Board wargame
Encyclopedia
A board wargame is a wargame
with a set playing surface or board
, as opposed to being played on a computer, or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The hobby around this type of game got its start in 1954
with the publication of Tactics
, and saw its greatest popularity in the mid- to late 1970s. Despite the decline in popularity, there are still a number of game publishers and gaming convention
s dedicated to the hobby today.
In the United States
, board wargames were popularized in the early 1970s and is often what is meant when 'wargaming' is mentioned (and this article, for simplicity, will often omit the qualifying word 'board'). Elsewhere, notably Great Britain
, which arguably originated the miniatures wargaming hobby, they never gained as much traction and have remained a minor part of the larger hobby. The genre
is still known for a number of common conventions (or game mechanics) that were developed early on, but are not part of the definition of a wargame, and other styles have gained popularity since.
The early history of board wargaming was dominated by Avalon Hill
, even though other companies, such as SPI, have left their own permanent marks on the industry. With the purchase of Avalon Hill by Hasbro
in 1998
, many wargamers long for 'the old Avalon Hill', and no one company is identified with the hobby as a whole.
. Some are fundamentally simple (often called "beer-and-pretzel games") whereas others attempt to simulate a high level of historical realism ("consim"—short for 'conflict simulation'). These two trends are also at the heart of long-running debates about "realism vs. playability." Because of the subject matter, games considered 'simple' by wargamers can be considered 'complex' to non-wargamers, especially if they have never run into some of the concepts that most wargames share, and often assume some familiarity with.
Wargames are best considered as a representational
art form. Generally, this is of a fairly concrete historical subject (such as the Battle of Gettysburg
, one of several popular topics in the genre), but it can also be extended to non-historical ones as well. The Cold War
provided fuel for many games that attempted to show what a non-nuclear (or, in a very few cases, nuclear) World War III
would be like, moving from a re-creation to a predictive model in the process. Fantasy
and science fiction
subjects are sometimes not considered wargames because there is nothing in the real world to model, however, conflict in a self-consistent fictional world lends itself to exactly the same types of games and game designs as does military history.
While there is no direct correlation, the more serious wargames tend towards more complex rules with possibilities for more calculation and computation of odds, more exceptions (generally to reproduce unique historical circumstances), more available courses of action, and more detail or "chrome". The extreme end of this tendency are considered "monster games", which typically consist of a large subject represented on small scale. A good example of this would be Terrible Swift Sword, which tracks individual regiment
s in the Battle of Gettysburg, instead of the more common scale of brigade
s. These games typically have a combined playing surface (using several map sheets) larger than most tables, and thousands of counter
s.
Wargames tend to have a few fundamental problems. Notably, both player knowledge, and player action are much less limited than what would be available to the player's real-life counterparts. Some games have rules for command and control
and fog of war
, using various methods. These mechanisms can be cumbersome and onerous, and often increase player frustration. However, there are some common solutions, such as employed by block wargame
s, which can simulate fog of war conditions in relatively playable ways.
in 1953. The game, Tactics
, was published by Roberts as "The Avalon Game Company" in 1954 and broke even, selling around 2,000 copies. These sales convinced Roberts that there was a market for intelligent, thoughtful, games for adults. Four years later, he decided to make a serious effort at a game company. Finding a conflict with another local company, he changed the name of the company to The Avalon Hill Game Company.
, the first board game designed to simulate a historical battle.
Avalon Hill was subject to a number of bad economic forces around 1961, and quickly ran up a large debt. In 1963 Avalon Hill was sold to the Monarch Avalon Printing company to settle the debts. The new owners resolved to let the company continue to do what it had been doing, and while Roberts left, his friend, Tom Shaw, who already worked at the company, took over. The sale turned out to be an advantage, as being owned by a printing company helped insure that Avalon Hill games had access to superior physical components.
Roberts had been considering producing a newsletter for his new company. Under the new management, this became the Avalon Hill General
in 1964, a house organ
that ran for 32 years.
Avalon Hill had a very conservative publishing schedule, typically about two titles a year, and wargames were only about half their line.
, a number of small magazines dedicated to the hobby were springing up, along with new game companies. Many of these were not available in any store, being spread by 'word of mouth' and advertisements in other magazines.
