"Behind Enemy Lines is a role-playing game which allows you to take on the character of a U.S. infantryman in World War II. Parachute drops, night raids, sniper ambushes, pitched battles, combat patrols, and long-range reconnaissance probes are the challenges you face. Your enemy is cunning, well-trained, and well-equipped. Your ingenuity, your courage, and skill are all that stand between you and disaster.
CONTENTS:
* Book 1 - Character Generation and Basic Rules. 96 pages of information and tables ranging from character generation, tank data and equipment weights to the basic sighting and fire tables. Simple and complex games can be played with selected use of this information.
* Book 2 - Event tables - 48 pages filled with event tables for all types of terrain and situations. In all, 38 tables giving detailed Game Master information and general player descriptions are included.
* Book 3 - Missions - A 56 page booklet containing three full length missions, four incidents, historical biographies, and 192 non-player characters. A 16 page booklet filled with maps for the missions and incidents is also included.
* 112 illustrated counters depicting American and German soldiers, civilians and special equipment, are provided. The counters are two-sided, showing active and incapacitated states of the various characters.
* Four cardstock sheets of the charts and tables most used in play. Also included is a sample character sheet."
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Two versions of the same game...-,
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This review is from: Behind Enemy Lines: World War II Role-Playing Game [BOX SET] (Hardcover)
While it appears by dates that FASA's version (1982) is the original, I had The Companions' version (1985 -- red box, with b&w period photos instead of line drawings) originally.Comparing the two, however, is not the point of this review, although I do prefer the other version. FASA's edition is representative of that era's organisational, editorial, and artistic/layout commonalities, making an already complex subject a bit more difficult to absorb. The rules are not as refined as those that would follow in later years, and the game is stitched together with sub-systems and 'mini-games', most of which do follow a general premise, but are mired by minutiae of modifiers. One example is the procedure for hand-to-hand combat, in which the effects of wounds continuously affects the ability of the soldiers to perform their actions, complicated by the length of the weapon's reach, etc. --While this all is reasonable, perhaps even desirable in a game of this sort, the execution is far less refined than it could, with decades of hindsight, have been. BOOK 1 Character Generation and Basic Rules Table of Contents Introduction, Characters and Character Creation, Wounding and Character Condition, Game Modes, Sighting, Night Movement and Combat, Surprise, Weather, COMBAT, Artillery Fire, Mortar Fire, Grenades, Weapons, Flamethrowers, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Tanks, Antitank Weapons, Event Tables, Maps and Mapmaking, Troop Quality, Interrogation and Rumors, Medals and Decorations, Communications, Mines, Gear, Explosions and Explosives, Paratroops, Rangers, Appendix I - Surviving Behind Enemy Lines, Appendix II - Surviving Behind Enemy Lines as a Game Master, Appendix III - An Introduction to Role Playing Games, Appendix IV - Glossary, Appendix V - Bibliography, Appendix VI - US Weapons and Equipment, Appendix VII - German Weapons and Equipment, Appendix VIII - Index Character Generation involves a mildly random determination of four characteristics: STRENGTH, ENDURANCE, WEAPON HANDLING, and AGILITY, each of which is rolled using 1d6+4 (5-10 range). STAMINA is the average of STRENGTH and ENDURANCE. Weight is also randomly determined, as it is important to certain rules, and is modified upwards or downwards by both Strength and Agility. --Characteristics tests are made on 2d6, attempting to roll less than or equal to the given score. It is stated that Weapons Handling ''might also be labeled "Dexterity", but is applied primarily as a measure of how well he can handle a gun, how steady his hand, how smoothly he can squeeze the trigger, in short is he just a "naturally" good shot?'' Specifically a +1 modifier in combat for every 2 points in Weapons Handling above 6 (+1 for 8, +2 for 10). --Conversely, Agility is the whole-body characteristic used not only in hand-to-hand combat, but also in physical tasks such as sliding one's body under wire, or climbing