Your Preferred T2K Timeline

[Raellus]

I seem to remember a similar thread on the old board but I figured I'd put it out there again since TW2013 is a reality now and we have some new members here.

I prefer the v1.0 timeline for its alternative history feel and childhood nostalgia. I use it pretty much as is, except for allowing RL military equipment issued before the TDM and a few changes developed by the DC group.

Since I don't know if there are any timeline differences between the two, I added separate poll choices for v2 and v2.2, just in case.

What's your fav?

Please limit discussion to the various versions of the timeline, not to the game mechanics of each version.

[kato13]

Modified V1.

[headquarters]

In the 1990s we did play the original timeline -it was sort of in touch with the times -but after the end of the decade it was all homegrown

[smokewolf]

I think we all know how I roll

[Matt Wiser]

V.1: very good as an Alternate History.

[Grimace]

I stick nearly 95% with the V2 timeline. I might borrow a little here and there, but for the most part everything in my games adhere to V2 timeline.

[Targan]

I don't now if I've ever even read the V2 timeline in its entirety. I put V1 in the poll but as most people here will know, my campaign is a bit of a Twilight Nightmares mish mash so I guess it could qualify as a homebrew timeline too.

Originally Posted by Raellus

Since I don't know if there are any timeline differences between the two, I added separate poll choices for v2 and v2.2, just in case.

I don't know if there are differences either. Can anyone enlighten us on this?

[weswood]

I like the V1 timeline, with the use of nukes pushed back some. If I ever run a game, tactical nukes would be first used in '97, with the TDM in '99.

IMO, they were used way too early. I would have thought they would be used as a last, desperate measure.

[Mohoender]

I'm also a bit like Tigger and Targan as some elements of Dark Conspiracy are slowly getting in.

[Rainbow Six]

V1 for me with a few (very minor) tweaks here and there...plus additional equipment like Tigger mentioned (e.g. the G36)

[Marc]

I use v2.2 for timeline, simply because this is the version that fell in my hands here in Barcelona. Anyway I don't give too much importance to the timeline. Any knowledge adquired about any other timeline is because the threads in this forum.

[martinjpayne]

I voted for v2.2 as that is what I used to run.

If I could start a game now I think I would go for a v2.2 variant where ODS turns into a full invasion like OIF, only less successful. Add in a smattering of Harold Coyle, i.e. Russians invade Iran for their oilfields, pull France out of the coalition as it goes against the UN Resolution (maybe FFL mutiny or are left in Gulf region with no support, and attach themselves to US/UK forces), Israel makes first nuclear strike...

[mikeo80]

I've only played T2K two times. Both times were very enjoyable. I do not own the books, so I have no way to compare versions.

All I know is the game was very thought provoking.

[kato13]

Originally Posted by mikeo80

I've only played T2K two times. Both times were very enjoyable. I do not own the books, so I have no way to compare versions.

All I know is the game was very thought provoking.

That is why we are still here 25 years later. Glad you came for a visit to this board. Quite a bit of potential post apoc crossover with Morrow Project.

[sglancy12]

Greetings gentlemen,

Not so long lurker, first time posting...

Ever since the USSR fell apart in 1991, Twilight 2000 worked best as alternative history, rather than as speculative fiction. It should have been re-released as an alternative history period piece set at the turn of the millenium. I think the folks behind Twilight:2013 may have made a mistake setting the game in a year that is rapidly approaching. Before you know it, events will overtake the speculative fiction, which will end up looking pretty quaint.

For example, I think we can all see that Frank Frey's moderate Islamic Republic of Iran (as depicted in the RDF Sourcebook) turned out to be as fanciful as the USSR lasting until 2000. And the idea that the Slovenians and Croats would side with the USSR against pro-NATO Serbs shows both it's age and it's false assumptions.

For myself, I've been working on a homegrown history of my own, heavily influenced by the v.1 and v.2 histories. My history diverges in 1989 when hardliners in the USSR assassinate Gorbachev by blowing up his plane while he is traveling to China just before the Tianamen Square Massacre. So, no 1991 coup, no Sino-Soviet War, no wall coming down...

... well, not completely anyways. 1989 to 1991 is an era of extreme crisis, with the USSR desperately trying to hold the Warsaw Pact together, the Gulf War and the break up of Yugoslavia. All these events are recast in light of the renewed Cold War and a hard line USSR.

