Rogue Trader

[Westfalia Chris]

Does this mean you can get it in Apple?

My bad, I meant all the stuff they released in e-format so far have been for the iPad (AFAIK). So I guess they won't do beyond that (possibly for bootlegging reasons if they did an "open" format).

[thequestingvole]

It's basically an RPG with miniatures - a skirmish game. A good one though.

[Elbows]

While I only started in Gen2...there was enough of the Rogue Trader-ish left in the game to really set it apart.  Sure it was vastly time consuming, very clunky, and had so many special rules you could spend all day debating something, but the game had charm.

The games played created much more of a story.  You were able to really customize your stuff, and vehicles all had their own special traits.  Weapons were vastly different from each other instead of being lumped into a handful of categories.  Strategy cards and wargear cards caused absolute mayhem.

It may not have been a great game, but it was a much better game. They also did some lovely Chapter rules for various chapters back in the old White Dwarf.  I remember my favorite being the Mentor Legion which had probytes and cadre...and used a meshed targeting to link bolt gun fire, allowing a squad to fire its bolt guns at the same location, turning them into a lascannon etc.

You had allies, and mercenary forces you could hire on.  There was tons of cheese...but in an almost good way if you played with friends.  There were heaps of units in the early codices which models never existed for, allowing you to experiment and bit-mash till your heart was content.  40K has changed so immensely it's really saddening...and I'm a "young pup" by many game club standards.  I can't imagine the older fellas who really gamed heavily in the rogue trader days.

[cheetor]

I have a lot of fondness for the Rogue Trader book and there was a time when I knew much of it inside out.  You never forger your first I guess

The RT rulebook is chock-a-block with fun concepts, ideas and inspiration.  Like Modhail, I have spent quite a few pleasant hours re-reading the scenario generation charts at the rear of the book.  They never fail to inspire. 

I dont have much interest in playing games using th RT ruleset these days though.  If I knew someone running a game of RT then I would happily join in for the sake of nostalgia, but I would rather tell the stories that the book inspires using a more modern/streamlined system.

I have a weekend of RT themed 7TV gaming using squats, Inquisitors, beholders, gyrinx, navigators and catachan devils planned for mid-October and I have been painting a lot of miniatures for use in it.  I am really looking forward to getting some of the scenario ideas inspired by the RT rulebook twenty-something years ago on the table.  But I wont be using the RT rules themselves.

I do think that anyone with enough passing interest to read this thread owes it to themselves to have a read through Rogue Trader if they havent already though.  Its a genre classic, even if its a bit of a quaint antique now.

[Relic]

Rogue Trader is the only skirmish Sci-fi I play in 28mm. I am happy to have all the books. I suggest everyone to try it !

[weismonsters]

Plus Dreads called Chuck and Eddie (if I remember)

And ork dreadnoughts called "Super Attack Onslaughter".
 

[DoctorPete]

And don't forget the robots and squats.  The more I recall about RT the more I am tempted to get back into it.   

[Elbows]

Rogue Trader + Forgeworld minis = a game I'd actually play. 

[grant]

As much as RT has the nostalgia, I really only ever enjoyed playing 2nd edition. Third was such a let down. 4th just added more stuff to the let down. 5th you can tell they knew they blew it. 6th... I was out and doing other things and had sold everything I owned. I had all the RT books (including the RoC ones as well as the three Ork ones), every single 2nd, 3rd and 4th book. It was a fine collection.

Frankly, considering where GW is today, I don't miss a thing!

[maxxon]

Frankly, the first edition rules were a horrible, horrible mess. They even changed the blast weapon rules a couple of months after publication... and it has zero suitability for a competetive environment (unless you enjoy "find the loophole" cheesefests).

...but the game had such spirit! I really loved it. The scenario generator, Abdul Goldberg, Rainbow Warriors, all the zany stuff. And the emphasis on making your own stuff, which has basically completely disappeared from current GW products (they don't even publish terrain making books anymore).

Today I would take more modern rules and use them to play scenarios in the spirit of Rogue Trader.

[Modhail]

Rogue Trader + Forgeworld minis = a game I'd actually play. 

Just the idea has got me to go "Wow"...  I can only sell so many kidneys though....

Exactly, maxxon, and it's the traces of that spirit that keep me intrigued in the setting. Sadly it is nowadays found (to a degree) in the products from Fantasy Flight, Black Library and fan created projects, and not in the parent company's product.
Random jump of thought: If I ever get a Rogue Trader/Inquisitor/=I=Munda campaign off the ground, it MUST feature Abdul Goldberg! Anyone have any suggestions for a suitable figure?

[Commander Vyper]

The rumoured new John Blanche inquisitor/necromunda skirmish game might be right up your alley yhen.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

While I only started in Gen2...there was enough of the Rogue Trader-ish left in the game to really set it apart.  Sure it was vastly time consuming, very clunky, and had so many special rules you could spend all day debating something, but the game had charm.

The games played created much more of a story.  You were able to really customize your stuff, and vehicles all had their own special traits.  Weapons were vastly different from each other instead of being lumped into a handful of categories.  Strategy cards and wargear cards caused absolute mayhem.

It may not have been a great game, but it was a much better game. They also did some lovely Chapter rules for various chapters back in the old White Dwarf.  I remember my favorite being the Mentor Legion which had probytes and cadre...and used a meshed targeting to link bolt gun fire, allowing a squad to fire its bolt guns at the same location, turning them into a lascannon etc.

You had allies, and mercenary forces you could hire on.  There was tons of cheese...but in an almost good way if you played with friends.  There were heaps of units in the early codices which models never existed for, allowing you to experiment and bit-mash till your heart was content.  40K has changed so immensely it's really saddening...and I'm a "young pup" by many game club standards.  I can't imagine the older fellas who really gamed heavily in the rogue trader days.

A time of heroes, the golden age when men were real men. Strength 9 on some guys and stuff like that.

[weismonsters]

Every time I dump a shampoo bottle in the recycling bin I take a moment to mourn for the Grav Attack Vehicle that it could have been.

Edit to add the following: Talking of high strength characters, every time I roll up a chaos champion with the Realm of Chaos rules, they always come out S7. Almost without fail. It is spooky. A load of mediocre stats and then S of 7. Does anyone else have this experience?

[Commander Vyper]