The Adrenaline Spike
Volume 1, Issue 1
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the official newsletter for DJ Burnett's ACGames
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News

GPC to be Released This Week!

After months of writing, playtesting, and rewriting, my WWII-era Miniature Ruleset  GPC  (full title withheld until it can be trademarked) is in the final stages of editing! I plan on producing a limited run of the 'Alpha Edition' (which will have slightly lower production values) this weekend. Free copies will be released on April 16th to the GPC playtesters as a token of my gratitude, and a limited number of copies will go on sale starting April 17th.

Due to the twitchy nature of editing and producing a rulebook, there's always the possibility of delays. I do not forsee any delay at this time, but in case of delay, the alternate dates are April 23 for release to my playtesters, and April 24 for putting GPC on the open market. 

GPC will be supported by articles and a question forum in this newsletter, as well as by future releases of supplements and expansions. However, no expansions are scheduled for release at this time so new GPC material, errata, clarifications, and FAQ's are available only through The Adrenaline Spike. Subscribe to this newsletter and stay current.

AC Games Website Coming Soon!

I am in the process of building an AC Games website. The site will feature Updates on current projects, bulletins and information on upcoming releases, details, support (in the form of articles, FAQ's, errata and clarifications, and so forth) for all released AC games (at this time only GPC will be supported on the site) as well as details and ordering information for all of my games.

The site will also feature the current issue of The Adrenaline Spike in html format for easy reading online, as well as downloadable copies of all back issues. 

GPC data file for Armybuilder in the works!

Army Builder, by Lone Wolf Development, is a program that takes the drudgery out of building your armies. It keeps track of points available and those already spent, and allows you to select units with a simple click of the mouse. When you're army is assembled, you can print out a roster sheet listing all your units. It works for any miniature wargame system. Though data files are not available for all systems (They are not produced by Lone Wolf Development, but the game companies or players), they are available for many major systems. More information on Army Builder appears in the Army Builder article later in this issue.

I am currently working on building an Official GPC data file for use with Army Builder. This file will be available as a free download on the AC games website. Once downloaded you simply import the file into Army Builder and you'll be amassing huge armies in minutes. Release of this file is tenatively scheduled for late May. Stay tuned to The Spike for updates and the release date.

Development of New Product to Begin!

I have started working on the basic rules for an as-yet-untitled live action medieval combat game. The game will be played live, similar to paintball, with foam-padded medieval weapons such as swords and maces. The rules will include protection in the form of armor and shields, and the finished game will include optional 'fantasy' rules for magic and special abilities.  Further information on the development and eventual release of these rules will appear in future issues of The Spike .

GPC

They're Green. They're Plastic. And They're Pissed.
Take toy soldier warfare to the next level.

GPCombat is a tabletop wargame played with miniatures (in this case, those green plastic toy soldiers available at any toy store for a very low price). To play you only need a few dice, a ruler, and the GPC rulebook.

 The game includes full rules for WWII-era troops, including all sorts of special units such as Snipers, Flamethrowers, Paratroops, and special forces Commandos. And just wait until your favorite unit of Riflemen stumble around a bend and come nose to nose with a Tank! Maybe they'll get lucky and a Jeep will come by to take them back to see the Medic. But don't get your hopes up, when the bullets start flying, expect the worst. 

The game includes rules for single battles as well as complete campaigns, in which your soldiers gain experience and become even more deadly after each battle they survive. 3 Sample scenarios are included in the rulebook, playable as single battle scenarios or as a mini-campaign.

The alpha version of the GPC rulebook is an approximately 30 page,  8 1/2 x 5 1/4, staple bound booklet. It features an extra set of charts at the back for easy reference, as well as extra vehicle record sheets (with my permission to photocopy for personal use of course) to keep track of damage to your tanks and jeeps. 

How much, you ask? That's the best part. The limited time price for the complete GPC  (Alpha Edition) rulebook is only $7 (price includes S&H). 

Let the Carnage Begin

The GPC alpha rulebook will be released early next week, but why wait? You can preorder GPC alpha right now!  The alpha print run will be limited, and it is uncertain when the next print run will start, so if you want a copy of GPC in your hands, the time to act is now! 

And that's not all! As a special bonus, anyone who buys the Alpha Edition rulebook will receive a voucher for 10% off of the more professionally produced Beta Edition (coming later this year), featuring new material and artwork. The 10% discount applies to shipping and handling as well!  Its very possible that the price will go up for the Beta Edition, so I'm looking out for those who support me now.

