A Package from America: "Fire in the Lake" COIN Board Game - GMT P500

In the hedonistic (pre-Covid) days where the UK pound was much stronger than the dollar, so transatlantic shipping(*) from America was offset by the nice GMT P500 discount, I saw the jewel of the COIN crown was being reprinted so I jumped on that P500 train without hesitation. Now, my long term investment (years of waiting/forgetting) has paid off as the postman passed on a suitably (or dare I say delightfully) heavy parcel to me (see below, the box art is beautiful, the Huey is so iconic of Vietnam [got to make one of those in 1/72] and the scene below seems straight from "Apocalypse Now" - the red setting sun and steaming jungle):

(*) Note: Appreciation and kudos goes out to Second Chance Games as they partially offset this cost with their Euro Friendly Shipping arrangement with GMT.  

Inside the geography jumps up from a beautifully mounted map board (see below, a geography map straight from teh classroom, bended with some lovely photo art, class!): 

Then there are the meeples, the event cards, the rules, the bot instructions and the scenarios (see below, a long winter night or two will be spent around this one for sure): 

It is a thing of pure beauty to behold and a nice companion to "A Distant Plain". 

Listen Up: Interesting Podcasts from People associated with GMT Games

Wargaming and Board Gaming Podcasts:

GMT Games: Gene Billingsley
Part1 :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/podcast-16-gene-billingsley-part-1-of-2?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Part 2:-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/part-2-of-podcast-16-gene-billingsley-of-gmt-games-part-2-of-2?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Note: Gene Billingsley is the editor of GMT Games

Volko-Ruhnke :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/harold-on-games-podcast-1-with-volko-ruhnke?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Brian Train :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/harold-on-games-podcast-12-with-brian-train?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Note: Brian Train and Volko-Ruhnke are the Designers/Authors of " Distant Plain"

Bruce Mansfield and Mike Bertucelli :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/bruce-ts-interview-final?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Ananda Gupta :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/ananda-final?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Mark Herman :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/podcast-14-mark-herman?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Jeff Grossman :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/podcast-15-jeff-grossman?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

Morgane Gouyou-Rety :-
https://soundcloud.com/harold-buchanan/podcast-17-morgane-gouyon-rety?utm_source=GMT+Games&utm_campaign=4983b50a86-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_20_10_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a53b26436f-4983b50a86-16020641

As of time of posting I had not as yet listened to them, but this post is my back catalogue of Podcasts I want to listen to!