An Interview With Chris Lites, part of the Free League Publishing Twilight: 2000 team!

I know it's been a while, but I wanted to have some more information on what's going on with the upcoming Twilight: 2000 4th Edition Kickstarter campaign by Free League Publishing! We've seen some interviews online with the design team here, I am not a big video person myself, having been told once that I had a "face for radio, and a voice for television."

But I digress, in any event, I have here the questions and responses from Chris Lites, who is part of the design team, and his thoughts on where the team wants to go. Chris was extremely responsive, and gracious considering the amount of development time he is putting into the release we hope will be sometime next year! (My thoughts, noone elses, please don't bug FGL about it!)

The interview is below, the questions were either formulated by myself, or submitted by readers. Chris's responses are in italics.

1.     Will Character Generation be limited to Army characters, like in the 1st Edition will it be more diverse like in the 2nd Edition?

You can play military or civilians from the start.

 

2.       Will there be setting sourcebooks that do more modern apocalypses?

I’m not sure what the future holds. We’ve discussed an option that might lead to a contemporary sourcebook...possibly.

 

3.       What can you tell us about the proposed mechanics?

One set of mechanics is a more detailed version of the Year Zero System. It includes a much heavier focus on combat. We are also playtesting an alternate ruleset. I can’t say more now.

 

4.       Have you brought anyone on from the old GDW team?

Marc Miller is involved.

 

5.       How many of you are fans of the game?

I don’t think anyone involved isn’t a fan of the old game. I started playing it in about 1986 as a kid. I was pretty obsessed with all things military. I memorized cyclic rates for NATO and Warsaw Pact small arms at one point. Twilight: 2000 was probably the third game I played after D&D and Recon. It was pretty much designed for kid me.

 

6.     What made you all decide to keep the game in 2000, considering younger players are, well, barely aware of the Cold War and all that came with it?

We kept the game where it is because it’s the most plausible scenario and the one fans are familiar with. I think the idea of apocalypse never gets old. Given our current world, certainly, “the end is nigh” is very much in the air. The specifics of what any causal factor were pale in comparison to what we, as a society, deal with mentally: the aftermath. We were perilously close to apocalypse in the Cold War and find ourselves in a different, longer apocalypse now. One that is multi-causal. However, the effects of a Third World War have most of the trappings of what we’d see if everything that can go wrong now continues to do so. While new players might not get the Cold War sense of doom, I think younger generations can relate to the feeling of a dark cloud over the world. Setting it in a recent era makes it realistic but still a bit escapist.

 

7.       Will you be re-issuing old adventures for the new system?

The old adventures serve as a road map. You’ll see the Poland campaign but, in true sandbox style, we present it in such a way that is can be set in the UK, Germany, Sweden, wherever you want.

 

8.       Miniatures, what scale and whom if anyone, have you approached? Or can you talk on that?

Miniatures have been discussed. I am a huge minis gamer. Nothing is decided. The RPG certainly does not require them.

9.       If there’s one thing you want to tell the fans, what is it?

 I’d tell the fans that I was a huge fan of Twilight: 2000, studied the Cold War as a kid while it was going on and both myself, and Tomas intend to do the old game right while making it mechanically modern.

 

10.    Do you think, with what’s going on in the world now, and the rise again of PA entertainment over the last few decades, has Twilight:2000’s moment in the sun finally come?

I think the current state of the world makes the return of Twilight: 2000 as timely as it was when it appeared in 1984. We live on the edge of a vast unknown, a very likely dark abyss, and it permeates our global culture. If you can turn that experience into an exercise for fun, you might find it cathartic. At least in our game, players have agency. In the real world, as individuals, we are very much subject to the agency of others save when we come together. If we’re going to get out of this era’s looming end times, it’ll require global movements from the people who will suffer the consequences. That said, it is a game at the end of the day and the object is to have fun. But, as a writer, I’m very aware of how close some of the scenarios in the game are to what might happen in the not too distant future. There is, for example, a virus in game as an optional plot thread. I wrote that prior to COVID. I hope other things we’ve put in the game remain conscripted to the land of “might have been.”

