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Update from Gene

Hi everyone!



As convention season is now in full swing with lots of new game releases, and here at GMT alone we've shipped 10 games (!) in the past 2 months, I hope you guys are finding plenty of cool games to spend some time with this summer. Personally, I have Skies Above the Reich on my game table right now. It's a fast-and-easy, but also meaty and replayable solo air game. I'm just starting to sink my teeth into it, and can't imagine that I'll get tired of it anytime soon. This one will keep me coming back for more. I hope you guys, too, are enjoying some new games this summer.



It's been a "challenging" past month or so here at GMT. We had a situation where we didn't do a good enough job with the Hitler's Reich rules, causing some head-scratching and frustration among customers. (See the "Quickly Getting Into Hitler's Reich" section below for an excellent video and article that I think will help a lot). And we had some frustration on the 2nd Phase System Integration front, mostly just trying to get all the right people together for any extended period of time during summer convention and vacation schedules. But the big surprise came when our major print supplier informed us out of the blue that the big COINFEST group of games was going to ship about six weeks later than scheduled. This is the 2nd time it's happened this year, so we are definitely not happy. There's not much we can do about it near-term (you'll note the new "September" ship times for COINFEST - sorry!), but this has been added to our "things we have to fix soon" list, and Tony's busy looking at getting us a broader and deeper group of supplier options as we move forward.



So that's going to conclude the "whining" portion of this update. In perspective, these are not big life-changing events, but they are frustrating, both to us and, I imagine, to our customers. Thanks for your grace and patience as we work through these challenges and make improvements in these various aspects of the company.



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Not getting these updates via email (any more)? If you are having to read this update through our website or via social media because you didn't get it via email like you have in the past, you are likely part of that % of our mailing list we lost when we switched to MailChimp. If you'd like to re-signup for the mailing list, here's a quick-and-easy link. GMT Mailing List Sign-up. Please feel free to pass this along to friends or anyone online who might mention that they didn't get this update.



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Good Press in WaPo for Twilight Struggle: We got some really good press coverage in the Washington Post Magazine this week (and it'll also be in their Sunday edition) for Jason, Ananda, Twilight Struggle, and GMT! Very cool! Enjoy the article!





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Fort Sumter Hitting Just the Sweet Spot We Hoped it Would: When Mark and I talked about a Lunchtime series that would start with his new design, Fort Sumter, we were aiming to create games that would:

be playable in 30-60 minutes

present strategy challenges that keep players coming back for more

be very non-wargamer-friendly, while still appealing to our core base of historical strategy gamers.

With Fort Sumter, the feedback we're getting online is telling us that we're doing really well on all three of these fronts. Players are getting their first games finished in around half an hour, and repeat playings get it down to 20-25 minutes. We see posts from players along the line of "I've played it 20 times now, and I'm just starting to figure out better strategy." (Yes!!!) And we're seeing a LOT of players being able to easily introduce Fort Sumter to their wives, kids, even non-gaming friends as a brief yet engaging strategy game challenge. An example, from Grant at The Player's Aid, is below:







I love this! This is exactly the role in our line that we want this Lunchtime Series to play. Kuddos to Mark Herman (and his wife, Carole, who helped him a lot with the "make it friendly to spouses" piece) on a job very well done on Fort Sumter!

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Systems Transitions Update: I don't have a lot to report this time. We do now have the new computers in place, are awaiting additional peripherals next week, and are working on the software integrations while awaiting a new version installation from our friends at UPS. With summer vacations pulling away several key internal and external people, it's been slow going for the past few weeks. I'm thinking now that we probably won't be where we need to be with the software integrations piece until about mid-late August. I hate the delay, but we need all the key people working on this together to get it right. I'll update you all online if we get it finished sooner, as fairly quickly after that work is complete, we'll launch our big sale.



A piece of good news is that we used our July 4 Flash sale to test the traffic handling capacity of our new website servers, and they came through with "Flying Colors" (sorry, couldn't help myself!). There were a LOT of customers on the site in a very short timespan, but we saw no system slowdowns at all. We know the load on the server will be much heavier when we have our big yearly sale, but based on the July 4 stress test, we're happy that we now have a much more robust capacity to handle large traffic volumes.



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You P500 Supporters are Awesome! I just want to take a minute here to say "Thank You!" to all of you who are supporting our P500 program. Your support tells us which games you want to see soonest, and gives us both planning help and operational funding to make sure that we can print those games that you want to see. I was just looking at the games we've added to the P500 list over the past five months. Of those 11 games, 9 of them are already over 500 orders (and 5 are over 750)! That's really great support! Thanks so much! (And I'd note that the two that haven't made it to 500 yet, The Dark Summer and Flashpoint: South China Sea, are both outstanding games. I guess we're just going to have to do a better job of showing you all how good they are.) Our office folks often comment, after a phone call or chat with one of you: "Our customers are the BEST!" This terrific P500 support is just one more way you continue to show that. Thank you!



