The basic rules for this game were released in a boxed set in 1982, and at the time, aside from FASA's Star Trek Roleplaying Game, it was the only military roleplaying game that I had ever played. Of course, stylistically, the two games could hardly have been further apart. Player characters in Star Trek were expected to act independently and hardly ever died as long as there was a red-shirted NPC crewman around to take an energy blast for them. In Behind Enemy Lines, the roleplaying experience was about following orders no matter what to accomplish the mission, being part of a band of brothers, and making terrible sacrifices for each blood-soaked hill, ridge, and hedgerow that the player characters' platoon fought for, one bloody inch at a time.
The Behind Enemy Lines boxed set was immediately followed by British Commandos, a supplement bringing England's elite special forces into the fight, and The Guns of Navarone, an adventure based upon the WWII movie of the same name-- both released on the heels of the game's premiere in 1982. Within a year or two, FASA's edition of the game was out of print, and a completely new version of the game was being published under license by a company called The Companions.
Incidentally, I contacted FASA in the mid-1990's about purchasing the rights to Behind Enemy Lines so that I could revive the game for a third edition. Yes, I loved this game that much. I talked to a FASA attorney for about ten minutes, mainly answering his skeptical questions about why I was interested in an out-of-print game that never made a profit for FASA and whether there was any value in the rights to this game that FASA ought to be aware of. There was no discussion of terms and it was obvious that FASA wasn't really interested in a licensing arrangement.
One shortcoming to Behind Enemy Lines was that its rules focused solely upon the European theater of war. If I had ever published a version of this game, I would have expanded the rules to include war in Africa, China, Italy, the South Pacific, and the Eastern Front. Here are my rules for Italian and Japanese troop NPC's for this game.
Italian Troops
Troop Quality- 1st Rate: Elite Italian armor units and special forces.
2nd Rate: All regular Italian infantry.
3rd Rate: All Italian militia and rear-echelon troops.
Pistols Short 8+ Med 10+ Long 12+ Extreme 14+ Rate Ammo
Glisenti M10 (9mm) 40(-1) 80 150 250 1/sec. 7
Rifles
Fucile Mod 91 (6.5mm) 50 150 350 750 1/2 sec. 6
SMGs
MAB 38/42 (9mm) 25(-1) 75 150 250 AUTO 40
Modello 37 (9mm) 20(-1) 50 125 250 AUTO 20
Japanese Troops
Troop Quality- 1st Rate: Japan's Imperial guardsmen, soldiers in any
commanding officer's personal staff, or any
soldier left behind to defend islands of the
Japanese Empire from advancing American
forces.
soldier left behind to defend islands of the
Japanese Empire from advancing American
forces.
2nd Rate: All regular Japanese infantry.
3rd Rate: Rear-echelon Japanese troops.
Special Morale Bonus for Japanese Troops: All Japanese soldiers have an
automatic +3 bonus to morale when defending from prepared fortifications.
Pistols Short 8+ Med 10+ Long 12+ Extreme 14+ Rate Ammo
Tiasho 14 (8mm Auto) 10(-1) 20 40(+1) 80(+2) 1/sec. 8
Rifles
Arisaka Type 99 (7.7x58mm) 50 100 225 350 1/sec. 5
SMGs
Type 100 (8mm) 25(-2) 75 150 200 AUTO 12
Type 100/1944 (8mm) 20(-1) 50 100 150 AUTO 10
MGs
Kikanjull (6.5mm) 25(-2) 50 150 300 AUTO 25
Type 92 (7.7mm) 75(-1) 250 500 750 AUTO 30
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