The eventual "break-out" into a larger public was accomplished by the magazine Strategy & Tactics
. It was started in 1966, as a typical "hobby zine
", and despite some popularity soon threatened to go under. However, Jim Dunnigan
bought the ailing magazine, and restructured his own company (then known as Poultron Press) to publish it, creating Simulations Publications, Inc.
(SPI). An aggressive advertising campaign, and a new policy of including a new game in every issue, allowed S&T to find a much larger market, and SPI to become a company known to all wargamers as having a line of games that surpassed Avalon Hill's (at least, in numbers—arguments about quality raged).
This caused a tremendous rise in the popularity of wargaming in the early 1970s. The market grew at a fast pace, and if anything the number of wargaming companies grew at an even faster pace. As with any business, most of these were created, produced a few products, and quietly failed, leaving little more than a footnote in the history of the industry. Two of these new companies would each last for about two decades and became well known in just a few years: Game Designers' Workshop
(GDW), and Tactical Studies Rules
(TSR).
Started in 1973
by Frank Chadwick
, Rich Banner
, Marc Miller, and Loren Wiseman
, GDW's first game, Drang Nach Osten!, immediately garnered attention and led to the Europa
series. They quickly followed this with other games, which also got favorable reviews. It has been estimated that GDW published one new product every 22 days for the 22 year life of the company (to be fair, this would include magazines and supplements, not just complete games).
TSR was started in 1973 by Gary Gygax
and Don Kaye
as a way to publish the miniature rules developed by the Tactical Studies wargaming club (thus, Tactical Studies Rules). While TSR produced several sets of miniature rules, and a few boardgames, it became much better known as the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons
in 1974
. The first role-playing game
, it sparked a new phenomenon that would later grow much bigger than its parent hobby.
of Wargaming', with a large number of new companies publishing an even larger number of games throughout, powered by an explosive rise in the number of people playing wargames. Wargames also diversified in subject, with early science-fiction wargames appearing in 1974
, and in size with both microgame
s and monster games first appearing during the decade.
Designer Steve Jackson
produced several celebrated games for Metagaming Concepts
and then founded his own company, Steve Jackson Games
in 1980
, which is still active today (albeit mostly as an RPG company). Task Force Games
was founded in 1979
by former staff of JagdPanther and lived into the 1990s, and its most popular game, Star Fleet Battles
is still in print. Squad Leader
, often cited as the highest selling wargame ever, was published in 1977
.
. From 1975 to 1981 SPI reported $2 million in sales—steady dollar volume during a time when inflation was in double-digits. At the same time, the attempt to go from a mail-order business to wholesale caused a cash crunch by delaying payments. By 1982 SPI was in financial trouble and eventually secured a loan from TSR to help it meet payroll. TSR soon asked for the money back, and SPI had to agree to be taken over by TSR. As a secured creditor
, they had first opportunity at SPI's assets. However, they refused to take over SPI's liabilities. TSR then refused to honor existing subscriptions to SPIs three magazines, which TSR took over, in addition to nearly the entire existing line of SPI's games. Largely as a result of this, Strategy & Tactics circulation shrank from its high mark of 36,000 in 1980, until TSR sold it off to World Wide Wargames (3W) in 1986, where its circulation continued to shrink to a low 10,000 in 1990.
Meanwhile, most of the existing staff left SPI, and negotiated a deal with Avalon Hill. Avalon Hill formed a subsidiary company, Victory Games, staffed by the former SPI employees. Victory Games was allowed to publish pretty much what they wanted, and produced many commercially and critically successful wargames. However, there were no new hires to replace departing personnel, and the company slowly died a death of neglect in the 1990s.
If this was not the start of a bust that affected board wargaming through the 1980s and beyond, then it was the first symptom. This period is marked by a decrease in the number of wargamers, and lack of new companies with commercial viability while the larger companies experiment with ways to sell more games in a shrinking market.
started the Gamemaster
line of mass-appeal wargames in 1984
. With the financial backing of a company much larger than any in the wargame business, the Gamemaster games had excellent production quality, with mounted full-color boards (something that only Avalon Hill could regularly do), and plenty of small plastic miniatures as game pieces. The games were generally simple, by wargaming standards, but very playable and successful. The first game of the line, Axis and Allies
, is still in print today, and has spawned a number of spinoff titles.
