Hammer's Slammers - Please Share Your Opinion

[aspqrz]

As for the overly pixilated disparaging art. I'm not really seeing it. Point out some pages for me and I'll go take another look.

Hmmm. I may not have 20:20 vision, and, indeed, haven't since age 10 or so, but these 55 year old eyes could hardly miss the obviously pixelated graphics on pages ...

11 (text is a dead giveaway); 134, 136, 137 (unit crest is a dead giveaway); 139, 140, 142, 143, 146 are all badly pixelated ... unless, of course, I am seeing things (and here I haven't had a drink in 55 years, either :wink: )

Its interesting to note that #147, 148, which seems to be of the same provenance of most of the above, is done at half size (compared to the above) and looks passable. Its obvious that that's probably what should have been done with all of them ... publish them at half size, even if it meant more text or fewer pages to make up.

The rest of the art is fine, resolution wise, even if not always to my taste (which, one accepts, means that other people may well find it to theirs :shock: )

Phil

 

[saundby]

I'm just pleased the contrast ratio of the text to background is such that it's readable. It's less than I'd ask for, but it's good enough to read without strain.

I've had less time to read it than I'd like--too many summer yard projects.

 

[Rex]

I'm actually fine without Art. One of the things I was talking over with the rest of the team was It would be nice to see "Osprey" like books come out for the various vehicles and such, but that would require a serious bump in detail.

I went and looked at the areas you marked and now that I know what to look for, I see it. Still doesn't phase me that much though, I suppose it's because I come out of the old modeling days, and I'm used to seeing that sort of look, on various box and book covers back in the day.

I'm assuming Over Pixilated translates as Fuzzy. I suppose I look over it for the most part because there was a style of art in the military circles where, a lot of stuff was fuzzed out. Could be a personal thing to, some folks react badly to an expert water color painting when they were expecting an oil.

Still, end product, especially in comparison to the "miniature game" art, and previous art issues of MULTITUDES of game companies, isn't horrible in the least.

Anythings better then the clip art and line art of the day right?

~Rex

 

[IanBruntlett]

The index for Hammer's Slammers is wrong. E.g. Slammer's events are listed as being on p38 but they're actually on p40

 

[aspqrz]

Inexplicable duplicate post deleted

Phil

 

[aspqrz]

I'm actually fine without Art. One of the things I was talking over with the rest of the team was It would be nice to see "Osprey" like books come out for the various vehicles and such, but that would require a serious bump in detail.

I went and looked at the areas you marked and now that I know what to look for, I see it. Still doesn't phase me that much though, I suppose it's because I come out of the old modeling days, and I'm used to seeing that sort of look, on various box and book covers back in the day.

I'm assuming Over Pixilated translates as Fuzzy. I suppose I look over it for the most part because there was a style of art in the military circles where, a lot of stuff was fuzzed out. Could be a personal thing to, some folks react badly to an expert water color painting when they were expecting an oil.

Still, end product, especially in comparison to the "miniature game" art, and previous art issues of MULTITUDES of game companies, isn't horrible in the least.

Anythings better then the clip art and line art of the day right?

~Rex

Actually, I'm an old time plastic modeller ... and the art on Tamiya and Italaeri (and other) kit boxes was far better than the pixelated stuff I mentioned ... rarely fuzzy, either. Generally pretty sharp. Of course, old time, for me, means late 60's-early to mid 70's.

As for pixelated = fuzzy ... er, are you *sure* you looked at the same piccys?

They are, indeed, fuzzy, but they are grossly pixelated as well ... that is, the pictures are obviously composed of square pixels, giving them a blocky, er, pixelated, look as well as being fuzzy.

On the offchance that you don't understand the term, "pixelated" implies that the picture in question has been blown up to a higher resolution than it was photographed/scanned/drawn at and that, as a consequence, the program used to blow it up (increase its size beyond the original size) cannot increase the detail and so, instead, simply increases the size of each square pixel ... the result is jagged edges along straight lines and curves, for a start ... that's not fuzzy ... that's pixelated.

The pixtures are pixelated ... and others, as I noted, obviously from the same source, that have been printed as 1/4 page instead of 1/2 page are fuzzy(ish) ... which is OK ... and not pixelated, which indicates to me that the pixelated pictures have been blown up to twice their original resolution (or that someone included lo res versions of the expected hi res ones in the InDesign file when it was sent off to the printers ... and no one picked it up).

Phil

 

[Rex]

LOL. I understand Pixilated, I just have very LOW standards when it comes to game products. Art's not high on my list, and I don't like anything glossy paged to begin with, but I understand the marketing behind it so I deal.

Besides I got my Slammers game so I'm happy.

Ever forward though. You have to get the first one going, before you can improve. The Art for Dredd, is amazing by the way, but for the Slammers stuff, I get your point.

I still love the game though, and I admit to being far more interested in mechanics, rules, and balance then Art. You could put an entire text format book together with ASCII art, and I would be happy with it provided the mechanics balanced out.

~Rex

 

[aspqrz]

Besides I got my Slammers game so I'm happy.

I find it much the same ... the poor art is ... disappointing, but certainly not a dealbreaker.

Even CSC, which, apart, possibly, from weapons, completely lacks any sense of wonder or realistic vision of even the near future, is OK for most purposes.

