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FASA actually stood for FAntasy Simulation Associates, though you won't find that on Wikipedia.

I don't think Chapter Approved was released in Australia either. I never saw it. I wish they kept producing these scenario books though. They didn't have to bin the GM style game play for pitch battles. I don't see why it was seen as an either/or choice by GW.

Also, if anybody is interested I'm actually going through the process of building up the forces to run this campaign.

Details are on my blog at, http://papafakis.blogspot.com/?m=1

Cheers

 Kilkrazy wrote:
FASA actually stood for FAntasy Simulation Associates, though you won't find that on Wikipedia.

I never heard that.

But I did hear the FASA folks singing the Freedonian anthem from Duck Soup at GenCon, many years ago.

The Auld Grump

I interviewed Jordan Weissman's father back in the mid-1980s, for a wargames magazine I was editor of.

I don't remember if the name came up at that time, but I remember the man himself was a very interesting chap, enthusiastic yet business-like. He was happy to come down to our magazine's crappy little office in Hammersmith to talk about Battletech.

I had never heard of the Freedonian name until this thread. Possibly it's something they came up with later on, or maybe as a joke.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I interviewed Jordan Weissman's father back in the mid-1980s, for a wargames magazine I was editor of.

I don't remember if the name came up at that time, but I remember the man himself was a very interesting chap, enthusiastic yet business-like. He was happy to come down to our magazine's crappy little office in Hammersmith to talk about Battletech.

I had never heard of the Freedonian name until this thread. Possibly it's something they came up with later on, or maybe as a joke.

If it was a joke then it was a joke that they repeated a lot more often than the reason that you were given.

And it goes waaayyy back - when I heard them singing, their best selling products were deck plans for Traveller. Shadowrun was not yet a neon glimmer. Battledroids had not yet been released, let alone Battletech. (But there was Gravball, which used rules similar to Snapshot to create a sports game.)

The Auld Grump - I wish that I still had those deck plans, I used them a heck of a lot.

 Optimus wrote:
I don't think Chapter Approved was released in Australia either. I never saw it. I wish they kept producing these scenario books though. They didn't have to bin the GM style game play for pitch battles. I don't see why it was seen as an either/or choice by GW.

Also, if anybody is interested I'm actually going through the process of building up the forces to run this campaign.

Details are on my blog at, http://papafakis.blogspot.com/?m=1

Cheers

Oh it certainly WAS released. I still have my copy. Purchased from HobbyCo in Sydney (when they were still on George street, opposite the cinemas, and Sydney still had a "Mind Games" store). They did do a few more scenario books - one was orks/dark angels (but that was for 2nd ed) - it even came with more necromunda compatible terrain.

Good collection of relics there

Oh it certainly WAS released. I still have my copy. Purchased from HobbyCo in Sydney (when they were still on George street, opposite the cinemas, and Sydney still had a "Mind Games" store). They did do a few more scenario books - one was orks/dark angels (but that was for 2nd ed) - it even came with more necromunda compatible terrain.

I never saw it in Melbourne, but you guys got a GW store a few years before us. So Matthew that's why?

Chapter approved was the only RT scenario book they did though. The later one's aren't a patch on The Wolf Time scenario IMO. They were basically "line'em up, knock'm down" affairs, dressed up with minimal fluff & flashy artwork to sell the story.

You don't have a Mind Games store anymore? That's a shame.

I was only aware of it for about 3-4 years, but it was broken into and robbed, and the store closed down to never reopen.

The cbd was a veritable mecca for hobbying stuff back then.

From Tin Soldier in the Dymocks arcade (where it was surrounded by bridal stores on its floor) moving down to Hobbyco and MG. 5-6 block walk all up. All on the same street. There was also "Napoleons military bookstore" that also sold gaming stuff, but was more historical one block to the side. This was before GW opened a single store here.

This was back when the cinemas took up about half the block (Village 4 at one end, Hoyts 5 complex at the other end) - better part of 30 years ago.

CA wasn't a hard book to find up here, and I know milsims had copies back then (catalog mail order - although I tended to visit melbourne and go direct - since my work at the time had a supplier across the road)

I recall GW opening their first sydney store under the Hilton - it was tiny. Newcastle was the first regional store they opened - and Wollongong followed the next year (2 for 1 sale).

 chromedog wrote:
I was only aware of it for about 3-4 years, but it was broken into and robbed, and the store closed down to never reopen.