While the wargaming business continued to be poor, new companies continued to be formed. GMT Games
, one of the most respected names in wargaming today, got started in 1991.
However, the popularity of role-playing games, computer games
, and, finally, collectible card games continued to draw in new players. These attracted the same sort of players that had gravitated to wargames before, which led to a declining, and aging, population in the hobby. The continued marginal sales of wargames took its toll on the older companies. Game Designers' Workshop went out of business in 1996
. Task Force Games went bankrupt in 1999
.
Finally, in 1998
Avalon Hill itself was sold to Hasbro
. While it might have been possible for Hasbro to revitalize the company and wargaming with its distribution chain and marketing clout, it was shown that Hasbro had no interest in this with the immediate laying off of the entire AH staff and the closure of its web site. Combined with Wizards of the Coast
's acquisition of TSR the year before, and their acquisition by Hasbro the year after, what is sometimes called the "adventure gaming market" was going through a profound shakeup.
Hasbro has kept the Avalon Hill name as a brand, and republished a few of its extensive back catalog of games, as well as released new ones, and moved the remnant of the Gamemaster series (Axis and Allies) from Milton Bradley to Avalon Hill. While A&A is the only wargame offered by the "new" Avalon Hill, several of AH's wargames have been reprinted by other companies, starting with Multi-Man Publishing
's license for the rights to Advanced Squad Leader
.
This is made more difficult by a lack of hard figures from the publishers. The Complete Wargames Handbook shows sales of wargames (historical only) peaking in 1980 at 2.2 million, and tapering off to 400,000 in 1991. It also estimates a peak of about a few hundred thousand (again, historical) board wargamers in the U.S. in 1980, with about as many more in the rest of the world; the estimate for 1991 is about 100,000 total.
Another estimate puts the current number of board wargamers in the 15,000 range (this is limited to people purchasing games, which leaves some room for groups with one person who buys the games, or people who stick to older titles—who do exist, but are cold comfort for publishers). During 2006, several publishers reported that sales were up, but this could remain a short-term bump in sales.
(which, ironically, used a square grid; hexes were a slightly later innovation), and is still used in many wargames today.
In its most typical form, a hex-and-counter wargame has a map with a hexagonal grid imposed over it, units are represented with cardboard counters that commonly have a unit type and designation as well as numerical combat and movement factors. Players take turns moving and conducting attacks. Combat is typically resolved with an odds-based combat results table
(CRT) using a six sided die.
The defining aspect of this type of game is the use of wooden blocks for the units. These are tilted on their side normally, and then put down for combat. Until combat occurs, the opponent can see how many units are where, but not what type and what strength, introducing fog of war
aspects. The blocks are also rotated to show different strength values in a step-reduction system.
published by Avalon Hill in 1994
. In most aspects it is much like a typical board wargame (on the simpler side of the spectrum), but play is driven by a deck of cards that both players draw from. These cards control activation points, which allow the use of troops, as well as events that represent things outside the normal scope of the game.
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
with a set playing surface or board
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, as opposed to being played on a computer, or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The hobby around this type of game got its start in 1954
1950s in games
-Significant games-related events in the 1950s:*Avalon Hill Game Company founded by Charles S. Roberts to publish the first board wargame, Tactics. For many years Avalon Hill was a dominant maker of wargames....
with the publication of Tactics
Tactics (game)
Tactics is generally credited as being the first board wargame. It was designed by Charles S. Roberts in 1952, and self-published in 1954 under the company name of The Avalon Game Company...
, and saw its greatest popularity in the mid- to late 1970s. Despite the decline in popularity, there are still a number of game publishers and gaming convention
Gaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
s dedicated to the hobby today.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, board wargames were popularized in the early 1970s and is often what is meant when 'wargaming' is mentioned (and this article, for simplicity, will often omit the qualifying word 'board'). Elsewhere, notably Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, which arguably originated the miniatures wargaming hobby, they never gained as much traction and have remained a minor part of the larger hobby. The genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
is still known for a number of common conventions (or game mechanics) that were developed early on, but are not part of the definition of a wargame, and other styles have gained popularity since.
