The Inside Scoop on Gaming

With the re-issue of "Twilight 2000", GDW's post WW3 RPG approaching, I decided to review the adventures published for this game.

The game setting.

For readers who are not familiar with "Twilight 2000", here is some background on the game setting.

"Twilight 2000" was published, along with several other post-holocaust RPG's in 1984, at the height of the Cold War.

"Twilight 2000" did not use the cliche of the United States under the Soviet yoke that was used by the other games released at that time, most notably "Price of Freedom" (West End) & "Freedom Fighter" (Fantasy Games Unlimited), but rather featured a war that had ended through exhaustion on both sides.

The United States was divided between the Joint Chiefs of Staff (MilGov), a provisional Congress (CivGov) and the racist New America organisation, while the Soviet Union was wracked by a covert war between the KGB (Civil Intelligence) and the GRU (Military Intelligence).

The game sold well enough to be reissued as a second edition which updated the background to take into account the political events of the late 1980's and early 1990's, and for an alternative setting to be created, "Merc:2000", in which World War Three never happened.

"Bear's Den" (Return to Europe:2)

This adventure takes the PC's to the western Ukraine, either as independant travelers or under orders from the (Civilian) US Government, to assist a Soviet tank division that has defected to NATO take control of the region from General Chelkov (the "Red Bear"), an officer who has decided to leave Soviet control and strike out on his own, before he 'defected' the Soviet Government sent him something to help keep control of the Ukraine, a nuclear tipped Scud B missile...

The book contains information on the towns of the Western Ukraine, Carpathian Mountains and rules on the use of dog sleds.

The authors have done an excellent job with this book, there is enough background information to support an extensive campaign, PC's can either oppose Chelkov or support him, but whichever option they chose they can be assured that they will have an exciting series of adventures.

This book deserves three out of five for presentation, and four out of five for its content.

Bear's Den
Bear's Den Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 11/11/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) This book successfully packs enough material for an extensive campaign into only 48 pages. Product: Bear's Den Author: Tim Ryan and Scott G. White Category: RPG Company/Publisher: GDW Line: Twilight 2000 Cost: Page count: 48 Year published: 1989 ISBN: 1-55878-030-0 SKU: 0524 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 11/11/01 Genre tags: Science Fiction Post-apocalyse	With the re-issue of "Twilight 2000", GDW's post WW3 RPG approaching, I decided to review the adventures published for this game. The game setting. For readers who are not familiar with "Twilight 2000", here is some background on the game setting. "Twilight 2000" was published, along with several other post-holocaust RPG's in 1984, at the height of the Cold War. "Twilight 2000" did not use the cliche of the United States under the Soviet yoke that was used by the other games released at that time, most notably "Price of Freedom" (West End) & "Freedom Fighter" (Fantasy Games Unlimited), but rather featured a war that had ended through exhaustion on both sides. The United States was divided between the Joint Chiefs of Staff (MilGov), a provisional Congress (CivGov) and the racist New America organisation, while the Soviet Union was wracked by a covert war between the KGB (Civil Intelligence) and the GRU (Military Intelligence). The game sold well enough to be reissued as a second edition which updated the background to take into account the political events of the late 1980's and early 1990's, and for an alternative setting to be created, "Merc:2000", in which World War Three never happened. "Bear's Den" (Return to Europe:2) This adventure takes the PC's to the western Ukraine, either as independant travelers or under orders from the (Civilian) US Government, to assist a Soviet tank division that has defected to NATO take control of the region from General Chelkov (the "Red Bear"), an officer who has decided to leave Soviet control and strike out on his own, before he 'defected' the Soviet Government sent him something to help keep control of the Ukraine, a nuclear tipped Scud B missile... The book contains information on the towns of the Western Ukraine, Carpathian Mountains and rules on the use of dog sleds. The authors have done an excellent job with this book, there is enough background information to support an extensive campaign, PC's can either oppose Chelkov or support him, but whichever option they chose they can be assured that they will have an exciting series of adventures. This book deserves three out of five for presentation, and four out of five for its content.