#RPGaDay2021 - Day 2 - Maps for the End of the World

Day 2 of #RPGaDay and I admit that I was stumped towards the exact direction for the primary word: MAP. 

I've already posted about my crayon sketches of my World of Georic back in 2015, and the few maps to flesh out my 30+ year homebrew campaign might go along with a different topic.  I'm not even a guy who actively uses Roll20's full potential.  

But Day One inspired, nay I say, kickstarted this topic in a different direction.  

I spend quite some time in junior high and high school expanding my gaming horizons.  Our RPG pedigrees were pretty decent by the early 90's, but there was one awesome white whale that I didn't get to play:  GDW's Twilight:2000.  Coming from the generation of Rambo, Chuck Norris, and specifically Red Dawn, the idea of a gaming in a devastated setting where World War III went wrong in unexpected ways, and the character were stranded in Europe with low ammo and low supplies seemed like a challenge.  Throw in the fact that the group contained a military history dude and two guys who enlisted into the military out of high school, and I'm still surprised we never bit the bullet and invested more time into it, instead sticking with Palladium's RECON and Vietnam.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some RECON, but T:2000 had that edgier feel. 

While taking some early college classes, I fell into the local gaming club and played a little GDW Dark Conspiracy, with a pre-X-File, pre-Delta Green vibe, but that wasn't the best the system or setting had to offer.  

In the midst of pandemic last August, Free League, publishers of Alien, Tales from the Loop, and MÖRK BORG, launched a Kickstarter for a new edition/version of Twilight:2000.   Gone are the stark typewritten pages with effective black and white art.  It's a polished project through and through, far fancier than anything GDW even dreamt of.    While I wait for the finished product to be printed and shipped from Sweden, I have a very impressive pdf of the final product to tide me over.

But the one thing I want physically in my hands are the maps.  

The original maps were something I could picture the characters have unfolded across the hood of some vehicle, arguing over which crossroads they were actually at, hopefully at least one soldier scanning the countryside for ambushes, marauders, or worse yet aircraft.

Just the pictures of the Free League's Poland map brings back that feeling.

And better yet, those crazy Swedes have their own interactions with the Soviets/Russians, so a map of Sweden is also included, for those of us with more Nordic sensibilities.  

Sweden - The Elite Playground for WW3

When I first saw the maps, my very first though last summer was, "This needs to be played in-person."  That has not changed, and I'm hopeful that we get some time together to safely play this by the end of the year.   With only two players with military experience (and one with a Doctorate in Military History) the rest of the group might take a bit to get on board, but I picture a bleak, wonderful ride, no matter where the characters are in Europe.