Into the Woods: the Battle of Shiloh is the eighth installment of the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series, published by GMT Games.

The Great Battles of the American Civil War Series:
This series is one of the hobby’s longest-lived design concepts, springing from the legendary regimental level Gettysburg game – Terrible Swift Sword (SPI) – designed by Richard Berg in 1976. Under GMT, the rules system has remained stable, but has shown remarkable flexibility to allow each game to smoothly incorporate additional rules to reflect the historical battles. The series relies on interactive chit-pull mechanics to simulate the often chaotic nature of the 19th Century battlefield at the regimental level.

The Game:
Into the Woods: the Battle of Shiloh includes ten scenarios. They range from division level contests on half sized maps to two-map battles depicting both the first and second day of the struggle. Experienced players will be able to play many of the scenarios in one sitting. The game reflects the Confederate surprise, the "greenness" of many units on both sides, as well as the unique role Albert Sidney Johnston played in the Confederate attack.

COMPONENTS:
* 1120 counters
* Two 22” x 34” double-sided maps
* One GBACW series rules booklet
* One Battle booklet
* Two Activation and Turn Record charts
* Two Player Aid Cards
* Two Terrain Effects Charts
* Two 2nd Disorder Charts
* Two 10-sided dice (blue and grey)

TIME SCALE: Each Turn = 1 Hour
MAP SCALE: 110 Yards Per Hex with 20-Foot Elevations
UNIT SCALE: 50 Men or 1 Cannon per Strength Point

SERIES DESIGNER: Richard H. Berg
GAME DESIGNER: Richard Whitaker
GAME CO-DESIGNER and SERIES/GAME DEVELOPER: Bill Byrne
ORIGINAL SERIES DEVELOPER: John Alsen

2001: The “American Century” had closed with a single Cold-War superpower standing and a pause in conflict that some at the time dubbed “The End of History”. It wasn't.

In the Middle East and South Asia, an Islamic revival was underway. Resentments bred in part of US support for the regions' anti-Soviet tyrannies soon erupted into a new struggle against the West. Wealthy Saudi fanatic Usama bin Ladin issued a declaration of holy war against America in 1996 and then fired the first shots with spectacular terrorist attacks on US targets in East Africa in 1998 and the Arab Peninsula in 2000.

Bin Ladin's al-Qaeda organization plotted securely under the protection of the Taliban, a fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan born of the anti-Soviet “Bear Trap” of the 1980s. By 2001, al-Qaeda had set in motion even more devastating strikes--this time within the US Homeland--that Bin Ladin hoped would light off a global Muslim uprising. Uprising or no, the Western response to those September 11th attacks would reshape international affairs from London to Jakarta and from Moscow to Dar es Salaam.

Labyrinth takes 1 or 2 players inside the Islamist jihad and the global war on terror. With broad scope, ease of play, and a never-ending variety of event combinations similar to GMT's highly popular Twilight Struggle, Labyrinth portrays not only the US efforts to counter extremists' use of terrorist tactics but the wider ideological struggle--guerrilla warfare, regime change, democratization, and much more.

From the design and development team that brought you the award-winning card-driven game Wilderness War, Labyrinth combines an emphasis on game play with multifaceted simulation spanning recent history and near future. In the 2-player game, one player takes the role of jihadists seeking to exploit world events and Islamic donations to spread fundamentalist rule over the Muslim world. The other player as the United States must neutralize terrorist cells while encouraging Muslim democratic reform to cut off extremism at its roots. With the game's solitaire system, a single player as the US takes on ascending levels of challenge in defeating al-Qaeda and its allies.

The jihadists must operate in a hostile environment--staying below the authorities' radar while plotting terrorist attacks and building for the Muslim revolution. Will Iran's Shia mullahs help or hinder the Sunni jihadists? Will the gradual spread of Islamist rule bring final victory--or will it be a sudden strike at the United States with an Islamic weapon of mass destruction?

The United States has the full weight of its military force and diplomacy at the ready--but it can't be everywhere: will technological and material superiority be enough? US forces can invade and topple Islamist regimes, but how will the Muslim “street” react? And if quagmire results, how will the US find its way out?

Labyrinth features distinct operational options for each side that capture the asymmetrical nature of the conflict, while the event cards that drive its action pose a maze of political, religious, military, and economic issues. In the parallel wars of bombs and ideas, coordinated international effort is key--but terrorist opportunities to disrupt Western unity are many. The Towers have fallen, but the global struggle has only just begun. “Let's roll!”

Labyrinth contains 110 playing cards, including:
* Tora Bora
* Patriot Act
* Predator
* Iraq WMD
* Renditions
* Leak

Playing cards also include:
* Martyrdom Operation
* Taliban
* Kashmir
* Wahhabism
* Madrassas
* Zarqawi
* Abu Sayyaf
* IEDs
* Tony Blair
* Danish Cartoons
* Ex-KGB
* Lebanon War
* Mossad & Shin Bet
* Hijab
* Loose Nuke

...and so much more!

GAME CONTENTS
* One Counter Sheet
* 22x34 inch Mounted Mapboard
* 110 Playing cards
* Rules Booklet
* Two Player Aid sheets
* One Solitaire Play sheet
* 30 Wooden Cubes
* Four 6-sided dice

GAME SCALE
TIME: About 1 year per hand of cards
PLAYERS: 1-2
MAP: Point-to-Point system

GAME DESIGN: Volko Ruhnke
GAME DEVELOPMENT: Joel Toppen, Rob Winslow

Note: This game is a stand alone game. It does NOT require ownership of The Last Hundred Yards to be played.

The Last Hundred Yards Vol. 2: Airborne Over Europe is the second game in Mike Denson’s Last Hundred Yards series. It includes two major campaigns featuring numerous missions covering small unit actions conducted by US airborne forces in the Normandy and Market Garden operations.

In the Operation Overlord campaign, follow the elements of the American 82nd and 101st Divisions beyond the Normandy beachheads. After being scattered over a large area in Normandy on the night of June 6th, they struggle to assemble and secure their objectives to support the advance of the American units landing at Utah Beach. Later missions feature them defending against the inevitable German reaction and counterattack. Follow Lt. Dick Winters as he leads his platoon in taking out the artillery battery at Brecourt Manor near Ste. Marie-du-Mont and then faces a counterattack from elements of Col. Von Der Heydte’s 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment.