The early history of board wargaming was dominated by Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
, even though other companies, such as SPI, have left their own permanent marks on the industry. With the purchase of Avalon Hill by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
in 1998
1998 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1998. For video and console games, see 1998 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1998:* Spiel des Jahres: Elfenland - Alan R...
, many wargamers long for 'the old Avalon Hill', and no one company is identified with the hobby as a whole.
Overview
Like all games, wargames exist in a range of complexitiesGame complexity
Combinatorial game theory has several ways of measuring game complexity. This article describes five of them: state-space complexity, game tree size, decision complexity, game-tree complexity, and computational complexity.-Measures of game complexity:...
. Some are fundamentally simple (often called "beer-and-pretzel games") whereas others attempt to simulate a high level of historical realism ("consim"—short for 'conflict simulation'). These two trends are also at the heart of long-running debates about "realism vs. playability." Because of the subject matter, games considered 'simple' by wargamers can be considered 'complex' to non-wargamers, especially if they have never run into some of the concepts that most wargames share, and often assume some familiarity with.
Wargames are best considered as a representational
Representation (arts)
Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through the act of naming its elements...
art form. Generally, this is of a fairly concrete historical subject (such as the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
, one of several popular topics in the genre), but it can also be extended to non-historical ones as well. The Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
provided fuel for many games that attempted to show what a non-nuclear (or, in a very few cases, nuclear) World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
would be like, moving from a re-creation to a predictive model in the process. Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
subjects are sometimes not considered wargames because there is nothing in the real world to model, however, conflict in a self-consistent fictional world lends itself to exactly the same types of games and game designs as does military history.
While there is no direct correlation, the more serious wargames tend towards more complex rules with possibilities for more calculation and computation of odds, more exceptions (generally to reproduce unique historical circumstances), more available courses of action, and more detail or "chrome". The extreme end of this tendency are considered "monster games", which typically consist of a large subject represented on small scale. A good example of this would be Terrible Swift Sword, which tracks individual regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
s in the Battle of Gettysburg, instead of the more common scale of brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s. These games typically have a combined playing surface (using several map sheets) larger than most tables, and thousands of counter
Counter (board wargames)
Boardgame counters are usually small cardboard squares moved around on the map of a wargame to represent armies, military units or individual military personnel. The first modern mass-market wargame, based on cardboard counters and hex-board maps, was Tactics, invented by Charles S. Roberts in 1952...
s.
Wargames tend to have a few fundamental problems. Notably, both player knowledge, and player action are much less limited than what would be available to the player's real-life counterparts. Some games have rules for command and control
Command and Control (military)
Command and control, or C2, in a military organization can be defined as the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commanding officer over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission...
and fog of war
Fog of war
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign...
, using various methods. These mechanisms can be cumbersome and onerous, and often increase player frustration. However, there are some common solutions, such as employed by block wargame
Block wargame
A block wargame is a board wargame that represents military units using wooden blocks instead of cardboard counters or metal/plastic miniatures. These blocks are typically square, have a labeled and an unlabeled side, and are generally thick enough that they can be placed on their side with the...
s, which can simulate fog of war conditions in relatively playable ways.
History
The first modern mass-market wargame, presented as a board game, was designed by Charles S. RobertsCharles S. Roberts
Charles Swann Roberts was a wargame designer, railroad historian, and businessman. He is renowned as "The Father of Board Wargaming", having created the first modern wargame in 1952, and the first wargaming company in 1954...
in 1953. The game, Tactics
Tactics (game)
Tactics is generally credited as being the first board wargame. It was designed by Charles S. Roberts in 1952, and self-published in 1954 under the company name of The Avalon Game Company...
, was published by Roberts as "The Avalon Game Company" in 1954 and broke even, selling around 2,000 copies. These sales convinced Roberts that there was a market for intelligent, thoughtful, games for adults. Four years later, he decided to make a serious effort at a game company. Finding a conflict with another local company, he changed the name of the company to The Avalon Hill Game Company.
Avalon Hill
The beginning of the board wargaming industry is generally tied to the name "Avalon Hill" and the publication of Tactics II in 1958, along with GettysburgGettysburg (game)
Gettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. It was originally published in 1958, and was the first board wargame based on a historical battle....
