Twilight 2000
Encyclopedia
Twilight 2000 is a role-playing game
set in the aftermath of World War III
(the "Twilight War"). The premise is that the United States
/NATO and the Soviet Union
/Warsaw Pact
have fought a lengthy conventional war, followed by a (limited) nuclear war
with all its consequences. Characters in the game are survivors of the war.
after the nuclear war and places emphasis on attempting to realistically depict military and social systems after a nuclear war.
The manufacturer of the game, Game Designers' Workshop
(GDW), which is now owned by Tantalus, extended the timeline of Twilight 2000 to create the background history for the science fiction game 2300 AD
; by doing so the rather depressing post-nuclear environment of Twilight 2000 is mitigated by the outcome in which the Earth rebuilds itself and begins to colonize space.
Far Future Enterprises has reprinted the first edition of Twilight 2000 in hardcopy (paper) format, and both the first edition and version 2.2 are available in CD-ROM format. Versions 2.0 and 2.2, both using the system that became standard for GDW's games, are currently available in watermarked PDF format from DriveThruRPG.com (as are the first edition rules).
Twilight 2000s success as a game can be attributed in part to its manner of presenting a military background and setting, without hemming the players into a military's command structure. The civilian governments of most countries in the game have been shattered (France and Belgium quit NATO and thus largely escaped war damage,) with the US government splitting into the civilian and military governments, as has the military chain of command, supply lines, etc. The various military forces are presented as being much weaker than their stated sizes, occupying civilian territories and relying on civilians for food and small-scale manufacturing, and recruiting from civilian populations to some extent. This all means that the players can feel they are part of a military of some sort, without their characters being forced to submit to higher military authority. Players generally can choose whether they want their characters to try to continue the war, get back home (wherever that may be), join one of the new power groups wherever they are, simply survive as mercenaries or marauders, or some combination.
In 1990, realizing that the game's background was in danger of becoming obsolete, GDW published Merc 2000, an alternative campaign setting which revolved around mercenaries fighting brushfire wars in a time in which the Twilight War never occurred. After Merc 2000 was released, many supplements and articles printed in GDW's Challenge Magazine featured Twilight 2000 with equipment and background conversions to Merc 2000 or were Merc 2000-only.
In 1991 GDW licensees Paragon
developed a computer game adaptation (complete with expansion, "the Colonel") of Twilight 2000 depicting a squad of 20 soldiers stranded behind enemy lines in Poland, struggling against the despot Baron Czarny.
and was intended to be an accurate depiction of a possible future, but events in the world have rendered the premise of the game an alternate history
.
In 1995 a series of Sino-Soviet border conflicts
expanded into general war between the Soviet Union and China. The Sino-Soviet war rapidly escalated from conventional warfare into exchanges of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. In 1996 a cabal of East German and West German military officers seek to reunify their country. Unified German forces stage a coup d'état
against the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
. The US and NATO allies initially attempt to stay out of the war, but are quickly drawn into the European conflict.
Between 1996 and 1997 a largely conventional war
is fought between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces throughout Europe. There are limited exchanges of battlefield nuclear weapons, and chemical and biological weapons. During Thanksgiving
1997, the Soviet Union launches a surprise first strike
against targets in the United States and Europe. The US and Great Britain launch retaliatory nuclear strikes against the Soviet Union.
In the aftermath of the nuclear exchanges, both blocs struggle to recover from the damage. The war continues - despite increasing shortages of men, equipment, and fuel. In the United States there is a breach between the civilian government and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
. An open rift develops between "Civgov" (the civilian government) and "Milgov" (the military government), which leads to a low-intensity
civil war
.
By the summer of 2000, the European theater of operations
had been fought to a near stalemate. In one final effort to break the deadlock and end the war NATO forces planned a summer offensive across Northern Poland and into the Baltics, but the offensive ground to a halt in the face of a Warsaw Pact counterattack. Several divisions & corps on each side were virtually eliminated. In the chaotic aftermath, supply lines are lost, high level command breaks down and armies in the European theater lose cohesion beyond the platoon
unit. Some go “native’ and integrated with the militias of independent “free cities"
, others turned into gangs of marauding bandits and some small groups of surviving soldiers sought to find their way home.
as referee. Starting with the world situation in 2000 following the Twilight War, players controlled one or more countries and guided them through 300 years of development, including the discovery of faster-than-light space travel, colonization of other Earthlike planets, and contact with a variety of sentient aliens. The staff member playing France, John Harshman, did exceptionally well, leading to France being the supreme superpower
in 2300.
obeyed the coup leaders in the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt and stormed the Russian White House, killing Boris Yeltsin
and effectively preserving communist control.
for the Twilight 2000 role-playing game by Game Designers' Workshop
. Whereas Twilight 2000 was set in the immediate post-World War III
era, with characters representing soldiers trying to survive, characters in Merc 2000 are mercenaries working for or against government forces in a world where the "Twilight War" involving nuclear weapons did not occur.
