Target games: Softbound rules addition, 96 pages.

Dark Eden is the first in the Worlds at War series of books for Target Games highly successful Warzone sci-fi combat game, and could be classed also as the 4^th of the Warzone compendiums. Taken from the collectable card game of the same name, this promises to set a new trend for Warzone.

Up till now battles have all been fought on the inner planets and Luna, but Dark Eden brings the conflict back home to the cradle of humanity Earth! Abandoned over a century before, the once lush planet is now little more than a barren wasteland. Against all odds some actually survived on the dying planet, and banned together to form tribes. The Dark Eden book gives the player backgrounds, troops and special abilities for all four of the tribes and even gives rules to allow members of these tribes to fight along side your normal Warzone troops. The surviving tribes are all on the continent that was once Europe, split between Russia, France, Great Britain and the Middle East!

First up in the new tribes are the Sons of Rasputin. Survivors of the holocaust that ravaged the Russian steppes and swept over most of Eastern Europe, the Sons of Rasputin can be compared to the Russians of the late 19^th century. A Tsar rules them and each branch of the tribe is split into houses or dukedoms. The Sons of Rasputin are something for the Brotherhood back on Luna to watch out for! On more than one occasion they have representatives of the Dark Legion in their courts and have even been seen giving support to the Legions off-world activities in the recent past.

The Sons of Rasputin are the best armed of all the troops left on Earth, their weapons and equipment being second to none! In game terms, they have some of the longest ranged weapons on Dark Eden and some of them are very powerful indeed. With very Germanic sounding names such as Soldat Schwerwaffe and Jaeger Commandos its not really much of a surprise that the Bauhaus Corporation has a vested interest in the tribe and representatives from the Mega Corp are often found in the courts of the Sons.

The Templars are survivors from France, who believe themselves to be the chosen people to rule the planet. Unlike all of the other tribes, the Templars don’t need to use respirators to protect them from the toxic environment of the planet. Just after the mass exodus from the Earth, a Cartel science vessel crashed just outside Paris. Trapped with no hope of rescue or contact with their own kind, the scientist set about restructuring the DNA of the survivors allowing them to breath the toxic atmosphere, but over the years they have been looked on more as messengers from god rather than Corporate survivalists.

The Templars look very similar to normal humans, with the exception of a thin membrane that covers their eyes and helps to protect them from the harsh sun light. They are masters of the huge beast that now roam the planet and beasts play a great part in the society. Using these beasts in battle gives them something of an edge as most of the creatures are huge and will charge and gore troops with very little problems.

Crescentia are the nomadic tribe that wanders around the Middle East and into the lower regions of Europe. They survived the holocaust that befell the planet after the Mega Corps launched nukes at it from space, by seeking shelter in a vast underground labyrinth called the Pale Womb. They have a very structured society and are very formidable foes. The Brotherhood has a vested interest in the tribe of Crescentia as their secret base on Earth is based in what was once Jerusalem. Crescentia troops are fast and strike very hard in battle using the huge Mammoths to crush the enemy before the troopers move in.

Finally perhaps the strangest of all the survivors on Dark Eden, the Lutheran Triad. Hailing from the ruins of what was once Great Britain the Triad is a tribe split into three different tribes or Kins under one main tribe (think England, Scotland and Wales and your not too far wrong!).

The Ash Kin (Scotland and the northern part of England!) are well known for their sudden Stigmata’s that can appear in battle, and cause the enemy to panic. The Kain Kin(Wales and the north west of England!) use tattoos that they believe will protect them or harm their enemies in battle, and finally the Wrought Kin(Southern England!) are the wielders of magical rituals and are even immune to the Art and Dark Symmetry.

The thing that really sets them apart from the rest of the survivors on Dark Eden is their appearance. At birth all children have their noses cut off and then the nostrils sown up along with their mouths. A breathing device is implanted at the back of the neck and tubes take the poisoned air in and convert it so the lungs can work properly, while other tubes lead directly to the gullet to allow them to eat. Over the course of their lives the Kin file away at the scars on their faces and by the time they are in their twenties they have an almost completely smooth face with one pupil less eyes as the surviving feature.

All members of the Triad, no matter what Kin they are, have one thing in common. As soon as they are old enough to learn to fight, they are taught the ways of war and religion. Many bloody wars have been fought over the past hundred years and most of them are with the Templars (France and the UK fighting, now there is a pleasant change!).

Due to the lack of mouths the Kin have developed a very sophisticated form of sign language and some have even evolved as far as becoming limited telepaths. The still maintain strong ties to the Imperials and can often be seen fighting off world with Blood Berets or Golden Lions.

Dark Legion has a presence on Earth and some new troops are given in the rules. The new troops can be part of a Dark Legion force anywhere (unlike other forces on Dark Eden where you have to buy an Operation Overseer to include them!) in the universe and some of them are very hard indeed.

The corporations and Brotherhood haven’t been left out either as they all have vested interests in Dark Eden and as such have elite troops based on Earth.

There are new rules and special abilities for all the troops and forces on Dark Eden, and even rules for adverse weather conditions, some that can in fact kill troops even before the battle ensues.

Each of the tribes is given its own armory, with some of the best weapons in the Warzone system. New abilities allow some troops to move and fire as one action and could literally decimate your foes before they knew what had hit them.

The book is filled with some excellent artwork and illustrations of the troops and strange creatures that roam the Dark Eden weapons templates and snippets of short fiction, well-written and helping to set the tone of the world.

Dark Eden is the first of the Worlds at War series of books for Warzone, with Venus being the next release (due Spring ’98). This is by far the best of the Warzone supplements and is well worth getting hold of. Perhaps the best miniatures rules addition this year, hence the high scores. Highly Recommended.

THE SCORES:

CONTENTS: 10 OUT OF 10

PLAYABILITY 10 OUT OF 10

VALUE FOR MONEY 10 OUT OF 10

LASTABILITY 10 OUT OF 10

PRESENTATION 10 OUT OF 10

OVERALL: 10 OUT OF 10

My many thanks go once again to Roger and all at Gamecraft for supplying me with the compendium.

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