Dream Pod 9 News

October 2003

Advanced Character Sheets: Kannik has created expanded character sheets for all the DP9 games, in PDF format. You can get them for free on his SilCore page (Google cache).

CORE Command Adventure Ideas: Here's an example of the type of game one can do with the CORE Command setting.

CORE Compendium Update: The CORE Command Compendium has moved (see the new URL in the previous link) and continues to add on new material -- guns, planets, aliens and adventure seeds -- to the CORE Command universe. Stop by and take a look!

Banzaidyne Update: Jason English let us know that he updated the fixed-wing aircraft pages on Banzaidyne. It's mostly house-cleaning, but he's also adjusted some of the stats. He's still working on the HG 2nd Ed, stats, but SilCORE stat blocks are planned for the future (check here for a first attempt).

Gear Krieg Support Software: Udo Sabath let us know about his Gear Krieg Web site. He wrote a program that helps to keep track of GK game units. It also has different reference sheets build in. Take a look and tell him what you think.

September 2003

Gear Krieg Paper Scenery: Paul Lesack is at it again! He has designed more awesome paper game items for Gear Krieg, this time.

Silhouette Cyberpunk: Kai Zimmermann has compiled a basic list of SilCORE equipment for a cyberpunk-like setting. There's almost twelve pages of effect-based rules for cybernetic upgrades, most of them based on existing Character Perks and Flaws. He's also proposing (in collaboration with fellow gamer Pierre Bourque) some "rain of lead" rules for high-speed movie shootouts. Check the CORE Game Aids section to download the RTF-format text file.

August 2003

CORE Command Fan Site: Benjamin Yamada dropped us a line about his brand new Core Command Website, the awesome CORE Command Compendium! This gorgeous (and complex) site is intented to provide depth to the CC world by means of a sort of fan-made Encyclopedia Galactica. Benjamin is looking for entries on any of the following subjects: equipment, weapons, famous people, alien races, anecdotes, planets, exotic locales, etc. Drop by the site, create a free account and start telling others about your travels through the Five Galaxies!

Heavy Gear Paper Vehicle: Paul Lesack is at it again! He has designed more awesome paper game items for Heavy Gear, this time a Southern Republic Barnaby Gear Transport.

APAGear Update: Dennis D. Kirkpatrick let us know that the August Issue of APAgear (Vol. 5, No. 5) is now online. This one contains articles, scenarios and fictions by Dennis Johnson, Janne Kemppi, Dennis D. Kirkpatrick, Tom McGrenery, Harman Meyerhoff, Josh Peters and Christian J. Schaller. APAGear is perhaps closest to being an official game magazine dedicated to DP9's game, and best of all it's free!

To celebrate the launch of the new Gear Krieg RPG, we have a series of downloadable free enhancements, including additional characters/archetypes, new weapons, paper scenery (next week) and some adventures. All these are in PDF format for ease of use.

New Heavy Gear Site: Shane email us to let us know about his Webpage with a few Heavy Gear scenario ideas on it.

July 2003

Retired Products: As previously announced in the monthly newsletter, we are retiring another set of older titles (we retired a few titles back in January). Check the Retiring, Retired & Out-of-Stock Products page to get the full (and correct) information on the status of our catalog.

CORE Rules Add-ons: We've added a list of generic weapons' stats to the CORE Game Aids page. While each CORE-supported setting has its own world-derived equipment list, this can come in useful for those wishing to use Silhouette CORE as an engine to propel their home-grown campaign.

Detailed Silhouette/OGL Conversions: We've revised the comprehensive Silhouette-SilCORE-d20 conversion guide that was posted last week; the file is now in PDF format for ease of use. This should remove much of the guesswork when dual-statting.

Gear Krieg Minis: Two of these were spotted at the Wonderfest modeling convention: here and here. Both were painted by Jon Kunatz. Get your own minis here!

June 2003

Silhouette CORE Review: Paul Stringer let us know that a review has been posted at Mortality.net.

