A Somewhat Longer News Post - Lots Going on These Days!

 I promised more, and I am delivering, there's been a lot of developments in the Twilight: 2000 world. First, there's been a release of a new supplement for those fans of US-based campaigns. Namely, the release of the Pacific Northwest Sourcebook. I was very pleased in my first read through of this book, and it's chock full of information (and potential wargaming opportunities, finally, something to do with my 20mm Liberation Canadians armed with FN-FALs and Sterling SMGs!)  

Taken from DriveThruRPG

 The book is comprehensive, smart and well written by Clayton Oliver. My only complaint, no maps. I can't really fault the designer as much as you might think. My own module writing efforts have run into some trouble because of the issue with finding contemporary maps online (there doesn't seem to be a drive to add 1995 AAA or Rand McNally maps online to anywhere. Kind of a pain in the arse, but one does what they can). I especially love the cold weather rules and the vehicles in the book. Japanese AFVs, this I did not expect! 

 But I still highly recommend the book and feel it's well worth the money invested. And for $9.99 as a PDF? It's a bargain. The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG, and is already selling well (It hit Silver Seller on DriveThru already!). I especially like the description of the Soviet advance into Seattle (anyone think Clayton Oliver channeled this PC game when he wrote this? Then again, I sometimes wonder if the designers of World In Conflict channeled Twilight: 2000?), and the detailed breakdown of the various military units available (Hi, ORBAT nerd, comes with being a wargamer.)  I promise a Module Suitability Review soon! Plenty of wargaming ideas to be had here. I give this 4.5 out of 5 mushroom clouds!

 The second bit of news is Chico has struck again, and for this ORBAT nerd, his stuff is always a fun bit of scenario mining, but this time, he has outdone himself. His work, War in the Far North, is just plain gold. He's also working on some stuff that will be of assistance to all Twilight: 2000 players in general, and that's some great info on military operations in the Artic (not just personal survival rules, as found in the Pacific Northwest book) and a good map for campaigning in the Northern Theatre! In short, well done Chico! I promise, a Module Suitability Review is coming!  I give this also 4.5 out of 5 mushroom clouds.

 As for where I have been, well, I have a paid blogging gig with these guys: EpochXperience.

 It's good and It's a paid gig, which is always a good thing for a professional writer like myself (don't panic, I have a day job, also as a writer.) I am trying to post to this blog at least once or twice a month so, so don't fret. I will be making regular posts as often as I can. In the meantime, stay frosty and watch the Giger Counter my friends. 

 

Module Suitability Review - Rook's Gambit

Cover image is taken from Drivethru RPG, IP is GDW/FFE

Well, here we are. The last of the v1 adventures, Rook's Gambit. This adventure, by Alf Bergstrom, aka Raelleus on the Twilight: 2000 forums, is a pretty straightforward adventure, and one that tells an interesting "side story" of Going Home. Namely, a vengeful, and ambitious Soviet General (whose war record up till now reads like someone applying to the Douglas Haig Memorial Staff College), has gotten the bright idea (no pun intended) to use a captured American ADM (Atomic Demolition Munition) to destroy the concentration of American troops in and around Bremerhaven. The repercussions of such an action are well, staggering, to say the least, and the DIA has recruited a "crack" team (the player characters) to go in, disable or capture the nuke, and kill the good general before he touches off an even worse nuclear exchange. The adventure itself is available for sale as a PDF for $2.99 on DrivethruRPG.com.

The side plots, involving the Polish Free Legion are fun, and the chase to "get the McGuffin" are classic Twilight: 2000. as well as the sandbox nature of the adventure (there's multiple options for the ref to get the bomb to Bremerhaven). I love the inclusion of the castle as well, it's a nice touch, and frankly, I think it's better carried off than Castle by the Sea, but that's just me (Not a big V2 fan, but 2.2 had a lot of promise).

But how does this do as miniatures fodder?

Skirmish Gaming

For a skirmish game, Rook's Gambit does well for inspiration. The mission to sneak in and assassinate the General/steal the nuke is enough to make a very good Black Ops/Skirmish Sangin game. Furthermore, what makes it loads of fun is the castle, the amount of 15mm or 28mm castles out there to be used for a game like this are plenty, and it does give the game a whole "James Bond assaulting the evil overlord's lair" sort of feel.

Some other ideas include?

• Intercepting the nuke if it's already been sent out, either raiding the airfield, or shooting up the SSM, or waylaying the Spetsnaz team (The last is my particular fave), all of them would make excellent Skirmish Sangin/Black Ops fodder.
• Fighting out the 1st Polish Free Legion's "civil war", the numbers involved lend themselves to be more of a skirmish game, perhaps even a campaign. Force on Force would do pretty well here.
• An interesting what if? What if the Soviet KGB or GRU got wind of this little plan? Might they in willing cooperation with the Army (probably a first for the Soviet Union) go in and crush this mutinous nutcase before he does too much damage? And what if some American "free-lancers" got mixed up in it all? Yes, has the makings of a good Force on Force game, no?

Larger Games

The trouble with doing larger games is that the Soviet general is commanding a paper force. He has a frontal HQ and some assets at his disposal, but no major combat formations, so honestly, were there forces available to go crush him, it probably wouldn't last long. Unfortunately, he has just enough gear available to deliver the nuke. The rest, well, that's academic. But, sadly, for a large scale game, it's not really all THAT possible...but you could pull a what-if? Suppose our general makes some promises he should not have to a certain exiled marauder warlord that some American stragglers recently kicked the hell out of in Warsaw? And he has an army...and some murderous ambition of his own?