So, that is our interview thus far. I plan to do another one, hopefully before the beginning of the kickstarter in August! So, send me your questions care of the blog!

 

In other news, there's been quite a bit coming out via Battlefront Miniatures, including this curious development! 

Image taken from Battlefront Website

 Yes, reader, your eyes do not deceive! LAV-75s in 15mm! Yeah, I know, there must be a T2K player at Battlefront. It's the only explanation. They are due to be released in July, and I do my T2K gaming in 20mm, but I might get some for my 15mm Sci-Fi armies. I'll keep ya posted. 

 In other news, my 20mm projects have been slowly humming along. Well, not so much mainly because I have a literal ton of 15mm projects to work on in the sci fi realm, then some WWII, so I am doing the Twilight: 2000 miniatures projects as I can, when I can. But some progress has been made!

A Revell M2 Bradley, a Trumpeter LAV-25 (third one of these I have built) and a S&S GAZ-66 Flatbed, all in 20mm

Another view of the above pictured.

The completed Elhiem "Cover Stars" pack, along with the HMMWV that goes with. Need to weather the HMMWV, but they're almost ready. Good figures that paint up great.

For future installments, I plan on doing a review of Battlegroup: NORTHAG, and perhaps writing some ideas for T2K for it, as well as reviews of Spectre: Modern Operations, and Contact Front, two newcomers (relatively) on the block for potential T2K Miniature gaming fun. I also plan on showing off some of the moderns I picked up recently second hand, and from Butler's Printed Models. I'm also got an idea to doing some Twilight War orbats for Fistful of TOWs, as well as doing a series on where to get the miniatures! 

Truck Utility Medium, Fitted For Radio - 28mm

Vehicles specifically for Twilight 2000 in 28mm are quite rare, so occasionally you have to improvise.

Crooked Dice have a miniatures game (7TV) and a matching range of figures, most revolving around the film and television output of a fictional British production company from the 'sixties to the 'eighties.

To provide transport for some of the characters, in 2016 they introduced a vehicle which has a remarkable resemblance to a Series III Land Rover.

A slightly out of focus William Killian (another Crooked Dice figure, sadly not currently in production) for scale.

This makes a nice shortish wheelbase hard top Land Rover.

Recently Crooked Dice have run a Kickstarter for a Post Apocalyptic version of their 7TV game. They added a number of conversion items including a Medium Stowage Set. This includes one piece that fits neatly on to the front of their Land Rover, and another that makes a great roof rack load.

In the Tankograd book on Key Flight '89, on page 28 there is a photograph of a Land Rover series III with stowage in that exact same location.

As it mentions in the title, this is Fitted For Radio, so I added an aerial mount using a piece of 4mm square section tube (with 4mm strip ends) and an aerial base made from brass rod to the front right side of the bonnet. The photograph in the Tankograd book has two aerial mounts, but the Land Rover 110 on page 15 has only one (and is a hard top).

Though the pieces fit fairly well, there was a slight gap between the front of the roof stowage and the roof itself, and the piece sitting on the bumper did not balance well.

The former was fixed by adding a tarpaulin made from Greenstuff, the latter had some square section rod added underneath.

This was one of the vehicles I mentioned when I was writing about the Soviet infantry.

It is base painted (PSC British Tank green), but needs decals and weathering.

A British infantryman armed with an L1A1 (FN SLR) for scale. He was converted from a Crooked Dice X-Commando using an Empress British Infantry helmet with extra camouflage.

So now my British have some transport, now I need some British troops.

Vehicle Schemes of the Third World War, Part 2 (The Soviet Union, Poland, and Czechoslovakia)

The Soviet Union and Poland

The Soviets had a multitude of camo patterns and paints during the war, but the most common base pattern was a color that compared very closely to FS (Federal Standard) 34077, a dark green known as Zashchitnuy Zelno that the Soviets had been painting their equipment in since 1956. Thousands of Soviet vehicles saw action wearing this color, and it was still the most common paint scheme in Soviet service, especially in Category III and Mobilization Only divisions, but this scheme was not limited to those units by any means.