The cbd was a veritable mecca for hobbying stuff back then.

From Tin Soldier in the Dymocks arcade (where it was surrounded by bridal stores on its floor) moving down to Hobbyco and MG. 5-6 block walk all up. All on the same street. There was also "Napoleons military bookstore" that also sold gaming stuff, but was more historical one block to the side. This was before GW opened a single store here.

This was back when the cinemas took up about half the block (Village 4 at one end, Hoyts 5 complex at the other end) - better part of 30 years ago.

CA wasn't a hard book to find up here, and I know milsims had copies back then (catalog mail order - although I tended to visit melbourne and go direct - since my work at the time had a supplier across the road)

I recall GW opening their first sydney store under the Hilton - it was tiny. Newcastle was the first regional store they opened - and Wollongong followed the next year (2 for 1 sale).

We had a Napoleonics military bookstore in Melbourne too. They've been gone for ages. I never went to Milsims for a few reasons, I wasn't old enough to drive in the 80's It was very far from my home & public transport was terrible out that way. Mind Games was (and still is) the biggest game shop in Melbourne. There are a few others spread around the city that were there back in the day still though. GW opened and closed in quite a few locations in and around the city. They are really great at repelling new customers with their stupidly high prices....so they never last too long in any one place.

Cheers

& we're back again, this tie with a look at the very first army lists for 40k.

As mentioned the original Rogue Trader rules assumed a GM who would decide the forces and balance things as needed. IE: if the Marines are doing too well, them maybe some Ambulls will burst out of the ground in the middle of their lines and even things up.

There was an archane point system but it always seemed an afterthought to me. Equipment was determined randomly, like the old D&D Monster Manuals.

But with this book, GW took a step towards making 40k a head-to-head competitive game. And never looked back.

The advantages are obvious, you look at the models you own, make an army list then play whoever's handy at an agreed-upon point level. No need to decide/design a scenario, buy & paint the right models (or proxy) in advance.



Even so these lists are still a bit odd. First off there's none of the special rules that have flavored (or polluted) later versions of the game. The only difference between a Space Marine, an Ork and a Zoat is the statline and equipment. I makes for a (much) cleaner game (the only example I see of RT being cleaner than later edition) but also makes for a somewhat tedious read.

And there's still some odd randomness to it.



Oh you painted up an Inquisitor? Sorry you rolled a Navigator, better go buy another model kid.

Yep.

There's a reason GW is in business while TSR ain't.

(See! I listen! I stopped picking on FASA)




The honor of the first 40k army list goes to the White Scars of all people. These White Scars have nothing in common with later version, no Mongol flavor, no focus on bikes, but the do set the template for all marine army lists to follow.

Wait... Tyranids are foul servants of Chaos?

Their special squads are Soul Drinkers (never let a good name go to waste eh Ben Counter), close combat specialists with power swords and refractor fields. And Cobra squads, assault squads with JUMP PACKS! What an awesome idea!



Then there are Tactical Squads with flamers and heavy bolters



"Switchblade" assault squads with 2 bolt pistols



And "Thunderer" support squads with 4 heavy weapons.



Support is limited to Land Raiders and the infamous 'Grav Attack" tank, AKA the flying deodorant canister.



No rhinos, scouts or terminators yet, but in many ways they already set the template for all marine armies that would follow.

The Imperial Army however, well...





Led by a brigadier general (in real Life that's a one-star) they have 3 kinds of assault squads - human, squat and a new troop type called an Ogryn.



Tactical squads can be human or squat, and have no heavy weapon. Those are found in Hurricane and Volcano Squads.



So in this book Squats are not a separate faction but an alternate to human troops (slower but tougher and with better leadership).



The book also has a list for Rogue Traders and another for Pirates.




The Rogue Trader force is a mashing of Marine and Imperial Army units.





Someone has to make this model. Please?




Nothing too special rules-wise but at least the trader gets a Shuriken Catapult.


While the Pirates are a mash of Imperial Army and Eldar units (which we'll come to).



The orks have almost the same stat line as humans, and quite different names.





Including an early use of 'Commissar'



And Orks would continue to carry bolt guns through 2nd edition



The Eldar raiders are kind of half formed.