Well, that's it for now. It's post #60 everyone! Where do we go from here? Well, I have some book reviews I promised, some products I have been meaning to talk about, and there's enough coming down the pipe to discuss. Rest assured. I'll be keeping the flame for everyone, so as long as you keep reading, I will keep writing. 

ADDENDUM: I want to thank the TGN Blog Network for adding "500 Miles.." to their ranks. It's awesome to be a part of something like this, and it's nice to be recognized a bit.

Module Suitability Review - East Africa Sourcebook

Taken from DrivethruRPG.com, IP is GDW/FFE

We're now reviewing the first of two PDF-only releases for Twilight: 2000. The first is something that was bandied about on the Twilight: 2000 forums. Africa got scant attention in the development life of the game, a throwaway line here, or there, but there were three attempts to bring what has become this book to life.

The first was Frank Frey's post about the "Lions of Twilight" which was a bare-bones writeup about the 173rd Airborne Brigade being sent to secure Mombassa in Kenya and the refinery therein to make sure the oil flowed to the RDF in Iran. Another work was by the poster "Raelleus" whose work formed some of the basis of the third attempt, by David Adams, whose work we see here. The East Africa Sourcebook is currently available for $2.99 at DrivethruRPG.com

So, the cool factors? One, the book has plenty of mayhem and chaos to game out. Most of Africa has collapsed under the weight of war, disease, famine, and the not-so-occasional nuclear attack. Kenya has only survived an invasion by most of her neighbors because of direct US intervention (organized under AFRICOM or African Command), not to mention the exhaustion of the other combatants.

Even though the book says "East Africa/Kenya" we get a write-up for South Africa (now Apartheid-free and expanding at the expense of her chaos ridden (and in some cases, nuked) neighbors.

So, who's Kenya fighting now that the conventional war with her neighbors is over? It's mainly a marauder/terrorist/guerilla threat, which in Twilight: 2000, can often be one in the same. In Kenya's case, it's a group known as PARA (Pan African Revolutionary Army) who is often raiding the Kenyan forces occupying what was once Tanzania. There's also the Lord's Revolutionary Army (LRA) in Uganda, who's taken over Uganda, and has received some French aid after they overthrew the previously US-backed government. There's also the Somali warlord threat to the north as well, and they aren't behaving much differently then they do in our timeline.

There are detailed write-ups for most of the local militaries, as well as AFRICOM and some other players (namely the French). It also has entries for all of the prominent local NPCs as well as campaign suggestions that may as well be fodder for all sorts of miniature game ideas..and yes. we'll be discussing this later in the article.

I also like a discussion of the terrain, climate and people of Kenya, all of it very useful for not just the role-playing side, but the wargaming as well. I especially like that there are a few paragraphs on mercenaries and even in World War III, the wings of the Wild Geese flap somewhere. I also like the idea of Operation Harverster. The idea of raiding and trading all over Africa for parts and munitions to keep aircraft flying is a very Twilight: 2000 thing to do, and it's great scenario fodder.

Another thing I like? The real grab bag of gear. Everything from US Army run-Skyraiders found boxed up in some warehouse in Mombassa, to a "Volunteer" Mech Infantry Battalion made of US ex-pats and reenactors, complete with period gear and P-47s! And that's just the Americans!

But, how does this do for wargaming fodder?

Skirmish Scenarios

For skirmish scenarios, this is some pretty great stuff. Modern Africa has seen a real growth as a sub-period of modern wargaming, and Twilight: 2000 and Modern African wargaming go together like cookies and cream for ice cream. What I love about the book is how the role playing scenario ideas in the back of the book are such great ideas for miniature games as well.

Some of those ideas include:

• Any number of raids or anti-marauder sweeps by American, British, French, or Kenyan forces against PARA or any of the Somali Islamist groups.
• A boarding action on a pirate vessel by either elements of the USMC, the French Navy, or a mercenary group hired by one or more of the non-governmental interests in this part of the world.
• A covert raid to decapitate the head of an LRA brigade before a raid. This would have to be done covertly of course because of the French support for the Ugandans. This game would make perfect Skirmish Sangin (which I plan to review and add to the rules section) or Black Ops fodder. If you make this part of an "Operation Harverster" raid, all the better.
• Another LRA focused operation is the destruction of a series of hydroelectric dams under LRA control. This would also make excellent Black Ops fodder.
• The initial invasion of Northern Kenya in 1997 by Somali Islamist bands, the Kenyans are simply trying to slow them up and inflict casualties, the Somalis need to take the town. You can also game out the counterattack by US Army Special Forces and Ranger units that retake the area.  

Larger Battles

For larger games, there are more than a few ideas here. Most of them are set in the backstory of the book because, by 2001, the combatants are mostly engaged in operations that are more skirmish game in size.