Soviet T-72B from an unidentified division from the 38th Army in Zashchitnuy Zelno scheme, Manchuria, 1996

Soviet T-64 from postwar modeling magazine, taken from a photo from an actual example in Poland, ca. 1999 (Taken from Cybermodeler)

Zashchitnuy Zelno Scheme

The Soviets had had field regulations regarding disruptive camouflage since the 1960s, but the colors were those used often for other purposes, such as primer coats for equipment or interior colors, and the application and patterns were left on a haphazard basis to the Field Engineer Brigades and was often not applied except in time of war if it was applied at all.

Osprey plate of BMP-1K attached to unknown MR Division in the Ukraine, 1998. Note the Brown No2 and a non-regulation lighter brown (from civilian stocks?) overspray over the base scheme

From the same Osprey of a BMP-1 somewhere in Poland, September 1997, unit unknown, this time there has been a mix of faded Yellow No1 and Brown No2 over sprayed over the base green

Soviet T-80 from 79th Guards Tank Division, in a prewar photo ca. 1994, with an overspray of Silver Grey No1 and Black No2 over the standard paint scheme

Soviet Field Camouflage Schemes

This practice changed in the 1980s, as the Soviets developed a three color (sometimes, only one color was applied) scheme, called “MERDCski” in the West by observers due to its similarities to the US MERDC scheme.

Soviet T-80 platoon from 25th TD moving up to the front, July 1997, Poland. This photo is a good example of the simplified “MERDCski” scheme.

Soviet T-80 Color Plate taken from postwar modeling magazine, ca. 2019, Example is from a T-80 from 12th Guards Tank Division, Poland, ca. March 1997 with a more complicated version of the “MERDCski” scheme. (taken from Cybermodeler).

MERDCski Paint Chart

Poland used similar schemes to the Soviets, apart from the “MERDCski” scheme, which the Poles never adopted. The main way one differentiated between Soviet and Polish vehicles was the unique “diamond” national insignia.

Polish T-55 with prominent insignia on either side of the gun mantlet.

Czechoslovakia

The Czechs had been an early adopter of disruptive pattern schemes for tanks, having done so before WW-II. The current schemes were based off a water-based tempura paint that did not stand up to particularly hard wear, but was easy to reapply, even during the worst of the Twilight years. Standards and even paint shades were left up to the individual unit commanders, and often, as things broke down, the paint schemes got even more complex, and in some cases, gaudier. The Czech tricolor insignia was always present as well, and many vehicles, no matter how shoddy their paint scheme, would have the tricolor loving applied and touched up whenever possible. The colors that were supposed to be used were similar to the Soviet pre-“MERDCski” paints, and the base scheme was the same Zashchitnuy Zelno the Soviets happened to use.

Color Plate of Czech T-55 taken from Czech State News TV broadcast of January 5th, 1998. Vehicle is heavily oversprayed with Yellow No1 and Brown No2

Czech T-55 from Museum of the US Army, Ft. Belvoir, 2022. Vehicle was captured in this scheme of Yellow No1 and Sand No2 over the base scheme by elements of 1st Armored Division, November 1999

Vehicle Paint Schemes of the Third World War Part 1, NATO

Vehicle Paint Schemes of the Third World War

I am writing this as a companion piece to my previous article, as I felt that this needed more attention, not to mention the fact that paint schemes need a good base, and what better than the “historical” paint schemes of the time.

Now that said, I get this is alternate history, and in the vehicle guides, there are their own interpretations of paint schemes that don’t bear any resemblance to what wound up on vehicles in the mid-1990s. GDW in their defense, wrote the books in the mid-1980s and much of the color plate work I must say was extremely speculative. They did what they could with no internet and a reference library that was not at all the size of what is available to most modelers and gamers today. That said, I personally think they did a fine job, and one can get into the whys and wherefores of why they did what they did ad nauseum.