Italian Activities: Our Italian fans like to pull out all the trimmings when playing our games. Check these pictures from Romics to see how they play the Heavy Gear and Tribe 8 games.

Landship News: Dirk Koetter has finally run out of room and has put his awesome Heavy Gear landship model for sale on eBay. It's somewhat pricey, but you do get a lot of models (many of them scratchbuilt) with it -- enough to start a Heavy Gear war!

Pod Corps in South America: apparently, the Gear Krieg community down there is growing by the day... It helps that it's the primary game of Pod Corps Santiago de Chile, our first South American demo team! They go to every gaming convention they come across (to name a few, "Concilio de Dragones 2002" and "Concilio Nocturno") and are active on a local Internet forum as well (see the thread "Luchar roleando en la II Guerra Mundial"). Welcome aboard!

28mm Gear Krieg Model: expert painter Agis Neugebauer has finally found some time to paint more Gear Krieg stuff. He always wanted to do a 28mm Gear Krieg walker...

SilCORE Fan Site: Chris Upchurch has posted some house rules for SilCORE (covering martial arts, wealth, ECM, movement and clip-fed weapons) on his Web site.

Paper Scenery: Paul Lesack has designed more great paper scenery for Heavy Gear, this time some residential buildings (see the Heavy Gear Game Aids for more). Use them to give the proper Terranovan flavor to your tabletop!

APAgear Update: Some months ago, the APAgear staff decided to broaden the Webzine/Amateur Press Association's focus to include all of the Dream Pod 9's worlds. With CORE Command now out and the d20 Mecha Compendium halfway through its second printing, a wealth of new stories and articles can be created! The URL for the latest issue is http://www.apagear.org/0503/index.html -- check it out!

May 2003

Computer Gaming Updates: Pod Corps Washington County, Wisconsin, in conjunction with Heavy Gear Forever, is offering DP9 prizes to people who sign up in their forums to follow the development of this increasingly great looking Unreal Tournament-based computer game mod for Heavy Gear. It's first come, first served, until stocks last.

Fate of Terra Nova is a fan-made computer game mod based on Half-Life, intended to model infantry combat in the Heavy Gear universe as a first-person shooter. They have some models, skins and maps, but are currently in need of a coder to continue the project. Visit the web site if interested.

CORE Command Mailing List: A CORE Command discussion group has been formed in readiness for the game's release in the coming week. The URL for this unofficial discussion group is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/core_command/. Membership is open to everyone, as is the files and photos area. Everything else is members only. The front page is somewhat basic at the moment, but more will be added later. Sign up to go talk about the game and speculate -- it's free.

Convention Updates: We're sending a home team to the Great Canadian Baycon convention in Hamilton, Ontario on May 11th. See the convention's Web page for more information.

Pod Corps Vermont will be running back-to-back Heavy Gear tactical events at BakuretsuCon. The convention will take place at the Best Western in Burlington, Vermont and runs from May 9-11. The events will be on Saturday the 10th, afternoon and evening slots. If there is enough interest, a type A tournament will be run, with prizes. BakuretsuCon is in its second year and features gaming events, as well as video games and anime showings.

April 2003

Paper Scenery: Paul Lesack has designed more awesome paper scenery for Heavy Gear, this time urban buildings (he offered a military base last week). Use them to give the proper Terranovan flavor to your tabletop! There are three more packs after these two, which will be posted in the weeks to come.

Fan Site Updates: Jason Dickerson let us know that the Hermes72.net site is back up and running with a new hosting company and new features added to the site.

Wil Hutton is happy to announce that both the Datacore and Dreams of Flesh and Spirit are back up and fully functional, in time for the release of CORE Command. Both sites have been streamlined and edited.

Dennis D. Kirkpatrick let us know that the Week 7 and 8 game summaries is posted on the Heavy Gear Overdrive PbEM Website.

Travel Updates: we're sending a home team to the Great Canadian Baycon convention in Hamilton, Ontario on May 11th. See the convention's Web page for more information.

