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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 10h

The excision of Benchley's grotesque, ugly vision of sex and relationships was also a very wise move.

Reposted by Malcolm Craig

Cultist of Sooty @cultistofsooty.bsky.social · 11h

I have a copy of this, it's very impressive, even on the cursory read I've had so far.

It's the kind of book that makes me wish I had far more spare time than I do for reading and gaming.

Jon at Handiwork Games @handiworkgames.bsky.social · 11h

Cold City is a taut game of trust and monster hunting in the ruins of an alternate 1950s Berlin.

Pre-order the print book with PDF: handiwork.games/product/pre-...

PDF: www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 12h

I'll probably need to be more specific when I reference it in future! The WD letters pages were gaming brouhaha central in the 1980s - misogyny, Wither LARPing?, what will the offspring of two half-elves be?, and so on ad infinitum!

Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 12h

Your memory serves you well on the art!

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

Unlike a lot of its contemporaries, from the outset you can play non-US - but always 'free world' SF troops (although the overwhelming focus is on US characters). But tonally it's very much of a piece with other Keith Brothers work (Behind Enemy Lines, Freedom Fighters, etc.)

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

That's only because I'm very close. I'm actually quite small.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

I am also committed to using the exclamation "Capital!" when something good happens.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

You cannot just use one word. The correct response is "A film that I have tragically never seen, but I will put that right with all due speed, because how Gandhi won best picture when this was released in the same year is beyond me."

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

Of course, it was nothing compared to the era-defining genius of 1982's Megaforce.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaforce

Megaforce - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

There was indeed such a film! Came out the same year, influenced by the Iranian Hostage Crisis etc. And of course it came from the Cannon Group stable.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 13h

FYI:
@ljmuimpact.bsky.social and @ljmuhistory.bsky.social

Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · 15h

Right, now I have some time (and a copy myself!) it's time to share some internal pics from the new issue, my thoughts on the relevant features & perhaps persuade a few more of you to buy a copy (because it's swell)

shop.wyrd.science

So today let's start with @malcolmcraig.bsky.social's one, as...

a photo of the latest issue of Wyrd Science, open to a spread on a feature about Cold War RPGs, one the left hand side is a full page picture of an atom bomb test, on the right the headline Playing Games in the Shadow of the Bomb

a photo of the latest issue of Wyrd Science, open to a spread on a feature about Cold War RPGs, it shows a still from the film Red Dawn with Russian soldiers posing in front of a McDonalds, the subhead for this section reads The Paranoid Style in American Gaming

a photo of the latest issue of Wyrd Science, open to a spread on a feature about Cold War RPGs, one side is taken up with the cover art for Greg Costikyan's Price of Freedom

a photo of the latest issue of Wyrd Science, open to a spread on a feature about Cold War RPGs

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 15h

This is a very kind and nuanced appreciation from @wyrdscience.bsky.social of my recent piece in the selfsame periodical.

Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · 15h

Right, now I have some time (and a copy myself!) it's time to share some internal pics from the new issue, my thoughts on the relevant features & perhaps persuade a few more of you to buy a copy (because it's swell)

shop.wyrd.science

So today let's start with @malcolmcraig.bsky.social's one, as...

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 15h

3) And - of course - it was reviewed in White Dwarf 86 (at the same time as adverts for The Price of Freedom were running) and contributed to the Great WD Letters Page Brouhaha (which is what I'm now referring to the debate as).

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 15h

2) Delta Force became part of the wider, mid-1980s trans-Atlantic debate on tastefulness, morality, and ethics in contemporary TTRPGs, a debate dominated by more famous (or infamous) titles like Twilight: 2000 and The Price of Freedom.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 15h

1) The latest addition to the hardcopy research collection:

Task Force Games' 'Delta Force' from 1986, a game where you play brave, manly special forces taking now cowardly, sneaky terrorists and foreign intelligence organisations.

The cover of Task Force Games' Delta Force TTRPG from 1986. It shows a number of manly men dressed in the ever-popular 'special forces commando' style gunning down individuals who are no doubt 'bad guys'.

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Reposted by Malcolm Craig

Gaz @evilgaz.bsky.social · 1d

Cold City is and if you want a try before you buy flavour of this excellent gem, head on over to UGMs for a punchy two hour Actual Play.

youtu.be/ZWqsXDu4IIU?...

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Reposted by Malcolm Craig

Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 1d

As Jon @handiworkgames.bsky.social says: you can now get the PDF of Cold City 2nd edition and/or pre-order the hardcopy (which - all things being well - should be out in January 2026).

Jon at Handiwork Games @handiworkgames.bsky.social · 1d

We're delighted to say that Cold City second edition, the roleplaying game of hidden Agendas, trust and monster hunting is 🅞🅤🅣 🅝🅞🅦 in PDF and pre-order. All pre-orders come with a free PDF.

The PDF is available exclusively @drivethrurpg.com

Pre-order: handiwork.games/product/pre-...

Cold City Second Edition - Handiwork Games | Cold City Hot War | DriveThruRPG

In the divided city of post-World War II Berlin, terrors hide in the darkness. The legacies of war, suffering, and fringe science lurk beneath the surface, feared and desired by former allies and defe...

www.drivethrurpg.com

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 1d

As Jon @handiworkgames.bsky.social says: you can now get the PDF of Cold City 2nd edition and/or pre-order the hardcopy (which - all things being well - should be out in January 2026).

Jon at Handiwork Games @handiworkgames.bsky.social · 1d

We're delighted to say that Cold City second edition, the roleplaying game of hidden Agendas, trust and monster hunting is 🅞🅤🅣 🅝🅞🅦 in PDF and pre-order. All pre-orders come with a free PDF.

The PDF is available exclusively @drivethrurpg.com

Pre-order: handiwork.games/product/pre-...

Cold City Second Edition - Handiwork Games | Cold City Hot War | DriveThruRPG

In the divided city of post-World War II Berlin, terrors hide in the darkness. The legacies of war, suffering, and fringe science lurk beneath the surface, feared and desired by former allies and defe...

www.drivethrurpg.com

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 4d

"...nuclear war, peg bags." pretty much pops into my brain on a daily basis. Such brilliant delivery of wonderfully written comedy.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 5d

Yes, 100%. The latter is a truly appalling piece of trash, whereas the former in a remarkably sensitive, nuanced, and thoughtful text.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 5d

Yep, Jason makes explicit reference to the fact that the game is not about the Holocaust when he discusses the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on p.15.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 5d

That's a good thought - I'll pass that on.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks for the heads up - I'll listen/pass that on.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 5d

It's actually quite sensitively handled and nuanced in its approach.

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Malcolm Craig @malcolmcraig.bsky.social · 5d

3) It's great to have postgraduate researchers expressing an interest in games as/and history, and looking sensitively at portrayals of the most challenging topics.

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