This guy for instance could be put in a contemporary codex and no one would say a word.

But things like craftworlds and aspect warriors and the Eldar Path would not come for a bit longer. So we have Eldar as vaguely aristocratic pirates with their loyal Zoat allies and oddly Roman titles like Imperator and Probati.



One thing that was in place though is that the Shuriken catapult was the Eldar's signature weapon.



Well them and roller-blading guardsmen in a city made of glass.

Their mainstays were Serpent Squads, Dragon Squads and of course that iconic Eldar unit, the Zoat terror squad.



Who were armed with weapons that GW never made models for...

Join us next time when we look at some of the named characters this book had to offer, including some of the most badass clerks ever to grace the 41st millennium.

Your quite good at this review business you know

Thank you

And just to be complete I should admit I'm two-timing Dakka, cross posting this in the Old Hammer forums.

http://forum.oldhammer.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8312&p=74705#p74705

Thanks for the excellent read, Kid Kyoto

Thanks for the continuing review

Remember guardians being armed with lasguns and the like. Actually think some of the 1st edition eldar models hold up really well, especially the aspect warriors that came along at about WD127 time, even by today's standards (although are a little small in scale nowadays)

 notprop wrote:
I loved the RT ruleset.

I spent hours using the vehicle/robot creation rules, probably hundreds of hours with the Robot/Dreadnaught creation rules that came in WD.

The only proble with the former as that they made any sort of usable Armoured vehicle massively expensive. 500point land raiders anyone?

Not to mention that vehicles in those days were death traps.

The updated Dreanaught rules from WD were a lot of fun, as well as heralding Codex Creep that was to come.

Nice, oh yeah Space marine toughness 3 i remember that

I also remember the outrage when they were increased to T4

(Was in the 40K compendium wasn't it? The one with all of the Blood Angels coming out of the vehicle and surrounded by Genestealers)

 Pacific wrote:
I also remember the outrage when they were increased to T4

(Was in the 40K compendium wasn't it? The one with all of the Blood Angels coming out of the vehicle and surrounded by Genestealers)

That's the one, IIRC in one fell sqoop Marines got overwatch, an early version of Know no Fear and a toughness boost.

No increase in points of course.

Don't be silly.

And we're back with the third and final section of the book, the special characters.

Unlike the somewhat dry army lists this section just oozes character off the pages till it leaks onto the floor and collects in little puddles like some kind of overly extended metaphor.

The focus is entirely on the Imperium but rather than Marines or Guard it's all about the secondary (and tertiary and quadrinary) Imperial factions like the Arbites, the Inquisition, Rogue Traders, Navigators and even the Administratum.

Even odder, although Rogue Trader had a rich line of miniatures including all the factions I listed none of these characters seem to be based on existing models. Instead they all get unique and very characterful art by Ian Miller. One day (ONE DAY!) I'm going to sit down with a mountain of plastic and convert models for every one of these guys.

And yeah, they are all guys. GW has changed a lot over time, but it ain't changed that much.

So let's jump in...



Stugen Deathwalker (son of Suzy and Gary Deathwalker, they had a little grox farm near the river) is responsible for the trial and execution of his own close family, including Aunt Hilda Deathwalker, Cousin Marty Deathwalker and even his little brother Gary Deathwalker Jr. And OMG, if can squint as his equipment it includes (besides Bionic Lungs and 18 doses of web solvent) a power board! Because nothing say unrelenting grimdark administrator of the law quite like a power board!


PH34R ME!



Moharn 'Porky' Piett is another penal legion commander, one with rather eccentric culinary tastes, even on the front lines he never seems to run short on rations, though his command has an oddly high number of missing troopers. I love it. I'm thinking of something like at the start of the battle he can remove d3 models from any squad, gain an extra wound for himself and make that squad fearless. How did he never get a model but Col Schafer did? I mean is there anything about Col Schaefer that's remotely interesting?



Representing the Adeptus Mechanicus we have Erasmus Darvin a Praefect Acquisitor whose job is to find and remove alien artifacts on the battlefield. He's a native of Luna (yes that Luna, the one out your window) and because of his high-born status he was denied his ambition of becoming an enginseer. Instead he was given an electrograft (basically burning information into his brain) and send to evaluate alien artifacts. Unfortunately the graft is breaking down and he's starting to go insane. His weapons and armor are a mishmash of Eldar, Jokaero and Tyranid (!!) gear.

