Guidon Games produced board games and rulebooks for wargaming

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 miniatures

Miniature wargaming

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...

, and in doing so influenced Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR, Inc.

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....

), 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...

. The Guidon Games publishing imprint was the property of Lowry's Hobbies (later Lowry Enterprises), a mail-order business owned by Don and Julie Lowry

Don Lowry

Don Lowry is a wargamer, businessman, illustrator, and game designer who is best known as the publisher of Chainmail and the editor of Panzerfaust Magazine....

. About 15 titles were released under the imprint from 1971 to 1973.

History

By the late 1960s the miniature wargaming hobby had grown large enough that there was a demand for rulebooks dedicated to a single historical period. Don Featherstone

Donald Featherstone (wargamer)

Donald F. Featherstone is a British author of more than forty books on wargaming and military history. He wrote classic texts on wargaming in the 1960s and 1970s....

 of the UK produced booklets for eight different periods in 1966. A few years later the Wargames Research Group

Wargames Research Group

The Wargames Research Group ' is a British publisher of rules and reference material for miniature wargaming. Founded in 1969 they were the premier publisher of tabletop rules during the seventies and eighties, publishing rules for periods ranging from ancient times to modern armoured warfare, and...

 began producing rulesets with an emphasis on historical accuracy.

With this trend in mind Lowry conceived the Wargaming with Miniatures series for which he recruited rulebook authors from the ranks of the International Federation of Wargamers

International Federation of Wargamers

The International Federation of Wargaming was founded by Gary Gygax, Bill Speer, and Scott Duncan in 1966. Originally named the United States Continental Army Command, the organization served as an umbrella for local wargaming clubs such as the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association and the...

. Through the IFW Lowry met 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....

, who served as series editor. Gygax began working for Guidon in 1970. Gygax also co-authored the first title in the series, Chainmail

Chainmail (game)

Chainmail is a medieval miniatures wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Gygax developed the game with fellow Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association member Perren, a hobby-shop owner with whom he had become friendly, and the game was first published in 1971...

, which became Guidon's best seller. Other notable titles in the series are Tractics

Tractics

Tractics is a set of rules for conducting World War II style combat with 1:285 scale micro armour miniatures. It was originally written to use 1/87 scale miniatures which were easily available at the time of its writing. Written by Mike Reese and Leon Tucker with contributions by Gary Gygax, the...

, the first published game to make use of the 20-sided die, and Don't Give Up The Ship!

Don't Give Up The Ship!

Don't Give Up the Ship! is a set of rules for conducting Napoleonic era naval wargames. The game was published by Guidon Games in 1972 and republished by TSR, Inc. in 1975. It was the first collaboration between Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons...

, the first collaboration between Gygax and Dave Arneson

Dave Arneson

David Lance "Dave" Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game , Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s...

, the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons.

Guidon also produced 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...

 style board wargames, as well as supplements designed to be used with existing Avalon Hill board games. Avalon Hill later republished Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great (board game)

Alexander the Great is a board wargame first published in 1971 by Guidon Games.Printed when board wargaming was relatively new, this game was designed by Gary Gygax...

, one of Guidon's stand-alone games, while TSR republished Fight in the Skies

Fight In The Skies

Fight In The Skies, also known as Dawn Patrol, is a board wargame written by Mike Carr which models World War I style air combat. Carr began working on the game after watching the movie The Blue Max....

.

Guidon was a small publisher, and print runs were never more than a few thousand. Lowry apparently failed to recognize the potential 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...

, prompting Gygax to found TSR

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....

. Gygax made the following recollection about the company in 2004:

Guidon Games had a game shop, sold gaming via the mail, published a magazine and likewise printed and sold military miniatures rulebooks and boxed board wargames. They were small but certainly a legitimate company.... I was paid for the work I did for them, yes. Unfortunately, sales volume did not make the income received thus sufficient to do more than supplement income from other work. I was asked to go to work for them full time. That would have required me to move to the state of Maine. Tom Wham did so, but I thought their new location was a poor choice. Furthermore, the company was not run in an aggressive and responsive manner. In my opinion there was no chance for growth and success as things stood and I said so to Guidon. Sadly, I was correct in my judgement.

Despite its brief existence, Guidon had a large influence on TSR and the nascent RPG industry. In addition to Gygax and Arneson, Lowry worked with Lou Zocchi

Lou Zocchi

Louis Zocchi, Sergeant, USAF , is a gaming hobbyist, former game distributor and publisher, and maker and seller of polyhedral game dice....

, Tom Wham

Tom Wham

Tom Wham is a designer of board games who has also produced artwork, including that for his own games.Wham worked a variety of odd jobs during his early adult life. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he worked for the Guidon Games hobby shop in Maine where he got his first game, a variant...

, and Mike Carr

Mike Carr (board game designer)

Mike Carr is a writer and game designer known for writing Fight in the Skies . He also co-authored Don't Give Up The Ship! with Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. Carr began wargaming with the International Federation of Wargamers as a teenager. At the invitation of Gygax, he joined TSR, Inc...

