If mounting a hostile assault from orbit this is a good way to get some boots on the ground. Capable of carrying a couple of squads of Marine-style troops in full Battle Dress plus their equipment and even vehicles, it is capable of making a powered or even unpowered landing in the face of the sort of major firepower ground-based defences can sustain - and can shoot back even on the way down or once landed with ship-quality artillery!

There's a good description of the tactical uses of the drop pod, and full statistics for it including crew details; as well as several drawings of external views (in Hollnbuchner's usual crisp style) as well as basic floorplans of the interior.

The text could use a proof-read, and the drop pod is equipped with 'nuclear dampeners' should you have the need to get any nuclear material wet (!) but otherwise, if your adventures involve either making such a hostile landing or being on the receiving end of one this is a useful and quite unusual addition to your Traveller fleet.

This is a nice crisp battlemap most suitable for a contemporary setting, with one road passing over another on a bridge. High jinks during a car chase, an sniper attack or a good place for a road block, perhaps?

The illustration makes the relationship between the two roads plain although it is a bit harder to see in the top-down view of the fullsize battlemap itself. Shading is minimal which makes even the edges of the roadbridge a little hard to see. Both roads have a substantial-looking concrete median between the carriageways. The bridge also has railings, while the road going underneath has a grassy slope leading down to it on either side. Both roads also have regular lamp standards. The battlemap appears to be set in the daylight, a night-time variant could prove quite interesting.

This is a nice addition to the collection, and I can imagine it proving handy if car chases and other activities feature in your games. Just looking at it reminds me of an incident in a Spycraft game - a very frustrating incident as I know a lot more about defensive driving than my character did and could have evaded the trap my attackers set!

Ich gestehe, ich bin mittlerweile ein Fan von Hollnbuchners Arbeiten. Die schiere Masse an Karten sorgt dafür, dass man kaum eine Szenerie vermisst und auch alle Epochen, wie Settings, bedient werden.

Die mir vorliegende Karte unterteilt sich in 6 Segmente und kann mittels einer Anweisung schnell zusammengefügt werden. Wer nicht rahmenlos drucken kann, knickt die Ecken einfach um und verbindet die Kartensegmente mit Tesafilm auf der Rückseite.

Gezeigt ist ein Wald mit einem schmalen Pfad aus geschotterter Erde. Durch die Zeitlosigkeit des Designs kann die Karte daher für fast alle Settings benutzt werden. Schattenwürfe bei den Bäumen sorgen für eine gewisse Tiefe. Leicht ist erkenntlich, wer wo in Deckung ist und wie agieren kann. Auch wenn ich nach wie vor bemängele, dass ein paar Details wie abgebrochene Äste etc für etwas mehr Ambiente gesorgt hätten, ist der Preis mehr als angemessen. Ich empfehle einen Blick in das gesamte Angebot des Designers, es lohnt sich.

Auf jeden Fall ist die Karte funktional und das reicht den meisten Runden. Und ist das nicht das wichtigste?

In the usual neat and clear style of this artist/publisher, this is just what it says: a wind turbine.

It would be nice to have some indication of how high it is, although either the surrounding trees are pretty small or the beast is truly massive! Whilst you have a square grid on the ground to regulate movement if you are running a skirmish here you are going to have to wing it a bit if any characters decide to use the internal stairs to reach the cabin containing the generators - bent on sabotage, perhaps. Except as a vantage point, there doesn't seem to be much else reason for clinbing up there, certainly not one requiring the use of a battlemap (which kind of indicates the likelihood of combat).

Art is clear and crisp, well detailed; and the assembly instructions are likewise precise and easy to follow. I'm just struggling a bit to come up with a scenario in which I actually need to purchase a dedicated battlemap for a visit to a wind turbine but if you have one, well, here you are!

In his usual crisp, slightly minimalist style, this Battlemap shows a segment of a battlefield where a section of field artillery - of roughly 19th-century period - has been set up on a rise backed by trees overlooking the main field of combat. Neat touches include ammunition stacked up in the shade of the trees and the fact that trees in front of the artillery position have been felled to give a clear field of fire.

As well as a single-page overview, the map is presented as 12 separate sheets to print out and stick together for use with miniatures. Whilst the battlefield proper is not really included, it would be possible to print out several copies of that side of the map to extend it - of use should your game involve the artillery actually firing with you needing to calculate fall of shot and the damage done to the enemy.