, the first board game designed to simulate a historical battle.
Avalon Hill was subject to a number of bad economic forces around 1961, and quickly ran up a large debt. In 1963 Avalon Hill was sold to the Monarch Avalon Printing company to settle the debts. The new owners resolved to let the company continue to do what it had been doing, and while Roberts left, his friend, Tom Shaw, who already worked at the company, took over. The sale turned out to be an advantage, as being owned by a printing company helped insure that Avalon Hill games had access to superior physical components.
Roberts had been considering producing a newsletter for his new company. Under the new management, this became the Avalon Hill General
The General Magazine
The General Magazine was first published in 1964, as a bi-monthly periodical devoted to supporting Avalon Hill's line of wargames, with articles on game tactics, history, and industry news...
in 1964, a house organ
House organ
A house organ is a magazine or periodical published by a company for its customers or its employees...
that ran for 32 years.
Avalon Hill had a very conservative publishing schedule, typically about two titles a year, and wargames were only about half their line.
Serious competition: SPI & GDW
This type of situation indicated a large amount of pent-up demand, and a situation that could not remain static for long. By the end of the 1960s1960s in games
This page lists board games, card games, and wargames published in the 1960s.-Significant games-related events in the 1960s:* Parker Brothers is bought by General Mills ....
, a number of small magazines dedicated to the hobby were springing up, along with new game companies. Many of these were not available in any store, being spread by 'word of mouth' and advertisements in other magazines.
The eventual "break-out" into a larger public was accomplished by the magazine Strategy & Tactics
Strategy & Tactics
Strategy & Tactics is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue...
. It was started in 1966, as a typical "hobby zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
", and despite some popularity soon threatened to go under. However, Jim Dunnigan
Jim Dunnigan
James F. Dunnigan is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City, notable for his matter-of-fact approach to military analysis.-Career:...
bought the ailing magazine, and restructured his own company (then known as Poultron Press) to publish it, creating Simulations Publications, Inc.
Simulations Publications
Simulations Publications, Inc. was an influential American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s...
(SPI). An aggressive advertising campaign, and a new policy of including a new game in every issue, allowed S&T to find a much larger market, and SPI to become a company known to all wargamers as having a line of games that surpassed Avalon Hill's (at least, in numbers—arguments about quality raged).
This caused a tremendous rise in the popularity of wargaming in the early 1970s. The market grew at a fast pace, and if anything the number of wargaming companies grew at an even faster pace. As with any business, most of these were created, produced a few products, and quietly failed, leaving little more than a footnote in the history of the industry. Two of these new companies would each last for about two decades and became well known in just a few years: Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop
Game Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
(GDW), and Tactical Studies Rules
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
(TSR).
Started in 1973
1973 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, and miniatures games published in 1973. For video and console games, see 1973 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1973:*Game Designers' Workshop founded....
by Frank Chadwick
Frank Chadwick
Frank Chadwick is a multiple-award–winning game designer and New York Times Best Selling author.-Beginnings:Frank Chadwick, along with Rich Banner and Marc Miller, were members of the Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal Games Club. They used their club funding to design war games...
, Rich Banner
Rich Banner
Paul Richard "Rich" Banner is an award-winning game designer and graphic artist.-Beginnings:Rich Banner and Frank Chadwick, along with Marc Miller, were members of the Illinois State University Games Club...
, Marc Miller, and Loren Wiseman
Loren Wiseman
Loren Wiseman is an award-winning wargame and role-playing game designer, game developer, and editor.-Game Designers' Workshop:Loren Wiseman published Eagles , his first wargame, through Game Designers’ Workshop in 1974...
, GDW's first game, Drang Nach Osten!, immediately garnered attention and led to the Europa
Europa (wargame)
Europa is a series of board wargames planned to cover combat over the entire European Theater of World War II at a scale that represents units as divisions and game turns that represent two weeks of time. The series was launched in 1973, and is still in production as of 2005, with over a dozen...
series. They quickly followed this with other games, which also got favorable reviews. It has been estimated that GDW published one new product every 22 days for the 22 year life of the company (to be fair, this would include magazines and supplements, not just complete games).