a tree. ---Endurance is a regulator of consciousness and performance/stress, while Stamina is a measure of life. At 0 Endurance, one is unconscious; at 0 Stamina, one is dead. * Skills: Background; Basic (Training); Acquired (improvements to Basic), with the overlap in Background and Acquired differentiating characters. --It is stated that at the time, roughly 56% of the US population was Urban, and this is reflected in a 1d10 roll used to determine the character's Background. Once this is determined, the rules encourage the biographical particulars to be established (including region, city, name, and nicknames, etc.) Skills are diced for, with each receiving different chances based upon either Urban or Rural background. One nice feature of this is the reflection on the prevalence of certain ethnic European languages, as well as their degree of familiarity. * Wounding: This is serious business. Although Stamina is used to track progressive blood-loss, etc., it is the incidence of receiving Wounds (1 to 3) and a roll of 2d6 for each, which can result in a light Wound / Scratch, to Instant Death. Each of these levels of wounding carry with them some actual game effect, such as the reduction of one's Weapon Handling, Agility, Strength, Endurance, and Stamina. Blood-loss can easily kill in BEL, if the soldier is not tended to in time. --Fortunately for the Game Master (GM), there is a Simplified WEound Severity Table for use wit Non-Player Characters (NPCs). ---Healing takes anywhere from weeks to months, with Severe Wounds resulting in the soldier being 'sent home', out of the war. All wounded characters receive the Purple Heart decoration. * Movement Mode/Combat Mode: Includes vehicle movement, and for troops, ranges from: Slow Crawl, to Run, as modified by terrain/obstacles. * Sighting: Affected by distance and weather, etc. * Combat represents 10 seconds and the basics of actions are covered in 4 pages, while Artillery through Grenades covers 9 pages, before Weapons are discussed (2 pages), Flame Throwers (1 p.), Hgand to Hand Combat (3 p.). * Tank and Antitank rules and data are perhaps 13 pages. * Event Tables: using a cross-indexed 1d6/1d6 (with as much as a +2 Die Modifier, creating an 8x8 grid), Events range from: - nothing, to Terrain, General, Enemy, and are covered in 2 pages. * Maps receive 2 pages. * Troop Quality: 1.25 pages. * Interrogation/ Rumors, Medals/Decorations, Communication, and Mines each receive but a single page each. * Gear, Explosions & Explosives, Paratroops/Rangers, and the Appendices round out the book, including the very useful guides for Players and Game Masters. Book 2 Event Tables: covers specific -sorts- of scenarios, while remaining generic (and entertaining). Book 3 Missions: The Jaws of the Trap, The Long Patrol, Rescue From the Sky, Pillbox on Hill 409. 4 sheets of 70 chits (280 in total), with many being double-sided. The back of the box also lists a character sheet, and 2d6, but my used copy contained neither of those two items. I seem to remember the later (1985) The Companions edition of the game being more attractively laid out and perhaps even better organised/game-edited, but it certainly did include a plethora of authentic photographs in the stead of rather 'sketchy' FASA artwork. I also own Book 4 British Commandos, and the adventure, The Guns of Navarone, both illustrated by Mitch O'Connel, whom I much prefer to the three listed in the FASA edition of the main rules. All in all, regardless of the edition, Behind Enemy Lines is intended for those actually interested in the subject matter, although a serious WWII wargamer may find it lacking, while a novice to RPGs may find it a bit daunting. Overall, it share a few similarities with Classic Traveller in general mechanical themes (DMs being Die Modifiers, 2d6 task resolution, etc.), and represents a largely vanished era in Military RPGs. My favourite usage is to combine this with Victory Games' AMBUSH!, and SHELL SHOCK! WWII tactical boardgames (each of which feature squad-level action, and individual trooper details, as well as experience/advancement). Enjoy.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Most realistic WWII RPG - Can be found,
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This review is from: Behind Enemy Lines: World War II Role-Playing Game [BOX SET] (Hardcover)
Get on the Maine Wargamer's Blogs or contact Dean Emerson through a Social Media site and check out Peter Rice, arguably the "GrandFfather of Maine Wargaming." That says it all.
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