"The Twilight War" - GDW's Nuclear World War III Scenario - Twilight: 2000 Lore

Based off the chronological background for the 1984 tabletop RPG Twilight: 2000 by Game Designers' Workshop I only used the 1st Edition base game as a reference, I don't know what any of the many modules released for the first generation say about the lore so this video very well may be partially or basically completely inaccurate.
Songs used:
- "WiC SA Soundtrack - Spetsnaz"
- "Requiem : Dies irae"
- "East vs West Soundtrack - Gridlock"
I also used the 1983 NBC production "The Day After" and the 1984 BBC production "Threads" for some of the footage, and credit should be given to the people who worked hard on those works of fiction respectively. I make no claim or credit to those works. The rest of the footage is from historical archives and military exercises, both NATO, Warsaw Pact and Chinese that are too innumerable to all mention individually.

[@user-vm2wi8no1s]

Probably the most unrealistic part of this scenario is that Yugoslavia remains united up to 1995. Good video.

[@DobroDed76]

Based

[@realbenzo]

nah its yugoslavia and turkey fighting on the same side

[@Fielza]

And the USSR along with Germany being didvided.

[@wintaaaaa]

Well in this world, Germany Yugoslavia and Turkey are the axis and the Soviet Union is the single entente member.

[@notascientist709]

if the soviet union didnt collapse in 1991 because gorbechav wasnt in power or something then I could see Yugoslavia continue going as the cold war stays frozen

[@theoheinrich529]

This was a real clusterfuck of a World War.

[@theorsimer]

This guy's the gm for the twilight 2000 campaign i'm in rn

[@legbreaker2762]

You gotta love a Ref who goes the extra mile to set the scene

[@theorsimer]

@@legbreaker2762 even then, he's allowed some silly events, like the time my character wrestled a bear

[@legbreaker2762]

@@theorsimer Totally believable :D

[@nemo770]

@@legbreaker2762 Hold it with any ideas you may get!

[@keyabrade1861]

@@theorsimer Rip-Its are a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

[@eduardmemester2706]

Didn’t anyone have noticed that this video was published on 23th of October? It’s literally the same exact date when in the videogame series of Fallout, in the year 2077, the nuclear apocalypse is released

[@divvyboi]

omg

[@ekaitzgonzalezhistoria1137]

And in the real life in 1983

[@landeretxabarrigomez8382]

3:42 nuclear war begins 4:44 strategical nuclear attacks begins

[@AyutaTYujin]

Thanks you for good content!

[@imshy2113]

really well done, this is an interesting althist scenario

[@legbreaker2762]

For more information en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight:_2000#Original_setting

[@theanomaly2587]

This is very well done

[@AyutaTYujin]

YES

[@Sedgewise47]

🤨Well. That was depressing. Face it folks: Real Life as it currently is should truly be considered the best of all possible times!

[@mattmk_ii1063]

Aged like milk

[@Sedgewise47]

@@mattmk_ii1063 And for that I’m *GRATEFUL*…

[@AyutaTYujin]

0:06 Jiang Zemin died today at aged 96.

[@titanicbigship]

Dam

[@benvalle8253]

Awesome stuff

[@chasisaac1094]

That was good. I miss playing TW2K. We would play in Germany and use real units and real people. More than one LT got fragged.

[@legbreaker2762]

There's a weekly game on discord if you're interested....

[@SadenIsWatchin]

@@legbreaker2762 I'm interested!

[@-thanawat-8296]

@@legbreaker2762 ooooo

[@heliveruscalion9124]

@@legbreaker2762 which discord server?

[@kenbarnett4356]

i hope my party dose not kill my character im going to play a officer

[@legbreaker2762]

Nice video although I would have suggested zooming in on Europe from late 1997 once China's glassed.

[@jona826]

Could you do the same for Twilight 2000 4th edition released by Free League?

[@SCP_Foundation34566]

Wtf, why Italy attacked NATO?

