Gurps Wwii: Iron Cross (Steve Jackson Games)

Rating:
Summary: The rise and fall of the 3rd Reich
Review: "GURPS: World War Two: Iron Cross" is the first large sized supplement to Steve Jackson Games' attempt to bring the battles of WWII to life for gamers.

There are six chapters in this book again - but there is quite a bit of additional detail in these chapters. Starting with "Germany At War", this chapter covers German history in a capsule format again. The detail about the course of the war for Germany and the Germans can even be appreciated by non-gamers for its attention to even how German families were affected by World War Two. "The German Army" chapter gives a comprehensive section on the Armies of the Fatherland. This additional info on the German Army adds richness to the background promised in GURPS WWII. "Characters" gives you everything you need to create German PC's and NPC's for a WWII campaign. The characters section adds more to what is already known by WWII GM's, and includes 4 more sample characters. The additional character templates in this section give GM's a look at the finer details of German characters and life. The "German Armoury" chapter gives GM's a more detailed look at German armament and vehicles. Almost every weapon and most vehicles used by the Germans is in this section. "Inside the Third Reich" looks at socialism, the courts, and life while under the Reich. There's even a look at the POW camps and concentration camps inside the Third Reich. In "Campaigns" there's campaigning info for players and GM's. This campaign info includes style and substance info, and several alternate timelines and histories to explore for creative GM's.

This book is a fine addition to the WWII info started in GURPS: World War Two. This book answers the challenge of bringing some depth to the already rich campaign available for World War Two. There are other books already printed continuing the series, and more forthcoming. I can't recommend "GURPS World War Two: Iron Cross" highly enough for GM's wanting to "fill in the blanks". This book is a great addition to the GURPS library and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to try an adventure or a whole campaign set in this time of peril. One would hope that similar detail will be also be present in the forthcoming GURPS: World War II: "Japanese" book.