TSR was started in 1973 by Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
and Don Kaye
Don Kaye
Donald R. Kaye , co-founder of TSR, Inc., was the childhood friend of Gary Gygax, and shared an interest in war games and tabletop miniatures with him during their youth...
as a way to publish the miniature rules developed by the Tactical Studies wargaming club (thus, Tactical Studies Rules). While TSR produced several sets of miniature rules, and a few boardgames, it became much better known as the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
in 1974
1974 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1974. For video and console games, see 1974 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1974:...
. The first role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
, it sparked a new phenomenon that would later grow much bigger than its parent hobby.
Boom: Task Force Games, Steve Jackson, et al....
The period 1975-1980 can be considered the 'Golden AgeGolden Age (metaphor)
A golden age is a period in a field of endeavour when great tasks were accomplished. The term originated from early Greek and Roman poets who used to refer to a time when mankind lived in a better time and was pure .-Golden Age in society:...
of Wargaming', with a large number of new companies publishing an even larger number of games throughout, powered by an explosive rise in the number of people playing wargames. Wargames also diversified in subject, with early science-fiction wargames appearing in 1974
1974 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1974. For video and console games, see 1974 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1974:...
, and in size with both microgame
Microgame
A microgame is a board game or wargame packaged in a small set. Microgames enjoyed popularity during the 1980s...
s and monster games first appearing during the decade.
Designer Steve Jackson
Steve Jackson (US)
Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...
produced several celebrated games for Metagaming Concepts
Metagaming Concepts
Metagaming Concepts was a publisher of board games from 1975 to 1983 owned by Howard Thompson. Metagaming created and popularized the microgame format. It specialized in science fiction wargames; titles included Ogre, G.E.V., Godsfire, Stellar Conquest and WarpWar...
and then founded his own company, Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
in 1980
1980 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1980. For video and console games, see 1980 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1980:...
, which is still active today (albeit mostly as an RPG company). Task Force Games
Task Force Games
Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen Cole. Mr. Cole left the company in the early 1980's, but continued to design the company's best selling Star Fleet Battles game. Mr. Eldridge sold the company to New World Computing in 1988...
was founded in 1979
1979 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1979. For video and console games, see 1979 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1979:...
by former staff of JagdPanther and lived into the 1990s, and its most popular game, Star Fleet Battles
Star Fleet Battles
Star Fleet Battles is a tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the Star Trek setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole,...
is still in print. Squad Leader
Squad Leader
thumb|Squad Leader game package.Squad Leader is a tactical level board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by Hall of Fame game designer John Hill and focuses on infantry combat in Europe during World War II...
, often cited as the highest selling wargame ever, was published in 1977
1977 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1977. For video and console games, see 1977 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events of 1977:...
.
Crash: The Death of SPI
The boom came to an end, and was followed by the usual bust, at the beginning of the 1980s, most markedly with the acquisition of SPI by TSR in 19821982 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1982. For video and console games, see 1982 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1982:...
. From 1975 to 1981 SPI reported $2 million in sales—steady dollar volume during a time when inflation was in double-digits. At the same time, the attempt to go from a mail-order business to wholesale caused a cash crunch by delaying payments. By 1982 SPI was in financial trouble and eventually secured a loan from TSR to help it meet payroll. TSR soon asked for the money back, and SPI had to agree to be taken over by TSR. As a secured creditor
Secured creditor
A secured creditor is a creditor with the benefit of a security interest over some or all of the assets of the debtor.In the event of the bankruptcy of the debtor, the secured creditor can enforce security against the assets of the debtor and avoid competing for a distribution on liquidation with...
, they had first opportunity at SPI's assets. However, they refused to take over SPI's liabilities. TSR then refused to honor existing subscriptions to SPIs three magazines, which TSR took over, in addition to nearly the entire existing line of SPI's games. Largely as a result of this, Strategy & Tactics circulation shrank from its high mark of 36,000 in 1980, until TSR sold it off to World Wide Wargames (3W) in 1986, where its circulation continued to shrink to a low 10,000 in 1990.