My Twilight War ends up being a massive confrontation not just between western democracies and a reinvigorated Sino-Soviet alliance, but also between radical Islam. With the Gulf war working out differently, the Serbs engaging in "ethnic cleansing" against Muslims in the Yugoslavia, and the USSR scapegoating their Muslim citizens for the assassination of Gorbachev, leads to the growth of radical Islam into a world-wide threat about 5 years too early.

Rather than bore the crap out of everyone by writing about it here, I'll hold off and post my Twilight War time-line when I've filled in some of the biggest gaps. It currently stands at 37,000 words and tries to incorporate as much real world history as possible. I've also got a sort of global gazetteer in the works, trying to come up with the basic state of the world's governments after the Twilight War. That's currently at 35,000 words and still growing.

Anyways... excellent material on this forum. Keep up the great work guys.

A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing.

[Legbreaker]

Sounds great. Definately interested in what you've done.
Wouldn't mind lending a hand either.

[sglancy12]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Sounds great. Definately interested in what you've done.
Wouldn't mind lending a hand either.

Well, it looks like I can attach pdf files to these forum posts, so I guess I'll just set up a new thread and post it when I'm feeling gutsy...

... what I've got is very basic and hasn't been fully researched. At least, not to my tastes anyways.

Anyone prefer a format other than pdf?

A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing

[stg58fal]

If I can find a group to play, 2013 with a little bit of modification/fleshing out of the background.

[DocSavage45B10]

I don't know if I personally have a favorite timeline, but the game I'm currently prepping to run has a homebrew timeline with a war kicking off in 2012/13 and play beginning in 2020.

I gotta say though, that I like the idea of a war kicking off in the 80s and play beginning in the 90s, that's very... period.

Wolverines!

[Mock26]

I love the original time line because of the nostalgia and for simplicity in gaming, but I actually like the 2013 time line better.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Mock26

...I actually like the 2013 time line better.

HEATHEN!!!

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Mock26

I love the original time line because of the nostalgia and for simplicity in gaming, but I actually like the 2013 time line better.

Well you're in the minority there but that's fine, the world is built on diversity of opinions and ideas. I'd love to know what it is about the 2013 timeline that attracts you.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by Mock26

I love the original time line because of the nostalgia and for simplicity in gaming, but I actually like the 2013 time line better.

We have our own variety of the timeline.
Back in the 1990s we could still relate to the whole East vs West situation. But as the things changed and WWIII: Moscow vs Washington- the Slugfest became less and less likely we also started to "look for new angles".

It is nostalgic to go back to the simpler age of fearing the Bear. So I do enjoy the old timelines. Also I do like the attempted new angle the 2013 set up has.
But neither older nor newer timeline really had it for us - so we came up with our own. The idea dates back to around 2002-2003. We started playing this campaign in 2004/2005.

It has elements of 2013 and some scavenged bits from the V1 or V2 installments.

Here is a link. But one caveat - my fellow gamers have condensed and translated bits of it so any misspelling should be attributed them!

Also - content might be controversial to some. Rest assured that this is not a political statement of any sort and that any disrespect to any nation - particularily the USA is not ourt intention. ( I guess I could get upset if someone dismembered my country and exaggurated things about it.). Lastly - of course there will be a myriad reasons that this wouldnt play out this way. But here it goes:

http://thebigbookofwar.50megs.com/about.html

[Panther Al]

Though I wasn't around for the hollow army nor the 80's build up, I do kinda miss the bad old good days of the cold war- you kinda knew what to expect.

[95th Rifleman]

My group have taken to using the V1 timeline but moving it back a decade. Kick off is December '86 and our campaighns start in the summer of 1990.

It fits so much better.

[Fusilier]

Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman

My group have taken to using the V1 timeline but moving it back a decade. Kick off is December '86 and our campaighns start in the summer of 1990.

It fits so much better.

That sounds good. Pre-90s is where I like it too, not just for a better timeline, but for the nostalgia of the cold war.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman

My group have taken to using the V1 timeline but moving it back a decade. Kick off is December '86 and our campaighns start in the summer of 1990.

It fits so much better.

This idea is growing on me....

[Fallenkezef]

I clicked homebrew as my group uses the V1 timeline but dated to the 80's.

We've tried a few other timelines. One we played around with was based on the German WW3 alternative history film portrayed as a documentary. I'll link it. It's surprisngly well done actualy and really worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQCM3Hu1YW4

[cpip]

Originally Posted by Fallenkezef

I clicked homebrew as my group uses the V1 timeline but dated to the 80's.

While I was rereading the V1 timeline, it occurred to me that if it was shifted back to the Sino-Soviet Amur conflict in the late '60s, and had that blow up, it might just work for a "Twilight: 1972" sort of period.