In the Operation Market Garden campaign, follow the 82nd Airborne Division after landing south of Nijmegen in the early afternoon hours of September 17th as they race to secure critical bridges over the Waal and Maas rivers, as well as those over the canal between them. Follow Lt. Foley and his men as they defend Devil’s Hill against German counterattacks on the Eiesenborne Ridge Groesbeek Heights, a mere 2-3 miles from the German Border.

While the 82nd lands around Nijmegen, the 101st Airborne Division lands north of Eindhoven and begins its own race to secure its assigned bridges over the river Dommel in Eindhoven, the Wilhelmina canal in Son and Best, and the bridges over the Zuid-Willemsvaart and river AA in Veghel. Experience the counterattack by the German Kampfgruppes Hüber and Walther as they cut the main highway near Veghel. It took two critical days of hard fighting for units of 101stAirborne and British XXX Corp to reopen the corridor.

This game will introduce airdrop and night rules, as well as new terrain to the series. Successfully landing airborne troops at night, assembling them from a dispersed condition, and advancing against unknown enemy resistance to secure your objectives will prove a thrilling challenge in this new game. You don’t want to miss it!

COMPONENTS:
* 1 Game Box
* 6 double-sided geomorphic maps
* 1 full-color Rules booklet
* 1 full-color Playbook
* 5 Mission Cards (10 missions)
* 2 9/16” counter sheets
* 4 full size and 1 half size counter sheets
* 2 Combat/Terrain Charts
* 1 Game Turn Track
* 1 Player Aid Card
* 6 Dice

DESIGNER: Mike Denson
MAP ART & DESIGN: Liz Stephanoff
COUNTER ART: Charles Kibler and Dariusz Buraczewski
PRODUCERS: Mark Simonitch, Andy Lewis, Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, & Gene Billingsley

This Accursed Civil War and Sweden Fights On are being offered as a two-pack. Eleven, yes ELEVEN battles in one box!

The award-winning Musket & Pike Battle Series was launched in 2002 with This Accursed Civil War and followed with Sweden Fights On within a year. Both have been out of print for over a decade. The series has marched on with four more installments and has attracted many new players. So now we are making the first two games available again in a new, updated dual package.

In one box, you will get the first two volumes of the MPBS including:
* Two additional battles for “This Accursed Civil War:” Cheriton 1644 and Cropredy Bridge 1644. Both battles were in Ben's original Desk Top Published version, with Cheriton 1644 appearing later in C3i. The Edgehill 1642 variant from Gustav Adolf the Great will be included as well.
* For all battles, infantry and cavalry units will not be shared between battles for ease of setup and storage.
* The battle specific cards introduced in Saints in Armor with be provided with Turn Track, Victory Conditions, Dead and Pursuit boxes to improve their utility (5 back printed cards)
* The This Accursed Civil War Playbook will be brought up to the current series standard for ease of use.
* Orders of battle and maps will be updated to reflect the latest scholarship.
* Last but not least: the counters will feature formation icons requested by so many players over the years!

The Battles are:
* Edgehill 1642: Is the King beholden to Parliament or is he truly sovereign? King Charles and his army, their way to London barred by the army of Parliament, have drawn up to give battle. Edgehill was the first major battle of the war. Robert Devereax, Earl of Essex, commands the army of Parliament sent to prevent the King's army from reaching London. The fighting is indecisive as the bloodied Royalist foot fall back, but Essex conceded the field despite receiving reinforcements. A major victory for either side could have ended the war here.
* First Newbury 1643: Outmaneuvered, Essex, with the Royalists under King Charles between his army and London, is forced to fight. Essex spies a hill southwest of Newbury and in the early morning occupies it. Hedges line the area and help minimize the King's advantage in Cavalry. Essex’s stand on Round Hill stopped the Royalist and saved the rebellion.
* Cheriton 1644: Sir William Waller’s Southern and Western Association Armies with the help of the London Trained Bands defeated Hopton’s Royalists in the rolling hills and hedges. The first in a series of victories in early to mid-1644 the signaled a turning tide in the war.
* Cropredy Bridge 1644: Confident from his victory at Cheriton, Sir William Waller seeks to exploit a gap in the Royalist Main Army on the march. Waller divided his forces and attempted to trap part of the Royalist Army, but difficult terrain and quick reaction by the Royalists turned the tables and left much of Waller’s army trapped and he was given a stinging rebuke.
* Marston Moor 1644: The largest battle of the war. It decided the fate of Northern England. An allied army of Scots under the Earl of Leven, the Northern Association under Ferdinando Fairfax, and the Eastern Association under the Earl of Manchester laid siege to the King's Northern Army under the Marquis of Newcastle at York, the key to the North. King Charles dispatched his nephew, the talented Prince Rupert, to affect a relief. The defeat was complete; the Royalist army was utterly destroyed and the North lost to Parliament. A new hero arose: Cromwell, a name inextricably linked with the English Civil War and the key player in the following two civil wars.
* Second Newbury 1644: The disaster that precipitated the forming of the New Model Army. Three Parliamentary armies come together and catch the King by surprise just north of Newbury. The most unconventional of all the battles; the superior Parliamentary force attacks from either end, but is short on time. Various options on gaining more time by shortening the flank march give this action high replay value.
* Naseby 1645: The debut of the New Model Army and the battle that broke the back of the King's army. The New Model Army was created by combining the elements of the major armies in the field. While this worked well for the cavalry, there were serious problems in the infantry ranks. The King's army was outnumbered, but it retained its corps of veteran infantry. The final result was a decisive defeat for the King and the end of his military fortunes. Though fighting would last another year, the King would never field a potent army again.
* Nördlingen 1634: Though the Swedes struggled with command after the death of King Gustav II Adolf, they continued to exploit the momentum he had generated. A strong Swedish force pushed into Bavaria under the joint command of Duke Bernhard and Field Marshal Horn. The Habsburgs effected a union of forces with their Spanish cousins at Nördlingen, besieging the Protestant stronghold. The Swedes were drawn into a trap.
* Wittstock 1636: The Cannae of the Thirty Years War. Field Marshal Banér had his lines of communication cut by an Imperial-Saxon army under General Hatzfeld. In a daring plan, Banér divided his numerically inferior force and launched a double envelopment. In a desperate struggle for Vineyard Hill, General Torstensson's cavalry held the line just long enough for General King's cavalry to make the march around the Imperial right flank.
* Second Breitenfeld 1642: Field Marshal Torstensson caps a brilliant campaign with a siege of the Imperial fortress of Leipzig. Archduke Leopold commanding a larger Imperial army rushes to engage the Swedes. Within sight of the same ground of Gustav Adolf's greatest victory from eleven years past, the armies met. The Imperials had hopes for another Nördlingen, yet they got another Breitenfeld.
* Jankau 1645: Field Marshal Torstensson launches a surprise winter campaign against the unprepared Imperial forces in Bohemia, catching the Emperor himself virtually unguarded at Prague. With all haste, General Hatzfeld is recalled and an army cobbled together to stop the Swedes. The armies came together in the wooded hill country southeast of Prague.

