good place.

TLDR: As a product, I think this was great - the layout isn't perfect, but it's still a well edited set of rules. It's a fun skills-based system, and if you're looking for crunch (vs rules-lite) this scratches that itch.

I wish that some of the minutiae was boiled down or distilled a bit more - broader rules/modifiers that encompass a wider array of situations. Extending things can be tricky from a balance perspective (because there's a lot to account for).

I just think about how Advantage/Disadvantage and the "Curve Squash" in D&D 5e were such huge improvements over the massive array of modifiers, but I'm not even looking for something THAT streamlined. Just look at some of what goes into figuring out the modifiers for combat:

Single Strike/Shot: Each (subsequent) shot suffers a penalty Hard Cover: 1 Section behind cover, 2 Sections behind cover, etc... Relative Speed (M/SEC): 01-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc... Weather/Environment: Lighting (Dusk/Dawn, Dark Night, Total Darkness/Blind), Rain (Light,Moderate, Downpour/Monsoon), etc...

All that doesn't even take into account which "Range Bracket" (OUT OF 8!) you're in. And the reason you need to factor all that in, is because that's how the game balances things (in much the same way escalating modifiers and AC in D&D 3.5 & Pathfinder balanced things) - skills can go well over 100% (to a cap of 150) and unless you make use of modifiers, it's rare to miss.

I also wish that there were more pre-made monsters and NPCs that I could make use of - I've taken a look at the Uncle Ernie book, but the format of those doesn't quite lend itself to use. I'd like more pirates/mercs/etc. that aren't creations of Ernie - look at how many "Monster Manuals" have been put out by different people, much less the official D&D folks. Something like that would be awesome to see, even if from the community.

All that isn't to say I don't enjoy the game, it just makes it a lot tougher to run than I would like.

Awesome! Feels like the original the artwork is top notch!!

Battlelords of the 23rd Century is one of those games that if you haven't played, you have a friend who has, and they are a better person for it. Want to play exotic alien races who carry powerful weapons? You know you do! Want to travel to new, strange worlds? Of course you do! Want to kill the inhabitants of thoee worlds? Of course you have to, or they will kill you. And if they don't, your commanders will. Really. So it's a good thing your character is an efficent killing machine.

This updated version has a streamlined system that helps keep the game going, and the new artwork is amazing. This really is one of the most fun games out there. They get the idea that gaming is supposed to be fun, and maximize on that. These quickstart rules get the job done, and you will be playing the included-adventure in no time. So get your friends together, roll lots of dice, make sure you're character is friends with the Ram Python, and kick butt.

Excellent summary of the rules, far more robust than most quick starts I've seen. Can't wait to see the full rules!

I think offering a sample of the rules and the scenario is a step in the right direction for growing the playerbase. Battlelords has endured for 30 years for a reason. Everyone I show Battlelords to finds the setting intriguing.

The quick-start rules do a very good job of describing the basics of play and establishing what the universe is about.

Owned all editions of this game, this seems to be a paradigm shift, the biggest rewrite of the rule set since the first edition and by the looks of it a major step forward. Looking forward to the full release.

Battlelords!

Having been a diehard fan of this game/setting/system since the very early 90s and the fact that i own all of the published rulesbooks, including The White One and The Red One, I feel comforable saying that this iteration is by far the best.

The rules have been streamlined, without deviating from the gritty realism, the art is better than ever and the player races have been tweaked nicely to add a bit more balance.

When trying to sell this game to my friends, the words “gritty”, “paramilitary” and “space-opera” inevitably were used. I also would sell it as a foil to traditional fantasy roleplaying stating that there were no elves or dwarves. Of course, the later inclusion of the Goola-Goola Space Dwarves In sourcebooks proved me wrong... but, they are gone in this version of Battlelords!

This game is so much fun. The combat system, while realistic doesn’t bog down the game with endless dice rolling. Speaking of combat; weapons systems galore... laser rifles, pulse cannon, archaic power weapons (guns!) as well as more exotic methods to destroy your enemies: Omega cannons, gravitational sheers, shoulder mounted missile systems, and on and on... Armour in Battlelords is just as varied and offers a near infinite combination due to a wide array of armour systems and a huge selection of armour options.

I could go on and go about the qualities of this game. What it really comes down to is Fun. This game is so much fun to play. It’s a great amalgam of military roleplaying, space opera, hard sci-fi elements, horror with liberal amounts of humour. Getting your RPG group together, strapping on your Kodiak battle armour, making sure your M20 pulse cannon is charged and that you have a BRI (body rehabilitation injection) or 10 handy and heading out on a mission is endlessly entertaining. With total freedom of how you want to approach any given challenge, each adventure can have a huge number of possible outcomes; some good, some bad, so very bad, but all fun.

Buy. This. Game. Actually, download the FREE QuickStart rules first and check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Many times I avoid quickstart rules, viewing them as not worth my time. However, that opinion has recently changed. I quickly grabbed the quickstart rules for Battlelords of the 23rd Century as soon as I had seen that they were posted. Why? Because I knew that the quality, craftmanship, and the love of the game would be present, and it was. The rules are explained and given examples making it easy to understand, with a layout that is not cluttered. The art is used to represent the chapter and is beautifully done. The scenario presented highlits the setting, and does a good job in highliting the system mechanics. All told, it is a perfect introduction to the Battlelords setting, and the 150 system. Now, lock n' load!

As a long time Battlelords player and GM, I eagerly await the full product when it is printed. I will be purchasing it as soon as possible.

Having played this game through all its iterations and having had a chance to peruse the preview and play it at GenCon this year, I can confidently say that this is the best version of Battlelords yet. Fantastic art. Expanded races. Streamlined gaming system while still maintaining the gritty feel of the original game. I can’t wait to introduce my players to this newest version of the greatest space opera sci-fi roleplaying game ever.