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New P500 Additions. We have two new P500 additions this time. One is a 4x Space Game based on the Triumph & Tragedy system. The other is a long-awaited "Tri-Pack" - this time for the Men of Iron series.





Expansion or Extinction





Men of Iron Tri-Pack



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New P500 Reprint Additions. We're adding FOUR new P500 Reprints to our list this time, as we have several key games that have sold out recently.



Churchill, 3rd Printing

Labyrinth, 4th Printing

1960: The Making of the President, 2nd (GMT) Printing

Triumph & Tragedy, 3rd Printing



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New Update Kit for Flying Colors, Deluxe Edition. Whenever we decide to add significant components to a game on the P500 Reprint List, we do our best to find a way to offer you an Update Kit. We recently added a Deluxe 3rd Printing of Flying Colors to the P500 Reprint list, and Tony now has pricing for us for the Update Kit. It's going on P500 today. Click the link below for more details.



Flying Colors Deluxe Edition Update Kit

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Commands & Colors Ancients from HexWar Nearing Completion. Here is a peek at several screenshots of the Commands & Colors Ancients digital version, which should be in the "Coming Soon" section of Steam shortly, if it's not there already. This product will be available on Steam as well as for iPad and Android tablets. I'm unsure at this point on release timing - that's up to our friends at HexWars. But I'm thinking they're very close - a month or two away - at this point. Here are some screenshots for your enjoyment:





















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Major Digital Announcement Coming Monday, July 23. We've also been working in the background with another digital partner, and we're just about ready to announce details. Keep an eye out for a new digital announcement from us and our development partner on Monday, July 23rd. I think this is going to make a LOT of you who've been clamoring for more digital versions of GMT titles very happy! Stay tuned....





Here's a brief tease as to what we have lining up for P500 addition in the coming months. Note that last month's tease of "a new space game that you (mostly) already know how to play" referred to this month's addition of Expansion or Extinction. Note that this is NOT a comprehensive list, so I'll switch these up a bit from month to month. Over the coming months, I anticipate that we will add to P500:

A new game from Volko

An (awesome!) fantasy-themed strategy game

a new Commands & Colors game

a new Vietnam-themed operational-level game

A new solitaire game that you may already know how to play

A fast-playing quad game: theme pre-1900 warfare

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New French Language Printing Partnership. GMT is pleased to announce the start of a French Language printing partnership with Nuts! Publishing in France. The first GMT game to be published in French will be SpaceCorp.



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Status of "New" 18xx Games. I've had several questions online about a "new" 18xx game that Andy had mentioned late last year. I wasn't sure on status, myself, so I reached out to Andy Lewis to check. Andy said that, unfortunately, the TWO new 18xx he was evaluating both got "just ok" feedback from his crack testers. So he is passing on them for now and still in search for the next awesome 18xx. Sorry to disappoint all you 18xx players, but when we do a new 18xx, we want it to be amazing. In the meantime, I hope you'll really enjoy the GMT version of 1862, coming in early-mid 2019.



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Plains Indian Wars Videos from The Players' Aid. For those of you wanting to see what Plains Indian Wars is all about, the guys at The Players' Aid have played it quite a bit and have recently created two videos about the game. I think these are really well done. Please check them out at the links below:



How to Play Plains Indian Wars

Video Review of Plains Indian Wars



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Vassal Modules Available for Recent Releases. Be sure to check out these VASSAL modules for a couple of our recent releases:



Cataclysm: A Second World War - by Scott Muldoon

Hitler's Reich - by Matthias Jahr



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Quickly Getting Into Hitler's Reich. Our apologies, everyone. Hitler's Reich is a fast-playing and fun game of WWII in Europe. Based on early feedback, it seems like we may have overwritten the rules a bit, and left out one really important rule in a few places. We'll do better - and we'll get an updated pdf rulebook ready as soon as possible. In the meantime, please don't miss this fun game because of a few rules issues. To help you get up to speed quickly, here are two resources from Mark Buetow (thanks Mark!) that we think will be a big help:



Hitler's Reich: The Gist of the Game (InsideGMT)

Mark's Intro to Hitler's Reich YouTube Video









Coming This Week in InsideGMT .

Here's an update from Rachel on this week's upcoming InsideGMT articles:



Lots of great content this week on InsideGMT!



First up this week, we had the first in a series of articles from David Waldorf where he will be playing a Manoeuvre tournament "March Madness" style. Be sure to check out this intro article and download the brackets to follow along, then keep an eye out for the first game of the tournament, Russia vs. Spain, this coming Monday. On Tuesday of this week, we posted the final part of Mark Herman's Peloponnesian War replay series, originally published in an old issue of The General. To find out the conclusion of the game, be sure to check it out! Wednesday on InsideGMT, we published Part 4 of Volko Ruhnke's Crusade on Novgorod replay from his upcoming game, Nevsky: Teutons and Rus in Collision. Today, we posted an excellent article from Chris Holly (Marlowespade on BGG) discussing Hitler’s Reich gameplay, etc. For those who may need further clarification on the Hitler’s Reich rules, we posted an article last week from Mark Buetow titled “Hitler’s Reich: The Gist of the Game”, so go check that out! And finally, in the next couple of days, look out for a Fort Sumter final crisis strategy article from Mark Herman and Part 3 of the Skies Above the Reich 1942 Campaign AAR from Bruce Geryk.