Meanwhile, most of the existing staff left SPI, and negotiated a deal with Avalon Hill. Avalon Hill formed a subsidiary company, Victory Games, staffed by the former SPI employees. Victory Games was allowed to publish pretty much what they wanted, and produced many commercially and critically successful wargames. However, there were no new hires to replace departing personnel, and the company slowly died a death of neglect in the 1990s.
If this was not the start of a bust that affected board wargaming through the 1980s and beyond, then it was the first symptom. This period is marked by a decrease in the number of wargamers, and lack of new companies with commercial viability while the larger companies experiment with ways to sell more games in a shrinking market.
Malaise
While TSR tried to leverage its line of existing SPI property, Milton BradleyMilton Bradley Company
The Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States, and in 1987, it purchased Selchow and Righter,...
started the Gamemaster
Gamemaster (board game series)
The Gamemaster Series of board games consists of five war simulation games created by the game company Milton Bradley, beginning in 1984 with the introduction of the popular Axis & Allies board game...
line of mass-appeal wargames in 1984
1984 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1984. For video and console games, see 1984 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1984:...
. With the financial backing of a company much larger than any in the wargame business, the Gamemaster games had excellent production quality, with mounted full-color boards (something that only Avalon Hill could regularly do), and plenty of small plastic miniatures as game pieces. The games were generally simple, by wargaming standards, but very playable and successful. The first game of the line, Axis and Allies
Axis and Allies
Axis & Allies is a popular series of World War II strategy board games, with nearly two million copies printed. Originally designed by Larry Harris and published by Nova Game Designs in 1981, the game was republished by the Milton Bradley Company in 1984 as part of the Gamemaster Series of board...
, is still in print today, and has spawned a number of spinoff titles.
While the wargaming business continued to be poor, new companies continued to be formed. GMT Games
GMT Games
GMT Games, probably the most prolific of the wargame companies in the 1990s and 2000s, was founded in 1990. The current management and creative team includes Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, Mark Simonitch, and Andy Lewis...
, one of the most respected names in wargaming today, got started in 1991.
However, the popularity of role-playing games, computer games
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
, and, finally, collectible card games continued to draw in new players. These attracted the same sort of players that had gravitated to wargames before, which led to a declining, and aging, population in the hobby. The continued marginal sales of wargames took its toll on the older companies. Game Designers' Workshop went out of business in 1996
1996 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1996. For video and console games, see 1996 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1996:*Origins Awards :...
. Task Force Games went bankrupt in 1999
1999 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1999. For video and console games, see 1999 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1999:...
.
Finally, in 1998
1998 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1998. For video and console games, see 1998 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1998:* Spiel des Jahres: Elfenland - Alan R...
Avalon Hill itself was sold to Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
. While it might have been possible for Hasbro to revitalize the company and wargaming with its distribution chain and marketing clout, it was shown that Hasbro had no interest in this with the immediate laying off of the entire AH staff and the closure of its web site. Combined with Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
's acquisition of TSR the year before, and their acquisition by Hasbro the year after, what is sometimes called the "adventure gaming market" was going through a profound shakeup.
Hasbro has kept the Avalon Hill name as a brand, and republished a few of its extensive back catalog of games, as well as released new ones, and moved the remnant of the Gamemaster series (Axis and Allies) from Milton Bradley to Avalon Hill. While A&A is the only wargame offered by the "new" Avalon Hill, several of AH's wargames have been reprinted by other companies, starting with Multi-Man Publishing
Multi-Man Publishing
Multi-Man Publishing, LLC is a game company formed by baseball player Curt Schilling and his partners to keep the game series Advanced Squad Leader in print. MMP operates some of the former Avalon Hill games under license from Hasbro, Inc...
's license for the rights to Advanced Squad Leader
Advanced Squad Leader
Advanced Squad Leader is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of approximately company or battalion size in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players . Components include the ASL Rulebook and various games called...
.
Current
Despite the long-term malaise of the board wargaming industry, it does continue and shows no sign of shutting down completely in the foreseeable future. It can even be argued that the hobby is doing better now than for the past two decades.This is made more difficult by a lack of hard figures from the publishers. The Complete Wargames Handbook shows sales of wargames (historical only) peaking in 1980 at 2.2 million, and tapering off to 400,000 in 1991. It also estimates a peak of about a few hundred thousand (again, historical) board wargamers in the U.S. in 1980, with about as many more in the rest of the world; the estimate for 1991 is about 100,000 total.