  Note: The discount is valid only if ordering GPC directly from DJ Burnett's AC  Games. I can't promise it'll be honored by other distributors who may carry the Beta Edition.

PRE-ORDER NOW!

Just send an email to kazashima@hotmail.com asking me to reserve a copy in your name, and mail a check or money order (in the amount of $7and payable to DJ Burnett)  to:	
				
			  		DJ Burnett
					PO Box 271
					Cranberry, PA 16319-0271

Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery

Get Armybuilder

Army Builder, as mentioned above, is a program from Lone Wolf Development that aids in building your armies for a miniature wargame, such as GPC. You set the number of points available for building your army, then you just click to add or remove units from your army. Then you can print out the army roster. Its very easy to use,  and a trial version is available as a free download from the Army Builder website at: 

http://www.wolflair.com/Army_Builder/army_builder.html . 

The Army Builder page also has links to pages with tons of Army Builder data files for many major rule systems. If you wish, you can also download the AB Creator program which allows you to create and edit your own data files for your own designs or for a game which no one has produced a data file for yet. Its a wonderful tool. I love this program and highly recommend it. 

The trial version available for free download will not allow you to add to an army whose value is already at 800 points. As most systems (including GPC) often use armies well over 800 points, I highly recommend purchasing the full version (ordering information is available at the Lone Wolf Development site). 

A GPC data file for Army Builder is in the works and will be available in the coming months. While it is not necessary for play, it speeds up the army building process and gets you into the action sooner. Try it, you'll love it.

A Special 'Thanks' to My GPC Playtesters

While most of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into GPC were my own, I also owe a great deal of gratitude to my playtesters. There were 3 besides myself for GPC and their contributions to the game were invaluable. 

Thank you Jay Roberts for taking the time to proofread the first draft and pointing out all the little things that didn't make sense, or just didn't work. Your help and advice were instrumental in creating the game as it is today. I couldn't have done this without you. 

Thank you Emily Burnett for helping me playtest the second draft, during which we discovered many rules that need added, expanded, clarified, or deleted. And even though my ego may have been bruised a little when you whooped me royally at my own game (literally), I still love ya.

Thank you Josh Bacher for helping me playtest the third draft, during which we discovered a few things that still needed fixed or added, and had a great deal of fun blowing the hell out of each others little green men.

By contributing their time and efforts, these 3 wonderful people helped me out a great deal in the creation of GPC. As a small token of my gratitude they will receive credit as playtesters in the printed rulebook, as well as a free copy of the game.

The Adrenaline Spike

The Adrenaline Spike is the official newsletter for DJ Burnett's AC Games, and as such, your only source for AC Games news, information, upcoming products, and rules updates/clarifications/errata. It will be issued on an irregular basis for now (i.e.-a new issue comes out whenever I get enough material to write one), with plans to issue it on a regular, bi-weekly schedule in the future. Its available in email form, as a Rich Text file, or by snail mail.

In the future I plan to include articles (including articles written by you, the players) and a questions forum where you can ask me questions about GPC or any other AC game and get answers. If you email me with a question I'll mail you the answer back and also include the Q and A in the next issue's forum to help out any others who may have the same question.

If there's enough interest the scope of The Adrenaline Spike may be expanded to include material for other game systems (meaning those not produced by AC games).

And here's the best part: You can get The Spike emailed to you directly, for free. That's right, this newsletter is produced as a service to you, the player of AC games. Just send an email requesting a subscription to The Adrenaline Spike at kazashima@hotmail.com, and all future issues will be sent to you. 

The Newsletter will be sent as an email by default, however if you wish to recieve your copy as an attached file in Rich Text Format, just ask and I'll be happy to do that for you. You can unsubscribe at any time simply by mailing me and telling me you wish to be taken off the mailing list. Its that simple.  

Any articles, questions, or suggestions on what you would like to see in future issues of The Spike should be mailed to kazashima@yahoo.com as well. If I print your article or question I'll put your name on there as the author, and I acquire first North American rights to the material. 

The Spike will also be available on the AC games website in the future, but even then you'll have the choice of having it conveinently delivered straight to your mailbox, and subscribers will get their issue at least a day earlier than it will be available on the website.

The Adrenaline Spike is also available as a photocopied hardcopy directly from me by snail mail, for those who don't have email access, or for whatever reason. There is a small charge for this, as I have to pay for the copies and postage. Until further notice, the charge for this service is $5 a year. 

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for subscriptions, ordering, submitting articles, or general questions
email me at 
kazashima@yahoo.com
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Thank you for your support. Issue 2 Coming Soon!

Copyright 2000 DJ Burnett