March P500 Update from GMT Games – A New Battle of the American Revolution Game, A New Reprint & Some Bad News

After such an amazing monthly update in February from GMT Games, featuring the announcement of a new COIN Series game Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917-1947, the March installment was rather pedestrian. That being said, I always wait for the monthly update email and there were still some nuggets of good news regarding a new reprint being offered as well as a new P500 game, but more on that later. In case you missed it, here is a link to the March Update email from GMT Games: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/GMT-Update–March-23–2017-New-P500–Production-Update–More-.html?soid=1103480314715&aid=Kf2R8ruQAq0

So, without further ado, onto the March news from Gene.

The Battle of Rhode Island: Volume IX in the Battles of the American Revolution

I wanted to start out with the “nuggets” of good news that I mentioned in my introduction first, saving the more exciting (to me at least) piece of information for a little bit later. As you may know, I am a huge fan of the history of the American Revolution and own and have loved playing Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection designed by Harold Buchanan. I do not own any other Revolutionary War games sadly, but have always had my eye on several of GMT’s offerings including Washington’s War (a card driven game designed by the great Mark Herman) as well as several of the previously released volumes of Battles of the American Revolution series including Volume II Brandywine, Volume IV Savannah and Volume VII Germantown. I have also looked at several other game companies takes on the Revolution (I have found Revolution Road from Compass Games among others) and understand that this is blasphemy of the highest order for which I must make recompense by writing the following 1,000 times:

I will not stray from the greatest wargame publisher in the world, GMT Games, and to them will always be faithful!

Well you get the idea I think!

This month’s lone new P500 offering is The Battle of Rhode Island: Volume IX in the Battles of the American Revolution designed by Mark Miklos. This game is very intriguing to me as it is a simulation of a little known battle but also contains a 2nd hypothetical scenario called The Battle of Newport. The battle was rather indecisive, as both sides would claim victory, but for different reasons. The features of the game are as follows:

The map board depicts the northern half of the island including the fortified American positions around Butt’s Hill. GMT will also include a double sided unmounted map as a bonus for those that don’t like the glorious mounted maps.
There are 64 American, British and Hessian combat units and leaders giving the game a counter density comparable to Saratoga in the series.
To ensure replay-ability, each player has a unique deck of 26 Opportunity Cards that either enhance his side or diminish the enemy. Cards are drawn at-start and occasionally throughout play as governed by the turn track. The cards themselves may provide DRMs, adjustments to Army Morale, leader replacements, tactics advantages, step losses or step recovery, and additional units introduced into play among other outcomes.
There are only a handful of Exclusive Rules to provide chrome including a squadron of British warships which may conduct off-shore bombardment. Players familiar with the core game system will be off and running in no time.
As a bonus, volume 9 will include a second scenario; The Battle of Newport. This hypothetical scenario features a second map board depicting the southern half of the island, the city of Newport and the British defensive works that surrounded it as well as the American siege lines. The French army is presumed to have stayed on the island to cooperate in a direct assault upon the town. It will make for a fascinating “what-if” study of the first attempt at cooperation in the war by Franco-American forces.

In case you are interested, here is a link to the game page on GMT Games site where you can order the game: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-634-the-battle-of-rhode-island.aspx These P500 games are such a great value as this one is only $40.00 for two games with a glorious mounted mapboard! What a steal.

France ’40 2nd Printing by Mark Simonitch

I am a big fan of any wargame designed by Mark Simonitch and I am very excited about this 2nd printing edition of France ’40. The game was released in 2013, so it is not that old and is already getting a reprint, which usually means one of two things. There have been a lot of requests for a reprint or they are making significant upgrades in a deluxe edition offering. I don’t think this one offers anything new but is simply going to include some errata to rules. So, it is simply a good game that has demand and they have decided to reprint it. I am glad for that as this is a game that I have great interest in as it depicts the initial German advance of 1940 into France. The game actually includes 2 games in one.

Sickle Cut: Guderian’s Drive to the Channel

This game covers the crucial week in May 1940 when the German army broke the French line on the Meuse and raced to the sea at Abbeville. The game starts on May 13th, the third day of Case Yellow. Six panzer divisions have passed through the Ardennes and are now at the Meuse River. The French and British have raced through Belgium to reach the Dyle Line and cover the Gembloux Gap. The stage is set. Can the Germans cross the Meuse in front of strong opposition? And, if they can, will they be able to break out from the bridgeheads and advance across the map while threatened by Allied reinforcements pouring in from the north and south?