Components:
* Musket & Pike Battle Series Rulebook
* “This Accursed Civil War” Playbook
* “Sweden Fights On” Playbook
* 5 Counter Sheets
* 1 Series Marker Sheet
* 4.5 Back Printed Map Sheets (For 11 Battles)
* 6 Two-Sided Battle Specific Player Aid Cards
* 2 11x17 Folded Player Aid Cards
* 1 Orders Summary Card

Designer: Ben Hull 
Developer: Dick Vohlers

The ink was hardly dry on the documents following the partition of British India in 1947 before war broke out between India and Pakistan. Since the partition, four major wars and numerous smaller conflicts have been waged over much of the same ground. In 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999 India and Pakistan fought in the mountains of Kashmir and on the plains of the Punjab region to the south. Today, both sides are armed with thousands of armored vehicles, hundreds of advanced aircraft, and dozens of nuclear weapons. With tensions high and both sides heavily armed, another conflict may be just a matter of time.

Next War: India-Pakistan, the next volume in GMT's series of Next War games and a follow-on to  Next War: Korea, allows players to fight a near future war between India and Pakistan.

Due to the nature of a potential conflict, only a portion of the Indo-Pakistani border is featured so that the fighting centers around what it always has: the fate of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Special rules govern such things as the expanded role bridges play in the region play as well as the fact that both sides in the conflict are nuclear-armed nations. The People's Republic of China and the United States can make an appearance, but they might withdraw in the event of a nuclear exchange. The question is: will this war settle once and for all who will control northwest India?

Note: the Next War series is not an introductory wargame. Rather, we have intended herein to create a system (and a series) that will allow detailed study of modern warfare in various venues as well as engaging gameplay. That said, the Standard Game rules encompass a fairly straightforward rule set that will, we think, be considered "easy to learn" by experienced wargamers. So, players who choose to play Standard Game scenarios can have a relatively quick game when that's what suits them. The real flavor of a war in the theatre, however, comes through in the Advanced Game, where you get much more control over airpower and can more clearly see each side's strengths and weaknesses. For players who want a "mini-monster game" experience, playing the Advanced Game Campaign Scenarios with some or all of the optional rules will definitely "deliver."

Ownership of Next War: Korea will NOT be required to play.

Units
Ground units in Next War: India-Pakistan represent the brigades, support units, and divisions of the armies of the India, Pakistan, China, and the United States. All ground units are rated for their attack and defense strengths, movement capabilities, and unit efficiency.

Air units represent fighter, bomber, and attack squadrons of the major combatants and are rated for All-Weather Capabilities as well as their range, average pilot skill, and their abilities in Air-to-Air Combat, Close Air Support, and Strike missions.

Maps and Terrain
The game's map represents the area in and around the Punjab district of Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir at a scale of roughly 7.5 miles per hex. The map stretches from edge of The Great Indian Desert to just inside the Himalayas and encompasses portions of both sides of the border.

Game System
A game turn is generally composed of:
* Weather Determination. Bad weather can severely hamper air operations and can significantly slow ground operations.
* Initiative Determination and Air/Naval Phase, wherein Air Superiority levels and air availability are determined.
* Special Operations Phases in the Advanced Game allowing players to utilize their special operators in various recon and raid missions behind enemy lines.
* Strike Phases in the Advanced Game allowing players to launch air strikes, cruise missiles, artillery and tactical nuclear weapon strikes.
* One or more Movement and Combat Phases that allow both sides to move, react, and fight, with an advantage to the Initiative player on non-Contested turns
* Arrival of Reinforcements and Replacements
* Victory Determination

Combat resolution examines not only unit strengths but also unit efficiency (representing training, doctrine, and morale), as well as the terrain where the combat takes place. The CRT tends to be very bloody in nature, reflecting what we believe will be a degree of attritional warfare early due to the lethality of modern weapons. As in many games, casualties represent not only actual combat losses but also losses of unit cohesion brought about by the rapid pace with which modern armies are able to engage and exploit on the battlefield.

Scenarios
There are several Standard Game scenarios. Some are small and focus on limited objectives while others are variations of a campaign game encompassing the entire map.

In a break from the standard set in Next War: Korea (and its follow-on Next War: Taiwan), the scenarios in Next War: India-Pakistan posit specific at-start situations and objectives (or victory conditions). In some scenarios Pakistan is the aggressor while in others the Indian side is on the attack, in all cases there are varying levels of Chinese and United States intervention.

The International Posture Matrix  à la  Flashpoint: Golan is still present to allow players to experiment with a variety of intervention options for the US and PRC.

In  Next War: India-Pakistan, Jammu & Kashmir is once again aflame. Can you, as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's commander, conquer Kashmir and hold it against the enemy? Can you, as the Republic of India's commander, attack and defeat the enemy without the conflict going nuclear? And what will happen in the international community while all this is going on? There’s only one way to find out...

