NEW VERSION OF TWILIGHT 2000 Announced!!

Well, it's something we have been hearing rumors of, and now, they're confirmed.

I'll just quote the letter from Free League Games, the new developers:

A new edition of the classic roleplaying game Twilight: 2000 was announced today by Free League Publishing, makers of the ALIEN RPG, in partnership with Game Designers’ Workshop and Amargosa Press. The new edition goes back to the roots of the franchise with a boxed set for sandbox roleplaying in the devastation of World War III. It will come to Kickstarter in August, to be released in early 2021.

The new edition of the apocalyptic RPG Twilight: 2000 will be the fourth in the series, the first being released by Game Designers' Workshop in 1984. Just like the original version, the new edition is set in a year 2000 devastated by war – now in an alternate timeline where the Moscow Coup of 1991 succeeded and the Soviet Union never collapsed.

"The first edition of Twilight: 2000 was an iconic game for me back in the '80s, and we are humbled and honored to work with Marc Miller and Game Designers’ Workshop to bring a new edition to life. The original game was really ahead of its time. Our goal is to build on the amazing sandbox survival gameplay and develop it further, making it more accessible using the tools of modern game design," says lead game designer and Free League founder Tomas Härenstam.

"When I saw this proposal to revisit the Twilight universe, I signed on immediately. As I have seen the work proceed, I have not been disappointed, and I look forward to seeing this project become reality," says Marc Miller of Far Future Enterprises and co-founder of Game Designers' Workshop.

Also part of the project are Amargosa Press (who have recently announced the new Dark Conspiracy 4th Edition RPG), Polish RPG publisher Black Monk Games (who will act as a consultant on the Poland in 2000 AD game setting as well as publish a Polish edition of the game), and Far Future Enterprises (who publishes the fifth edition of the Traveller science-fiction roleplaying game).

The design team is led by Tomas Härenstam (ALIEN RPG, Forbidden Lands, Mutant: Year Zero), with setting and scenario writing by Chris Lites (Conan, Over the Edge), editing by Angus Abranson (Doctor Who, The One Ring), interior art by Niklas Brant (Forbidden Lands), cover art by Martin Grip (ALIEN RPG, Symbaroum), and maps by Tobias Tranell (Forbidden Lands). Several active and retired servicemen from the U.S. military are assigned to the project as consultants.

"Twilight: 2000 was a favorite of ours at school in the '80s, with many a lunch hour spent salvaging what we could as we traveled across the ruins of Europe trying to survive. I’m honored to be involved in a new edition, and being able to work with the Free League is a fantastic bonus!” says Angus Abranson of Amargosa Press.

Just like the original game, the new edition of Twilight: 2000 is set in a Poland devastated by war, but the game also offers an alternative Swedish setting, as well as tools for placing the game anywhere in the world.

In the game, players take roles of survivors in the aftermath of World War III – soldiers or civilians. Their goal, beyond surviving for another day, can be to find a way back home, to carve out their own fiefdom where they are, to find out more about the mysterious Operation Reset, and maybe, just maybe, make the world a little bit better again.

The core gameplay uses a "hexcrawling" system established in the post-apocalyptic Mutant: Year Zero and survival fantasy Forbidden Lands RPGs (both Silver ENnie winners for Best Rules, in 2015 and 2019), developing it further to fit the gritty world of Twilight: 2000. The core rules are built on the Year Zero Engine used in those games (as well as in the ALIEN RPG), but heavily adapted to fit Twilight: 2000 and its focus on gear and gritty realism.

More information about the new edition of Twilight: 2000 will be forthcoming soon.

For further information or interview requests, please contact pr@frialigan.se

I am personally quite happy with the news that Free League Publishing got the nod. I have their Alien RPG and well, I was happy, while it’s rules light, it’s got the gritty horror feel a game on that subject SHOULD have.

That said, I am talking to a member of their creative team about doing interviews and asking them what kind of direction they’re going with this? So, let me know through the blog email or in the comments if there is anything you want me to ask. Oh, and to the other T2K blogs and podcasts out there (I’m looking at you Podcast at Ground Zero, Savant’s Rants and Wayne’s Books! We are the T2K Blogosphere and we need to be working together on this! Also, with the editors of Good Luck, You’re on Your Own get in touch? I want to coordinate this!)

