Sometimes you just get lucky. Or maybe you’re just in the right place at the right time. Such was the case this past month when I attended John Kranz’s most excellent ConsimWorld Expo with my son Luke. On our first day at the Expo, I ran into Alan Emrich and Frank Chadwick. As most of you know, both of them are legends in this industry. To my surprise, they mentioned that due to Alan’s sale of VPG and a subsequent change of focus at that company that returned the series rights to Frank, they were looking for a new publisher for Frank’s ETO series.
What?! This was not even on my radar before the convention, as I thought Frank was doing the series – which I admired from afar – for VPG long-term. But when I learned they were serious about finding a new publisher, I let them know right away that we were interested. The first game in the series, Thunder in the East, is amazing in its own right, and the opportunity to work with Frank and Alan on a longer-term series project is definitely something that’s been on my personal bucket list for a while now.
The upshot of all of this is that after several conversations over a couple of days, and amidst interest and offers from other fine companies, Frank and Alan chose to bring Frank’s ETO series to GMT! I could not be more thrilled!
I know this will be somewhat startling news to some fans of GMT and also to followers of Frank’s ETO series at VPG, so I want to share some details of our agreement and of how we’re approaching this new addition to the GMT family. So here’s what you can expect from us and from Frank and Alan’s team over the coming months:
– First off, we like the team that Frank and Alan have in place and see no reason to mess with it. They have great energy and passion for the series, and the synergy they have created in working together is impressive. Clearly, judging by Thunder in the East (Game 1 in the series, published by VPG), they know how to create a high-quality product that delivers the goods for play value. So, our agreement is that Frank and Alan will continue to develop the series games with their existing team, including testers, writers, and artists, and that as they near final art readiness for subsequent games, Mark Simonitch (who was also part of the conversations in Tempe) will oversee and coordinate getting everything ready for final production, as he does for all of our games. Essentially, we’re just bringing a big, talented, experienced development and art team into the GMT family, giving them resources and support as needed, and leaving them alone to continue creating a great game series that they’re passionate about.
– We will have all remaining inventory copies of the first game in the ETO series, Thunder in the East, in the GMT warehouse by early next week. Part of our agreement is that we will warehouse and sell remaining copies of Thunder in the East. To be clear, this is the VPG version with VPG packaging, so it doesn’t look like it’s from GMT on the outside. But the components and the game itself are definitely GMT quality, so we’re most happy to have it in our line.
Because we know that Frank’s ETO series is new to many of you, we are going to offer a one-time special price deal on those existing copies in inventory. Essentially, we’re going to price this for the next month as if you guys were getting P500 pricing. So, until August 20, the price on this $149 retail game will be $100 + shipping (7 lbs). To get that deal (or just to read more about Thunder in the East) click on the link below:
Thunder in the East Game Page with Special Pricing
– As I saw first-hand at CSW Expo, Frank, Alan, and their team are deep into development and testing for game #2 in the ETO series, The Middle Sea. One thing I really love about this series is that the scenarios are robust; you can have just about as much fun playing the scenarios as you can with the campaign game. As a lifelong wargamer myself, this is not the norm in my experience. I love having games where I could get together with friends at a convention or on VASSAL (yes, there’s a free VASSAL module for the game) over weeks or months and play the campaign game. When such games also include many smaller/shorter scenarios that provide tons of fun and replayability playing solo or with friends over shorter game sessions, they hit the sweet spot for me personally. The Middle Sea has over a dozen such scenarios, and Frank and Alan personally tested the openings of each of them at the Expo. It was both impressive and enlightening. Frank and Alan weren’t ready at the Expo to estimate when The Middle Sea will be ready for P500 addition, but we all “guestimated,” based on what we saw at the convention, that a P500 addition in the next 6 months or so would be likely. We’ll keep you updated on this front as development progresses.
- Lastly, over the coming months, members of the ETO team will be working with Rachel on InsideGMT articles to support the series. We’ve already met several of the team members, and we love their passion for the series. Adding their voices to InsideGMT is going to further educate, enlighten, and entertain us all.
So, I want to issue a big “Welcome to the GMT family!” to Frank, Alan, and all the ETO team members as we begin this exciting journey together. I know that your combined enthusiasm, skill, and passion will continue to make Frank’s ETO series games amazing experiences for us all. I look forward to meeting and working together with each of you! – Gene
Author: Gene Billingsley
Great news Gene and a series with some serious pedigree and one I’m very interested in???
However, I’m unsure as whether GMT are saying that they will re-launch Thunder in East under GMT banner?
Will future games of the series be launched under GMT logo….?