Components:
* 1 22x34" map
* 4 9/16" counter sheets
* 2 rulebooks (Standard + Advanced Rules and Game Specific Rules)
* 6 8.5x11" Player Aids
* 2 11x17" Player Aids
* 1 10-sided die

TIME SCALE 3.5 days per turn
MAP SCALE 7.5 miles per hex
UNIT SCALE Brigade / Division / Squadron
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Two (Optimal)

Series Design:  Mitchell Land
Game Design Research: Douglas Bush
Series Development: Chris Fawcett
Original System Design: Gene Billingsley

The Middle East has long been a hobgoblin for foreign powers and, as much as Afghanistan, also a graveyard of empires. Sitting squarely astride ancient trade routes and with the added impetus of the world's addiction to oil, the area has been a hot spot for centuries.

Now, with the old regime teetering and losing its grip, Iran makes a bid for forcing the West to recognize its complete sovereignty and control over its own affairs by striking at the one thing they care about: the flow of oil. Mining the Straits of Hormuz and declaring it closed to all traffic, Iran defies the world. The US, and perhaps some of its allies, takes action to re-open the straits and get the black gold flowing to the world again.

Next War: Iran is the sixth game in the Next War series. It is unique in the series in that the Allied player has to do the attacking while the non-Allied player attempts to defend its territory against neo-imperial oppression. With a long logistical tail, few true allies in the region, and the menace of Iran's A2AD capabilities, re-opening the Straits is a tall order.

Ownership of any previous Next War series will NOT be required to play Next War: Iran.

Units
Ground units in Next War: Iran primarily represent divisions and brigades of the armies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America. All ground units are rated for their attack and defense strengths, movement capabilities, and unit efficiency. The Iranian armed forces feature all three branches of land forces: Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; they might get some Russian intervention for whatever that's worth. On the Allied side, the primary forces are the United States with potential involvement by the UK, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

Air units represent the fighter, bomber, and attack squadrons of the major combatants. They are rated for All-Weather Capabilities, range, average pilot skill and training, and their capabilities in Air-to-Air Combat, Close Air Support, and Strike missions.

Naval units represent an abstraction of groups of ships (task forces) and allow players to conduct amphibious invasions, naval combat, naval gunfire support, and more.

Maps and Terrain
The game’s map represents the area along the coast of Iran at a scale of roughly 7.5 miles per hex. The map stretches from the important port of Chah Bahar in the east to a hundred or so miles west of the Straits of Hormuz.

There are a couple of Island Land Areas, similar to other games in the series which contain some important Petroleum Facilities the Allies will want to seize intact if they can.

Features
Weather Determination. Bad weather can severely hamper air and naval operations activity and can significantly slow ground operations.
Initiative Determination and Air/Naval Phase, wherein Air Superiority levels and air availability are determined and Sea Control is established or modified.
Special Operations Phases in the Advanced Game allow players to utilize their special operators in various recon and raid missions behind enemy lines.
Strike Phases in the Advanced Game allow players to launch air strikes, cruise missiles, and artillery and SSM strikes.
One or more Movement and Combat Phases that allow both sides to move, react, and fight with an advantage to the Initiative player on non-Contested turns
Arrival of Reinforcements and Replacements
Victory Determination

Combat resolution examines not only unit strengths but also unit efficiency (representing training, doctrine, and morale), as well as the terrain where the combat takes place. The CRT tends to be very bloody in nature, reflecting what we believe will be a degree of attritional warfare due to the lethality of modern weapons. As in many games, casualties represent not only actual combat losses but also loss of unit cohesion brought about by the rapid pace with which modern armies are able to engage and exploit on the battlefield.

Scenarios
There are several Standard Game scenarios. Some are small and focus on limited objectives while at least one will be a campaign game encompassing the entire map. Similarly to previous games in the series, the Advanced Game scenarios will be divided into various starting points representing different levels of build-up before the game begins.

So, the question remains. Can you, as the Allied player, enforce the will of the West on Iran and get the oil flowing again? Or will you, as the Iranian player, defy the world?

Components:
One 22" x 34" Map
One 22" x 25.5" Map
One Series Rules Booklet (48 pages)
One Game Specific Rules Booklet (36 pages)
One Reinforcement PAC - 8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
One Standard Game SOP/ADF PAC - 8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
One Standard Game PAC - 8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
One Advanced Game SOP - 8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
One Strike Effects/Strat Move PAC - 8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
Two CRT/TEC PAC - 8.5" x 11" (double-sided)
One Air Superiority Display - 11" x 17" (single-sided)
Two Advanced Game PAC - 11" x 17" (double-sided)
Four Countersheets
Two d10

TIME SCALE 3.5 days per turn

MAP SCALE 7.5 miles per hex

UNIT SCALE Division /Brigade/Battalion

NUMBER OF PLAYERS Two (optimal)

Series Designer: Mitchell Land
Original System Designer: Gene Billingsley

Ukraine is in turmoil: embroiled in a civil war which has lasted for years and the situation seems further from resolution with each year that passes. Clandestine support from both Russia and the West fuels the war and keeps any hope of peace at bay. In the meantime, the civil war in Syria and the fight against Islamic extremism gathers steam. NATO and Russia stare each other down in a "coopetittion" in the region, and tensions rise meteorically as not so "friendly" fire incidents occur. The West tightens sanctions against Russia and ratchets up its rhetoric; Russia, meanwhile, attempting to regain a place in global power politics, responds with sanctions of its own against Turkey and starts low-level cyber warfare and "little green men" incidents in the Baltics. Tempers flare across the world, Turkey shoots down another Russian plane while Russian SAM batteries shoot down a Turkish F-16 in retaliation. Russia declares enough is enough, decides on war with NATO, and invades the Baltics and Poland. Belarus, knowing where it's bread is buttered, joins in. Some NATO nations rush to the rescue while others debate the issue. Once again, Europe trembles to the rumble of tank treads and marching boots…

Next War: Poland, the fourth volume in GMT's Next War Series. This game moves the action from Asia to Europe and allows players to fight a near future war in Poland as the Russians and their allies invade and NATO responds.

