A few months ago I promised to let you know how I got on with GMT's P500 scheme. This is a system they devised to mitigate the risk of producing a new game by collecting preorders which provide the cashflow they need to produce the game. It also provides a way for the punters to "vote" for the titles they want to see produced.

On 27 Febuary this year I use GMT's online order form to preorder The Napoleonic Wars and Barbarossa to Berlin. On 28 February I was charged $38 for The Napoleonic Wars plus $8 for surface shipping. (On 8 April another $35 plus $8 was charged for Barbarossa to Berlin, but that's another story that hasn't concluded yet.) A few weeks ago The Napoleonic Wars started shipping and my copy arrived, well packaged and in perfect condition, on 25th July. So they had my money for 5 months before I actually received the game, but it only cost me £34 including postage (compared with £43 from The Games Store for example) and I had the satisfaction of helping GMT produce this fine wargame.

I'm very happy with P500 so far, so much so that today I preordered two more hopefuls - Europe Engulfed and Blue vs Gray. And before anyone says anything, this obviously didn't break my game-buying moratorium as these were preorders stupid!