The various components are nicely-rendered, with tree cover, the artillery itself, and a track and wall separating what is supposed to be a slight rise from the main field. The top-down view doesn't make it very easy to see the slope, you have to assume that it is there.

Perhaps of limited use, as it's a very specific situation... but if that's what you want, it is well done!

Planetary bombardment on the cheap! A very interesting idea which will show up in my new Traveller game.

It's interesting because most pirates in the past have preyed on settlements rather than on ships, for the most part. And this ship keeps with that tradition.

I will have to convert it for my upcoming campaign (contact me if you're from State College PA), because piracy will be a large theme of the campaign. Having a ship like this in orbit will definitely tilt the odds towards the pirates, and give the heroes something to think about (like, can they destroy the ship before it gets another shot off).

http://www.teilzeithelden.de

Die mir vorliegende Karte zeigt einen Sumpf mit feuchten bis morastigen Bereichen und beinhaltet auf den Wasserflächen nette Details wie Seerosen. Die dargestellten Bäume haben einen Schattenwurf und damit wird der Battlemap eine gewisse Tiefe verliehen. Einleitende Worte auf englisch eröffnen die nötige Atmosphäre, hier kann sich ein SL gut bedienen.

Stolze 12 Kartensegmente, je DIN A4 (etwas kleiner), bilden die Gesamtkarte und geben damit viel Raum für Gefechte. Leider sind die Bodentexturen recht einfach gehalten und bergen damit die Gefahr, langweilig zu wirken. Ich habe meinen Drucker etwas heller gestellt, da ich die Bildqualität sonst als etwas zu dunkel empfinde.

Eine "Bauanleitung" begleitet das pdf und macht so das Zusammenlegen recht einfach. Ich empfehle, entweder rahmenlos zu drucken oder aber die einzelnen Abschnitte so zurecht zu schneiden, dass ein nahtloses Gesamtkonstrukt entsteht, wenn man die einzelnen Blätter zusammenklebt.

Hollnbuchners unermüdlicher Elan ist beeindruckend, wenn es darum geht, Szenerien für Gefechte zu liefern. Die Map macht einen soliden Gesamteindruck und wird bedingungslos weiterempfohlen.

Ein höheres Rating hätte ich vergeben, wenn mehr Details die Landschaft aufgefrischt hätten und damit abwechslungsreicher gemacht hätten.

This one is quite nice. It not only gives a 3D-Look at the space ship, but also describes the crew (including profiles) and adds some possible lesser plot hooks caused by the captain or the crew man. Also the ship's profile is included. I like the idea of a luxurious space yacht.

Although the book is intended to be used with Traveller, the information contained therein would also fit to a lot of other SciFi Settings. last but not least there is also a deck plan, which i would have liked more, if drawn bigger.

This is another great map from Chris. Very useful for a myriad of game types. Definitely worth the money.

Another battle map by Christian. The 3d rendering, this time, is pretty decent. The map of the junk is nice too. Great colors that are vivid and nicely detailed. But, I was surprised that the map of the junk does not show the junk being on water. It sits on a sea of gray....that is sorta weird.

My preference would be to change the gray to a blue to depict the ocean. The end result would be much improved. All in all, not bad for its price.

Like his Courtyard battle map, this has certain pros and cons. The 3d rendering is the only con. It is subpar.

But, the actual maps are fantastic. Vivid colors, great layout, good imagery. There's no doubt in my mind that this would be a good addition to any DM's map collection. It is affordable to boot.

The layout is very nice. The colors are spot on. The 3d rendering is subpar. But, and this is the key, BUT the top down map is FANTASTIC. I can see using it for RPGs, modern war, or even minis games. It could make a nice map for something like D&D Minis, Star Wars Minis, Heroclix, etc etc etc.

I liked this so much and I think it is worth the price. Definitely give this a go.

It is great, I used the battle map as the setting for a zombie plague expansion. I expect to purchase more as the need exists for more expansion areas.

Pros -These map ornaments are very clean and should be able to fit seamlessly onto just about any custom map. There are several angles and varieties of of the art enabling a few different options for use. I am a do-it-yourself-er (as most GMs are) and these will be very handy when making custom maps for my players.

Cons - All graphics in this set are gold and very clean, but all pieces are drawn in the same style. I would have liked to have seen some more rugged or "hand drawn" graphics for treasure maps and such.

-Dan@CarpeGM.net

I like the symetrical design of the map. It's easily glued together and nicely designed. I advise to adjust the brightness when printing, otherwise it will be a little bit to dark