Back in the early ’80s, my gaming crew and I were big on the whole post-Vietnam action movie thing. We watched The A-Team every week, read Mack Bolan books, and watched movies like The Dogs of War, Uncommon Valor, and Commando over and over. Fantasy Games Unlimited’s MERC was the RPG that channeled our desire for some red meat roleplaying.
I ran the hell out of the game – at least a dozen adventures - and now when I think back on it, I don’t think we ever had more than a tenuous grasp of the rules. I do know that we loved the clear gunsight overlay and used that a lot. We mowed down commies everywhere from Africa to Latin America and South East Asia.
FGU was a pretty prolific company back then, turning out all kinds of games that us Grognards still remember today – Villains & Vigilantes, Bushido, Aftermath (though I never met anyone who played it) and yes, Bunnies & Burrows. FGU was one of those companies that was always on the edge of my gaming radar, and I lost sight of them some time in the late 80′s when they seemed to have stopped publishing. They were never as big as TSR and SJG and other companies that prospered back in the Golden Age of RPGs but I think their products definitely provided some of the foundation stones for the hobby we have today.
And it seems FGU is still in business amazingly enough! Good for them!
Anyway, I just picked up a new, shrinkwrapped copy of MERC out of nostalgia (for just $10.95), and I am instantly reminded of those Saturday afternoons gaming out on the picnic table in the yard with the Old Crew, raiding commie airfields and blowing up Mi-24s all with the Rolling Stones Satisfaction going in the background.
Good times.