Merc 2000 must be used with Twilight 2000 versions 2.0 through 2.2; the earlier first-edition Twilight 2000 rules differ too much to be easily usable without extensive adaptation. The Merc 2000 rulebook details the game world, gives additional rules and equipment that will be more useful in mercenary campaigns than Twilight 2000 ones. It also supplies some basic adventures
to play. Game Designers' Workshop also published a number of separate adventures for use with Merc 2000.
In GDW's own gaming magazine Challenge, they close the gaps between the setting of Merc 2000 and their future role-playing game Dark Conspiracy
. Merc 2000-characters are confronted there with aliens as the world turns into the near-future setting of Dark Conspiracy.
's underground comic book series Xenozoic Tales
. (ISBN 1-55878-073-4)
. There are no full OPFOR games as published adventures, but the concept is a popular PBEM scenario.
The Twilight: 2013 core rules were released on 8 November 2008 as a PDF. The hard-copy edition is now in print.
In December 2010, 93 Games Studio announced it was going out of business. The future of the Twilight 2000 brand is unclear.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
set in the aftermath of World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
(the "Twilight War"). The premise is that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
/NATO and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
/Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
have fought a lengthy conventional war, followed by a (limited) nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
with all its consequences. Characters in the game are survivors of the war.
History
The adventures in Twilight 2000 typically involve a military unit which was stranded in Central EuropeCentral Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
after the nuclear war and places emphasis on attempting to realistically depict military and social systems after a nuclear war.
The manufacturer of the game, Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
(GDW), which is now owned by Tantalus, extended the timeline of Twilight 2000 to create the background history for the science fiction game 2300 AD
2300 AD
2300 AD is a hard science fiction role-playing game created by Game Designers Workshop, originally offered as an alternative to the space opera portrayed by the company's leading science fiction role-playing game, Traveller...
; by doing so the rather depressing post-nuclear environment of Twilight 2000 is mitigated by the outcome in which the Earth rebuilds itself and begins to colonize space.
Far Future Enterprises has reprinted the first edition of Twilight 2000 in hardcopy (paper) format, and both the first edition and version 2.2 are available in CD-ROM format. Versions 2.0 and 2.2, both using the system that became standard for GDW's games, are currently available in watermarked PDF format from DriveThruRPG.com (as are the first edition rules).
Twilight 2000s success as a game can be attributed in part to its manner of presenting a military background and setting, without hemming the players into a military's command structure. The civilian governments of most countries in the game have been shattered (France and Belgium quit NATO and thus largely escaped war damage,) with the US government splitting into the civilian and military governments, as has the military chain of command, supply lines, etc. The various military forces are presented as being much weaker than their stated sizes, occupying civilian territories and relying on civilians for food and small-scale manufacturing, and recruiting from civilian populations to some extent. This all means that the players can feel they are part of a military of some sort, without their characters being forced to submit to higher military authority. Players generally can choose whether they want their characters to try to continue the war, get back home (wherever that may be), join one of the new power groups wherever they are, simply survive as mercenaries or marauders, or some combination.
In 1990, realizing that the game's background was in danger of becoming obsolete, GDW published Merc 2000, an alternative campaign setting which revolved around mercenaries fighting brushfire wars in a time in which the Twilight War never occurred. After Merc 2000 was released, many supplements and articles printed in GDW's Challenge Magazine featured Twilight 2000 with equipment and background conversions to Merc 2000 or were Merc 2000-only.
In 1991 GDW licensees Paragon
Paragon Software Corporation
Paragon Software Corporation or just Paragon Software was a video games developer that was founded in 1985 by Mark E. Seremet and Antony Davies. Paragon released its first game in 1987 and is primarily known for their work on CRPGs based on Marvel Comics franchises and GDW role-playing settings...
developed a computer game adaptation (complete with expansion, "the Colonel") of Twilight 2000 depicting a squad of 20 soldiers stranded behind enemy lines in Poland, struggling against the despot Baron Czarny.
Original setting
The game was first published in 1984 during the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and was intended to be an accurate depiction of a possible future, but events in the world have rendered the premise of the game an alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
.
In 1995 a series of Sino-Soviet border conflicts
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
expanded into general war between the Soviet Union and China. The Sino-Soviet war rapidly escalated from conventional warfare into exchanges of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. In 1996 a cabal of East German and West German military officers seek to reunify their country. Unified German forces stage a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany , also known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany and the Western Group of Forces were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany....
. The US and NATO allies initially attempt to stay out of the war, but are quickly drawn into the European conflict.
Between 1996 and 1997 a largely conventional war
Conventional warfare
Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted byusing conventional military weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opposing army...
is fought between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces throughout Europe. There are limited exchanges of battlefield nuclear weapons, and chemical and biological weapons. During Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
1997, the Soviet Union launches a surprise first strike
First strike
In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing...
against targets in the United States and Europe. The US and Great Britain launch retaliatory nuclear strikes against the Soviet Union.
In the aftermath of the nuclear exchanges, both blocs struggle to recover from the damage. The war continues - despite increasing shortages of men, equipment, and fuel. In the United States there is a breach between the civilian government and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
. An open rift develops between "Civgov" (the civilian government) and "Milgov" (the military government), which leads to a low-intensity
Low intensity conflict
Low intensity conflict is the use of military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with the policies or objectives of the political body controlling the military force...
civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
.
