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Hi everyone!
I hope you're enjoying at least one of the four games we've released over the past month! About those games...
- We're getting terrific feedback from the 18xx community on 1846, and are thrilled veteran players like what we've done with the game. We hope plenty of you guys who haven't played 18xx games will check it out, too.
- We're also seeing a lot of players who are very happy with the component upgrades in our 2nd Edition of Conquest of Paradise. We're hopeful that this will spur what I think is a terrific 4X game to more popularity among both the wargamer and eurogamer crowds.
- The 2nd Edition of Triumph & Tragedy is out now, as well, and initial feedback is that players really appreciate the upgrades to components. I think this game is going to sell well for us for a long time, as Craig seems to have really hit the sweet spot with a "sandbox" view of WWII that really draws players in.
- Mitch and I have been getting lots of nice feedback from players of our new 25th Anniversary version of Silver Bayonet. It's a little strange but very cool to be answering questions today about a game that goes back to the very beginning of GMT (my first design). I just want to add here that Mitch did most of the work to streamline and test this new version, and I really appreciate all the time and effort he put in to make the game shine. It shows, Mitch! Thanks!
I just want to take a minute and say that I think these four games (and the games coming out in the next month - see below) really show off the skill of our production and art teams, led by Tony Curtis and Mark Simonitch and supported by terrific artwork and layout from Rodger MacGowan, Charlie Kibler, and the host of talented artists that work with them. Component for component, these guys are responsible for us continuing to raise the bar on our physical game quality. I know you guys appreciate their efforts, as do I.
And I want to include a note of thanks to all of you who continue to buy and play our games. You guys are the reason we can print 2nd Editions (or 9th, in the case of Twilight Struggle!). I appreciate your loyalty, your feedback, even your willingness to point out where we need to get better. The bottom line is we want to create games that bring fun and enjoyment to your game tables for many years to come. And you guys help us make that happen. Thank you!
OK, that said, we have a ton of news for you this time, so let's get right to it.
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New P500 Additions
We are adding SEVEN new games/modules to the P500 list this month! (These will be the last of our 2016 additions to the list.)
I'm always excited by new P500 games, and this time maybe even more so because I've personally played and enjoyed several of the new games. There's a new game from Chad Jensen that I played and loved at the recent Weekend at the Warehouse. And I can't wait for you guys to experience our new space exploration and competition game from John Butterfield, a legendary designer in our industry who I've wanted to get a chance to do a game with for many years. I got to play it a couple months ago, and it wowed me! We also have a new Fast-action card game from Mike Bertucelli which many of us at the Weekends at the Warehouse have enjoyed during its development. And for those of you, like me, who just love air games, there's a new operational air game using the Downtown system that brings us NATO/WP missions over Central Europe in 1987. And I hear it's going to have some tweaks to make the system more solitaire friendly, so I can't wait for this one!
Add to the four new games three excellent expansion modules for
Conquest of Gaul,
Fighting Formations, and
Wing Leader, and we have a robust and diverse crop of new P500s for you to choose from. I hope you find several games and expansions that you like!
See the P500 section below for details and links to the new P500 pages.
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P500 Deletions
We're also culling the list a bit this time, removing two games that have been lagging in numbers and one at the designer's request. Here are the games that we're removing:
Hammerin' Sickles (Designer Request)
Invasion: Malta
Lion of Judah
We've let all these games' designers know that we'll be happy to post links to new order pages when these games land at other publishers, as we anticipate they will. On that front, we just learned yesterday that Compass Games has decided to pick up Lion of Judah. For you guys interested in this game, we encourage you to follow the link below to go over and order the game to support Javier, Kevin, and the good folks at Compass Games.
Note that any orders you had in our system for these three games have now been automatically cancelled.
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Upcoming Game Releases
This is going to be a "crazy busy" coming month for releases. We have four games scheduled for this timeframe, and two "delayed" games (you know about
C&C Napoleonics Epics from last month's update. We also just last week learned that one key component for
Clash of Giants: Civil War was delayed at the printer and won't be in our warehouse for a couple more weeks.) that we have to work back in. Here's what the plan looks like:
- We've just finished this week shipping the last of the orders for Silver Bayonet 25th Anniversary Edition and the 2nd Printing of Triumph & Tragedy.
- We're going to use the short week next week to build Comancheria and prep our shipments for after Thanksgiving. On Nov. 29th, we'll ship Comancheria, No Retreat 2nd Printing, and the newest printing of Twilight Struggle.
- In the following week, we'll build Wing Leader Supremacy, Clash of Giants: Civil War, and replace the old maps with fixed ones for C&C Napoleonics Epics Expansion, while prepping the final P500 ship list for the year.
- Between Dec. 7and 10, just depending on exactly when parts are all in the warehouse, we'll ship Wing Leader Supremacy, Clash of Giants: Civil War, and the P500 orders for the delayed C&C Napoleonics Epics.
- See the charging/shipping section below for exact charge dates for the games listed above that haven't been charged yet.
We haven't had as many production delays as we feared we might during this "systems transition time period," but we did have a few week delay from the manufacturer on
Fields of Despair. At this point, it doesn't look like there's any way
Fields of Despair
is going to arrive in our warehouse in time to ship for Christmas, so that will be our first 2017 shipment in early January.
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New Systems Integration
This continues to be our top priority to create a warehouse efficiency that will easily handle volumes many times higher than we create today. Part of this will be a new website with significantly upgraded communication, notification, and tracking capabilities. 90% of the website piece is going really well right now. Rachel, Mitch, and I are currently creating and updating content concurrently for both our existing and upcoming sites, so we'll be ready to hit the ground running when the time comes.