So yeah, nothing interesting here, certainly nothing as worthy of a model as Col Schaefer.



Pala Gruet is an Enginseer on the Dreadnaut Wotan, belonging to the Iron Fist Marine Chapter. He loves his engines but alas he is sometimes forced to go to the front lines to advise on technical matters. So he stays up late practicing his quick draw techniques in the mirror, just in case.



Representing the scribes, accountants and clerks of the galaxy is Corwen Quilp, Field Notary. He has all the personality of a filing cabinet, which is useful since his job is to go to the front lines and write down everything that is done and said.



Friar Yodus Mange - Mission Confessor is a former Inquisitor who decided to dedicate himself to life of spreading the faith and punishing lapses. Right there he has more of a story arc than most of the current special characters. Just think of it, after years of punishing the guilty he quits and tries to build something up rather than tearing stuff down, to inspire hope and faith rather than fear. But he just can't help sliding back to his old ways when he find fault.



Jaku Dihardis (Jack Die Hard?) is a hive world assassin specializing in assassination and impersonation of rebellious officials. Nothing too interesting (though his weapons list is hysterical, a flamer? he carries a flamer? for assassination work?) I think his needle fingers and general MO inspired both the Calidus and Eversore assassins who followed. Also his armor list is amazing, 4 different invulnerable saves and back then he got to take all 4! Course he does come in at over 600 points so there's that.



Tarik Gortsuker is a psi assassin. I wonder why GW didn't continue with the idea of psi assassins, we have anti psi assassins of course, but no pro psi assassins. Interesingly he likes to fry his opponents' brains before finishing them off with conventional weapons, but as far as I can tell he doesn't actually have any powers that fry brains. Likes of buff powers, lots of stealth, some moral powers, but no actual mind melting powers. So he's probably quite frustrated with his lot in life, always wishing he could melt minds but never able to do it...



Inquisitor Tharg, scary dude, bionic eye, carries a portable rack, not much to add.



Psi-Inquisitor Thor Malkin, scary x2, level 4 psy, 3 different invulnerable saves, and a cool illustration.



Hernando Jurkantz is a Navigator and suffers from many of the secondary mutations that afflict them. After surviving a crash on a feral world he's a bit more combat ready than his peers.

Navigators never really got much attention in 40k. Just one RT model, no special rules, even the 3rd eye deal didn't pop up till later. Which is a shame because they were very cool in both the Dune books and film and they are supposed to be very important in the Imperium.

If you want to see their potential realized check out Wierding Way's gallery.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-84355-39945_Navigator%20Household.html





The other navigator is Seeken, disowned by his family he seeks his fortune where ever he can find it.



Rogue Traders are another iconic faction that, till the RPG got almost no attention. Other than this book and an unofficial set of 2nd edition rules in the Citadel Journal I don't think they've ever had a table top role. It's a shame.

Tyrel 'Destroyer' Cathek is just awesome. With his short stature and overlong arms (and silly hat, I mean dude what's up with that?) people tend to underestimate him. So he exterminates them. All of them.

"As his decisions to terminate are based on his many deep-seated phobias and prejudices, Tyrel has yet to find a planet where the inhabitants are not a threat."

Note his equipment includes 'extensive supplies of every item in the equipment section' as well as noting he has 100 marines of the Stone Hearts Chapter and 2 companies of Imperial Army.

And finally we have...


Pataex Hitsen, Psi Trader is easily bored. How easily? He once jettisoned his troops into space because he hated their uniformity. So now he recruits from new worlds he find which makes for an exotic and at times not-too-boring bunch.

Now that my friends, is how you write with character.

Join us next time when I'll post some final thoughts on this long-forgotten chapter of 40k history.

Bob Monkhouse in 40k..........
Hoping to read the next Black Library novel featuring Jon Jon Blanchisan and his reaction to the changes in his beloved uniforms. Equally I have a feeling he suffered a grotesque fate as after all have you ever seen marines in camouflage since?

Cracking article once more, shame it has now ended! :(

Are you accepting suggestions for further reviews?

Wraping up, I think the big question here is why was this book forgotten?