A large portion of Poland is represented by the Operational (hex) map, while the Baltics are represented by a Strategic Display (similar to Next War: Taiwan’s). The Russians are not the behemoth of the Cold War, but they possess good material and a much better trained army than before. The Baltics, using new rules and mechanics, may fall quickly, although their forces may put up some resistance and make an appearance as reinforcements, while the front quickly establishes itself in eastern Poland as the Russian 6th and 20th Armies push forward to seal the Suwalki Gap while NATO rushes forces into the area spearheaded by the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and followed up by whatever nation’s troops respond to the Article 5 declaration. The question is, can NATO stop the Russians or will Poland be overrun while Russia presents the world with a fait accompli?

Note: the Next War series is not an Introductory wargame. Rather, we have intended herein to create a system (and a series) that will allow detailed study of modern warfare in various venues as well as engaging gameplay. That said, the Standard Game rules encompass a fairly straightforward ruleset that will, we think, be considered pretty "easy to learn" by experienced wargamers. So players who choose to play Standard Game scenarios can have a relatively quick game when that's what suits them. The real flavor of a war in the theatre, though, comes through in the Advanced Game, where you get much more control over airpower and can more clearly see each side's strengths and weaknesses. For players who want a "mini-monster game" experience, playing the Advanced Game Campaign Scenarios with some or all of the optional rules will definitely "deliver."

Ownership of any previous Next War Series game will NOT be required to play.

Units
Ground units in Next War: Poland represent primarily brigades, regiments, and battalions of the armies of the Russia, her allies, and NATO. All ground units are rated for their attack and defense strengths, movement capabilities, and unit efficiency.

Air units represent fighter, bomber, and attack squadrons of the major combatants and are rated for All-Weather Capabilities as well as their range, average pilot skill, and their abilities in Air-to-Air Combat, Close Air Support, and Strike missions.

Maps and Terrain
The game’s map represents the area in and around the eastern border of Poland at a scale of roughly 7.5 miles per hex. The map stretches from Kaliningrad Oblast in the north to Warsaw in the south, and from the Belorussian border west to Poznan.

The Baltics are represented by a Strategic Display incorporating Land Areas and At Sea Boxes.

Game System
A game turn is generally composed of:
* Weather Determination. Bad weather can severely hamper air and naval operations activity and can significantly slow ground operations.
* Initiative Determination and Air/Naval Phase, wherein Air Superiority levels and air availability are determined and Sea Control is established or modified.
* Special Operations Phases in the Advanced Game allowing players to utilize their special operators in various recon and raid missions behind enemy lines.
* Strike Phases in the Advanced Game allowing players to launch air strikes, cruise missiles, and artillery and SSM strikes.
* One or more Movement and Combat Phases that allow both sides to move, react, and fight, with an advantage to the Initiative player on non-Contested turns
* Arrival of Reinforcements and Replacements
* Victory Determination

Combat resolution examines not only unit strengths but also unit efficiency (representing training, doctrine, and morale), as well as the terrain where the combat takes place. The CRT tends to be very bloody in nature, reflecting what we believe will be a degree of attritional warfare early due to the lethality of modern weapons. As in many games, casualties represent not only actual combat losses but also losses of unit cohesion brought about by the rapid pace with which modern armies are able to engage and exploit on the battlefield.

Scenarios
There are several Standard Game scenarios. Some are small and focus on limited objectives while others are variations of a campaign game encompassing the entire map. Similarly to previous games in the series, the Advanced Game scenarios will be divided into various starting points scenarios allowing reinforcements to arrive at differing times as well as providing additional logistical support.

So, the question remains. Can you, as the Russian player, enforce your will on the West and regain your former status in world affairs. Or will you, as SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) successfully use the assets at your disposal to blunt the Russian attack and save Poland?

Components:
* One 22x34" map
* One 22x24" strategic display
* Four 9/16" counter sheets
* Two rulebooks (Series Rules and Game Specific Rules)
* Six 8.5x11" Player Aids
* Two 11x17" Player Aids
* One 10-sided die

Game Design and Development: Mitchell Land
Original System Design: Gene Billingsley

TIME SCALE 3.5 days per turn
MAP SCALE 7.5 miles per hex
UNIT SCALE Brigade / Regiment / Battalion
NUMBER OF PLAYERS One or two (can be played in teams)

In 1985, Victory Games published Pacific War. Reviewers at the time (for example, Fred Hellferich in his Fire and Movement review) felt this design set the standard for an operational/ strategic simulation of this globe spanning conflict. Over the last 35 years this game’s reputation has grown, with several failed efforts to get it back into print. Now that this design has finally come home (to GMT Games), I am here to tell you that this is the end of that publishing journey.

Pacific War is a Strategic wargame that takes you from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the climatic summer of 1945... from Australia to China... from Burma to Hawaii... from the defense of Wake Island through the invasion of Guadalcanal culminating in the desperate battles to defend the Japanese Home Islands.

For the first time in a Pacific Theater game, size, subtlety, and ease of play has come together in a game of sharp action and historical accuracy.

Players can become familiar with the layered Pacific War systems in the solitaire Engagement scenarios, then fight their way through increasingly panoramic Battle, Campaign, and Strategic two player and multi-player Scenarios. As they learn the game's basic maneuver and combat systems, they will then layer on more advanced systems for Strategic bombing, submarine attacks on merchant shipping, search and detection, amphibious assaults, and extensive Operations driven by their command decisions.

Pacific War is a source of limitless challenge and excitement for anyone ever fascinated with the fury and vastness of the Pacific War.

Pacific War is also a time machine back to the halcyon days of the monster game. However, despite what you may have heard, Pacific War is NOT a monster game, but rather an operational World War II air-land-sea game system that lets you fight EVERY Pacific battle and campaign of significance. The original game came with 21 scenarios. This new edition will add at least half a dozen more. The game gains its monster game reputation from the fact that in order to fight all of these campaigns, you need a large number of counters (over 2000) that represent individual capital ships, cruiser divisions, destroyer squadrons, aircraft groups, and land units ranging from battalions to divisions to corps, with all units individually rated based on their historic performance.