Some of the better ideas include:

• Some of the battles from the initial invasion of Kenya by the Tanzanian-run coalition. The initial ambush 20km outside of Nairobi sounds interesting, as well as the fight for Mombassa.
• US 173rd Airborne's attack with two battalions against the Tanzanian "volunteer" brigade that has cut the Mobassa-Nairobi railway. Considering the Americans have a company of M551s and the Tanzanians have Ferrets and PT-76s, it's actually a neat idea for a game.
• A large scale raid on an isolated airfield in say, Zambia to seize parts and munitions to keep aircraft flying. This might make a better Rapid Fire or Battlegroup: NORTHAG (when it is released) game than something like Fistful of TOWs. 

This module is replete with ideas, and there's plenty of wargaming figure lines out there for it! Some of the ones off of the top of my head include:

• Peter Pig's 15mm AK-47 Republic range (and the rules would work really well for this).
• Ehliem Models 20mm Africa and Middle East range
• RH Models 20mm Africa range (their Multipurpose stuff also works well here). 
• Stan Johansen's 20mm Merc range (they have everything you might need). 

Some rules I can also suggest to help give the local "flavor" include:

• AK-47 Republic by Peter Pig
• Wars of Insurgency by First Command Games
• Skirmish Afrika by Radio Dishdash Publications (you'll need Skirmish Sangin to play it)

Post #60 is coming up! We'll be reviewing Rook's Gambit next, so stay tuned!

Module Suitability Review - Survivors Guide to the United Kingdom

Picture taken from DrivethruRPG.com. IP is FFE/GDW

Hello all, it's on to the final GDW-published supplement for 1st Ed. Twilight: 2000, Survivors Guide to the United Kingdom, or SGUK for short, is a controversial book to say the least with UK fans of Twilight: 2000. Many of the UK fans state they got a lot more wrong than right in this book, being an American, I can't really argue one way or the other, so I will simply state that I am just going to review this book as is for miniatures scenario fodder, and let the UK/Commonwealth fans argue whether or not this book added anything to canon. 

I won't be reviewing 3W's effort, City of Angels, by the way. Honestly, I kinda consider it the worst Twilight: 2000 supplement ever written, and it suffers from a lack of basic research, so rather than spark a flame war about that one..we're just gonna skip it entirely. Everyone ok with that?

So, what does SGUK have going for you? Well, from the miniatures standpoint, quite a bit. The UK as posited, is broken up into a lot of little statelets (with HM Government being just one of them) after the country is nuked about the same time as the US, receiving a further wave of strikes again in 1998. Yeah, not fun to be British. This all leads to a patchwork of groups and warlords, with some of the more memorable entries being the Tartan Army (A marauder band that pays...and is run by committee?), the Red Devils (Man U's fanclub got REAL militant), and the Soviet Group of Forces England (SGFE) (Escaped EPWs who just want to go home.) And did we mention the private little war that's going on between the Republic of Ireland and the UDR over Northern Ireland?

But there are more groups out there than one can shake a stick at, and more that are just hinted at...not to mention, HM's Government in the southwestern third of the country wanting to reunify the whole thing (with MI-5 preparing to fight an assassin's war to do so). And the drought, like in America, getting ready to knock the entire thing into a cocked hat..but what about miniatures possibilities?

Skirmish Games

There's a ton of fodder here. Just about anything you could conceive of for a Post-Apoc skirmish could be done with a British guise, just make sure the combatants have a British feel with less ironmongery, more SLRs and shotguns, and perhaps an armed traffic warden or two....A really good online source that you could adapt for ideas is Winter of '79. Some great figure lines in 20mm are Ehliem and Liberation, the latter's a bit hard to come by outside the UK, but their Urban Meltdown range is perfect for this stuff. It's got a lot going for it in terms of ideas and with a bit of adaptation...it could work for Twilight: 2000. But since you also expect some ideas from yours truly:

• A raid by one statelet on another for food, arms, or just about anything would make a good skirmish game. It's pretty straightforward, and would be pretty much the cause of most armed combat in Twilight: 2000 Britain. Most skirmish rules can handle this pretty well. 
• Another game that could be fun is the two patrols from rival factions run into each other and both decide the other isn't going to report back. Again, most skirmish rules can handle this pretty well. 
• Finally, in a bit of fun, you could do a Black Ops game where MI-5 gets the go-ahead to start assassinating warlords. a small team of 4 MI-5 agents sneaking into a warlord's compound, and doing him in in the middle of the night would make for a tense game.

There's a whole host of other ideas one can pull from this book on the Skirmish end.

Larger Games

The trouble with larger games here is the shortage of food and fuel to support the larger games some of the 1:5 rules thrive on. When your army is based around a single, and I mean single AFV with not much ammo, it's difficult to do a good Fistful of TOWs game. That's not to say it's impossible. One game that comes to mind for a medium-sized game, perhaps with a bit of fast play rules like Rapid Fire, or perhaps Battlegroup: NORTHAG (once it is released), would be HM's Government deciding to apply direct military force against a nearby warlord, and using it's hoarded supplies of North Sea oil to do it. It would make for an interesting, if tough game for the defender.

Well, that's it here. Next on the review queue is the East Africa/Kenya Sourcebook, where we look and see how all that African wargaming material that's come out in recent years can be adapted to Twilight: 2000. 

Module Suitability Review: White Eagle

Image taken from Twilight: 2000 Wiki, IP from GDW/FFE

So, we're coming up on the end of the Version 1 modules. I will be reviewing the two new releases we've seen of late, Rook's Gambit, and the East African Sourcebook, but probably after I review Survivor's Guide to the United Kingdom, the last of the Version 1 modules.

