Heavy Gear Blitz! Locked & Loaded 2008

Action point based miniatures Giant Robot game that encourages a Combined Arms approach to attaining victory. Every unit in the game gets a 1 to N action points that allow it to fire a weapon, do forward observation, move at top speed or even do electronic warfare. Movement does not require action points.

The game also provides the players with a pool of Command Points that can be transferred from the commander unit automatically if within Auto Comms radius or by using a communications event. Communications events can be stopped by using Electronic Warfare's Electronic Counter Measures with a unit that has ECM equipment. Electronic Warfare, Attacks and Defense are based on opposed skill roll. The skill ratings translate to the number of dice rolled with the highest number being the result (two sixes translate to seven, three sixes to 8, etc.).

The game is well supported by DP9 and its fans. There are design tools available in the the DP9 website. The miniatures available for the game are of the highest quality and they have actually been nominated for awards. The game provides and abstracted system for aircraft and artillery support. It could have been called Heavy Gear Blitz 2.0, but it is sufficiently different from the original Heavy Gear Blitz to merit the Locked and Loaded subtitle instead of a 2.0.

Major differences from the original are:

1) Only one weapon per unit per turn even if it has more than one action.

2) Top speed movement now requires an action point.

3) STUN counters to signify results of a stunned pilot.

4) Drones have been simplified and now become extra characteristics of the controlling unit

5) Army building is now based on the allowed units for a particular Priority Level.

6) Priority Levels also define Support Points that can be used to buy Aircraft, Artillery, Defensive Structures or even more Command Points. The rulebook is very well organized and the support in the forums in the DP9 websites help the neophyte players immensely.