The game map is an equal area map (two mounted maps) which is the grandfather of the Empire of the Sun map. Each hex is 100 miles and covers the entire Pacific from Hawaii to India and Alaska to Australia. The game will also come with a separate map focused on the Solomon Islands where many of the interesting and balanced scenarios occur. What made Victory Games' Pacific War unique in 1985 remains true in GMT’s 2022 edition. The design integrates strategic/operational intelligence into a telescoping time mechanic that allows campaigns to progress in a logical asymmetric flow, accompanied by tense game play. Pacific War is a deep historical simulation, so if this is not what you are looking for in a new purchase, please read no further. So, how is this level of simulation achieved?

During each monthly turn you bid command points (logistics) to determine initiative (offensive player), with the high bid then activating and launching their forces toward their objectives. Secretly, your opponent (reaction player) determines the operational intelligence level and their potential to intercept the offensive. As the offensive develops, it comes within range of enemy air and submarine forces that tactically attempt to detect the oncoming attack. The reaction player decides how to defeat the attack based on the intersection of tactical and operational intelligence coupled with available forces and logistics.

This entire sequence is set within a telescoping time scale (days to hours) that has naval units seamlessly accelerate (from 12 to 30+ knots), searches seek out the enemy, carriers launch air strikes, combat air patrols defend, culminating with torpedo and dive bomber attacks on individual naval targets. At its core, Pacific War’s game systems allows you to fight detailed carrier strikes (sequential and simultaneous) with night surface naval actions (float planes, gunfire and torpedo salvos) integrated with large scale ground offensives on the Asian mainland (e.g., Malaya, Burma, and China) and of course amphibious invasions (e.g., Java, Guadalcanal, and Leyte). If you are looking for a detailed and interactive operational simulation of the War in the Pacific, this is the game for you!

Back in 1985, Pacific War was designed by a 31-year-old creating his most ambitious effort to date. I was a full-time game designer (like now) with my 2-year-old daughter (now 37) sitting on my lap (now reserved for granddaughters). Over the last 35 years I have continued to study and research this topic, culminating in 2005 with the design of Empire of the Sun for GMT Games. I am now applying this lifetime of research and experience back into this final edition of Pacific War.

So, what will change in the new version? The structure and feel of the design will be unchanged, so if you played it in your youth, you already know how to play. That said, a devoted number of players have been playing this game for 35 years and I have incorporated the best of their feedback into this new and final edition for this title. I am going over each scenario and updating them with information that I did not have available back in 1985. For example, I now have several Japanese translations of their official records that were only published in the last few years. Toward this end, I am adding at least six new campaign and strategic scenarios, so you can experience the entire panorama of the war in a long afternoon .

The key question that I consider when buying a new game is will it hit the table? The owners and reviewers who created the game's reputation were excited that Pacific War had a layered set of scenarios that incorporated fifteen-minute solitaire learning engagements, two hour battles (such as Coral Sea and Santa Cruz that were used in a decade of tournaments), two to eight hour Campaigns (such as Malaya, Guadalcanal and Breaking the Bismarck barrier), and of course the Strategic scenarios that cover the entire war from a single year to the entire war. Will you ever play the entire war? It's unlikely (to date I have only done it three times). However, Pacific War is an operational level game and the Campaign scenarios are the heart and soul of this game system. Most play in an afternoon to completion. So, will it hit the table? Only you can answer that question, but from a time and learning perspective this game will support any time commitment you wish to make, to include the 100+ hour Strategic Scenario.

The other question that was not asked back in 1985, but to many is important in 2022 is "does Pacific War have a solitaire ‘Bot system?" The answer is no, with an explanation. The only game decision that cannot reasonably be made is the Operations bidding mechanic and the original game included a solitaire bidding mechanic which will be retained. I will look to see if there are any other similar decisions, such as surface action range bids that I have already added. Thereafter, you will need to play both sides. Due to the history and the game system you will likely not notice as you experience the war’s narrative unfold before you. So, although Pacific War will not have a ‘Bot (not even sure how to do that with over 25 scenarios), the game will handle all the interactive bids decisions. If you want a full-blown solitaire opponent, this is not the game for you.

With all of this hype I want to be straight with all perspective buyers of this new edition. If you are looking for a light and airy historically-themed game, please do not buy this game. I do not want to disappoint anyone, so read my lips: if you want a light wargame, do not buy this game.

I am very excited that I am finally going to get this game back into print. But, like Admiral Picard in the new series, this is my last try to "make it so." Also, understand that this is likely a one and done print run - my final word on this design. I do not expect to walk this path again, so if enough of you are interested in owning Pacific War, I'll give you my best effort to make it a purchase that rewards you with hours of enjoyable and challenging game play. As you might imagine, as I prepare a game this big for the publication process, I have no doubt about what I will be doing for the remainder of my shelter in place phase. Feel free to reach out to me online if you have any questions.

- Mark Herman, April 2020.

GAME CONTENTS
* 4 inch box
* 3 rulebooks
* 2 22 x 34 inch mounted maps
* 1 cardboard scenario map
* 9 counter sheets
* 1 pad of 24 Replacement Record Sheets
* 1 8.5 x 22 Operations Display
* 1 11 x 34 Japanese Display Sheet
* 1 11 x 34 Allied Display Sheet
* 1 11 x 34 Japanese Screen
* 1 11 x 34 Allied Screen
* baggies
* 2 ten-sided dice

Game Designer: Mark Herman

From the opening of the Archadameian War in 431BC to the Fall of Athens in 404, The Peloponessian War allows YOU to compete against the man in the mirror, as you live through the suicide of Greece. Maneuver your generals, hoplites, and navies to fight battles and attempt to bring the war to an end on your terms. Take heed, however. As you weaken your foe, you create a greater game challenge for yourself. For as you improve in strength, so does your opponent.

In terms of physical components, Mark's enhanced version is getting the full GMT treatment: mounted map and strategy boards, high-quality thick counters, redesigned rules and playbook, all with new art throughout. This will be a product that you'll want to own and play for a long time!

What was old is new again. I am excited to have this opportunity to bring back into print and enhanced version of my original Peloponnesian War design that was originally published by Victory Games. This military game of ancient warfare lets YOU chart the destiny of the war. Peloponnesian War uses a still-unique solitaire system that was a pioneer in this genre, yet was never copied.

