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! 

Ye Gods! It Has Been a Busy Newsday!

It seems the newest edition of the Fanzine "Good Luck, You're On Your Own!" is not only out, but up on DrivethruRPG.net!

Both issues can be found for free at DTRPG and are a good read, I highly recommend them (and I have contributions in both), but they've got some fun miniatures-related ideas we'll go into later!

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!

Shameless Plug

Almost forgot, my new scenario book, "Red Star, Burning Streets" hit the shelves at Cavalier Books in February. I'm rather happy to finally get a book in print, and all I can say is, BUY THE BOOK!

I'd love to write more, but we'll see where this one goes?

So, what is it about? It's a miniature wargaming supplement set in an alternate 1983 where the Warsaw Pact and NATO came to blows. While it was written for "The Zone" skirmish rules, it would not be hard to adapt to any set of rules for the period. The book has 11 scenarios detailing the 2nd Battle of Berlin, as as information on the combatants, and suggestions for special rules for urban combat.

I promise, my next post will return you to your regularly scheduled apocalypse.

Where the Heck Have I Been?

A lot to explain, but I am back, and back to my work bench! Right now, it's all 15mm Sci Fi, as I have an event based on a certain short story I wrote, but it's becoming a life of it's own really. That said, what is going on of interest to you, the T2K gamer?

Lots, it seems.

First, NORTHAG is coming out! That's right, even with COVID cancelling Salute this year, and everything else, it seems the PDFs of NORTHAG are shipping. As I helped write the leadup to the war in the book, please go buy a copy when you can! The industry needs sales, and the product looks good. That said, I am probably going to game it in 6mm and 20mm myself. I just cannot justify gaming Cold War Gone Hot in YET another scale.

Looks good, doesn't it? (Taken from PSC Facebook Page)

But the models do look good for those inclined.

And they paint up well too! (Taken from PSC Facebook Page)

Yep, some eye candy even in these challenging times! So, I am also working on these figures from Ehliem. They are turning out quite well, and I am happy with the results. As soon as I am done, I will post them up here, along with the HMMWV, and they are quite faithful to the 1st Edition Box Cover!

Chico has done a successor to his Advent Crown document on the 1998 campaign which can be found here. We'll do a module suitability review soon, probably for our next blog post! 

Anyway, out here everyone. I am back and here to stay! 

HMMWV in 28mm

Apologies for my absence from this blog.

The US HMMWV is an iconic vehicle in Twilight 2000 (and I have a number of 20mm scale ones somewhere) but this is my first one for 28mm.

The Empress kit is mainly in a white resin with white metal 0.50" HMG, hatch and pintle.

This is the model dry assembled with William Killian for scale.

As we all know, vehicles in Twilight 2000 need to carry all the team's equipment, so they tend to be heavily loaded.

I looked through my collection of Crooked Dice, Debris of War and Empress Stowage items to load up the back of the vehicle together with Greenstuff soft stowage..

Advent Crown - A Module Suitability Review.

M-2 Bradley from 2-156th Infantry, 256th Infantry Brigade (LANG), 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), in the suburbs of Katowice,  May 12th, 1997 (AP)

It's been a long time since we wrote one of these. Chico of the T2K forum and DC Working Group fame has written something that's been missing from canon for some time. A history of the 1997 NATO offensive into Poland. Operation Advent Crown is available as a free PDF from Chico's website, and it has links to accompanying maps!

In short, it's a great companion to anyone running adventures in the pre-nuclear exchange phase of the war. There's enough detail to clearly follow the action, and the sidebars are informative, and there's a good breakdown of Polish internal forces and how they work (including how the ORMO really fit into the Polish paramilitary structure.)

But, here's the thing, how does this work for miniature gaming fodder? Quite well, especially for larger games like Fistful of Tows and Command Decision. This document is chock full of ideas and scenario fodder.

Some of the ideas I can pick out are:

Smaller Games:

• Urban fighting in Opole and Czestochowa against determined defenders, especially the Polish airborne in Czestochowa (see Black Madonna for further details on Czestochowa).
• The "shadow war" between special operations units and MPs/rear area protection units in both sides rear areas (this especially lends itself well to Force on Force and Black Ops).
• The bitter fighting of the Battle of Sulechow between the Soviet 35th Airborne Brigade and the US 36th Infantry Division (this is bitter fighting between US National Guardsmen in their first engagement and Soviet desantniki who have nothing to lose).
• Linked scenarios of the fight of 17th Jager Bn, 1st Panzer Division to cut off the Hel Peninsula vs. a force of OTK, NJW, and Polish Navy. Jagers will eventually be reinforced by US 6th MEB. 
• Raid by US 4th Ranger Btn and German 25th, 26th, and 27th FJ Brigades against Soviet rear.
• US XI Corps elements versus Polish scratch forces in the Carpathians.

Larger Games:

• The breakthrough at Wroclaw (Soviet 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division and Polish 2nd Mechanized Division versus US 11th ACR and German 27th FJ Brigade).
• The amphibious landing at Kolobrzeg (Danish Jutland Division, plus elements of British and US Marines vs. elements of 22nd Soviet Army).
• Battle of Poznan (Officer Cadets, OTK, WOW, ORMO, ZOMO, Polish Army support elements, along with remnants of 9th Mechanized Division versus VI German Corps).
• Battle of Tuchol Forest (US 2nd AD holding off counterattack by Polish 4th Army, being reinforced by Soviet 20th TD. Americans are reinforced by counterattack from US 3rd ACR).
• Lodz Breakout (WOW Brigade, TF of Polish 11th AD, Polish 9th Border Guards Brigade, scratch force of OTK, ORMO, and stragglers vs. US V Corps consisting of 8th ID (M), 1st AD, 1st Canadian Division and 11th ACR). 
• Warsaw  Counterattack by Soviet 11th Guards Army vs. PzGruppe Westhaven (specifically 217th Pzgdr Brigade with heavy NATO air and artillery support)
• Rearguard action by 49th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment versus German VI Corps near the Wisla.
• 116th ACRs crossing of the Wisla vs. Soviet 3rd GMRD.
• US XI Corps vs. Polish 2nd and 3rd Army on the outskirts of Warsaw.
• Soviet 4th Guards Tank Army counterattacks against German 1st Gerbigsjager Division, later 3rd Panzer Division, 240th FJ Brigade, and Danish Jutland Division east of Warsaw.
• German III Corps versus the defenders of Gydnia and Gdansk.
• US VII Corps versus Soviet 1st Shock Army near the Soviet border.