Of course, we won’t be doing that.

So, on with the show, as it were.

The United States of America

CARC 3-Tone Scheme

The CARC (Chemical Agent Resistant Coating) 3 Color Scheme, hereafter referred to as CARC was a scheme developed in agreement by NATO as a whole because it became plainly obvious by the early 1980s that the myriad of NATO vehicle camo patterns across the different armies made it a rather easy process to identify which army one was facing, which would only simplify intelligence gathering efforts for the Warsaw Pact in the event of war.

CARC was applied to most of the Army and Marine vehicle parks by the time the war had broken out in 1995, and efforts were accelerated to get the rest of the force painted by the time the US entered the war in late 1996. But, not every vehicle in the fleet was repainted, or if CARC was applied, often simply the base green color was used, and the other two colors were not, as repainting vehicles was not seen as a priority in many reserve units as they rushed through their mobilizations and were sent to war. Plus, CARC as a paint was not the safest in the world to work with. By all accounts, it was caustic, toxic, and often needed to be applied under very controlled circumstances, leading to a bottleneck at the depot of vehicles needing to be repainted.

As the war ground on, the paints turned out to hold up well to hard wear, but touchups and repaints were often done with whatever paint stocks were handy, leading to some odd shades and combinations, and these paints often did not match up to the standards of the original CARC paint. This was especially true after the nuclear exchange began and supply lines began to collapse.

M1A1 of 1-70th Armor, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, July 1996, in pre-deployment training at Ft. Polk with CARC 3 Color Scheme

Paint chart for 3 Color Scheme (European)

Color Chart for Desert CARC Paints

General note: If you’re going to paint these schemes? I would go with Vallejo, AK, or Ammo, Battlefront is a good second, and Citadel only if you must.

MERDC (Mobility Equipment Research and Design Command)

The MERDC pattern was developed in the 1970s as a standardized set of camouflage for US Army vehicles and soldiered on throughout the 1980s and in some units, into the early 1990s and the Twilight War, as mentioned in the CARC section above, this was especially true of reserve units, who depending on the speed of their mobilization, were often going to war without bothering to repaint their vehicles from the now obsolete MERDC pattern. The good news about MERDC was that it was easier to apply, and the paints didn’t have the associated health risks or were as difficult to apply, but the patterns themselves were quite complicated and as the war ground on, were often applied without much care or adherence to Army or USMC regulations.

There were several schemes that all saw use during the war, they are listed here:

Name of Scheme	1st (Base Color)	2nd (Primary Band) Color	3rd (Lesser Band) Color	4th (Y or Line) Accent
Desert Grey	Sand	Field Drab	Earth Yellow	Black
Desert Red	Earth Red	Earth Yellow	Sand	Black
Snow, Temperate Climate w/Open Terrain	White	Field Drab	Sand	Black
Snow, Temperate Climate w/Trees	Forest Green	White	Sand	Black
Summer Verdant	Forest Green	Light Green	Sand	Black
Winter Verdant	Forest Green	Field Drab	Sand	Black
Tropical Verdant	Forest Green	Dark Green	Light Green	Black
Arctic	White	White	White	White

Partial MERDC breakdown from postwar modeling guide, ca. 2019.

M901 from 2-152nd Infantry (Mech), 76th Infantry Brigade (IN ARNG), 38th Infantry Division, preparing to entrain for shipment to Europe. The date is suspected to be sometime in early March 1997. The vehicle is wearing a Winter Verdant scheme(Picture is from armorrama.com)

Many vehicles that had a MERDC scheme applied tended not to retain it throughout the war, this was especially true of the Verdant schemes. They were rather complicated to apply, and often, the schemes were touched up with mismatched or scavenged/captured paint stocks. This could sometimes give certain American vehicles a rather “loud” appearance at times. Or, the schemes would be abbreviated, and the vehicles would be painted a single tone (the most common being Forest Green), for ease of repainting. This was especially common as the war ground on.

