Every month, GMT Games reliably send out an update on what they’re doing, which P500 orders are being charged and sent out, new P500 order opportunities, and just basically a “what’s going on at GMT Games” kind of update...
Every month, GMT Games reliably send out an update on what they’re doing, which P500 orders are being charged and sent out, new P500 order opportunities, and just basically a “what’s going on at GMT Games” kind of update post.
I don’t always do one of these posts, though. That’s mainly because some updates, I just don’t have a lot to say about them. If you want a complete analysis of the monthly update, The Players’ Aid does a great one (that links to November’s because they don’t have their December one up yet at the time of this writing).
This month, though, I had to say something.
And if you have seen the update, you can probably guess why.
So let’s make some gif pic money!
(Disclaimer: I don’t actually make any money)
The December update is chock full of good news, which I will detail below.
The first thing Gene highlights is the debut of a new Youtube series called GMT Talk, hosted by Luke and Rachel Billingsley.
The first guest is the esteemed Harold Buchanan, he of Liberty or Death fame!
It was a great interview and well worth a watch (and if you’re busy doing other things, listening to it is pretty cool too).
You can check it out on Spotify if you want to take the audio with you.
The next item is what’s currently shipping. Between the massive GMT sale and four P500 games shipping, I’m not sure how they are able to get all of this stuff out in a timely manner.
I’m hoping my two games (Norman Conquests: Men of Iron V and The Plum Island Horror) actually make it to our mailbox by January 5 when I’m heading down to OrcaCon.
Only two more weeks!
This was followed by the announcement of January’s games charging and shipping, which finally includes my order of Commands & Colors: Medieval.
Finally!!!!
I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time.
I should probably find a player or two to play it with me, shouldn’t I?
Gene then gives an update on the GMT sale, which was massive apparently. I didn’t take part, even though I qualified for a bunch of games (you get 50% off for one game for each P500 game you’ve had this past year, and I’ve had a bunch).
There just wasn’t anything available that I wanted, since I’m trying to not overload my storage space too much.
Yeah, I couldn’t say that with a straight face.
How about an announcement that all of Playdek’s GMT games are currently on sale for 60% on Steam, iOS and Android?
That’s a huge announcement!
They’re all really good adaptations that I recommend.
There are some other updates after that, including from GMT One, which is the part that creates the solo versions of many of these games, along with a free print and play module for Manoeuvre for Christmas.
But let’s get to why I had to write this post, even if there may not be too much other stuff that affects me.
The P500 additions.
The first one, I don’t really care too much about because it’s not something I would ever get played, and for me it’s just too soon anyway.
Defiance: 2nd Russo-Ukrainian War 2022-? Volume 1: Miracle on the Dnipro 2022 is a game about the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Let’s blurb the newsletter this time.
“Defiance: 2nd Russo-Ukrainian War 2022-? Volume 1: Miracle on the Dnipro 2022 (“Defiance”) covers the initial 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine with the Kyiv and Chernihiv campaigns from February 24, 2022 to roughly April 1, 2022. Defiance builds upon Victory Games’ (Mark Herman’s) Flashpoint Golan (1991), adds a strategic political component, and updates the system for modern multi-domain warfare/the expanded revolution in military affairs (eRMA).
We believe that operational combat has again evolved—more dependent upon troop quality and supporting assets versus simple relative odds of attacker and defender force ratio (the good ole 3-1 we were raised on). Additionally, we believe that the initial Russian invasion and toppling of the Ukrainian republic was a 50/50 proposition. Russia failed. Why? Could the probability of success have been higher or lower? What could have driven that? Defiance invites players to explore the answers to those questions. We hope to cover other operational campaigns in this conflict with future volumes of Defiance.”
For me, though, the highlight of this newsletter is…
More Combat Commander!
Yes, a new Combat Commander: Pacific battle pack is on the P500. Called Island Hopping, this battle pack will have 10-12 scenarios (two are still under consideration), four new maps, and some new terrain types (like coral) to reflect the unique terrain inherent to the Pacific islands that US Marines stormed.
It even has a scenario on Attu, in the Aleutian Islands!
There are going to be a number of night actions, so get brushed up on your night rules.
I can’t say how excited I am about this one.
And there’s another Combat Commander announcement coming soon!
There are also three reprints (Atlantic Chase, Normandy ’44, and Simple Great Battles of History) and a set of mounted maps for A World at War as well.
I’m not even going to try and guess the hints about upcoming P500 games, though the additional content for Plum Island Horror does sound intriguing.
What follows all of that is some production news (which it’s nice to see what orders of mine are actually at the printer) and a bunch of other things.
Usually one of my favourite parts of the newsletter, though, is the cover reveals for upcoming games.
And there are a couple of beautiful ones.
First is Wolfpack, a game about the North Atlantic convoy struggles during World War II
That is amazing. I love the look of the waves crashing over the U-Boat!
The second is for the new Levy & Campaign game announced a month or two ago.
Seljuk takes place during the siege of Byzantium from 1068-1071.
Another vivid one!
Finally, there are some component samples from the above two games plus Red Dust Rebellion, the upcoming sci-fi COIN game from 3 Minute Boardgames (yes, he has a name…but that’s what you know him as).
Those cards look great too.
I may have to actually add this to my list. Even though I say I will never be able to get any COIN games to the table, I now have four of them.
So maybe a 5th? For a friend?
That’s pretty much it from me for the newsletter, though there is still a bunch of stuff that I haven’t commented on.
So if you are a GMT fan (if you are, you probably already subscribe), check out the newsletter and see what’s what!