Covert Forces Redux: Review Snapshot

It's not often that you'll find me plugging the competition. This time, however, you got me.

I first met Fraser Ronald when he pitched a sourcebook on British Special Ops for the original Blood and Guts line, a book that became In Her Majesty's Service. It was a very well done book for its system, which I'm no longer a huge fan of but hey, live and learn. When I updated the system, Fraser updated IHMS to the Blood and Guts 2 rules.

Since then, Fraser has formed his own company, Sword's Edge Publishing, who release their products at Your Games Now. In addition to being a regular contributor to our Modern Dispatch e-zine, Sword's Edge does some really interesting fantasy and special ops books and I always make a point of keeping tabs on what they're up to.

Which brings us to Covert Forces Redux. Covert Forces began as small products each detailing a new type of special operator. The Redux takes the whole smash and updates it into one big product.

I like this book. I like it's approach. There are 7 classes: Close Quarters Training, Combat Diver Training, Containment Training, Counter-Terrorism Training, Freefall Training, Protection Training and Sniper Training.

If the names of these classes sound familiar, that's because they're a lot like those found in Blood and Guts 2, at least in spirit. In B&G 2 classes represent training, so I had Assault Training, Recon Training, etc.

For the B&G 2 Special Operations sourcebook, I added a single class, the Special Operations Training PrC. Covert Forces sort of takes my concept for advanced training, but instead of one generic class for special operators, they have 7 more specific ones.

I like it, and I especially like that it's just about 100% compatible with my Blood and Guts 2 stuff, which means folks can use both together instead of having to pick one and borrow bits and pieces from the rest.

I recommend anyone running a special ops game in the modern or near future eras to pick up Covert Forces Redux from the Distinguished Competition at Sword's Edge and Your Games Now.