As for what is the basic plot of White Eagle? Well, the long-hinted at struggle for the future of post -apocalyptic Poland has begun, all three factions, the WL, Krakow, and Silesia are now posturing and getting ready for the fight to come. All of the factions have something to offer, some more than others, but your Player Characters might have a bit of a past here, seeing as how they have interacted with a lot of these people before in earlier adventures (at times, negatively).

The adventure is very open-ended, and the buildup to the major fight can be quite a campaign in it's own right, but a lot of things feel...recycled. Moreover, I've mentioned dissatisfaction with one aspect of the adventure before.

But, how does this stack up as miniature games fodder?

Skirmish Games

White Eagle has a lot going for it in the combat arena, a lot. And, it can be the basis of a skirmish campaign, especially from the WL perspective, as you raise a guerilla army from basically nothing, train it, and send it out to wreak havoc on the enemy. This could be quite a rewarding campaign if done right, and the various Force on Force or No End in Sight campaign mechanisms would work very well here.

Other ideas include:

• Ambushing a small supply convoy belonging to one of the enemy factions and looting it for all it's worth, this works well for all sides.
• Playing out the ambush of a small diplomatic mission to one of the other factions. This could have some roleplaying elements as everyone plays "Let's make a deal".
• Launching a raid against one of the other factions to stir up a rebellion in said faction?
• A raid to capture/kill the leaders of an enemy faction. (There's a good map of Raciborz Castle if you want to make the Markgraf of Silesia the subject of said raid.)

In short, there's a lot of skirmish ideas here, and it's fertile ground if you look hard enough. Helpfully, there is a scenario for Last Battle in the back, and it can easily be converted to the aforementioned rules sets. 

Larger Games

White Eagle is pretty much leading up to some larger battles that are best played out via Spearhead, Command Decision, or Fistful of TOWs. (To be honest, these will mostly be smaller games anyhow, as the numbers involved will be smallish). That said, the shame about White Eagle is that there are no notes on the current states of the three combatants, where there was plenty of information in the previous modules that contributed to White Eagle. So, anyone trying to do a potential game out of this is going to have to improvise. 

Well, that's it for White Eagle. The next module on the list is Survivor's Guide to the United Kingdom. Not 100% sure when that will be, as I am getting married on the 21st of October, and time is going to be at a premium. But, rest assured, when my schedule allows, I will be back at it! 

Till then, happy gaming all!

Module Suitability Review - Satellite Down

Image taken from DrivethruRPG.com, IP is GDW/FFE

Satellite Down is billed as a "thinking man's adventure" for Twilight: 2000. I was, at first, a little hard pressed to figure out how. But a little thought led to some good points. (I really would love to hear from Blane Pardoe on this). Yes, the cult (based around the survivng crew of the USS Virginia, a CGN that got into a nasty but unlikely naval battle with several Soviet destroyers, but was badly damaged itself) that holds the McGuffin in this adventure (a downed Soviet weather satellite with 4 years of weather data, useful if you're looking down the barrel of a nuclear war induced drought) is somewhat numerous, but there are fault lines in this little slice of Jim Jones that are going to fall apart under the strain of being hit hard enough by a raid to recover the satellite. The main issue would be, figuring out where the cult, and their insane leader (who apparently is drugged out of his mind most of the time) has the satellite stashed.

The DIA contact is good, as well as the rebellious sailors who have had enough of this little slice of "Haven", as it gives the players some nice contacts on the inside. The main issue? Once the players get the data, it's getting out that might present the most trouble. Baja California is a long way from home, in the midst of a civil war.

Oh, and there is the small matter of the Soviets wanting the data for themselves. (I would treat them as KGB Oznaz, real ruthless killer types). They might launch their own raid on the fly if they see the characters making a grab for the satellite. But, honestly, none of these are insurmountable issues, just tricky ones.

But how does this do as miniature wargame fodder?

Skirmish Gaming

For skirmish gaming, there are a few ideas, other than gaming out some of the usual encounters, some of the ones that come to mind are interesting ones:

• A covert reconnaissance of Haven, perhaps grab a prisoner? Perhaps extract the DIA contact? This would make excellent Black Ops fodder and could make a good two scenario campaign where the second game would be the raid on the satellite.
• A raid to kidnap the titular head of the community and interrogate him for the location of the satellite, as well as gain his (presumably unwilling) cooperation in the recovery of the satellite. Keep in mind, his self-proclaimed #2 is waiting in the wings for an opportunity like this...and the Soviets might take advantage of the confusion. This scenario also works well for Black Ops.
• A variant of the above idea? Kill Brupp and let things fall apart, then grab the satellite in the confusion. Riskier, but a doable game if a small, well motivated raiding force gets in and gets out quick. A very good scenario for Black Ops as well, the down side? Both the grab for the satellite and the hit on Brupp are going to have to happen simultaneously, For a small raiding team, this is going to be a rough scenario.

Larger Scenarios

Larger scenarios are tougher to game out in the backdrop of this adventure, but it can be done. My best bet would be to game out the mini-civil war that is sure to break out when Brupp dies (and considering his level of drug use, as intimated by the adventure, that's going to be pretty soon). You can bring in all the factions, give them various objectives (Grab the remains of the Virginia, kill X# of the enemy, grab the satellite, etc.) and then let them have at it. This still isn't going to be a huge game by anyone's standards, but it would make a good game for Force On Force, if done right.

