We're looking at it from different angles. I'm a lot more interested in tone, theme and feeling than a direct sequel or reuse of the exact same details.
From that perspective, the TOG in New Renegade Legion is very similar to the old one. Sure, they're not Roman, and they're not racist in the same way - but replacing everything that makes a planet's people them - their culture, language, names, even their architecture may as well be wiping them out and replacing them with Terrans. The details are different, the core idea is the same.
Similarly the Centurion rules are far simpler than the original ones, but they're in the pursuit of the same goal - grav tanks slowly denuding each other's abilities until one side or the other is defeated.
If you're expecting a direct continuation of the old universe it's going to be disappointing, sure. But like, that wasn't ever going to happen, even if Budgie Smuggler or someone else were able to get the rights to everything the odds of them bringing back the old rulesets was highly unlikely. Note how hard it's been for nuFASA to get their redone Interceptor game crowdfunded.
BLUF: I respect the effort put forth by the developers and writers, but view the enterprise askance based on the inclusion of certain names/titles.If you get rid of the core conceits and fundamental--foundational--aspects of a milieu, is it the same milieu? The use of a time-jump or the passage of time cannot be used as a defense in this case because this is a fictional universe with name recognition to this day, not a comparison of how different technology, language, and societal mores have changed from the Crusades to the era of the Global War on Terror.
So, the core idea is not the same, other than in the broadest strokes. There are historical parallels between the type of forced assimilation you describe, but I could play a game of
To the Strongest to represent them and call it
Renegade Legion, not so? You are right, it is
not so. The core ethos behind the veil of the game on the table are the same, but nothing else is. And there is more than a core theme to a product, project, or construction.
The work in
Voices of Varuna is good, of course, and there are some big names within their respective circles. As a product, everyone did a fine job and put their hard work in. But there are no stories that match the tone of any of the original prose by Rice or Kieth or the myriad sourcebook authors. The tone and themes present in all
Renegade Legion fiction (stories, novels, and sourcebooks) dealt with the struggles of people in war as viewed from those firing lines and the rapaciousness of a universal empire compared to those standing against the tide. Those aspects are missing from
Varuna, or at least parsed so thinly as to be unintelligible.
Of course, it was unlikely to get a
RL: Centurion 3rd Edition which was really just a dusted-off
2nd Edition box with new art, components, and rulebook with maybe some updated rules. I would have loved exactly that, but that doesn't mean it would sell in 2022. We agree that time marches on (except for
BattleTech and similar long-standing luminaries)
But you went from a game that had very strong parallels, applications, and lessons that could transfer dynamically to and from the real-world to one that is more akin to
X-Wing. What we have now is a game, and that is all. It is all about power usage, movement templates, and card draws. That is not pejorative. But there is no comfort to a returning player because this game has nothing in common with its titular forebear. And a completely new or uninitiated player wouldn't care about the name regardless because they view anew with no filters or lenses.
So, not a bad game system or universe they are developing. But not
Renegade Legion in either case. Therefore, the question still remains: why use the name(s) at all vice creating their own game about the galaxy-spanning Tellun Empire with its floating tanks and hardscrabble separatists?
P.S. Some rules for infantry and fire-support would have been a nice touch in the beta. Both are sorely lacking from the game and is just one more instance of a game with a familiar name and nothing else. Those were crucial aspects of how the original game operated and their omission is all the more glaring.