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Hi everyone!
As I write this, our office and warehouse folks are busy putting the final touches on the warehouse transformation they do every 6 months for our GMT Weekend at the Warehouse. By tomorrow, the warehouse will be full of a bunch of gamers, old friends and always at least a dozen or so new attendees, as we celebrate our love of games together.
I look forward to these gatherings, because of the "old and new friends" aspect, and also as an opportunity to see new games from our designers and occasionally teach new games myself. This time, I'll be teaching and testing a few games for designers who can't be here, and for Andy Lewis, who has a couple that he wants our players who attend to try out as we evaluate them for possible P500 inclusion. The Weekend is also a great time to take a little break from the "business" of gaming and just hang out and PLAY! I'm looking forward to spending yet another (this is our 33rd Weekend!) great weekend playing games with some of you.
Before the warehouse transformation, the staff got all the Pericles P500 orders shipped out, and before that, survived a crazy week of shipping Twilight Struggle Collector's Editions and Expansion Sets. The order day for those was pretty crazy, as well, as the order surge crashed our website in about 2 minutes! Thankfully, webmaster Mitch Land (nice work, Mitch!) and our ISP got everything sorted out quickly, and we were back up in about half an hour. The Collector's Edition promptly sold out in about 15 minutes, and the Expansions in about an hour and a half! Wow! I expected them to sell quickly, but 15 minutes? That was wild. I hope, for you guys who got them, that they bring you many hours of enjoyment!
We've had many inquiries as to whether we're planning to reprint these. The answer, for the TS Collector's Edition, is no. It is what it is - a Collector's Edition - and we're not going to devalue it to collectors by printing more. For the Expansion Sets, though, we've had a ton of requests, and we're thinking about how and when we might be able to reprint them sometime down the road. We'll let you know when we have a decision on that front.
O
K, now on to the rest of this month's news....
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New P500 Addition - Fields of Fire Update Kit
This kit includes:
- Rules Booklet (64 pages)
- Briefing Booklet #1 (36 pages)
- Briefing Booklet #2 (44 pages)
- 1 half sheet of counters
- 7 Player Aid Cards
This Update Kit will allow you to play with your 1st Edition cards and counters and enjoy the many enhancements to this new edition of Ben Hull's gem of a tactical wargame. For more details or to order, please click the link above or the image below. Enjoy!
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P500 Reprints
We're adding three games to the P500 Reprint list this time:
This is a straight reprint (with any errata corrected, as usual)If you missed this in the first two printings, or just want a new copy, please click the image below to check it out and get your order in for "GMT's Biggest Monster Game."
This is almost a straight reprint, with a couple of key additions. Owners of the 2nd edition will see no changes in major components in this reprint. But there are a couple of "inside the rules/scenarios/charts" changes. The major change is Erasmus v2 (the solo bot) will benefit from the techniques and graphics used in the Pericles solo system. The reprint will also include the South Pacific scenario (in the playbook, not as separate map and counters)
featured in c3i.
This
Sixth Printing of designer Ted Raicer's award-winning classic card-driven game of the Great War is m
ore than just a reprint; it is a Deluxe Edition, sure to delight players new and old. Polished by years of passionate play and heated discussion; this Deluxe Edition will apply the learnings of the past two decades to the rules, enhance game balance based on thousands of competitive playings, and take the physical components to a new level. As a bonus, this edition includes both the classic AND the historical scenario map used in today's competitive play, adds the additional counters and strategy cards first released in the
Paths of Glory Player's Guide
, and provides a carefully curated set of markers to enhance face to face play. Click the links above for more details, and to order.
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Update on Last Chance P500 Reprints: Of the three games on our P500 Reprint list we noted as "Last Chance
" last month, we had 26 new orders for
Roads to Leningrad 2nd Ed.
T
hat's a significant enough order increase that I told Vance we would leave the game on the list for another 3 months or so, and keep it as long as order numbers don't drop way off again.
Unfortunately, we still didn't see major new order numbers for
The Dark Valley
or
The Kaiser's Pirates
,
so as of today, we are deleting those games from the P500 Reprint List. That doesn't mean we'll never reprint them, but for now the orders just aren't there to support them.
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New Info on Mounted Mapboards
We're adding a new Mounted Map option for the PoG Deluxe Edition Double-Sided Mounted Map. Tony has figured a way with the suppliers to get a 2-sided map for almost the same price as a single-side, so pricing will be the normal $20/$14 for both the dual-sided map with both the original classic Simonitch version and the new tournament version done by Terry Leeds (shown below).
In a second piece of good news, Tony's mounted map deal-making has allowed us to enhance the Operation Dauntless map we added to the P500 list last month with the addition of a map for Mark
Mokszycki's first design, Red Winter. So now you guys who order this item will get both games that Mark has designed, front and back on one Mounted Mapboard. And the price will stay the same as we announced last month for the single map, $20 + shipping Retail and $14 + shipping for P500 orders.
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New Games from Ludifolie and Vae Victis
We've recently received game shipments from our friends at Ludifolie and Vae Victis. These games come packaged in ziplocks and include English language rules. They are now in our warehouse and available for sale. To get more information and/or place an order, just click the links below:
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This Month in InsideGMT!
