Some GMT P500 Games That Need Some Love

I guess we can just say that this week is GMT Games Week at Dude Take Your Turn. I promise to get back to “normal” stuff next week.

In doing my GMT Update on Wednesday, I noticed that there are still some games that I’ve “backed” on the P500 that still need some help to break through that 500 order barrier.

I thought I would highlight them here.

Just to remind you, the P500 system means that once an announced game hits 500 orders, it goes into the production process. This could take a while or it could happen reasonably quickly. One of my games that “Made the Cut” has been in that status for over 3 years and hasn’t appeared to move since (that would be Rebel Fury, designed by Mark Herman, which currently has 981 orders).

(Edit – Mark graciously responded on Twitter saying that the game is getting near completion!)

Reprints don’t necessarily have to hit 500 if GMT wants them in print (the reprint of Skies Above the Reich that I ordered only has 400 orders but it’s already in Art and Final Development).

Also, the most important thing to remember is that you don’t get charged for the game until it’s ready to ship. So you’re not paying now and then not seeing the game for 2 years.

So anyway, these are the P500 games I’ve ordered that not only haven’t made the cut but also don’t appear to be in the production process.

Commands & Colors: Medieval (2nd Printing) – 219 Orders

With everything going out of print and this wonderful system that I’ve been watching my good friends Michal and Patrick playing, I wanted to get in on this. I already did on the expansion, which is over 900 orders so doesn’t qualify for this list.

This is a reprint (hey, maybe that’s what 2nd Printing means!) so it doesn’t necessarily have to hit 500 orders, but it hasn’t made any progress so I wanted to mention it.

There apparently was some controversy when this first came out because many fans thought “medieval” would be knights and stuff and it’s instead the Byzantines vs the Sassanid Persians.

I notice it says it right on the box, but is that just for the 2nd printing? Was that why people were confused?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Rebellion: Britannia – 372 orders

This is a new game, not a reprint, and the subject sounds fascinating.

Let’s quote the game page:

“Rebellion: Britannia is a game about the Roman military campaigns to suppress the Silures, Brigantes, and Boudica Rebellions (47-61 CE) and the relationships between the key British tribes.”

It’s a 1-4 player game.

Players play either as Rome or one of the major British tribes (Iceni, Silures or Brigantes).

It’s a card-driven wargame and the winner will be the one who has the most victory points from controlling land, burning Roman infrastructure (hopefully the Romans don’t get any points for that!) and reducing enemy forces.

It looks wonderfully interesting and has the highest solitaire rating, which is a bonus for me! Especially with the 22 x 17 inches mounted mapboard, easily fitting my table.

But maybe I can get some of my friends to play it.

Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion #6: The Spartan Army – 237 orders

Now that I actually have the base game, I want all of the expansions! The combined #2 & #3 expansion box is not currently in stock and is not on the P500, so hopefully that will happen soon. The same goes for expansion #4. (#5 is the Epic version of the game, which I’m not really interested in).

Will expansion #6 be useful without previous expansions?

I’m not actually sure.

But I’m looking forward to Patrick’s upcoming videos for this expansion, as they are just starting this expansion after finishing the Imperial Rome one.

This is a reprint so it doesn’t have to reach 500 orders necessarily, but there’s been no movement on this so let’s try to get it up there!

Silent Victory (3rd Printing) – 167 orders

Another solo submarine game, this one from the American point of view in the Pacific instead of the German.

Zilla Blitz got me hooked on submarine games (though I think I did buy The Hunted before I discovered him) so I ordered this one shortly after that.

But it’s not there yet. 😦

It’s another reprint, so hopefully won’t need the 500 orders.

The Hunters (4th Printing) – 203 orders

Everything I said above about Silent Victory applies here.

But here’s episode #1 of Zilla’s The Hunters campaign which is what started me down this road!

Let’s hope I can do just as well!

Thunder Alley: Crew Chief expansion (2nd Printing) – 220 orders

I’ve only played it once, but I loved Thunder Alley and I own it! This racing game that is basically NASCAR without the sponsorship is really intriguing because you run a team of cars and the winner of the game is not necessarily the winner of the race.

Instead, each car gets points based on the position they come in. The team with the most total points wins.

And you’re not just moving individual cars on your turn. Most of the time you will be moving a bunch of cars with you. In fact, it doesn’t pay to be away from the pack because then you will miss out on the sweet movement on other players’ turns!

The expansion adds some luck mitigation cards and a few different ways to play the game.

Intriguing!

Of course, there is Combat Commander: Europe, Combat Commander: Mediterranean, and Combat Commander: Resistance that are all short but I think GMT is committed to making sure the entire series remains in print. Thus I’m sure at some point these will head to the art department even without hitting 500 orders.

The rest of the games I’ve ordered have made the cut and are in the production queue somewhere (even if it’s the production queue that’s in limbo somewhere).

I’m happy about that!

Any thoughts on these games (and their expansions)?

Did you want to provide some help to get these over the top?

Let me know in the comments.