Most current solitaire systems on the market today have the player take one side for the entire game. This pits the player against a random 'Bot system, even the best of which have some difficulty giving you the same challenge as playing against a human opponent. In Peloponnesian War, you get to play both sides, pitting yourself against the best that YOU can offer. If the game system is winning, the player is forced to continue with the losing side. Success, on the other hand, will eventually force the player to change sides and recover the losing side's fortunes. The duration of the war and the player's performance determine victory. In this manner the player competes against himself in the classic tradition of the Greek tragedy.

COMPONENTS:
* Rules booklet
* Play book
* Mounted Game Board: 22x34 inches
* 2 Counter Sheets
* 1 pad of VP Record Sheets
* 1 Athenian Strategy Matrix
* 1 Spartan Strategy Matrix
* 2 Player Aid Cards
* 2 Six-sided Dice

1–2 Players
Age: 14+

460-400 BC

Pericles is a ‘sandbox’ (unscripted) wargame that covers the ENTIRE period of conflict described in Thucydides classic history on the Peloponnesian wars. Pericles is a four-player game, where two teams of Athenian and Spartan factions fight for Hegemony in 5th Century Greece. Each team of two represents a faction vying for control of their City States, strategy, and honor. Athens sees the Aristocrats debate issues with their opposing Demagogues, while in Sparta House Agiad and House Eurypontid contend for royal dominance.

Pericles uses elements from the Golden Geek best Wargame of 2015, Churchill, to simulate war as the extension of politics by other means. In the War portion of the game, it is US versus THEM (Athens versus Sparta), where each team implements their collective strategy to dominate Theaters of War, build economic strength, and fight battles to win Honor. In the respective Political assemblies, it is ME versus YOU (faction versus faction), where the battle for government control has to be balanced by your common interests in a series of wars that must be won, or all is lost.

Pericles uses an Issue Queue preplanning mechanic that the play testers have described as ‘insanely fun’. After your Political assembly has debated and won issues, these issues (military, league, diplomatic, oracle) are secretly placed on the military map in one of the twenty Theaters of war. If you or your opponents place a second issue into a Theater, it creates a queue of issues. Once all issues are placed, they are revealed and resolved one at a time. The order of issues in the queues and the order in which they are resolved across all Theaters tells YOUR story of the Peloponnesian wars.

Strategy in Pericles unfolds in how you create combinations of issues to achieve the historical narrative. Do you want to conduct a Periclean raiding strategy? Then you would play two military issues into a Theater to first move forces into position, then raid. Do you want to build a base in the enemy homeland (historically Pylos or Decelea)? Then you would conduct a military expedition, followed by a league issue. Do you want to raise an opponent’s ally in rebellion? Then you would deploy a diplomatic mission, and sow treachery for immediate or future advantage. It is in the placement, order, and resolution of the issues that the game allows you to explore and experience the broad range of historical situations without a script.

What would a game of Hoplites and Triremes be without a battle mechanic? Battle in Pericles is based on armies and fleets being led by the classic generals of yore, represented as Strategos tokens. During the Political assembly, each faction uses historical personalities to acquire Strategos tokens. Use the Spartan general Brasidas and gain four Strategos tokens, while Epitadas only generates one. Strategos tokens can be thought of as military capital that is spent in the war to lead and move forces. If you send forces to a Theater with enemy forces, a land or naval battle will occur. All players then secretly commit Strategos to the battle. Then, the commanding general of the military expedition and their teammate reveal their Strategos commitment and move wooden land and naval units to the battle. Now the defensive commitment of Strategos is revealed, each side then reveals a random battle card value, and the winner is decided. The winner of the battle now has the option to fight a subsequent naval or land battle. The outcome of these tactical decisions determines if any fortified bases are destroyed by assault or siege. Then the next issue is resolved. Winning battles awards and reduces honor.

Players will experience periods of Peace, where most action is conducted with Allied forces (Delian and Peloponnesian League), or periods of War where Athens and Sparta directly enter the fray. The end of the game is not set, and factions from the opposing sides can conspire to declare Peace, gain honor, and control the timing of how a game of Pericles ends.

But what do you do if you cannot get four gamers together? Fear not, Pericles comes with Strategy tables for both sides and rules to play Pericles with 3 humans, 2 humans, or in single human mode. So, no matter how many or how few players you can get to the table, you can take a walk through the Athenian agora (market) up to the Pnyx (Assembly hill) and debate policy with Pericles, while trying to both gain control of the government and win the Peloponnesian Wars.

Victory in Pericles goes to the side that conquers their opponents City State OR generates more honor points from geographic dominance and economic strength than the other. However, there can only be one, and the ultimate winner of the game is the victorious City State faction that has the most honor points. Pericles is a game of coopetition. As I stated earlier, Pericles is a game of US versus THEM, but for the winning side it is a game of ME versus YOU!

COMPONENTS:
* 1 Mounted Map
* 88 Cards
* 180+ Wooden Pieces (Cubes, Disks, and Sticks)
* 1 Counter sheet (130 counters)
* 1 Rulebook
* 1 Playbook
* 4 x Play Aid Cards
* 4 Cardboard Player Shields, two sided four color (one for each faction)
* 1 twenty sided die
* 1 six sided die

Game Features:
TIME SCALE 6 Years per turn
MAP SCALE Theaters of War in and around the Aegean
NUMBER OF PLAYERS 1-4

The Great Plains in the latter half of the 19th century was a cultural battleground. The Native way of life was under siege by an avalanche of invaders seeking land and progress. Plains Indian Wars reduces this monumental and catastrophic series of conflicts to its basic elements: A settler surge via long snaking wagon trains, the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, east and west, and the cavalry sent to protect them all. At the same time, Plains Indian Wars seeks to offer the Native-American player the opportunity to unite earlier, hold their own and perhaps even prevent European-American success.

Plains Indian Wars can be played by 1-4 players, but is best played as a two-player game. Game play averages 60-90 minutes.