Dynamo: Retreat to Victory

This game covers the British withdrawal to Dunkirk and the evacuation. The game starts on May 24th, the day the British decide that the B.E.F. is in real danger of being cut-off from their supply base and the best option is to head for the coast at Dunkirk. However, many of the German panzer divisions are closer to Dunkirk than the British. Can the British reach the coast before the Germans? Can they hold the Dunkirk perimeter for eight days while they evacuate?

The rules for both games highlight armor, air support, and morale. Special rules include: Allied Heavy Tanks, DeGaulle, Rommel, Hitler’s Halt Order, and French Command Paralysis. Note that the two maps may be linked together for players to study the entire period from May 13th to June 3rd, but there is no combined game scenario.

In case you are interested, here is a link to the game page on GMT Games site where you can order the game: http://www.gmtgames.com/p-635-france-40-2nd-printing.aspx This reprint edition is only $38.00, an even better deal than the new P500 offered this month.

Last Chance Announcement for Several P500 Reprints

This announcement kind of bothers me. Here is the full text from the GMT site:

We have three games on our P500 Reprint list (noted as “Last Chance” on the P500 Reprint Listing near the end of this update) that have been on the list for a long time and have garnered very few new orders over recent months. This is notice that we are going to remove these games from the reprint list next month unless we see a large increase in orders. So if you want to see a new print run of any of these games, please click the links below to place your orders:

The Dark Valley – 121 Orders

Roads to Leningrad 2nd Ed. – 102 Orders

The Kaiser’s Pirates – 86 Orders

Maybe someone can explain the reasoning behind this decision? Does it cost GMT anything to have these on the reprint P500 list? Is having games sit with little activity seen as a negative? I added at least one of those on the list (Roads to Leningrad) to my ever-growing P500 in October and since that time it has increased from 73 orders to its current 102 orders. I know that is pretty slow but it is getting there. I just don’t want to see these great games thrown away and I feel like they deserve to have their chance to be reprinted. Who is with me here? Write your Congressman. Call out the National Guard. Whatever it takes….

Conclusion and Summary of my P500 Orders

I would like to wrap this post up with a summary of where my 21 P500 games stand as of March 24th. I routinely check the status of each of my games and also will show the change in orders as compared to the last time I wrote them down on February 22nd.

