Soldier On!
Forged in Battle Is Coming to Retailers Soon
The Galactic Civil War rages on numberless planets. It rolls through the deep oceans of Mon Cala, throughout the public fora of Chandrila, in the lush jungles of Naboo, and across the deserts of Tatooine. There are myriad battlefields, myriad means of warfare and, within the Rebellion forces, myriad kinds of soldiers.
Forged in Battle, a supplement for the Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™ roleplaying game, introduces new playable options for Soldiers of the Rebel Alliance, those who work alongside them, and fighters of all kinds, along with providing options for military-themed campaigns and shorter Strike Missions. In our first preview we looked at those campaign options and the new Soldier specializations. Today, we’ll introduce the new playable species of Forged in Battle, and glance at the expanded rules for different combat environments, so that you can consider ways to diversify your forces and then prepare them to fight on any battlefield in the galaxy.
Natural Born Soldiers
Few species are as well-adapted and conditioned to military conflict as the tall, powerful Kyuzo. Their homeward, Phatrong, has higher gravity than many worlds, and so the Kyuzo have developed incredible Agility and Coordination in order to defy that gravity, including a dense muscle structure that lets them leap incredible distances on most other worlds. Not only can they perform physical feats on the battlefield that many other humanoids cannot, they dwell in a fairly militaristic society. Enforcing order throughout Phatrong, and often transcending political boundaries, are military groups called clovocs. From these clovocs rulers and politicians recruit soldiers and civilian police, yet clovocs have also been known to turn against rulers who mistreated them—or simply refused to pay adequate wages.
Kyuzo fighters have always been sought-after off-world, and many now have chosen to join the Rebel Alliance rather than sell their skills to the Empire. The equally agile, fiercely intelligent Shistavanens, however, tend to stay on their homeworld and keep others out. These furry, alert humanoids can be proud, stubborn, and aggressive, which makes them invaluable in battle but difficult to get along with. Their language, consisting of a series of snarls, barks, and growls, is extremely challenging for other species to interpret, let alone speak, which only contributes to their standoffish reputation.
From left to right: Elom, Elomin, Kyuzo, and Shistavanen
The other two species of Forged in Battle come from the same icy desert planet, but couldn’t be more different. The Elomin are tall, horned humanoids known for their intelligence, charm, and affection for order. The Elom are shorter, stockier creatures with long claws that evolved to efficiently tunnel underground and eyes adept to seeing in the dark. The Elomin language is close to Basic; the Elom struggle to make Basic match their physiology. As different as they are, however, Imperial abuses on their homeworld have united these two species and given them plenty of reasons to join the Rebel Alliance.
These four species make excellent options for players wanting to take on the Soldier career, but are also of interest to those looking at other Age of Rebellion careers, or even groups using the Edge of the Empire™ and Force and Destiny™ systems. Your group might include an Elomin Commander who has the challenging task of leading a Shistavanen Ace, or a Kyuzo Bounty Hunter working alongside Elomin Colonists in the Outer Rim. Or perhaps your group of wandering Force users includes a quiet, pacific Elom Mystic whose connection with nature allows her to sense far more than her eyes could possibly see.
Fight Scenery
The environment a Soldier fights in is much more than scenery. It effects everything, from how much cover you have to what equipment—and even what clothing—you can use. And, as the more experienced troops of the Rebel Alliance know, no two combat environments are exactly alike. You could find yourself defending the Echo Base on Hoth one day and engaged in a gunfight on Cato Nemoidia’s bridges the next. You can’t take it for granted that you’ll be able to breathe on your next battlefield, let alone walk or run.
Forged in Battle gives Game Master some tools for navigating the complex, constant interaction between a combat and its environment. It discusses in detail the advantages, opportunities, and obstacles that you’ll encounter when staging battles in cities, wildernesses, and aboard starships. You’ll also find tables that suggest how to spend dice results in each of those three broader environmental categories. Finally, because Soldiers may need to alter their environment before or during a battle, Forged in Battle offers guidelines for building foritifications in-game: perhaps hastily-dug trenches, temporary blinds, or cement bunkers that will be used for decades to come.
The Galaxy Has Its Eyes on You
The Rebellion is like a living organism. It sprawls throughout space, but however many planets it reaches, however many battles are fought, each individual engagement effects the whole fight—the whole galaxy. Whether you’ve just signed on as a Soldier or are a veteran Commander, whether you’re fighting on a densely-populated Core World or amid the colonies of Outer Rim, you matter. Forged in Battle offers you what you need to succeed, because no matter who you are or where you’re fighting, the galaxy has its eyes on you.
Seize your weapons and prepare to enter the fight. Forged in Battle will be available on Thursday at North American retailers and in our online store.