The Plains Indian Wars Map board centers on the Great American Plains between the Mississippi River in the east and the Rockies in the west, the Canadian border in the north and Mexican border in the south. The Northern and Southern Enemies are each defending 5 purple regions, The NPT and SPT are defending 12 regions each. Separating the NPT and SPT is the planned route for the Transcontinental Railroad. US Completion (linking the two lines) ends the game and earns the US player a bonus. The Indian player earns a bonus if this is prevented.

North and south of the rail line are historic wagon train routes. The US player earns points for each wagon cube that completes its journey. The Indian player earns points for preventing this. All factions may retreat into or enter from Mexico, Canada, the Rockies or the Mississippi, although those cubes retreating into the Rockies go directly to Sacramento and must exit from there and those retreating into the Mississippi go directly to St. Louis and must also exit from there. Also, US movement west out of the Rockies is dependent on successfully building a rail line through the Rockies – not a simple task!

On opposite sides of the Map board are found: faction deck boxes, faction cube reserve boxes, a casualty box, a victory point schedule and a victory point track. Both sides earn VPs during the game. The US player earns them for getting Wagon cubes into the Rockies. The Indian player earns them for capturing Wagon cubes. Most VPs are earned at the end of the game: One point per side for each region controlled and a bonus for either completing or preventing the completion of the railroad.

Faction turn order is random. Faction discs are drawn, one at a time from the draw bag and placed on the map in the order they are drawn. This is key, as players never know when workers will be completing a section of track or when wagon will escape (or enter into) a trap, but they will know what factions they no longer have to worry about that turn.

Each major faction holds a hand of three cards. The 60 cards included represent a selection of leaders and events connected with the Plains Wars. There are two types of cards: War Party/Engagement/Migration cards tell players how many cubes may be drawn from the reserve box and placed in respective home areas and how far the cubes may move. Text cards allow for special circumstances and may act as reaction or endurance cards. There is only one play immediately card reflecting George Armstrong Custer’s hubris - its play could be positive for the Cavalry player but more often than not ends in disaster.

Combat? Combat is harsh and frequent. When opposing factions occupy the same region, players start rolling their faction’s personalized dice. Each weapon symbol rolled is a hit which removes a cube. Each blank result is a miss which allows a cube of that faction the opportunity to retreat from battle. Settlers have little firepower but a near endless number of cubes. The NPT and SPT enjoy better firepower increased further when they join forces. Cavalry enjoys the best firepower but has the fewest cubes in the game. When both sides roll a treaty symbol, the stronger force relocates the weaker force. If both sides have an equal force, the battle continues.

I have had a deep and abiding interest in Native American culture ever since reading Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee in high school. During the Plains Wars, massacres and cruelty occurred on both sides, The Sand Creek Massacre and Custer’s Last Stand are well-known examples. Unfortunately, the journalistic adage, “If it bleeds, it leads,” is true of our American history. Sensational Conflict, victory and progress are what kids grow up learning, but there is always so much more behind and leading up to the infamous incidents we emphasize.

The Plains Warriors showed immense courage and tenacity defending their homes and their land. The settlers, the soldiers and the rail workers who sought to wrest it from them were no less courageous. Make no doubt! Plains Indian Wars is fun. It is fast and it is exciting. As a teacher though, I make no bones about wanting this game to open doors to further learning. So when you open the box I hope it opens your mind and whoever you play... may the dice be with you!

COMPONENTS:
* Mounted Mapboard
* 4 Faction Card Decks (15 cards each)
* 190 Colored 1/4" Cubes
* Rulebook
* 5 Sets of Faction Dice (2 each)
* 7 Draw Discs
* 1 Draw Bag

Game Designer: John Poniske

England, 1459. The son of the great Henry V has not lived to fill his father's shoes. England has lost the Hundred Years War, and mighty lords amass lands and wealth rivaling the King’s own. Henry IV left the door open for any such powerful lord with good pedigree to reach for the throne, and the best candidate is Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York.

Mounting tension over the Crown leads to armed clashes, under the excuse of freeing the king from his evil counsellors, and finally ignites the Wars of the Roses that William Shakespeare would immortalize in his plays:

* A Yorkist rebellion that succeeds in placing Edward IV on the throne and exiling the Lancastrians to Scotland and France.
* A civil war pitting Warwick the Kingmaker and King Edward’s brother Clarence against the King and his other brother Richard Gloucester.
* The reinstatement for a few months of Henry VI and the invasion from France by his son and wife leading to a final contest between Richard III and Henry Tudor (later known as Henry VII) and the Battle of Bosworth that ends the Plantagenet dynasty.

Treason, bravery, political maneuver, and a cast of memorable characters mark one of the most intense and divided periods of English history.

In Plantagenet—the newest volume in Volko Ruhnke's Levy & Campaign Series—players lead one of the two factions across the three main periods of war, as individual scenarios or the entire Wars of the Roses.

Designer Francisco Gradaille adds overall and local political influence to Volko’s medieval operation system to reflect the ever-changing loyalties of the time while keeping play familiar to fans of the Series. Players will create and maintain a network of allied lords and nobles in order to obtain the provender and coin needed to supply and pay their armies. As ravaging and looting will damage each side’s reputation, each faction will strive to convince cites to join its side. Great battles will seek to kill or capture enemy lords—perhaps even a king. Two kinds of operational moves will be in play: the military and the political.

In the end, when the dust settles and all arrows have flown, one rose will sit on the throne. White or Red, York or Lancaster, gather your troops and banners and join the fight.

Game Components:
* One 17x22 inch Mounted Map
* 152 Wooden pieces
* 179 Playing Cards
* Two full-color Countersheets
* 13 cardboard Lord and Battle mats
* One Lords sticker sheet
* Four Player Aid sheets
* Two Screens
* Rules Booklet
* Background Booklet
* Six 6-sided dice

Players: 1-2
Time: 60-90 days per turn
Units: 100-250 Horse or 500 Foot
Age: 14+

Game Designer: Francisco Gradaille
Prototype Art and Playtest Lead: Marc Aliaga
Historical Advisor: Graham Evans
Series Development: Wendell Albright, John Campbell, and Cristophe Correia
Series Creator: Volko Ruhnke