While a handful of elements were taken forward, the 1 paragraph on the Horus Heresy being the most important, for the most part the characters, army lists, etc we never heard from again.

Even as GW strip mines its history for new toys I doubt we'll ever hear from Commander Storm or Governor Kulo again. Much less Porky.

And I think the reason is this was a transition book. As GW figured out what it wanted Warhammer 40k to be, things like GM'ed campaigns disappeared. The early army lists didn't offer much in the way of options and mashed up units without much rhyme or reason. The next major RT rule book, the Compendium (the red book) had much stricter division of forces and also saw a major expansion of the available model range with the addition of Rhinos, Ork Battlewagons, Robots and such.

So one last question, should you buy this?

If you have an interest in Rogue Trader, I'd make it a low priority. It's a rare and often pricey book, even in poor condition, right now I see a copy that's falling apart going for $80 on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Warhammer-40k-Chapter-Approved-Book-of-the-Astronomican-Rules-Rogue-Trader-/301938935111?hash=item464cf68547:g:m6wAAOxyFjNSPyLG

It's a curiosity, and maybe an interesting one, but I would rank the original RT book, the 2 chaos books and the Compendium and Compilation above it.

As for what's next, I'll take suggestions but as always time and energy are limited. These reviews take a lot more time than the usual snark and nonsense I post so I can't just pump them out.

And it ain't like I have a trademark on retro reviews so if you have some wargaming curiosity, feel free to jump in.

My general plan right now is...

An index of past Retro Reviews
A return to my unfinished Rogue Trader Review
Then either the Compendium or maybe Warhammer Siege which I just ordered.

But no promises.

Thanks for reading!

I have for years vaguely threatened to do a retro review of Laserburn. This is the SF skirmish game Bryan Ansell wrote before he moved to GW.

If people are interested I could dig out that, and Imperial Commander and Advanced Laserburn and Aliens. It will take some time to do them justice and get scans done and so on, so I can't promise anything too quickly.

The plus of reviewing these titles is that you can still buy them from 15mm.co.uk along with all the original figures.

And my index is done!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Kid%20Kyoto%20Retro%20Review%20Index

So if you want to do a deep dive into nostalgia check some of them out.

I also discovered that I did the scans and uploads for 2 or 3 more retro reviews but never got around to writing them

I had a burst of inspiration the other night and cooked up this



Not a bad likeness, he even has 'overlong arms' from the SM arms.



I think the silly flag adds a certain something to him.

Not pictured: His power sword, bolt pistol, neural disruptor, web gun, needler, and power glove.

Looks great! The original sketch gives him long arms.

Kilkrazy wrote:I have for years vaguely threatened to do a retro review of Laserburn. This is the SF skirmish game Bryan Ansell wrote before he moved to GW.

If people are interested I could dig out that, and Imperial Commander and Advanced Laserburn and Aliens. It will take some time to do them justice and get scans done and so on, so I can't promise anything too quickly.

The plus of reviewing these titles is that you can still buy them from 15mm.co.uk along with all the original figures.

http://www.15mm.co.uk/collections/laserburn-15mm-science-fiction

Yeah, I always thought Laserburn was cool. Like early 40k, it's a lot more honest that its borrowing whatever cool things the author wanted from other stories, movies, etc.,. Lots of influence from 2000 AD.

I look forward to your review if it ever happens. I've found that in many ways my phone's camera is better than a scanner at getting snippets on the internet fast and painlessly.

Great job here, Kyoto. A very enjoyable readthrough!

 Optimus wrote:
I don't think Chapter Approved was released in Australia either. I never saw it. I wish they kept producing these scenario books though. They didn't have to bin the GM style game play for pitch battles. I don't see why it was seen as an either/or choice by GW.
Also, if anybody is interested I'm actually going through the process of building up the forces to run this campaign.
Details are on my blog at, http://papafakis.blogspot.com/?m=1
Cheers

I still have my original copy. In decent condition, too - so yes, they did. This was before GW had a local presence, though - Walrus & Carpenter in Sydney was the distributor, so it would depend on what your LGS ordered in, I suppose.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Optimus wrote:

You don't have a Mind Games store anymore? That's a shame.

MG is where I got mine. As mentioned, it wasn't around for all that long, though.