[@studiomotljus]

Yeah, GDW didn't have much knowledge about european countries when they first wrote the backstory. Free League Publishings 4th edition sounds like a much more feasable history line. Would be great to have the same infographics about their version.

[@thedungeondelver]

@@studiomotljus I heartily disagree that FL's 4th ed timeline is more feasible. Italy sitting out the war as neutral makes more sense, sure, but in the overall, I'll take the 1st ed. "alternate history" tineline.

[@Khrodeas]

@@studiomotljus No. NATO and Warsaw Pact in the 80-90 were disproportionate. USSR were really weak but hiding it from pubic (GDW didn't knew that), but they still managed to see that west + china would be too strong for USSR for them to risk attacking NATO. So, they used clever story points about miniorites (not mentioned in this timeline for some reason - like FRG using german minorites - like Silesians - in Poland to destabilize country and made them drift away from wanting to join NATO). If you watch closely Italy, Belgium, France and Greece leave NATO, as FRG starts skirmishing west Poland (disobeying civilian goverment orders). US just went along and attacked (disobeying civilian rulings too). All went too far without control, as world tensions were too high. Turkey attacked Cyprus as, Greece left NATO (they saw it as opportunity - there are real life tensions there even today), Greece and Italy attacked NATO to prevent defensive war, and they were right, as got bombed at later stages of war... GDW simply took every known political tension at the time and go along "let's do the worst scenario". It's grim. And as we see today with Ukraine, Georgia and Kazachstan, this stuff can come down without warning. Think about it.

[@legbreaker2762]

@@studiomotljus FL's version is rubbish with a lot of REALLY stupid ideas in it (like a US carrier fleet in the Baltic where they're nothing but targets and impossible to resupply or reinforce).

[@legbreaker2762]

Italy had withdrawn from NATO in protest against what looked a lot like German aggression against Poland (again). They allied with Greece in their war with Turkey (which Turkey started by the way) and NATO were informed to stay out of what was a "local dispute". NATO needed to keep Turkey in the fight against the PACT so a supply convoy was sent (and sent to the bottom) thereby triggering Italy's entry into the greater war. Italy at the time was still fresh and had intact peacetime war stocks whereas NATO had already been fighting for some time and were feeling the pinch. The move into southern Germany in 1998 was made in concert with their new "allies by default" the Pact - not really an alliance, more an "enemy of my enemy" thing and working together at the time was mutually beneficial.

[@theremapping3840]

Absolutely fucking incredible!

[@Luis_.-]

Nice!

[@Ernest68able]

Outstanding!!!!!

[@vaxrvaxr]

I'm amazed someone remembers this game.

[@alexref6074]

That reminded me of scenario in hoi4 iron curtain where playing as USA you can do focus where you make deal with USSR to start war against China together but then you can betray soviets and attack them

[@divvyboi]

its sad how this can be possible, even today.

[@amiunique3637]

Very nice work. How about adjusting for the 4th edition lore?

[@legbreaker2762]

T:FL is garbage and incompatible.

[@mediapeter4913]

what is the name of the music at 0:33

[@mr.mentalproblems9445]

spetsnaz theme-world in conflict

[@mediapeter4913]

@@mr.mentalproblems9445 Thanks.

[@Fielza]

Romania: *kicked out of WP* Man i'm dead USA: hey you two wanna join nato Romania: Ok ig Yugoslavia: Yup

[@co0lname919]

Whats most horrifying is that they kept fighting and dropping the bombs after the destruction. truly the worst part of humanity

[@alanbaker1537]

Someone can tell me more about "Twilight: 2000"? cuz i can't find info about that

[@WerewolfEmerson]

Its an RPG game that started in the 80's. And is currently in its 4th edition today. Google is very useful.