Paint Chart for MERDC:

Note: As above, stick with the Vallejo, AK, or Ammo, Battlefront is a good second, and Citadel only if you must, the colors are a bit harder to match here, but keep in mind in a Twilight: 2000 world, paint schemes will be faded and touched up with non-reg colors, so don’t get too insane about colors being a little off.

Germany, East and West

The Germans really are a tale of two armies. The West German Army went with the three-color scheme as listed above under the Americans since 1984, as they were the army that had developed the scheme in the first place. By the outbreak of war in 1996, the entirety of the Bundeswehr was wearing the scheme, but as the war wore on, and stocks of the required colors ran out, older stocks of the Gelbolive color that had been retired were broken out of storage and used to repaint vehicles when it was required. 

Leopard 2 in Gelboliv scheme abandoned due to lack of fuel near Frankfurt-on-Oder, Unit Unknown, September 1999

As for the East Germans, they were undergoing something of a transition, moving from the Soviet Green that had been a hallmark of their vehicle park for many years, to a camo scheme that consisted of a three-color summer scheme, and a two-color winter scheme.

The schemes consisted of an Olive-Green base for both the summer and winter schemes, with bands of Dusk Grey and Black Grey. There was a slightly older scheme that was Beige and Brown that was seen in Manchuria, but it was not common and often vehicles were repainted as soon as their first visit to the depot. In both cases, white paint was used to cover the non-Olive-Green bands for the winter scheme. In both cases, Olive Green was supposed to cover anywhere from 45-60% of the vehicle, with the other colors covering 20-27.5%.

The transition had been going on since 1988, so most of the regular army had made the changeover, but the reserves and mobilization-only formations went to war in their Soviet Green schemes until 1997, when much of it was repainted hastily with West German surplus stocks of Gelbolive to cut down on the number of friendly fire incidents. 

East German T-72 as a gate guard in front of Paderborn Kaserne, September 9th, 2015. Note the two-tone scheme that has been applied, as stocks of the Dusk Grey apparently ran out.

Ural 375 Truck illustration of three tone scheme taken from East German field manual dated 1992 (Image taken from Panzerbear.de).

United Kingdom

The British Army was the singular exception in NATO, soldiering on with the two-tone scheme they had been using since at least the 1970s, and they showed no sign of making any transition to the NATO 3-tone scheme, no matter what the rest of NATO said. The scheme was easy to paint and maintain, and as the war wore on, British vehicles still looked “nattier” than their other NATO counterparts (relatively) as the colors they used for the scheme were relatively easy to find.

That said, there was a “unique” scheme that one brigade of the British Army transitioned to, and that was the Berlin Brigade’s unique urban scheme that contrary to orders and maybe even a bit of common sense, was retained by the Brigade throughout the war, and it’s surviving vehicles paraded in Portsmouth in 2006 still wearing that scheme, some of them having it hastily applied on the trip back to England. 

Saxon in assembly area of 2/Royal Green Jackets before jumpoff for ADVENT CROWN, July 1997. This photo is a very good study of the British two-tone scheme (photo taken from Cold War Gamer.com).

Canada

The Canadian army’s presence in Europe at the outset of the war was limited to the presence of the 4^th Canadian Mechanized Battle Group, who soldiered on through the Third World War with their obsolete gear. The Leopards had been repainted in a 3-color scheme that approximated the 3-tone NATO scheme, but with different tones, while the rest of the army went to war with the “European” scheme which did not hold up to any kind of hard wear. With the outbreak of war and mobilization, the situation became even more confused, with vehicles being repainted in a variety of patterns, and paint stocks, including a set of trucks that were part of a late deploying battalion in 1997 being painted in a scheme that looked suspiciously like British WW-II SCC 2 Bronze Green! The situation only worsened as the war continued and by the time Canadian troops had managed to crush the last of the separatist holdouts in 2012, one could find surviving vehicles and equipment in just about any shade of green, grey, and brown you could name.