By the summer of 2000, the European theater of operations
Theater (warfare)
In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....
had been fought to a near stalemate. In one final effort to break the deadlock and end the war NATO forces planned a summer offensive across Northern Poland and into the Baltics, but the offensive ground to a halt in the face of a Warsaw Pact counterattack. Several divisions & corps on each side were virtually eliminated. In the chaotic aftermath, supply lines are lost, high level command breaks down and armies in the European theater lose cohesion beyond the platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
unit. Some go “native’ and integrated with the militias of independent “free cities"
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
, others turned into gangs of marauding bandits and some small groups of surviving soldiers sought to find their way home.
Later History
To create 300 years of background history for their science-fiction RPG 2300AD, GDW staff members participated in an in-house simulation called "The Great Game", with Frank ChadwickFrank Chadwick
Frank Chadwick is a multiple-award–winning game designer and New York Times Best Selling author.-Beginnings:Frank Chadwick, along with Rich Banner and Marc Miller, were members of the Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal Games Club. They used their club funding to design war games...
as referee. Starting with the world situation in 2000 following the Twilight War, players controlled one or more countries and guided them through 300 years of development, including the discovery of faster-than-light space travel, colonization of other Earthlike planets, and contact with a variety of sentient aliens. The staff member playing France, John Harshman, did exceptionally well, leading to France being the supreme superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
in 2300.
Revised setting
The Second Edition (published in 1990) and subsequent editions featured a reworked background intended to be an alternate history closer to 1990s real-world history. Version 2.2, GDW's final edition of the game, was published in 1993 and featured a background in which the KGB's Alpha GroupAlpha Group
The Alpha Group , is an elite component of Russia's Spetsnaz as well as the dedicated counter-terrorism unit of the Federal Security Service...
obeyed the coup leaders in the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt and stormed the Russian White House, killing Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
and effectively preserving communist control.
Merc 2000
Merc 2000 is an alternative settingCampaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
for the Twilight 2000 role-playing game by Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
. Whereas Twilight 2000 was set in the immediate post-World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
era, with characters representing soldiers trying to survive, characters in Merc 2000 are mercenaries working for or against government forces in a world where the "Twilight War" involving nuclear weapons did not occur.
Merc 2000 must be used with Twilight 2000 versions 2.0 through 2.2; the earlier first-edition Twilight 2000 rules differ too much to be easily usable without extensive adaptation. The Merc 2000 rulebook details the game world, gives additional rules and equipment that will be more useful in mercenary campaigns than Twilight 2000 ones. It also supplies some basic adventures
Adventure (role-playing games)
An adventure is either a published or otherwise written collection of plot, character, and location details used by a gamemaster to manage the plot or story in a role-playing game. Each adventure is based upon a particular gaming genre and is normally designed for use with a specific game or gaming...
to play. Game Designers' Workshop also published a number of separate adventures for use with Merc 2000.
In GDW's own gaming magazine Challenge, they close the gaps between the setting of Merc 2000 and their future role-playing game Dark Conspiracy
Dark Conspiracy
Dark Conspiracy is a near-future horror role-playing game originally developed by Game Designers' Workshop in 1991. In 1997, the Second Edition was published by DPI...
. Merc 2000-characters are confronted there with aliens as the world turns into the near-future setting of Dark Conspiracy.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs used the Twilight 2000 rules and was set in Mark SchultzMark Schultz (comics)
Mark Schultz is an American writer and illustrator of books and comics. His most widely-recognized work is his self-created and owned comic book series, Xenozoic Tales, about a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures coexist with humans...
's underground comic book series Xenozoic Tales
Xenozoic Tales
Xenozoic Tales is an alternative comic book by Mark Schultz set in a post-apocalyptic future. Publication began in 1986 with the story "Xenozoic!" included in the comic anthology Death Rattle. This was shortly followed by Xenozoic Tales #1 in February 1987...
. (ISBN 1-55878-073-4)
OPFOR Games
Characters in Twilight 2000 games are typically representative of US and NATO military forces. Within the T2K gaming community, games that are centered on a group of Soviet/Warsaw Pact characters are referred to as "OPFOR games" for opposing forceOpposing force
An opposing force or enemy force is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios...
. There are no full OPFOR games as published adventures, but the concept is a popular PBEM scenario.
Twilight: 2013
In 2006, 93 Games Studio announced that they have acquired the license to produce the official Twilight 2000 Version 3.0, with plans for a 2008 release with the title Twilight: 2013. According to the developers, the timeline leading to the Twilight War has been completely re-written, and will no longer focus on a Cold War confrontation between NATO, the Soviet Union and China.The Twilight: 2013 core rules were released on 8 November 2008 as a PDF. The hard-copy edition is now in print.
In December 2010, 93 Games Studio announced it was going out of business. The future of the Twilight 2000 brand is unclear.
External links
- Twilight 2000 discussion group
- 93 Games Studio
- An interview with 93 Games Studio about creating Twilight:2013
- Active Duty soldier helped design Twilight: 2013