[@Diatomickhan4]

poggers

[@michy_blitz274]

4:05 Name of the Song pls

[@shadowstorm4722]

dies irae

[@michy_blitz274]

@@shadowstorm4722 Thank you

[@arabfromramla]

That’s one way to wrap up a millenium and start the next

[@taqcoeng4740]

P o l a n d

[@leonel1982]

Damn at what point does either sides armies start to wonder what they're even fighting for at that point

[@dasbubba841]

At that point, the war was basically "over". However, no one was left alive and willing to reinstitute civilian authority and demobilize the armies. The armies themselves, what was left of them, essentially stopped listening to orders.

[@louisbeerreviews8964]

I was born in the summer of 1995

[@NotHadiconlmao]

soo that means that you were born at the start of the war

[@JackTheSlayer-ok5eq]

Hello

[@dorito_crusador5858]

China had over 1.5 million troops on the Manchurian border, USSR had only 300,000.

[@baseddepartment285]

China had no comparable aircraft or tanks or artillery compared to Soviet Union at that time. Not even the attack helicopters. And flat terrain = heaven for stronger better tanks. Just see what Abrams did in Iraq. Now imagine T-80 against the Type 59 and Type 88 tanks

[@dorito_crusador5858]

@@baseddepartment285 That is true, but the massive size would probably slow the advance.

[@baseddepartment285]

@@dorito_crusador5858 tell that to the Iraqis. We all know how enemy with 3 generations behind in technology on flat terrain went out. With 1 : 12 kill ratio

[@dorito_crusador5858]

@@baseddepartment285 Northern China has extreme terrain which would slow the russians down, but the casualties on the Chinese side would be cray cray

[@simpledonkey9668]

​@@dorito_crusador5858 What if the soviets simply gathered more troops, before the war started, as a preparation. It's also possible that the chinese built a defensive line from the yellow sea to the sino-mongol border (going through peking) and than waited to see, which soft spots the soviets have, in order to target them in an counteroffensive.

[@bartoszszczepaniak169]

Good to know that half of my country was nuclear bombed into oblivion in that universe.

[@christhefirst]

Mfw the first round of nukes on Poland already destroyed any chance of me being alive right now

[@Genocideforbeginners]

​@@christhefirstnah you'd be born but as a mutant like Metro exodus

[@christhefirst]

@@Genocideforbeginners is it a good type of mutation like super strength?

[@Genocideforbeginners]

@@christhefirst play the game and you might find out

[@cuberrt]

Damn they really just lit up Poland. :(

[@agustinarguello8438]

Se tiran todas las bombas nucleares existentes La urss, alemania y polonia: uff estamos joyas

[@mohsenoutdoors318]

Tehran was nuked because I live there, that's how lucky I am 🐴🇮🇷

[@ChristianSannino1904]

Wtf Italy

[@user-vt3mo7nd4m]

Ммм, новый мод для hoi4?

[@kurnma3776]

4:04 FUNNI SCHIZO MOD

[@buttercoalslav]

Haha funny Heaven on earth/Hell on earth ideology

[@Brslld]

Almost gave me a heart attack

[@A4zkin...8753]

Why tf they nuked Tunisia

[@salmonjoseph9970]

this wasn't a world war this was a fortnite server

[@messyroom9904]

This is how my father and I reset the global network. y2k. 2000 years of darkness. 10,000 years later I write thsi comment.

[@slowneutron6163]

Give credit to the movie Threads.... where some of your video came from. Can't stand it when people don't acknowledge the work they stole.

[@euroyeet1815]

I credited Threads, and The Day After, the two fictional works I used for footage in the comments of the post I made to the Twilight: 2000 subreddit when I first posted this video. You can see that here: www.reddit.com/r/Twilight2000/comments/r0wh4u/made_this_for_my_group_of_players_1e_game_not/ I was not expecting the YT algorithm to suddenly start blowing this video up for whatever reason. I apologize, and have since added credit to those two works and their creators in this video description. Were you also aware that Threads has been available for free on KZbin, licensed by a verified channel? kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4TVoqyabadsnac

[@mike7279]

Utter cr .ap

[@legbreaker2762]

Wow, you really don't know the background of this do you......