Leo C1 of unknown unit leaving depot after overhaul in Canada in preparation for deployment overseas. January 1997 (taken from tanknutdave.com). Note the hard-worn paint scheme and the improvised Polish flag.

M150 upgraded to M113A2 standard during pre-war family open day in 1994. The vehicle also demonstrates the issues with the paint scheme

Canadian 3-tone Scheme

Canadian European Scheme

Review of the S-Model 1/72 scale M151A1/A2 MUTT

Review by Jorge Del Rio

I started playing Twilight 2000, while serving overseas with US Air Force, as a Security Forces member, and where I was stationed we used Jeeps in some of our patrols. When I started playing I collected some of the Miniatures that went with the game and added some Hotspur and MERC figures. When the game went dormant in my area I continued playing other games which used the miniatures. After finding out that this group existed I was able to put all the miniatures that I had collected and was using for another game to use, so I started looking for some other miniature and Models that I could use.

The M151A1
In my area we have a large group of reenactors that play out different battles from World War 2 and Vietnam, in which I have participated in. a couple of them have the Ford M151A1 and M151A2 MUTT jeeps, and quite frankly it is a great utility vehicle.

In my gaming, I pursued a location which could be built up into a safe haven for my players from which they could go out and conduct raids and search and destroy mission, and with the New America Cells cropping up everywhere it was perfect, what better place than Cedar Key, which is a small island chain that has its own Airport and port. With a large population of reenactors, I built a new location, and gave them the ultimate tool the M151A1 jeeps.

Image taken from S-Model Website

The Kit: 
The box contains 2 models which were able to be easily built with the weapons included in the  model kit. The kit has parts for an M2.50 Cal and a M60 LMG, I’m now searching to see if I can find a TOW armed version that I can add as a salvage unit. 

The model box contain 2 sprues, all the parts for a given vehicle are on one sprue.

The model is relatively easy to build, took me 15 minutes. 

The biggest issue with me is that it has photo etched parts (which I’m not a big fan of) and no replacement for the parts in plastic. 

The model is easy and pleasing to the eye. If you get it you will definitely enjoy it. I give it 4 out of 5 mushroom clouds, with the photo etched parts being the only real drawback.

Slightly Larger Warriors of the Apocalypse - 28mm figures for Twilight: 2000

 I've been trying to outsource this article for some time because, to be honest, I really don't know the first thing about 28mm figures to save my life. I've never even owned any, so any mistakes are mine alone, and I am sticking to that story. In any event, this is a living page, and we'll add to it as I get more information!

 So with that said, let's see what there is in the 28mm for those that want to do Twilight: 2000 in that scale.

  Empress Miniatures:

Image of Chechen figures taken from Empress Miniatures Website

 The Empress Miniatures modern line is a mix of their own work, as well as the old Red Star line, and the sculpts are simply gorgeous. I have seen and played with some in the flesh at a friend's when we  did some Ambush Alley games based in Chechnya. I do think you get a lot for the money, and they proportions look good and are not exaggerated by any means, something I do find a bit often on a lot of 28s.  I would recommend the Chechen and Russian lines especially for Twilight: 2000, with the rest geared towards today's conflicts, but you could use them if you're doing Twilight: 2025?

 Prices are around $10.50 for a pack of 4, which can be a bit steep for those of us across the pond, but the quality is there, and the website looks like it would be an easy thing to order from.

 UPDATE: I have been advised by one of our readers that Empress has an American reseller, Age of Glory Miniatures. They are charging $12 for a pack of 4, but the shipping is a bit less for those of us across the pond, so it probably balances out. I also found out that Empress bought out Imprint Models and now has their own line of vehicles in 1/48th Scale (The range of technicals is especially useful).

Eureka Miniatures:

Image of MOPP suited Americans taken from Eureka Miniatures USA website.