It is looking more and more likely, though, due to significant delays from the custom programming team (all the P500 ordering and tracking functionality) that we won't go live with the new site until January 3-4.
Fall Sale Moved to January. So the only really important functional news that this delay brings is that there is really NO WAY we can do a yearly mass sale with our existing systems, so we're going to have to wait on that until the new systems go live. So at this point it looks like it will be the "January Sale" this year instead of the "October Sale. " Don't worry, though; we'll still make sure there are great discounts and that our P500 customers are taken care of with their 50% off for past P500 orders.
Lee's Wing Leader Designer Site
For you fans of Lee Brimmicombe-Wood's Wing Leader series, here's a link to Lee's Designer Website, where you can get the latest news about the series, as well as free downloads (click the Downloads section in the top menu) for the series. Here's the link:
Wing Leader Designer Site
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The Player's Aid and Panzer Pusher sites
I just want to remind you guys to check out both the Player's Aid ( a treasure trove of designer interviews, strategy articles, AARs, etc) and The Panzer Pusher (everything about Jim Day's Panzer and MBT series of tactical games) websites. There's tons of information in both places that will enhance your enjoyment of your games. Here are links to those sites:
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
We had a great time at our Fall Weekend at the Warehouse last month. We had about 90 gamers and designers in attendance, playing a huge variety of favorite and new games.
We've established the dates for our Spring 2017 Weekend.
It will be held April 20-23, 2017, so mark your calendars now! As always, 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.
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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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
- 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
We've just finished this week shipping the last of the orders for
Silver Bayonet 25th Anniversary Edition and the 2nd Printing of
Triumph & Tragedy.
On Nov. 29th, we'll begin shipping:
Between Dec. 7-10, we'll begin shipping:
Charging
Between 21-25 November, we'll charge for the following games:
These will be our final P500 charges for 2016.
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Tentative Production Schedule
Here's our most current Tentative Production Schedule from Tony and Mark. Compared to last month's list, there are a few one or two month moves near-term, but most of the delays are out into 3Q, where projects just aren't finished yet. One that I can speak to is putting off Mr. President from 2Q to 3Q - and maybe longer. Sorry guys, I asked Tony and Mark to delay it. With the systems transition dominating my time, I just haven't had time to work on Mr President and may not be able to get back to it until the new systems go live in early January.
Games with a ** following their entry are currently at the printer (we're a little more certain about scheduling on these).
November 29, 2016
December 7-10, 2016
(Getting new maps printed)
January, 2017
February, 2017
March, 2017
Remainder of 2Q, 2017
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P500s
We have seven(!) new P500 additions this month. We have a diverse set of game and modules, old and new systems, a broad range of topics, and a great mix of wargames and euro/crossover games for you this time:
- Expansion modules for Conquest of Gaul, Fighting Formations, and Wing Leader.
- a NATO/Warsaw Pact operational air game in the Downtown Air series
- A Fast-action tactical tank card game
- and for you guys who like strategy games of any genre, two massively cool new Euro/Crossover games from Chad Jenson and John Butterfield.
For all the P500 items below, just click on the links to go to that item's P500 page for detailed information and to order.
Recent P500 Additions:
The Russian Campaign Mounted Mapboards (2):
184 Orders to Date
The Last Hundred Yards: 406 Orders to Date
The Hunted: Twilight of the U-Boats, 1943-45: 744 Orders to Date
1960: The Making of the President (GMT Edition): 765 Orders to Date
Enemy Coast Ahead: The Doolittle Raid: 615 Orders to Date
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Project Updates
In this section, we'll be passing along updated status on a variety of projects, generally direct from the designers or developers.
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Short progress update on Colonial Twilight:
The FLNbot is finished; still evaluating suggestions for ways to make the language clearer, but the bot is done, with profuse thanks to Vesa Arponen.
Hope to sign off on final art soon, after reviews of counter sheet and Event Cards and laying out of rulebook and playbook. The map looks great and has been done for some time.
Demonstration plays of Colonial Twilight at recent conventions (BottosCon in Vancouver, Harold Buchanan's SD HistCon in San Diego) have received lots of interest, of course!
But the big news is on the art front, where I'm very pleased to report that work is now complete on a full set of original art for the deck, and that Kurt Miller has done an outstanding job! There's quite a few pieces that I would love to have gracing my war room's walls :-) I've also seen and reviewed the first concepts prepared by Chechu Nieto for the map, and nobody will be surprised to read that it's shaping up to be fantastic too... It is very exciting to see your concept taking on a professional treatment before your own eyes!
Cheers, Marc GR
For those who want to play the game... Pericles is now at the printers. I expect sans dock strikes in Oakland, or some other natural disaster, that the game is right on schedule for early 2017 shipping....
Mark Simonitch has been hard at work on the cards for Wild Blue Yonder, and they are gorgeous! Here are three samples of the new Axis Action deck, featuring the superb artwork of Antonis Karidis (who's also doing the box cover art). And here are three samples of the Aircraft cards, with beautiful plan form renderings by Charlie Kibler. All three have been very patient with my many niggling requests for changes, and you will surely appreciate the fruits of their labors when this game is finally in our hands next year.
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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 (you can click on the name link below to go to the P500 reprint page). Thanks for your help!
Here's the current P500 Reprint list - with current order totals and a +/- order growth since last month:
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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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