Well, that's it for Satellite Down, Next up is White Eagle, then I plan on finishing up the remaining V1 adventures, then I will review the products we have seen released recently. I am excited about this as I am darn happy you all have been hanging in there. We'll be doing more miniature-related posts as well, though the workbench article from yesterday isn't getting the response I thought it would get....

Another new module for Twilight: 2000!

Image taken from DriveThru RPG, IP is FFE

It has been a red letter year for Twilight: 2000 fans. First, there was the release of the East African Sourcebook, which caused quite the buzz, and yes, fans, I will review it as soon as I can (got that wedding coming up), and now? Now we have a new adventure, Rook's Gambit, by A.R. Bergesen (known to many Twilight: 2000 forum goers as Raelleus!) . Like the previous work from FFE, this is another PDF only project for $2.99 and all I can say is, this nostalgia ridden Twilight: 2000 fanatic is overcome with joy.

I suspect there are other projects in progress (and some of them, I have personal knowledge about, some, I just suspect, but I will say no more than that). I applaud Marc Miller for going this route, there's a lot of stories to be told by the fans, and yes, PDF publishing allows them to be told. I do promise I will review the module from a miniaturist standpoint soon, but I wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate Raelleus on this blog, and let him know, there is not only a fan base, but one that will go out and buy this thing like hotcakes.

So, run, do not walk to get this thing. Rest assured, I will read it and review it soon!

Module Suitability Review - Kidnapped

Image taken from Amazon.com/IP is GDW/FFE

Kidnapped is another Twilight: 2000 adventure with a McGuffin at stake, only this time, the McGuffin is a person. That person is none other than Carl Hughes, leader of the fascist organization known as New America, now a contender for power in the post-apocalyptic United States. It reunites us with some NPCs we first saw in Allegheny Uprising (namely Rodger Caldwell) and introduces us to some new ones, some of whom, the adventure could have done without (and some where a little research might have helped, "Lance Sergeant"? Uh, yeah).

The mission is simple, find Hughes, who is holed up in a bunker that is half fortress and half pleasure palace for him and a few hundred of his closest friends, which happens to be smack dab in the middle of one of the largest New American cells this side of St. Petersburg, and bring him back to Civgov and Caldwell, alive.

May I just state, that while the idea of this adventure sounds cool? It's guaranteed to be what they call in role playing to be a TPK (Total Party Kill). Not to mention? There is this totally unnecessary side trip and additional dungeon crawl through an abandoned New American facility that has almost zero intelligence value, except to confirm "Nope, Hughes, he isn't here!" The displaced social studies teacher makes a better way to find Hughes and his not-so-merry band of sleazeballs.

Oh, and did I mention the marauder band that is practically an ethnic slur to Native Americans, in the foot hills of Appalachian Virginia? Um yeah...

And did I mention this was all about to happen while the most controversial event in Twilight: 2000 canon, "the Drought" was about to begin and Civgov and Caldwell are pulling up stakes for the Midwest?

In short, nobody thought this through really well at all.  But, desperate people do desperate things, even if those desperate things border on military insanity? But no, this adventure needed some better writing overall.

But how does it fare as miniature scenario fodder?

Skirmish Games

For skirmish games, Kidnappped has a few possibilities, even for an adventure as well, badly written as this. Many of the potential encounters make good fodder for man to man games, but some of the really good ideas are these:

• Dealing with the Trolls outside Sandy Hook, one restriction on using firepower is that the locals need the bridge intact.
• Launching a raid on the New American supply depot at Bolivar (this one should be no picnic for the Civgov raiders, as the adventure description makes the place sound like a fortress).
• Clearing the Makado Computer Corporation building from either a New American patrol...or an unaffiliated marauder band.
• Rescuing Roy Masterson from a New American raid on his farm meant to silence him, and recover the papers he has come into possession of.

Larger Games

For larger games, there would not seem to be a whole lot here, but the fact, it..any assault on the Country Home bunker would take a far larger force than the typical band of role playing characters. I personally would think it would take a company sized force or larger to do it right..there's simply too many New Americans there. So, you could say Civgov had an attack of the smarts, and sent a force in to do it right, but that would entail that force fighting it's way all the way through to Country Home in the first place, which I suppose, could make a good campaign...but then again, with the drought on the way, could such a force hold together under the circumstances?

Well, next on the list is Return to Warsaw, which should have some folks wondering if the Baron Czarny really is the Twilight: 2000 answer to Darth Vader? 

In the coming days, I also will be reporting on my upcoming trip to Historicon. I am leaving for Fredricksburg this Thursday, and I will check in with Covert Intervention Games and see what they are up to, as well as look about and see what else is going on of interest to anyone with a hankering for wargaming in the world of Twilight: 2000. Look for the paunchy fellow with glasses, brown hair, and eyes wearing a black t-shirt with a Twilight: 2000 1st Edition or module cover on it! That will be me!

Until next time everyone!

Yep, One More Short Post - Lee Hanna, aka Adm. Lee on the Juhlin Forum is on the Dead Game Society Podcast!