Eureka has an extensive Moderns line, including a few figures that would be of use to Twilight: 2000 gamers, such as the MOPP suited Americans, and the NBC suited Russians. Sadly, you cannot get individual suited figures for the Americans, they come in a set of 12 for $26.40, but having seen them at a show, the sculpting is good for guys that could represent National Guard types or other 2nd line formations. The Soviets in Afghanistan also work well for a variety of uses. But, like Empress, most of the line is geared pretty much to contemporary conflicts, which would work well for Twilight: 2025. The Musorians might also work for poorly equipped Warsaw Pact troops.

Ordering is a snap, as I have ordered quite a bit of AB World War II 20mm from Eureka and the turn around time is very quick indeed.

The Assault Group:

Image of Royal Marine Command Pack taken from TAG website.

The Assault Group (TAG) is a long time manufacturer who's been churning out figures in it's Ultra Modern and Vietnam lines for a while now. While the dimensions are a bit..large, especially the weapons IMHO, the lines are extensive and you can probably find what you are looking for with little effort. The trouble is, like most 28mm Modern lines, they are geared towards Afghanistan/Iraq and not exactly suitable for Twilight: 2000. That said, I have known many folks who like the line and have bought them, so they do have a following.

Prices are $10.50 for 4 figures, just like Empress, and the website is easy to navigate, so, if you like the figures, give them a try, they do happen to have a lot of character.

Badger Games:

Image of Soviet figures taken from Badger Games website

Badger Games is the current manufacturer of the old Mongrel Miniatures line of figures that was nothing if not prolific for a while. They are the only folks I know who make 28mm East Germans! (other than Under Fire) Their quality, from what I have seen in photos is superb and proportions are dead on, in my opinion. While the Americans and British look a bit dated, they could be used for reservists, and well, by Twilight: 2000, who cares, right? Mixed equipment and gear is the order of the day! Just nothing too modern, and Mongrel certainly fits the bill.

Prices run about $2.50 a figure, with the above pictured pack being $15, so a bit pricier I suppose. Ordering looks pretty easy, and it's on this side of the Atlantic, so shipping should not be too expensive.

Britannia Miniatures

US Rangers taken from Britannia Website

The Britannia range, while small, is full of the usual character one finds in their 20mm. While their 20mm stuff tends to be a bit on the big side, the 28s look as if they would fit right in. The main issue is for Americans, all you get is stuff for Mogidishu in 1993. I suppose you could repaint it, but trying to do regulars with these packs is a bit tough. That said, they're pretty good looking from the pictures I have seen, as well as the times I have played with them.

UPDATE: It seems the 28mm Britannia suffers from the same issues their 20mm cousins suffer from, as they are a bit larger compared to other 28mm stuff, they might fit in with TAG IMHO?

Prices run about $2.62 a figure, and the ordering system looks pretty simple (most of my Britannia I got second hand over the years), but they would make a nice SF unit for Twilight: 2000. 


Mike Bravo Miniatures:

British Infantry taken from Mike Bravo Miniatures website

Ok, if I played 28s, these would be where I would personally start. They're working on Americans with Fritz helmets for the 1980s, their Soviets look quite nice (and would probably fit in with Mongrel) and their Winter of '79 range would be perfect for games set in the UK as things are falling apart! In short, these are some good looking figures. They even have a news crew, cops and paramilitaries. In short, everything you need.

Prices are comparable to Empress and I think between those three manufacturers, you can put together some really nice armies for Twilight: 2000. His website is also full of helpful hints on where to find other 28mm resources such as vehicles and terrain.

UPDATE: According to several online fora..MBM isn't answering their emails or filling orders. I do hope this does not mean the company has gone under.

Mo-Fo Miniatures:

British with SLRs taken from MoFo/Gripping Beast website

Mo-Fo, like Mongrel and Mike Bravo, are perfect for the kind of figures you'll need for Twilight: 2000. While they're structured for the Falklands, you can use them as reservists, and the Argentinians have a ton of uses (painted right, they could fill in for more than a few NATO armies) and the Mercenaries would make fine Marauders/Spetsnaz. Proportions look great and they do paint up well from the looks of the figures.