Here are links to this month's new InsideGMT articles:
And, in case you missed them, here are links to our previous month's InsideGMT articles:
As always, I invite you guys to head over to
www.insidegmt.com, check out the articles, leave us your comments, and tell us what else you'd like to see us do to make
InsideGMT even better!
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GMT Weekend at the Warehouse April 20-23, 2017
Our Spring 2017 Weekend at the Warehouse is upon us! This weekend, from
April 20-23, we'll spend the better part of 3 1/2 days, often long into the night, playing your favorite GMT (and non-GMT, if you'd prefer) games. This is mostly an open gaming event, although we do have tournaments from time to time. We have about 80-85 attendees signed up so far, so there's still a little room if you want to make a last-minute trip us to game with us this weekend.
The hotel has already blocked rooms for us, so feel free to go ahead and make reservations whenever you are ready.
If you'd like to attend, just call or chat with our office ladies and they'll reserve your spot.
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GMT Best-Selling Games
We've updated our all-time and yearly best sellers. For those of you interested in our top-selling games, here's the list:
All-Time Best-Sellers:
Best-Sellers in the Past Year:
I'll be writing another InsideGMT article soon that looks at our game mix and sales in more detail. For now, congratulations to the design teams for these best-sellers, and thanks to all of you for continuing to buy and play our games!
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Keep up with GMT Online
Virtually every day, we announce new information or show off upcoming products or give you a peek under the hood of our new designs in our various online sites and forums. For you guys looking to keep up with us online, here's where you can find us. Drop in and start a conversation!
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That's it for the news bytes from me for this time.
Here's what you'll find in the rest of today's update:
- Charge and Shipping Update
- Production Outlook
- P500s
- Project Updates and Sample Art
- P500 Reprint Update
- Website File Additions
Thanks, as always, for your support of GMT Games!
Enjoy the games!
Gene
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Charging and Shipping Schedule
Shipping
On April 25, we'll ship the
Genesis Mounted Map
and
Manoeuvre: Distant Lands
. We just got these in the warehouse, but won't ship them until next week, as the warehouse is currently reconfigured for our Spring GMT Weekend at the Warehouse.
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Tentative Production Schedule
Here's our most current Tentative Production Schedule from Tony and Mark.
Games with a ** following their entry are currently at the printer (we're a little more certain about scheduling on these).
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July, 2017
August, 2017
September, 2017
#= Although at least one of these is going to be "ready" sooner, John has decided to achieve some operational and cost synergies by printing all three games together in Q1, 2018.
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P500s
We're taking a break from NEW P500 additions this month, although please do check out this month's Reprint, Update Kit, and Mounted Map additions to P500.
Recent P500 Additions:
The Battle of Rhode Island (Volume IX in our BoAR Series): 358 Orders to Date
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Project Updates and Sample Art
In this section, we'll be passing along updated status on a variety of projects, generally direct from the designers or developers.
Here are card samples for our late April release,
Manouever Distant Lands, followed by designer/developer updates. Enjoy!
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Design Updates:
"Bayonets & Tomahawks' latest prototype was presented at GMT East and made a very positive impression. Thanks again to Andy Lewis and his team for a memorable event. Some development highlights:
- Intensive B&T playtests from Friday to Sunday contributed neat evolutions to the action cards (formerly action tokens).
- A simple reaction system will allow the player to keep a single reserve Supply point (SP) that can be played after all his opponent's actions.
- Also, thanks to Steve Hopkins' involvement in two complete playtests the same day, the victory points system has been enhanced to diversify ways to win the game, increasing replayability.
- The Vassal module has been completed for a while. Barry and I are still tweaking it to make sure it's all ok for playtesters release this month."
-Marc Rodrigue
Montreal, Canada
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Imperial Struggle - co-designer Ananda Gupta
Hi everyone!
Progress on Imperial Struggle has been slower than I would like. Why is that? Two reasons.
First, I just got a promotion at work, and the new responsibilities have been taking up a lot of my time. I just flew back from Berlin, where the best I could do tourist-wise was to walk past the Brandenburg Gate and see the Bundeskanzleramt out my window on the way back to the airport. (The driver called it "the washing machine" - look it up on Google and you'll see why.)
Second, and more interesting for GMT gamers: some game design problems suggest a bunch of different solutions. These are the most fun to solve because I just have to pick the most promising and lowest-impact one, try it, and if it doesn't work, try one of the others. Others just require me to think a lot, rolling solutions around in my head, and revisit the books and articles I've read for inspiration. Those are satisfying to solve in the end, but they're time-consuming. When I lived in Maryland and commuted to work for two hours a day, one of the few benefits was that I had a lot of time to do this type of mental meandering through the problem, the gameplay, and all the other things in the game each solution might affect. (Also, I could talk aloud through the problems; now, in Los Angeles, I ride the bus to work, and I imagine the other passengers might find that a little disconcerting.)