Seems Twilight: 2000 is becoming quite the podcast fodder lately! That's right, another Twilight: 2000 themed podcast done by the folks at Dead Games Society ("We Play With Dead Things", I like the slogan!) has been added to their show.

I have not listened yet (am downloading the podcast as we speak and I will listen later), but I wanted to give everyone out there a heads up!

You can get the direct link to the show page here!

Thank you DGS! We appreciate you guys giving the game we love the time it deserves!

New Stuff for Twilight 2000!

That's right, it's a new AFRICA Sourcebook for v2!

It's called the East Africa/Kenya Sourcebook, and while it is a bit barebones, it's the first Twilight: 2000 release I have seen since Twilight: 2013!

The sourcebook is complete, well edited, and chock full of potential gaming material for a brand new adventuring theater.

Image taken from DriveThruRPG, IP from GDW/FFE 

I have not read through it completely, but it looks good, and for $2.99 at drivethrurpg.com, a solid buy. 

In short, Twilight: 2000 is looking like it might just rise from the ashes again?

And how wonderful this is post #20!

Module Suitability Review - Pirates of the Vistula

Image taken from Wayne's Books, IP is from GDW/FFE

Pirates of the Vistula has the tone of a "road movie" but with a tugboat as the car and the Vistula River as the "road". It has everything, a determined captain heading to an uncertain destination (this to be revealed in Ruins of Warsaw), betrayal by a member of the crew, an epic naval battle (of sorts), and places to see and help/interfere in along the way.

Meanwhile, with winter closing in, and the Vistula having seen better days, it's a race against nature and time to get to Warsaw and help Adam save his family before the river freezes over.

In short, it has a LOT to offer for Twilight: 2000 as an RPG supplement, but as a scenario generator for miniatures games, how does it fare?

Smaller Scenarios

For smaller scenarios, there is quite a bit here, many of the forays as detailed in the module by the muscle Adam hires in Krakow (aka the Player Characters) has a lot of skirmish gaming potential. It is a veritable smorgasbord of ideas, some of the ones that stand out to me are:

• Liberating the small town of Niepolomice from the small band of Soviet deserters who have taken over the town. This would make an excellent Black Ops game in my opinion.
• Clearing out the marauder band that has taken over the town of Tamobzreg, this would be more of a Force on Force game here. You could also make this a minor campaign and game out the subsequent attack on Sandomierz, though this might make a small game for a larger scale set of rules.
• Gaming out the ambush of the Baron's Czarny's men at Gora Kalwaria. This also lends itself well to a Force on Force game.
• Lots of fodder for boarding actions, either defending against one, or launching one against a pirate vessel? This can really lend itself well to Black Ops.

Larger Scenarios

One of the aforementioned scenarios for this is the Tamobzreg marauders attack on Sandomierz, it's small by the standards of most large scale rules, but it has enough to make a good game of it.

The other is the culmination of the module, the "naval" battle between the Baron's pirate fleet and the the Floating City's fleet led by the Wisla Krowla.

I personally have seen quite a few tugs and other boats in 15mm-ish scale, and with some heavy weapons retrofitted to the boats with some styrene and the like, you can make some real post apocalyptic riverine combatants. The nice part is the module does a very good job of laying out the types, sizes, and armaments of the combatants on both sides. Many of them are quite small, and presumably, could be scratch built. Sadly, I have seen a few WW-II Soviet and German coastal gunboats but nothing that would "fit the bill" for this. I am thinking one is going to have to get creative and find some children's toys?

UPDATE: Pete has advised me of the existence of a tug boat from Frontline Wargaming. I suspect it's not cheap and a very large hunk of resin, but it does exist!

Rules are a bit of a pickle for this, and I am at a bit of a loss as to how one would run this with the rules mentioned before. Perhaps a set of Civil War river monitor rules would work for the culminating fight?

In short, this module has got a lot going for it, and one can make quite a few miniatures scenarios out of this!

Also, consider the Vistula has seen better days, there are going to be a lot of river hazards that are going to figure in any naval game. But it would make for a challenging game!

Next up? Ruins of Warsaw!

Another Module Suitability Review - The Free City of Krakow

Taken from the Twilight: 2000 Wikia Page, Original Cover Painting is IP of GDW/FFE

The Free City of Krakow was the first adventure module published by GDW for Twilight: 2000, and it was an unconventional one. It had a lot going for it. A mcguffin that could change the post-apocalyptic balance of power, a damsel in distress, a helicopter up for grabs, all set in a city barely holding it all together, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.

The module was, in my opinion, Casablanca meets Mad Max. And it pulled it off well, starting the players off on a classic trilogy of adventures known to Twilight: 2000 players  as "The Vistula Trilogy". 

It even had it's own Cafe Americain, with Adam Rataj stepping in for Rick. As for Victor Lazlo? Methinks that Israeli spy, Tanya, does a very good job there. 

It was post-apocalyptic espionage noir, and it was brilliant.

But from a miniatures standpoint, at first glance, it may not seem to have much to offer?

Um, wrong.

Skirmish Game Possibilities

There are a ton of possibilities to be found here. Some of the ones that immediately come to mind are?