As for prices, they are $7ish for 4, which is not bad considering the prices of most 28mm lines. Shipping to this side of the Atlantic might be a bit of a killer, so it all evens out. The website looks easy to order from and I think Mongrel, Mike Bravo and these figures would mix very well.

Sloppy Jalopy Models:

BMP-2 taken from Sloppy Jalopy website

Sloppy Jalopy has a good reputation for quality in 28mm circles, and I have played with some of their Israeli line, and was impressed with the quality for myself. While the range is small in what it covers thus far, it fits in well with Mongrel, MBM, and Mo-Fo, and you should have no trouble using any of the three with their Cold War line.

Prices run about $19-$28 a vehicle, depending on the vehicle, but consider there's a lot of metal and resin that goes into one of these. And to be honest, if you're doing 28mm, you're probably doing a very infantry-heavy game.

The website could be easier to navigate, as it took me a bit of time to find the actual catalog, but the vehicles do look nice and as I said, would fit well with the above mentioned lines. Sadly as of right now, they are the only modern vehicle manufacturer in town, and they are scaled 1/56, so if you want to find stuff they don't make, model kits might be the only game in town, but you may have to settle for 1/48th scale kits, and they are not cheap either these days.

Under Fire Miniatures:

The new 28mm 1980s US Infantry, image taken from the Under Fire Website

 I do have some experience with the Under Fire line, at least their 20mm stuff, of which I commissioned some of their Russians, and I found the sculpting standards to be top notch and while I have not painted them yet, I suspect they will be a pleasure to paint. The figures themselves look as if they would be in scale with Mike Bravo, Empress, Eureka, Mo-Fo, and Mongrel. I think these figures would compliment Mongrel VERY WELL indeed.

The website from previous experience, was a pleasure to navigate and order from, and the figures are priced at around $11 for a pack of four, but again, the quality is quite high. While the gear might be a bit dated (M16A1s and M1 steel pot helmets), you could very well use them for Twilight: 2000. The other figures in the line are awesome, to say the least, and they're the only ones to make West German Cops!

UPDATE 7/5/2024: Under Fire has added a lot to this line. One of the things they added is a Late '80s set of figures with K-Pots (Scrimmed and Unscrimmed!). They also have some Bundeswehr, Danes, and a nice range of Soviets and East Germans. And did I mention the "American Partizan" line modeled after a certain movie?

Lead Adventure Miniatures:

Image taken from TGN website

While the Lead Adventure line is more "Mad Max/Gaslands" than Twilight: 2000, some work with greenstuff and a brush could make these guys look great for your tabletop. There are a lot more of these "character pack" that could fill out an army. This pack alone screams "Marauders". While Lead Adventure's own site is down, they sell through Magister Millitum, and this pack is selling for about $15, not of course, including shipping. The Magister website is easy to use, while shipping for us in the States would be expensive, a few packs of these to fill out an army would not be ruinous.

HLBPS:

Boy, this vehicle looks very familiar? The image is taken from the HLBPS website

HLBPS has a smallish but very niche collection of 1/48th scale vehicles, including some I haven't seen in any scale other than 6mm (such as the CG Stingray painted up to match a certain color plate we all know and love). While prices run about the usual ($30-40 a vehicle, not to mention shipping), it is again, expected you aren't going to buy hordes of vehicles.

Not to mention, they have a 28mm tugboat that could be...useful...

I don't know the quality of the vehicles, but the website appears easy to order from and while shipping might be an issue, I would give these a look to fill out specific needs.


Special Artizan Service

War Correspondents taken from SAS Facebook Page

SAS has quite a few ranges available that would fill a niche for Twilight: 2000, especially the various insurgent ranges, I especially liked the DNR figures for marauder and bandit types. They're in the UK, so American gamers will find shipping expensive but you can get them in the US from King's Hobbies and Games, The miniatures run about $4.00 a figure depending on the set you buy, so they're a bit pricey, but the details are nice, and one wishes they'd do some Cold War oriented stuff, Americans with Kevlars perhaps?