Phil

 

[DB]

I'm still waiting for one of the shops in York or Manchester to get a copy of this, I would dearly love to be able to give my opinion

 

[The Chef]

If thats Manchester Uk, then Fan Boy 3 has a copy, i flick through it on Sunday.

you may want to give them a call

Chef

 

[ColdEquation]

I actually picked up the Traveller core rules so that I could then justify buying the Hammer's Slammers supplement.

It's a good sourcebook; I'm not fussy about art, so the stuff they obviously lifted from elsewhere doesn't bug me.

Having a more-or-less complete history of the Slammers is really cool, reminds me of reading the books in high school. If I have one complaint, it's that I can't find explanations for some of the gear anywhere (particularly holographic sights- these seem important, but I can't find an entry on what the damn things do for the game mechanics.)

 

[Wyrmsbane]

I like the book alot, it's one of my favorite sci-fi series and not it's playable, the vehicles are a bit troubling since they are different than described in some of the novels, but overall an excellent product. With some of the stuff out there a few typos don't bother me and I hope that it gets good support since I can see numerous suppliments with all of the Hammer Slammers stories out there, and amplify the terran military since from the hints in the book they have some BAD weapons. Possibily add the Haven series in since I believe that it was post Slammers if I remember correctly.

 

[WarriorKnight]

I was a little dissapointed. The star system map was incomplete(Where were the worlds from "Across the Stars").Didn't like the "tactical battle" maps;my 2nd grade nephew could do a better map. Is there going to be a supplement for "Across the Stars". Mad Dog was my favorite character.The rest of the book was good.(loved the drawings of Rob Jenna's frist day.)

 

[klingsor]

I have only skimmed it but it seems quite good. I laughed out loud at the little section that gave an example of a units experiences.

The pictures were a little odd looking but that is understandable if you consider their origins. They seem to be photographs of the resin models for the setting made by Old Crow, if you look at their web site you will see the vehicles.
http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/25hamm.htm
I would quibble with some of the designs [1] but I really, really like what they have done, tying the various HS licence holders together very nicely in a useful and mutually beneficial way – instead of the usual mediocre to poor interior art [2] we get the photographs and Old Crow will doubtless get some sales. It is a pity more outfits are not able to work together in this way.

Notes
1.The combat cars look a bit too tall and too narrow and some of the tracked and wheeled vehicles look a little odd, the tanks and SPGs/StuGs in particular just don’t look right to me. On the whole though some of the better looking resin stuff around and so very tempting.

2. But no one buys an RPG for the art [3], especially the interior art, otherwise no one would ever have bought a GURPS book.

3. Summerland being the one exception I can think of.

 

[djd]

2. But no one buys an RPG for the art [3], especially the interior art, otherwise no one would ever have bought a GURPS book.

.

Whilst I wouldn't buy something for the interior art - poor art does put me off as it's often indicative of poor production values that go beyond the art. Generally I don't find Mongooses art too bad although their maps are consistently very poor. Given the software that's available to produce maps these days it seems inexcusable to me

 

[klingsor]

Unfortunately true.

 

[Rockymountainnavy]

I bought HS because I am a big David Drake fan. I also happen to be a long-time Traveller player. I went all-out and bought the hardcover version of the book!

I love the content, especially the background. But I had already seen it in the Hammer's Slammers miniatures game.

The graphics were overall on the poor side. Again, I had seen much of the tank work before. The battle maps were so sad (grids?) that they were borderline hilarious. And using pictures of miniatures?

The book felt more like a Mercenary supplement. Though it says you don't need Mercenary to play I really think you do.

I do not feel I got my moneys-worth. The difference between Mercenary or High Guard and Babylon 5 or Hammer's Slammers is so insignifigant that it is very unlikely I will buy further Mongoose alternate settings.

 

[AndrewW]

I do not feel I got my moneys-worth. The difference between Mercenary or High Guard and Babylon 5 or Hammer's Slammers is so insignifigant that it is very unlikely I will buy further Mongoose alternate settings.

What difference are you looking for? The mechanics are supposed to be Traveller so you don't have to learn a new system. Just the setting itself differs.

 

[Rockymountainnavy]

The problem (as I see it) is that there are too FEW differences.

It all boils down to a personal assessment, and I feel that paying nearly $40 for this product was just too much for an item that essentially was a repackaging of previous works wrapped around a house mechanic. The graphics, though some were nice, had enough "cheap" ones that it makes me question the Mongoose business model.

What did I expect? I pretty much expected what I got. In retrospect though I have to question myself as to why I spent that sort of money. $40 can buy an entire new system, or several supporting products from most publishers, and if you go digital you can stretch those dollars further.

The OP in this thread aksed what we thought about the book. Bottom Line: I like it (except for some graphics) but think it is overpriced.

 

[Colin]

Some of the illustrations were of poor quality. Either blurry or pixelated. You REALLY shouldn't see pixelation in a printed product.

The maps were laughable, I'm afraid.

The tech stuff was good. I liked the cutaways of the tanks (too bad they were blurry). Personal weapons tech was good, too.

Overall, though, I was disappointed. There really isn't enough material here for a book of this size. It feels padded.

No world maps, one poor star map, no real discussion of spacecraft or star travel. Very little background on the universe. A bunch of stuff that looks like it is repeated from Mercenary.

I was looking forward to this book, which is why I purchased a print copy rather than my usual method of buying PDFs. I wanted the high-quality art that a print version should bring. And to be fair, some of it was. But the stuff I really wanted to see was not...