• Gaming out what happens when the handover of Reset inevitably goes wrong. Too many gunshots and the city ORMO comes down on everyone like a ton of bricks. It would lend itself well to a "cat-and-mouse" sort of game where an M-16 is a heavy weapon!
• American mercs get hired to rescue  Krutzba's mistress, trouble is..either the KGB has tipped off the ORMO, or they are coming themselves to grab her.
• The leadership struggle has come to a head, and one of the two titular leaders of Krakow has hired some American mercenaries to kill the other. (This then leads to the larger game idea below).
• A group of Americans gets it into their heads to steal the city's Mi-17 helicopter.

All of these are good ideas, and are really the tip of the iceberg with this module. There are others mentioned, and a quick look at the module is all you need. Many of these scenarios lend themselves well to the Osprey rules set Black Ops.

Possibilities for a Larger Game

At first blush, Free City of Krakow doesn't lend itself well towards larger battles, but there is one underlying idea that could be developed well.

The core of Krakow's economy is to put it mildly, slave labor known as robotniki, and they are treated poorly. It wouldn't take much for an enterprising marauder band to stir up a city wide uprising. At first glance, this would not seem like much of a game, unarmed slaves against a well-armed city militia, but one thing that can be found somewhat easily in Twilight:2000 is arms. And any smart marauder band contemplating this idea is going to find friends...like the KGB, who would love to bring down the Krakow regime and restore "proper socialist order".

Throw in some American stragglers stuck with the aforementioned mcguffin, and done right, you can have a memorable large game for a party or convention ready to go.

Terrain might be an issue, as seen here:

Taken from RPOL.net, Original IP is from GDW/FFE

Even so, however, just building the old walled city in the center should suffice and it would not be too difficult to pull off in 6mm. 15s and 20s might be a bit more challenging, but not impossible.

What really makes it all doable is the detailed ORBATs laid out in the module. It makes 1:1 games a snap, and conversion to 1:5 rules fairly easy as well. 

In short, this is a pretty good module to use for miniatures game fodder, and it is something that makes one realize just how rich the Twilight: 2000 milleu really is.

Next time, we cover Pirates of the Vistula!

The First Module Suitability Review - Escape from Kalisz

Escape from Kalisz is the introductory adventure for Twilight: 2000. and as such, it is meant as both an origin story, and a world building exercise. From a roleplaying standpoint, it is an excellently done introductory adventure, and it was a shame to be honest, that it was not updated and reprinted in the 2nd Edition.

It's associated handout, Death of a Division really sets the stage well, and both do a fine job of putting any characters in a "YOU ARE THERE" situation.

But what about from a miniatures standpoint? What can we do with this supplement to mine it for miniatures scenarios?

There are a couple of ideas that immediately come to mind.

Larger Scale Scenarios

Death of a Division is a literal gold mine of ideas. And considering none of the forces are at full strength, many of the potential scenarios make for some small, but tight games that can be probably played in an afternoon.

• 1st and 256th Brigades attack on Lodz on July 14th. This attack has two prongs, and you can do either one, but the attack by 1st Brigade would probably make a larger game.
• 1st Brigade's defense of the Kalisz - Turek road. The numbers are mentioned in detail on the US side, and one can surmise the Soviet numbers rather easily. 
• 2nd Brigade's final attack South on the 17th of July, or the defense of Kalisz by 1-40th Armored and 4-12th Cavalry. 

All of these would make some interesting games, and because of their sizes, would make good introductory scenarios to the milleu. 

Smaller Scale Scenarios

There are literally a number of scenarios where skirmish games could be written up in an interesting fashion, as in many towns, the locals are not happy to see the Soviets, and in some cases, have wound up victims to their excesses (Wielun is a good example). 

Any number of raid-type scenarios could be cooked up for any decent rules set and with some suitable post apocalyptic terrain for a village, a good game could be had, 

Other ideas aren't far either as Escape from Kalisz borrows a lot, thematically from any number of German Ruckkampfer experiences of small German units attempting to escape yet another Soviet encirclement late in the war. Find one you like, adapt it for Twilight: 2000, and it will fit well in Kalisz.

Other skirmish ideas include:

• Urban fighting in Kalisz on the 17th. Small bands of Americans desperately trying to escape town while the Poles and Soviets are rounding up fugitives. Could turn into a very close MOUT game.
• Small unit of American stragglers ambushes a Polish or Soviet supply convoy for supplies.

In short, the verdict is this scenario pack is a veritable gold mine of miniature gaming ideas. We'll be covering Free City of Krakow next! See you next time!

Back from Cold Wars - Notes for the blog!

Well, another day, another blog entry it seems. I attended Cold Wars 2017 for the day on Saturday, and had a damn good time. Usually, I am resigned to just doing some shopping and chatting, but this weekend seemed blessed.

First, I hit the dealers area and ran into the folks from Covert Intervention Games whom are taking over the Force 20 line, I will be updating this article to reflect this. In the more exciting news, they will also be exclusively manufacturing Ehliem Miniatures entire product line in the US. This is an exciting thing! Matt, as much as I love you, shipping from England can be brutal, even with the lower exchange rate of pound to the dollar. I see this being a very lucrative partnership. I arranged a meeting with the proprietor, J. Reid "Streak" Denton. He is friendly, knowledgeable and local to me (in Woodbridge, as I am in Fairfax), in the future to speak on things T2K and other sundries will be coming in the near future. I even got some sample figures and a bag of colored smoke for signal grenades!