One such problem is the Jacobites, the Catholic supporters of the Stuart line who posed a continual threat to the English power structure in the 18
th
century. Their two rebellions in 1715 and 1745 are well known; but there were several others. The current game design has several event cards that deal with them. Two examples are the recurring Jacobite Intrigue card, which is weak when played to British advantage but strong when played by the French; and Papacy Recognizes Hanover, which for game purposes permanently ends Jacobite ambitions. In addition to events, the 1715 and 1745 rebellions are also military campaigns in the two Succession wars (Spanish and Austrian).
But I've come to think that this treatment is not enough; despite all this, the British player is not as paranoid about the Jacobite threat as he or she should be. A plausible solution to that problem alone has taken a couple of weeks, as well as some re-research by my indispensable wife. We'll be playtesting that solution soon - a system by which Jacobite support is more variable than it is in the current game, and where the French can at any time threaten a rebellion with varying degrees of Catholic support from the Continent. But this in turn means the British need a unique mechanic, for which there are many candidates... and selecting one will take a little more time as well. I envy designers who are able to crank through problems more efficiently than I do!
So, is everything hazy and doubtful? Not at all; the map itself has been stable for some time now, and the naval system that I introduced late last year has held up nicely. Games seem to be lasting a nice range of turns; the threat of an early victory is real enough that both players must take care not to give up too much too early, but the automatic victories are still quite challenging to reach (although I am noticing that game experience confers an advantage, as it does in Twilight Struggle).
I truly appreciate all of your patience, not to mention Gene's, Mark's, and Tony's. We will get this game to your tabletops as soon as we possibly can.
- Ananda
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FRG & BAOR Update
Great progress has been made on both of the MBT expansions. Started receiving the West German and British final infantry art -- looks great. The new geo maps are going into final art the end of this month. There are 16 new maps, 8 included with each expansion. These new geo maps add a number of new dimensions to the series: specific terrain objectives including airfield, supply depot, power grid station, and storage tank farm; autobahn motorway and track terrain expanding on roads and paths; plus a full urban map. Examples will be posted once the final art is complete.
Panzer Expansion 4: France 1940 Update
The design of scenarios is pretty much complete including the development of the Panzer solitaire system. It is utilized in two of the scenarios, one simulating the German force and the other the French force. This is a great addition to the Panzer series.
Leaders
If you haven't yet had the opportunity, check out the MBT and Panzer Leaders addition to both of the series.
-Jim Day
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Hi everyone!
I thought it might be nice to give you an idea this time about the update/replacement/new counters which will come in the Next War: Poland box.
As usual, we are taking the opportunity during printing of reserving
some space on the counter sheets for replacement counters for previous
games. Next War: Poland will include:
- Replacement counters for USAF F-16s, F-15Es, and F-35s
- USMC and USN F-35s for all games (updated values).
- Replacement B-1Bs for Next War: Korea and Next War: Taiwan (updated values)
- two PRC errata counters for Next War: Taiwan (J-31 and 2/21).
- Replacement counters for the ROK F-35As for Next War: Taiwan
- CW JSFs for Next War: Korea (updated values).
New counters are also included, for use with either NWK or NWT, for a
Japanese AMPH and amphibious brigade, as the JSDF has begun training
for it. These will become available in scenarios in which the Japanese
intervene.
Finally, we have included three new types of markers:
- Collateral Damage
- Helicopter Strike
- Helicopter CS markers
You can use the
Collateral Damage markers to mark new damage to Airfields/Airbases
during a Strike Phase as a reminder of the level of Collateral Damage
to roll for at the end of the Phase. You can use the Helo Strike and
Helo CS markers as reminders, during a Strike Phase or Combat Segment,
of what value Attack Helicopter has been assigned to that mission.
This allows you to leave the unit in place. -
Mitchell Land
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I am happy to report that Judd Vance is currently working on producing a Vassal module for Time of Crisis. Judd has done many high quality modules over the past few years, (his module list here - https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/214105/my-vassal-modules) , and I am excited to see what he comes up with. -
Wray
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Blitz development chugs along, in spite of Real Life getting in my way. This last month we have tweaked the campaign further and have managed to progress the art effort. In April I expect to see near-final drafts of the countersheet and ADCs to be prepared. Once that is done, most of the effort will be focussed on the testing of scenarios.
I need to talk to GMT about production slots. I'd still like to get Blitz out this year, which would mean delivering the expansion by late summer at the latest. - Lee
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P500 Reprint News and Tracking
Here's the current status of all the games on our P500 reprint list. Please help us determine what to print by pre-ordering any of these that interest you. Thanks for your help!
New Additions: This month we've three games to the P500 Reprint list:
If you'd like to order a reprint of one of these games, just click the link to go to the P500 Reprint page.
Here's the current P500 Reprint list - with current order totals and a +/- order growth since last month:
Talon: - 234 Orders (+20)
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New Game Support Files, Vassal/Cyberboard, and Sneak Peeks
Here are new support files we've added to our website since our last update. Enjoy!
Game Support:
Vassal/Cyberboard/ZunTzu:
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Sincerely,
Your Friends at GMT Games
www.gmtgames.com
Toll Free Order and Support Line: 800-523-6111
E-mail: gmtoffice@gmtgames.com |
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