1989: Dawn of Freedom – 178 [+14 orders] – Another slow month but better than February. Why is this game moving so slowly? I have heard and read that it is amazing! And there are not many copies at all out there on the market. Please help me move this one along.
Here I Stand: Wars of the Reformation 1517-1555 – 781 [+206 orders, made the cut!] I love anything about the Reformation! Holy War anyone? Also assigned a tentative shipping date of September 2017. Thanks to the new announcement about the deluxe anniversary edition, this game has made the cut! Awesome.
Space Empires 4x – 343 [+26 orders] 4x games are awesome and I love a good Sci-Fi themed game! Also assigned a tentative shipping date of July 2017. I might look at ordering its expansions as well.
The Hunters – 555 [+35 orders, made the cut!] WWII submarine warfare with the vaunted U-Boats! No tentative shipping date assigned yet.
Navajo Wars – 330 [+9 orders] I love stories and games about Native Americans. When I was a kid I read dozens of history books on Native Americans. Read my interview with Joel Toppen about Navajo Wars and Comancheria. With Comancheria having recently released, and lots of pictures showing up on Twitter, I expect that this one might gain some momentum over the next few months.
The Last Hundred Yards – 533 [+24 orders, made the cut!] A WWII tactical game that exhibits the actions and reactions of real troops from initiative, to communication and other factors. Yes, please! Read my interview with designer Mike Denson that was posted in November! Made the cut last month, congrats to Mike and his team!
Hitler’s Reich – 656 [+9 orders, made the cut!] WWII Card Driven Game that plays in under 2 hours. Read my interview with designer Mark McLaughlin that was posted in December. Has been assigned a tentative shipping date of September 2017.
Colonial Twilight: The French-Algerian War, 1954-62 – 1,346 [+63 orders, made the cut!] I love the COIN Series of games and Brian Train is an amazing designer. Read my 3 part interview with him on CT. (Part I, Part II & Part III). Assigned a tentative shipping date of June 2017! Here is the new cover released a few weeks ago:
Bayonets & Tomahawks – 616 [+18 orders, made the cut!] – I love a good game about the French & Indian War. Read my interview with designer Marc Rodrigue about B&T! I was actually watching Last of the Mohicans the other day and thought to myself, it would be nice to have this game already so I can play! No tentative shipping date assigned yet.
Holland 44′ – 1,160 [+46 orders, made the cut!] – Airborne paratroopers over the fields of Holland. Plus, Mark Simonitch can surely design a great game – see The U.S. Civil War. Assigned a tentative shipping date of August 2017! Read my interview with designer Mark Simonitch about Holland ’44.
Imperial Struggle – 1,851 [+53 orders, made the cut on 1st day!] Assigned a tentative shipping date of 4Q 2017! I have reached out to designer Ananda Gupta for an interview but it may not happen until after April or May. He said they had to blow up the India map and make significant changes!
Pericles: The Peloponnesian Wars – 1,317 [+99 orders, made the cut!] – I love any game designed by the great Mark Herman and have loved playing his other recent game Churchill and this will be sure to impress as well. This game begins shipping in teh next few weeks. Read my interview with Mark Herman about Pericles!
Ariovistus: A Falling Sky Expansion – 1,159 [+71 orders, made the cut!] – I love Falling Sky and when this one was offered, it didn’t take me long to order it! A 5th playable faction and some new upgraded components for the base game. My interview with co-designer Volko Ruhnke was posted in October. No tentative shipping date set as of yet.
The Russian Campaign: Designer Signature Edition – 1,081 [+55 orders, made the cut!] – I now own an Eastern Front game (No Retreat! The Russian Front) but this one is THE quintessentially respected volume! It will be mine. Tentative shipping date of early 2018 set at this point.
Cataclysm A Second World War – 652 [+2 orders, made the cut!] – I am very interested in this sandbox style game of World War II that starts in 1933 and where anything can happen including French tanks rolling into Berlin? Read my interview with Scott Muldoon and Bill Terdoslavich about Cataclysm! Tentative shipping date of 4Q 2017 set at this point.
Roads to Leningrad – 102 [+6 orders] – This game is medium complexity and has high suitability for solitaire. Also, this is the 2nd edition and they are fixing some of the rules, updating the map and player aides (full color) and also there are 528 counters! I love counters and this game has 528. Read my interview with designer Vance von Borries. Please give this game a good look and order as it has been threatened to be relegated to reprint purgatory unless orders pick up! HELP!
SpaceCorp: 2025-3000 AD – 944 [+83 orders, made the cut!] I love a good Sci-Fi themed game and this one looks great. I also really enjoy John Butterfield’s designs. I have reached out to him for an interview and he is considering it at this point. No tentative shipping date assigned as of yet.
Tank Duel: Enemy in the Crosshairs – 374 [+23 orders] Tank on tank combat in World War II for up to 8 players! Panzers, T34’s, what more could you want in a game. I have reached out to designer Mike Bertucelli and he is working on my interview.
Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea – 421 [+76 orders] A fantastic looking abstracted game of civilization building in the Mediterranean designed by Mark McLaughlin and Christopher Vorder Bruegge. This game is sure to be a winner! Read my interview with Mark McLaughlin and Christopher Vorder Bruegge.
Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India 1917-1947 – 802 [+242 orders, after only 2 days…made the cut!] – I love the COIN Series of games and this one includes a Non-Violent faction, in a wargame. I have got to see this in action! I have reached out to designer Bruce Mansfield who is working on my interview.
France ’40 2nd Printing – 26 orders

I only ordered one new game this month on the P500 bringing my total to 21! I still have my eye on several of the other recent new offerings (including Golden Gate Park and Red Storm) as well as others that have been on the list for a while (Absolute War! The Attack on Russia 1941-1944). Please consider helping me out by P500’ing one or all of these great games on my list! You will be helping me personally as I can get to play these great games sooner and you also will be helping out GMT Games, who has given us all such great joy with their creations!

-Grant