March 2003

Fan Site Updates: Dennis D. Kirkpatrick let us know that the Week 3 game summary is posted on the Heavy Gear Overdrive PbEM Website.

The Heavy Gear fan site Coldsteel has moved. Please update your Web bookmarks accordingly (see the link for the new URL).

Pod Corps Italy: The new Pod Corps Italy Website is now officially open (in Italian).

Modeling Contest: Starship Modeler is having another modeling contest. The theme this time is Departures, as in, "departure from known history" -- alternate history. Note that the various Gear Krieg models are eligible as an entry for both the stock and diorama categories...

February 2003

Fan Page Update: Jason English has updated his big Banzaidyne Silhouette Web site with new artillery pieces and vehicles. There is support material there for all of DP9's game lines!

Overdrive PbEM News: Dennis D. Kirkpatrick has added new setting material for his Heavy Gear PbEM, Heavy Gear Overdrive. The game focuses on the adventures of a professional Gear racing team.

New Pod Corps: Pod Corps Nashville, TN is joining us, along with their detailed Hermes 72 news Web site. Go take a look!

New APAGear Issue: APAgear has a brand new issue online and available for your perusal. New articles, stories and rules by Scott Blow, Jason English, Janne Kemppi, Dennis Kirkpatrick, Harman Meyerhoff, Josh Peters and Alex Walker can be found in this free Webzine. This particular issue is dedicated to the memories of the crew of the United States Space Shuttle Columbia, which was lost during reentry on February 1, 2003.

New PbEM: Dennis D. Kirkpatrick announced that a new PbEM, Heavy Gear Overdrive, has started. The game focuses on the adventures of a professional Gear racing team. Game information and summaries will be available on the web at Overdrive, with weekly updates posted to the site. This is only a notice to let people know that they can follow the story online -- currently, there are NO positions open for play.

T8 Fan Site: Sébastien Thorel dropped us a line to tell us about his Tribe 8 Web site. It's still under construction, but eventually it will serve as a French portal for European T8 gamers.

HG Fan Site: Chris Upchurch just posted an update to his HG: Life on Aurora Web site. There are now two new maps, detailing the physical features of Migrus and South Grandis. More maps are on the way -- keep an eye on the site!

HG Fan Site: For over a year now, Cobalt Studios has been developing Heavy Gear Forever, a plan to bring the Heavy Gear universe to life within a free "mod" of Epic’s UT2003 graphic engine. The mod is billed as a tactical first person simulation, and plans to implement every aspect and detail possible within the Heavy Gear universe. With invaluable recent additions to Cobalt Studios, HGF is certain to become a gritty realistic depiction of the tactical game. The large and expanding crew is still in search of people with experience in game modification, but more importantly an extensive knowledge of Heavy Gear. Interested parties can email Cobalt Studios and reach their discussion forums.

Tribe 8 Showcase: we added a treat for the T8 players, a look into our archives... The miniature game that never was.

Support Sites: Mike Faragher (Pod Corps Washington County) let us know that he's not dead, nor are his projects. He has resumed work on his giant Battle Frame model and has created a Website for Pod Corps Washington County.

Chris Beilby now has the Pod Corps Hampton Roads site up now. Both Flash and Non-Flash versions are available.

Hellfire Azure emailed to let us know that he just revapmed his Heavy Gear fan site.

January 2003

Landship: the extremely large landship model is being showcased on Starship Modeler. Worth a look for some new pictures! >>

Fan Site: Inspired by the release of the T8 Player's Guide and unsatisfied by his original design, Wil Hutton re-designed his Website, Dreams of Flesh and Spirit, to be cleaner and easier to navigate. Check it out! >>

Will was not alone in doing redesign: Mayhem let us know that MashSomeMetal.com is back online with a whole new look and tons of new material for everything Heavy Gear-related. They are still working some things out, so not all pages are up and running. Go take a look! >>

See previous year's news