I invite you to visit InsideGMT.com this week to check out the above mentioned articles (and more!) from our team of excellent InsideGMT contributors. -Rachel B



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This Past Month in InsideGMT!



Here are links to this month's new InsideGMT articles:



Cataclysm Overview and Strategy Videos

Nevsky: Crusade on Novgorod Replay - Part 3

Next War: Poland Video AAR (Part 5)

Replicator Tuesday Issue #45: After Action Report

Peloponnesian War Series Replay: Turn 1

Fighting Formations Scenario 4: Series Replay Videos

Peloponnesian War Series Replay: Turn 2

It's All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 5)

Skies Above the Reich 1942 Campaign AAR: Part 1

Apocalypse Road -- What's in a Name

Peloponnesian War Series Replay: Turn 3

Next War: Poland Video AAR (Part 6 -- Final)

It's All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 6 -- Final)

Skies Above the Reich 1942 Campaign AAR: Part 2

Hitler's Reich: The Gist of the Game

Manoeuvre Tournament Part One: Introduction

Peloponnesian War Series Replay: Turn 4 (Final)

Nevsky: Crusade on Novgorod Replay - Part 4



And, in case you missed them, here are links to our previous month's InsideGMT articles:



Next War: Poland Video AAR (Part 3)

Wing Leader Second Edition: Combat Analysis, Part 2

It's All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 2)

GMT Website Update

Nevsky: Crusade on Novgorod Replay - Part 1

Peloponnesian War: What Was Old is New Again! (Part 1)

It's All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 3)

Conquest of Paradise as a 4X Game

Advanced Railroad Engineering Rules for 1914 Offensive à outrance: The Initial Campaigns on the Western Front in WWI

Clausewitz’ Trinity in 1989 (1989, #7)

Peloponnesian War: What Are the Opponents’ Objectives? (Part 2)

It's All in the Cards: The Cards of Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (Part 4)

All Bridges Burning: Simulating the Finnish Civil War

Nevsky: Crusade on Novgorod Replay - Part 2

Peloponnesian War: System Mechanics and Specific Strategies (Part 3)

Operation Silver Bayonet (Part 1)

Next War: Poland Video AAR (Part 4)

Peloponnesian War: Final Strategies and Conclusion (Part 4)



As always, I invite you guys to head over to www.insidegmt.com, check out the articles, leave us your comments, and tell us what else you'd like to see us do to make InsideGMT even better!



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Heavy Duty White Game Boxes and Blank Countersheets Still Available.

For you guys looking for extra boxes for component storage, we now have some 2" deep and 3" deep heavy duty (like the COIN games come in) white game boxes in stock. They're $6 + shipping (1 lb) and $8 + shipping(1 lb), respectively. Here are the links:



2" White Game Box

3" White Game Box



And for you guys who like to design your own games or extra counters, we now have several sizes of white blank countersheets available on the Parts and Accessories Page of our website. They are $3 per sheet, plus shipping. Links are below:



1" countersheet

5/8" countersheet

9/16" countersheet



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Fall 2018 GMT Weekend at the Warehouse - October 11-14 2018

We have dates established for our Fall 2018 weekend. Come join us for 3 1/2 days of gaming fun! For those new to the event, this is mostly an open gaming event, although we do have tournaments from time to time. We expect about 125 gamers to attend, and space is limited, so please get your reservation in to the office ladies (call, chat, or email) as soon as possible.







Click on the GMT Weekend at the Warehouse page on InsideGMT for more details, as well as a list of designers attending.



There are several hotels within a few miles of our offices. Of those, the Sequoia Inn blocks rooms for our attendees at special rates. The hotel's reservation # is 559-582-0339. Tell them you want the "GMT Group Block"rate. They have already blocked rooms for us for October, so feel free to go ahead and make reservations whenever you are ready.



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Keep up with GMT Online

Virtually every day, we announce new information or show off upcoming products or give you a peek under the hood of our new designs in our various online sites and forums. For you guys looking to keep up with us online, here's where you can find us. Drop in and start a conversation!



GMT Games Website

InsideGMT blog

GMT Facebook Page

GMT's Twitter Feed

GMT on Instagram

GMT on BoardGame Geek

GMT YouTube Channel

GMT on Consimworld



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That's it for the news bytes from me for this time. Here's what you'll find in the rest of today's update:



- Charge and Shipping Update

- Production Outlook

- P500s (in right column)

- Project Updates and Sample Art

- P500 Reprint Update

- Website File Additions

- GMT Top 15 Best Sellers (in right column)



Thanks, as always, for your support of GMT Games! Enjoy the games! - Gene