Cheers
Mark
Hi Mark!
We’ll have the remaining copies of the TitE game (that VPG published) in stock next week – and they’re on sale until August 20 for $100 + shipping – a great deal, I think.
So you’ll be able to purchase those from us until we sell out.
We don’t have any plans at this point to reprint TitE in a new GMT version, although once our stock sells out, IF there is continued demand for additional copies of that game, we’d consider that as we always do with our other out of print P500 reprint games.
I hope this is helpful.
Best,
Gene
Will GMT edition be compatible with the existing one? I’ve got the first volume from VPG…
Hi Israel, What Doug says below is correct. That said, we’ll do our very best to ensure quality compatability with TitE. While there are never guarantees (just print run to print run you can get small variations), I think having the same team – including artists – continuing to work on the series under the GMT banner will go a long way toward making sure future games in the series as compatible as we can possibly make them, as it’s something we all care about.
Best,
Gene
There is an extensive forum entry on BGG discussing how this game will fit in from a component perspective with future games. A couple of things to understand…
1) The ETO games are intended to be standalone games that have largely common rules. Thunder has very little errata for a game of this size, and it was designed knowing that some elements of the game, naval rules in particular, would be fleshed out in future titles. The Dark Beginnings set, currently slated as the fifth or sixth game, will tie them all together so you don’t have to worry about multiple rulesets.
2) Rules for the next volume, The Middle Sea, are already in the wild, as is a VASSAL module. There is also a set of “errata” to bring Thunder into line (both rules and scenarios) with those rules if you wish to use them, but the rules that come with the game are all you need.
3) Components for a game series that will take close to a decade to finish are going to change over time, even with a single publisher. Different artists, better understanding of human factors, etc. I would expect the West game to look different than Middle Sea in some ways, this is the nature of the beast. IMNSHO, the component quality is excellent, with the caveat that the SE mapsheet has a lighter tone than the other three. I’m fairly OCD but haven’t found it to be an issue, much as I didn’t find the Paths of Glory Dutch coastline to be an issue. Otherwise, it’s an object lesson in human factors.
I’ll also mention that while the main rules are 60 pages, they don’t feel like it at all, more like 25 with all of the column use and white space. A joy to read, and I am extremely fussy about rulesets.
The deal GMT is giving for this game is insane, you should take advantage of it immediately. This is a great game with a lot of great ideas, lots of small subsystems that interlock in cool ways, and a very well written ruleset (note that the logistical system is a little bit novel, there is a great video on BGG that spells it out clearly). There is a lot going on in this game that tends to be left out of most east front games, there is opportunity for misdirection, bluffing, surprise counter-attacks, and maybe the coolest air system I’ve seen.
Just give them your money already.
Thanks Doug! I appreciate you sharing that information. All the best! Gene
Great news … I will buy every game in the series. I already have the first one, waiting for the Med!
Thanks Dave! We most appreciate your support. From what I saw of the playtest prototype at CSW Expo, The Middle Sea is going to be well worth waiting for!
Best,
Gene
In future volumes I hope the counters don’t change too much (especially the pre-rounded counters). The components of this game are top notch (it’s sitting on my table as we speak, just afraid to break open that rulebook right now). GMT components are fine, but from what I’ve seen are not as good as VPG’s (Dawn of the Zeds or Nemo’s War are another examples that I find superior to GMT components). Of course, those premium components do come with a cost.
VPG’s has an ETO Hub on their website with alot of great articles (some not yet completed and added) and information. Will GMT be creating a place for that? Will it remain on VPG’s site? Or what will happen with it?
Alan is working on that now, Michael. Not sure exactly where it will end up residing, but we’ll point you to it from the Thunder in the East page on our website when it’s ready.
I subscribed to the Kickstarter and was delighted with the game produced. Components wise I personally think marginally below the best of GMT but still of the very top tier. Frank and Alan have been super active in the forums and there is a vibrant Facebook community. If the quality is maintained in future editions this will in my view close be the final word in gaming WW2 in Europe surpassing World in Flames and Europa. I like the idea that it may take a decade tieing in nicely with my retirement and hopefully reclaiming the kids gaming room. I have more games from GMT than any other publisher and the ETO series couldn’t have found a better home. Thrilled at the news to be honest 🙂
TitE is a very fun game; a total blast to play. And, for a large detailed game, it plays very quickly. This is a strong testament to the quality of the rules and playtesting.
I’m a bit concerned about all the changes to the rules coming. I’m not sure what is causing the changes: the original rules seem great. If there are a lot of changes to the rules and cards (and counters), will there be an upgrade kit for original owners?