The Back Catalogue and You
Hey everyone, Prof here and I want to talk about the back catalogue.
Heavy Gear came out in the mid-1990s and since then has accumulated a vast library of content. That content spans 3 (soon to be 4) RPG editions and multiple iterations of the tabletop wargame. The core 4th edition book provides a brief overview of the history, world and major players of the universe but ultimately, we only have so many pages. With that in mind I wanted to compile a list of recommendations for previous books that are rich with useful content.
A quick reminder, the Heavy Gear Revitalized project is bringing these books back into modern PDF format. Currently many books are available in their revitalized versions but not all of them. Keep that in mind if you go to purchase them on Drivethru RPG. Those that are NOT revitalized, and predate Heavy Gear Blitz and 3rd edition, will be scanned versions of physical books. That means they are not searchable and don’t always look great. Anyway on to the recommendations.
DP9-101 Life on Terra Nova 2nd Edition – This book is the most up to date general planetary overview out there. It is dated to just before the Polar War (the starting point for the Storyline Books) and covers history, geology, lifeforms, and everything you need to experience life on Terra Nova.
DP9-018 Into The Badlands – Life on Terra Nova is a good general overview, but the Badlands are a special place. This publication explores the band of desert that separates Terra Nova’s hemispheres.
DP9-033, -034, -056, -062 and -067 – These are the Storyline Books which cover most of the events of the universe AFTER the Life on Terra Nova books and up to the start of the War for Terra Nova in 1950.
The League Books – This is a set of books, one for each league like the Northern Lights Confederacy and Mekong Dominion. They are deep dives into each respective League to a level on par with the Life on Terra Nova book.
The Life On…. Series – Life on Terra Nova just covers Terra Nova. Books for Caprice, Utopia, Eden and Atlantis are also available, and an Earth Companion covers Earth.
DP9-004 Technical Manual – The Technical Manual covers how much of the technology in Heavy Gear works including the iconic heavy gears themselves. From communications to weapons it’s all here.
DP9-021 Character Compendium – Its what it says on the cover, this book covers many of the major characters on Terra Nova
My recommendations are in that order, start with Life on Terra Nova 2nd ed and go from there. Keep in mind that any 1st or 2nd ed rules are convertible to the new edition.
Last is a more general narrative note. We are going to deep dive the lore of the universe from where we last left off in a later article closer to launch, but I just want to say that yes there are some retcons/changes. The books I shared are basically unchanged except for some expansion of ideas and fleshing out systems. They are perfectly good as is. It’s the later books like the War For Terra Nova pair, Forged in Fire and Perfect Storm that will have some notable tweaks. That is for another day and another article though.
