Highlights from the March 2023 GMT Update

It’s been a couple of months since my “highlights” post for the monthly GMT Update, though that is mostly because the best parts of the February update made their own posts.

This month had some great stuff and other cool updates in it, so I thought I’d go ahead and do another highlights post.

Once again GMT is costing me more money.

It’s kind of thrilling and annoying at the same time.

Never!

Most likely, anyway.

So let’s get this party started, shall we?

Here’s the link to the newsletter. There’s some great stuff in there that I won’t be talking about because I don’t really have anything relevant to say about it.

Don’t take this post as the end-all/be-all. Go check it out yourself.

The first thing to mention, related to one of last month’s posts, is that Playdek stated that they won’t be able to meet the March 28 release date for the digital version of Twilight Struggle: Red Sea.

“Unfortunately, we will have to push the release date back from the original date of March 28th. We have localizations, bugs, and optimizations that we are working to polish up. We will be announcing the new official release date on social media soon as well as other TS: Red Sea related content such as promo videos, a giveaway, and more. “

That’s too bad, but we do want it to be good, so we’ll wait as long as it takes!

The news gets better throughout the newsletter, though.

In fact, let’s jump right into the new P500 additions to the GMT lineup, as they have me pretty excited.

And this one will probably have Clio and (I think?) Michal excited too!

1848: The Springtime of Nations is a game inspired by Twilight Struggle but is about the revolutions of 1848.

Clio’s been doing a great series on his blog about these revolutions and how they are represented in games. They are must-reads!

(Though he shamefully doesn’t link the first two posts in the third! What kind of blogger are you, Clio?)

Let’s blurb this from the GMT web site:

“1848: The Springtime of Nations is a 2-player CDG depicting the unprecedented wave of revolutionary activity that swept across Europe in the titular year of 1848. Based on the hit area control system pioneered by GMT’s 1989: Dawn of Freedom and Twilight Struggle, it pits the forces of “the Revolution” against those of the “Counter-Revolution” in a struggle to decide the future of Europe and the world.”

This sounds amazing. At the beginning of the game, the Revolution forces are on the rise and the Counter-Revolution forces have to kind of hold their own. As the game goes on, though, they get stronger and the Revolution gets weaker, as happened historically when these revolutionary forces either went too far or petered out.

The card pictures on the site are just playtest cards, so the art can change, but here’s an example of what you might get.

This was an insta-back (or whatever you call it…an insta-500?) for me.

The second new game isn’t really on my radar, but fans of COIN games (especially the upcoming The British Way) will love it.

The Guerilla Generation, much like The British Way with Britain, is a 4-pack of games covering related insurgencies in Latin America.

Let’s blurb this too!

“The Guerrilla Generation: Cold War Insurgencies in Latin America is the second COIN multipack, containing four separate games exploring a series of thematically related insurgencies. Building on the The British Way, this new multipack allows players to explore variations in insurgent groups’ organizational structures, strategies, and relationship with civilians, across four insurgencies in Central and South America between 1968 and 1992. During this part of the Cold War era, Latin America experienced an incredible number of different insurgent groups, many inspired by the Cuban Revolution featured in Cuba Libre, ranging from popular backed rural insurgencies, flexible urban guerrillas, externally sponsored raiders, and brutal ideologically rigid groups. This multipack features a game exemplifying each of these types of insurgencies, to offer players the chance to compare different approaches to rebellion highlighted in the quote by scholar Jeremy Weinstein above. The Guerrilla Generation also offers four longer and more complex individual games than those found in The British Way, as well as an entirely different approach to the linked campaign scenario, which combines two games into a simultaneous side-by-side experience.”

I would love to play this. Until I have a bit more reliability in playing COIN games, I’m not going to buy it though.

I don’t think they will miss my money, as COIN games routinely hit 4-digit orders fairly quickly.

What I am buying, though, is the only P500 reprint of the month.

The Men of Iron Tri-Pack is getting a second printing.

This has the first three games of the Men of Iron series, about warfare in the Middle Ages.

Men of Iron itself covers early 14th century warfare, while Infidel covers the early Crusades.

Finally, Blood & Roses covers the wars of the Roses in England in the late 15th century.

This tri-pack will also include the Battle of Agincourt from C3i issue #22.

It looks amazing and I was inspired to look at this from my good friend Zilla’s series of videos on the original printing of the tri-pack and his playthrough of the Agincourt battle.

As always, Gene hints at some upcoming P500 titles, which I have no clue about because I’m even more in the dark than I am when I’m in my panic room when I’ve lost electricity and forgot the flashlight.

Here they are, though:

• An expansion/sequel for one of our most popular COIN games
  
  I would have said Fire in the Lake but that has a couple of expansions including one pretty new one, so that’s not it. I don’t know this one.
  
• A new Deluxe Treatment of one of our classic tactical 19th century wargames
  
  I don’t want to embarrass myself by guessing a game that’s really strategic and not tactical.
  
• A 20th century CDG set in South Asia
  
  No idea but it sounds exciting!
  
• A new Fields of Fire title
  
  With Battle of the Bulge out along with the first two editions, I’m thinking they’ll probably stay with the Americans rather than using a different nationality. I could be wrong.
  Assuming that’s the case, I’ll guess something in North Africa. Who knows if they’re going to follow the pattern of the first two games and have three different conflicts with the same unit (WWII, Korea and Vietnam) or if they’re going to start focusing more on a single battle, like the Bulge?
  
  Then again, Bulge was an expansion to the first game, so this one probably will span all three conflicts.
  
  I’m talking myself in circles now, so I’ll move on.

We’ll end the post talking about the games I have coming.

I just got charged for Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East, so that should be winging its way to me sometime in April (not literally, it doesn’t have wings or anything).

Then, for the first time in months, I don’t have anything directly on the horizon.

The next charges/shipments will be for two games that I didn’t buy, The British Way and Seas of Thunder.

In fact, the only two of mine that are on the horizon are currently “at the printer” with no set ship date.

That would be Plantagenet and The Barracks Emperors.

Plantagenet is actually an updated status, so I can’t imagine that will be anywhere near the first one to leave the printer.

There is Commands & Colors: Medieval, which is going to the printer in April. Since they are trying to expedite all of the Commands & Colors reprints, that may come out quicker!

The newsletter closes out with some looks at artwork and boards from some upcoming games.

Sadly, no new covers. Those are the highlights for me as some of the most recent ones have been breathtaking.

Hell, let’s show Plantagenet again (from the January update) since that game’s status has changed.

Yep, brilliant.

I hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully went to the newsletter and found some cool stuff that I didn’t mention.

Did you?

Are you as excited by 1848: The Springtime of Nations as I am?

Let me know in the comments.