A sadder duty that I performed was to get some face time with Frank Chadwick primarily to offer my condolences concerning Loren Wiseman. Frank was busy running a Desert War Command Decision game next to the game I managed to get into. I waited till he was done, and went over and wished him my deepest condolences for Loren Wiseman. Mr. Chadwick, was, as always, the gracious and humble fellow we know him to be, and after a short 30 second conversation, we parted ways. He described Loren as "a great guy". I didn't have a chance to meet Loren personally, but all accounts agree with that. Again, thank you Mr. Wiseman, we have a really fun game universe to play in, thanks to you.

The convention itself was a bit on the sparse side in terms of attendance I thought. Especially at peak hours. I cannot say why that was, and the flea market didn't have a whole lot that grabbed me, except for some rubbled buildings (including a church, which will look great on any table), and some more trees from a young lady who has a really promising career in terrain building and baking ahead of her (I always buy trees from her). I also picked up in the dealer's area about 30ft of the Hot Wheels Road Tape I have been hearing so much about. It looks great for modern roads, and a little weathering and distressing would go a long way with this stuff, at $8 a roll, it was a bargain. 

Much of the rest of the convention was focused on my WW-II likes, as well as my Full Thrust fleets, so I will discuss, at least the WW-II side on our sister blog, FestungPlatz. 

I did my share to wear my threatened "Twilight 2000" T-Shirt with the First Edition Cover painting on it, and pimp the blog. That got a lot of attention. Hope to see some folks come looking from Cold Wars. 

In short, a fun time to be had.

More to be said later on FestungPlatz.

Loren Wiseman has passed on

One of the seminal designers of Twilight:2000, Loren Wiseman, has passed on. The cause of death was natural causes, but he was known to be in poor health of late.

RIP Loren Wiseman, and thank you for everything. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

In memoriam, the adventure Loren won his HG Wells Award for. May it be a fitting epitaph

Good Luck, You're Not On Your Own! - An Introduction!

So what is this page about?

It's about two gaming loves of mine. Twilight 2000 and Miniature Wargaming, and how I want the two to finally meet on the tabletop.

I have loved that old GDW RPG since I first read a review of it in the pages of Analog Magazine in 1984. I got my copy the next year for my 11th birthday.

I wasn't much of a fantasy person at the time, as my gaming up until then had been a steady diet of Avalon Hill wargames influenced by my grandfather's stories about WWII. The whole magic, sword and sandals thing never really took for me. Add in a love of sci-fi and a budding interest in the post-apocalypse (influenced by my babysitter's father, and growing up in the 1980s as a Navy brat) it was kind of natural I would gravitate to Twilight 2000.

A cover that has influenced my gaming ever since. The stark nature of the subjects, as well as the imagery made an impact that no game art has made on me, before, or since.

So, what am I trying to do here? Well, I am trying to a) put some focus in my blogging (aka, have one be updated more than once a month or so) b) show a meta-project from beginning to end, and c) blend two loves of mine into something fun and cool to show off on the tabletop, and d) show these kids we knew grimdark in the 80s a lot better then they did. (OK, slightly kidding on the last bit) and e) reminisce about some of my best times gaming in my teens (We played the hell out of Twilight 2000, 2300AD and FASA Star Trek).

Twilight 2000 has always had a miniatures side to it. Seriously, look at a number of things that were released by GDW during the first run of the game. First, there was the miniatures line, as produced by Grenadier. Sadly, this line is long OOP, I managed to get a bunch in the 00s, and you can still find them for sale now and then at conventions.

Then there was a whole section on miniatures in the venerable US Army Vehicle Guide for the First Edition, the stuff is pretty dated now, especially the Roco conversion ideas, but much of the advice is still good.

One of the smarter RPG supplements I have ever seen put together, division statuses, breakdowns of the units as they were organized down to the battalion level, color plates, this thing was an Osprey for Twilight 2000!

Then there was this article written for issue 25 of GDW's house magazine, Challenge, entitled "Twilight Miniatures Rules: Draft Edition". (It was very reminiscent of what would later become Command Decision, in my opinion, but it was a first attempt).

There has been a lot on the internet in one-off projects as well as some other ideas about putting Twilight 2000 on the tabletop, I even ran something based on the climax of this module:

My first module for Twilight 2000, and it had the wargamer in me hooked!

So what does this all mean for this blog? Lots. First, I want to be a repository for folks looking to game in miniature, the Twilight:2000 version of the Third World War. I don't care if you game First or Second Edition or even 2013 (Love the 1st Ed timeline, but probably would use GURPS rules if I ran it today as an RPG), this is meant to help you get armies on the tabletop, including mine.

My preferred scale is 20mm, been in that scale since I was 13, when I got serious about the miniatures side of the hobby, and pretty much left board wargaming behind for a while (I have since come back to it from time to time, but am a hard core miniaturist now).

What will you see on this page? Discussions of paint schemes, uniforms, equipment you might see in a Twilight War scenario, how to adapt your favorite rules set and reviews of products out there that your average Twilight loving miniatures gamer might find useful. I won't be discussing the normal "Sunday Drive to the Rhine - Cold War Gone Hot" scenario as it is outside the context of this page. Plus, there are some blogs here and here that do a far better job than yours truly. I highly recommend them both.

So, what are we waiting for. Let's get started!

And remember, Good Luck, You're NOT on your own!