I promise I will have more content. God, there’s a lot of news to report of late. Battlefront’s making LAV-75s in 15mm soon, and I have some of the T2K Ehliem 20mm figures done! Well, almost done. And I am going to talk more painting and my own journey there.

So, TTFN!

Short News Post

Hey all,

 I wanted to let everyone know "500 Miles.." is far from dead. I've just had a lot going on RL wise. Nothing bad, all good, just very, very, busy. We have a lot coming up in the pipeline, and I wanted to let folks know what to expect, as well as get a blog post out for the month!

 So, without further ado, here is what's coming up:

•  Reviews of some new figures from Ehliem of specific interest to the Twilight: 2000 miniatures gamer.
• A new Module Suitability Review of an article on Advent Crown, the NATO offensive in Poland in 1997.
• A review of the new Colors of War Book by Battlefront.
• My upcoming trip to Historicon!

I think that's enough on my end. TTFN all and happy gaming!

New Show in the DC Metro Area

I wanted to keep people apprised of a new one day wargaming show attached to the National Capital Model Soldier Society's annual show in the DC area. I happen to know the organizer and he's determined to make this first show a success. Therefore, I am doing my bit to get the word out.

The show will be September 8th, and the wargaming area has 3100+ square feet attached to it, so it should be preemo gaming space for just about everything. If you happen to be in the DC area, and want to play, or even run an event, come on by. I have posted the flyer for the event here, so as to put out the word of this event.

So please, show up, and make this first of what I hope to be many events, a success.

Guild Wargames Forum Down for Good?!

Sad news from the 20mm Wargaming World. It seems that the Guild, a stalwart of the 20mm Wargaming community, and a site that I was an august member of, has seemingly gone under:

According to freewargamesrules on TMP on a thread asking about this:

Last I heard none of the Admins could access the Forum. The PhpBB forum they use has recently stated:

Earlier today, we identified that the download URLs for two phpBB packages available on phpBB.com were redirecting to a server that did not belong to us. We immediately took down the links and launched an investigation….If you downloaded either the 3.2.2 full package or the 3.2.1 -> 3.2.2 automatic updater package between the hours of 12:02 PM UTC and 15:03 PM UTC on January 26th, you received an archive modified with a malicious payload.

One of my mates spoke with the Admins who say "it is gone for good"

Further news from S&S's Facebook Page, directly from Shaun suggest the same:

If true, then this has been a blow to the 20mm community in particular, and the larger wargaming community as a whole. Reams of useful information have been lost to what appears to be a hacking of some sort. While more than a few FB groups have been filling in the breech, and the numbers for the Guild have gone down, it was hoped that upcoming releases, like Battlegroup NORTHAG and others would revitalize the Guild.

Here is hoping someone brings the Guild back, in some form, in it's heyday, it was an awesome place, and I think it can be again!

Update, sadly, the Guild has died, confirmation from the Guild FB page:

After a rather confusing and sad week, "The Guild" admin team are now announcing that it appears that the forum has gone for good.

We share the sense of loss that has been circulating online for the last few days, and like you we mourn the loss of what was not only a great wargaming and modelling resource, but was for us a labour of love and place to hang out with friends online. 

Between us we have run forums together for over 14yrs, first at Elhiem, then Showcase20 and most successfully with "The Guild" which ran for over 11yrs, our success based around treating others the same way as you would expect to be treated. A sign of this successful ethos was the fact that the forum pretty much ran itself as the 3500+ international membership were polite and encouraging. The reputation that the forum built up is an immense source of pride to us, and we thank those who helped foster that. We would also like to thank those of you we have met, travelled with, played games with, crashed at homes and generally been amazing friends with over the last few years. The friendships we have built I hope will endure beyond this.

With the death of the main forum, this FB page is redundant and the decision has been made to turn this off in the next two weeks also. 

At present the admin team are talking about the possibility of starting again and creating a new space to hang out in, but 11yrs on we now have much busier real lives, with added demands from work, family and children and other hobbies, so nothing is yet confirmed....

We thank you all for your recent communications and we hope to see you at a wargaming show soon...