Phoenix Command is a combat-oriented role-playing game system published by Leading Edge Games in 1986. Variations of its rules system have also been used in other military games such as '' Morning Star Missions'', '' Living Steel'', and ''

Aliens Adventure Game ''Aliens Adventure Game'' is a combat-oriented role-playing game published by Leading Edge Games in 1991. Description ''Aliens Adventure Game'', based on the 1986 film '' Aliens'', emphasizes combat between human Colonial Marines and the space h ...

''.

Description

Although ''Phoenix Command'' is ostensibly a role-playing game, and does have character generation and skills resolution systems, the extremely detailed rules for small arms combat are the central focus of the game. The game utilizes

lookup table In computer science, a lookup table (LUT) is an array that replaces runtime computation with a simpler array indexing operation. The process is termed as "direct addressing" and LUTs differ from hash tables in a way that, to retrieve a value v wi ...

s which resolve injuries to specific digits, organs, and bones, and simulates the physics of different attacks, such as bullets with different velocities.

Publication history

''Phoenix Command'' was designed by Barry Nakazono and David McKenzie, and was published by Leading Edge Games in 1986 as a

boxed set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

containing a 56-page spiral bound rule book, 32 page modern military weapon data supplement, reference tables, blank character sheets and one ten-sided die. Additional supplements were subsequently published, including ''Hand to Hand Combat System'' (1988), ''World War 2 Weapon Data Supplement'' (1988), ''Wild West Weapon Data Supplement'' (1989), ''Civilian Weapon Data Supplement'' (1987), ''Living Steel Power Armour Sourcebook'' (1991), ''Advanced Damage Tables'' (1987), ''High Tech Weapon Data Supplement'' (1987), ''Phoenix Command Advanced Rules for Small Arms Combat'' (1986), ''Phoenix Command Damage Tables: Small Arms'' (1986), and ''Phoenix Command Small Arms Combat System'' (1989).

Reception

In his 1990 book ''

The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pr ...

'', game critic

Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pre ...

called this "Less of an RPG than a meticulous combat system" and noted that it was made for "role-players who relish every smack and slash of a combat encounter." Although Swan found the combat system quite complex, he noted that it "plays quite well and produces astonishingly realistic results." Swan found the role-playing rules "merely adequate" and the scenarios "fairly routine", and suggested the game would be more useful as a supplement and reference to other military role-playing games such as '' Top Secret/S.I.'' or ''

Twilight 2000 ''Twilight: 2000'' is a 1984 post-apocalyptic military tabletop role-playing game published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW). Set in the aftermath of World War III (the "Twilight War"), the game operates on the premise that the United States/NATO ...

''. He concluded by giving the game a solid rating of 3 out of 4, saying, "as a combat system, ''Phoenix Command'' is top of the line, rivaling the best tactical wargames in detail and sophistication."

Other reviews and commentary

*'' Different Worlds'' #47 *''

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...

''https://gizmodo.com/the-most-controversial-pen-and-paper-rpgs-ever-made-1482148897

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-most-controversial-pen-and-paper-rpgs-ever-made-1482148897, work=

, last=Grabianowski, first=Ed, date=16 December 2013, title=The most controversial pen-and-paper RPGs ever made Leading Edge Games games Military role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 1986