Another estimate puts the current number of board wargamers in the 15,000 range (this is limited to people purchasing games, which leaves some room for groups with one person who buys the games, or people who stick to older titles—who do exist, but are cold comfort for publishers). During 2006, several publishers reported that sales were up, but this could remain a short-term bump in sales.
Styles
The actual subject matter of wargames is broad, and many approaches have been taken over the years towards the goals of simulating wars on a grand or personal scale. Some of the more popular movements constitute established sub-genres of their own that most wargamers will recognize.Hex-and-counter
The oldest of the sub-genres, and the one that still retains "iconic" status for board wargaming as a whole. It got its start with the first board wargame, TacticsTactics (game)
Tactics is generally credited as being the first board wargame. It was designed by Charles S. Roberts in 1952, and self-published in 1954 under the company name of The Avalon Game Company...
(which, ironically, used a square grid; hexes were a slightly later innovation), and is still used in many wargames today.
In its most typical form, a hex-and-counter wargame has a map with a hexagonal grid imposed over it, units are represented with cardboard counters that commonly have a unit type and designation as well as numerical combat and movement factors. Players take turns moving and conducting attacks. Combat is typically resolved with an odds-based combat results table
Combat results table
A Combat results table or a CRT is used in wargaming to determine the outcome of a clash between individual units within a larger battle....
(CRT) using a six sided die.
Block game
This sub-genre was created in the early 1970s, when Gamma Two Games produced the three initial games of this type. It has long been the province of Gama Two and its successor, Columbia Games, but recently other companies have been putting out games of the same type.The defining aspect of this type of game is the use of wooden blocks for the units. These are tilted on their side normally, and then put down for combat. Until combat occurs, the opponent can see how many units are where, but not what type and what strength, introducing fog of war
Fog of war
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign...
aspects. The blocks are also rotated to show different strength values in a step-reduction system.
Card-driven
The most recent of the major types of board wargame, it was created by the game We the PeopleWe the People (game)
We the People is a board wargame about the American Revolution, published by Avalon Hill in 1994 and designed by Mark Herman. It was one of the first card-driven wargames, a style that has since become very influential in current wargame design....
published by Avalon Hill in 1994
1994 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1994. For video and console games, see 1994 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events in 1994:...
. In most aspects it is much like a typical board wargame (on the simpler side of the spectrum), but play is driven by a deck of cards that both players draw from. These cards control activation points, which allow the use of troops, as well as events that represent things outside the normal scope of the game.
See also
- Simulation game
- Naval wargamingNaval wargamingNaval wargaming is a branch of the wider hobby of miniature wargaming. Generally less popular than wargames set on land, naval wargaming nevertheless enjoys a degree of support around the world...
- Air wargamingAir wargamingAir wargaming, like naval wargaming, is a niche specialism within the wider miniatures wargaming hobby. Due to the relatively short time over which aerial combat has developed air wargaming periods tend to break down into three broad periods:...
- Tactical wargameTactical wargameTactical wargames are a type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry...
- List of wargame publishers
- List of board wargames
- International Wargames FederationInternational Wargames FederationThe International Wargames Federation, which was founded by the Derby Wargames Club and Mind Sports South Africa in 1991. It is the international controlling body for historical miniatures games other types of wargames and promotes all wargames on a worldwide level.As a result of the International...
- Game Manufacturers AssociationGame Manufacturers AssociationThe Game Manufacturers Association is a non-profit trade association based in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to the advancement of the non-electronic social games industry - Board/Tabletop Games, Miniatures Games, Card Games, Collectable/Tradeable Card Games, Role-Playing Games, and Live-Action Role...
- Origins Game Fair
External links
- ConsimWorld.com Wargame news and discussion site
- The Wargamer War & strategy games website, tabletop, miniature, and computer
- Web-Grognards Has a listing of most every game and publisher, usually with reviews, extra scenarios, after action reports, etc
- Board Game Players Association Noncommercial group manages the Avaloncon convention and other board wargame events
- Point2Point Wargaming podcast