. TSR initially patterned itself on Guidon, publishing sets of wargaming rules such as Cavaliers and Roundheads

Cavaliers and Roundheads (game)

Cavaliers and Roundheads is a set of rules for English Civil War miniature wargaming. It was written by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren and published by Tactical Studies Rules in 1973. The unassuming booklet was the first product released by the company better known for Dungeons and Dragons...

in the same pamphlet format used by Guidon. TSR took over some of Guidon's titles in 1975.

In 1972 Lowry acquired Panzerfaust Magazine

Panzerfaust Magazine

Panzerfaust was a wargaming magazine started by Don Greenwood in 1967 and named after the German panzerfaust, a recoilless anti-tank weapon...

, and by 1973 he discontinued the Guidon Games label,
publishing instead under the name "Panzerfaust Publications".

Products

Wargaming with Miniatures Series

Title	Date	Authors	Product Code
Chainmail Chainmail (game) Chainmail is a medieval miniatures wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Gygax developed the game with fellow Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association member Perren, a hobby-shop owner with whom he had become friendly, and the game was first published in 1971...	1971	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....  & Jeff Perren	WM101
Tractics Tractics Tractics is a set of rules for conducting World War II style combat with 1:285 scale micro armour miniatures. It was originally written to use 1/87 scale miniatures which were easily available at the time of its writing. Written by Mike Reese and Leon Tucker with contributions by Gary Gygax, the...	1971	Mike Reese Mike Reese Mike Reese is a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He serves on the House Commerce and Children and Youth Committees.-Career:...  & Leon Tucker with 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....	WM102
Hardtack Hardtack (game) Hardtack is a set of rules for American Civil War miniature wargaming by Lou Zocchi. It was published as a thirty-page pamphlet by Guidon Games in 1971, with an introduction by Gary Gygax and artwork by Don Lowry....	1971	Lou Zocchi Lou Zocchi Louis Zocchi, Sergeant, USAF , is a gaming hobbyist, former game distributor and publisher, and maker and seller of polyhedral game dice....	WM103
Fast Rules Fast Rules (game) Fast Rules is a set rules for conducting table top wargames with H0 scale WWII miniatures. The rules were developed by Mike Reese and Leon Tucker and published as a 24 page pamphlet in 1970 by the Armored Operations Society, an affiliate of the IFW...	1972	Mike Reese Mike Reese Mike Reese is a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He serves on the House Commerce and Children and Youth Committees.-Career:...  & Leon Tucker	WM104
Don't Give Up The Ship! Don't Give Up The Ship! Don't Give Up the Ship! is a set of rules for conducting Napoleonic era naval wargames. The game was published by Guidon Games in 1972 and republished by TSR, Inc. in 1975. It was the first collaboration between Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons...	1972	Dave Arneson Dave Arneson David Lance "Dave" Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game , Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s...  & 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....  with Mike Carr Mike Carr (board game designer) Mike Carr is a writer and game designer known for writing Fight in the Skies . He also co-authored Don't Give Up The Ship! with Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. Carr began wargaming with the International Federation of Wargamers as a teenager. At the invitation of Gygax, he joined TSR, Inc...	WM105
Grosstaktik Grosstaktik Grosstaktik is a set of war game rules written by Leon Tucker for conducting eighteenth century battles. It was released by Guidon Games as part of the Wargaming in Miniatures series. Unlike other booklets in the series, it does not have the Guidon Games imprint on the cover or the title page...	1972	Leon Tucker	WM106
Ironclad Ironclad (game) Ironclad is a miniatures wargame written by Tom Wham and Don Lowry and published by Guidon Games in 1973. The rules simulate American Civil War naval combat such as the 1862 battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia....	1973	Tom Wham Tom Wham Tom Wham is a designer of board games who has also produced artwork, including that for his own games.Wham worked a variety of odd jobs during his early adult life. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he worked for the Guidon Games hobby shop in Maine where he got his first game, a variant...  & Don Lowry Don Lowry Don Lowry is a wargamer, businessman, illustrator, and game designer who is best known as the publisher of Chainmail and the editor of Panzerfaust Magazine....	WM107
Tricolor Tricolor (game) Tricolor is a rulebook for wargaming with Napoleonic miniatures. It was written by Rick Crane and published by TSR, Inc. in 1975 with interior artwork by Greg Bell. The rules require a six-sided die. 50 pages....
Rick Crane	unpublished

Board Games

Title	Date	Authors	Product Code
Alexander the Great Alexander the Great (board game) Alexander the Great is a board wargame first published in 1971 by Guidon Games.Printed when board wargaming was relatively new, this game was designed by Gary Gygax...	1971	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....	GG001
Dunkirk Dunkirk (board game) Dunkirk: The Battle of France is an out of print World War II board wargame simulating Operation Dynamo. It was designed by Gary Gygax and published by Guidon Games in 1971...	1971	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....	GG002
Fight in the Skies Fight In The Skies Fight In The Skies, also known as Dawn Patrol, is a board wargame written by Mike Carr which models World War I style air combat. Carr began working on the game after watching the movie The Blue Max....	1972	Mike Carr Mike Carr (board game designer) Mike Carr is a writer and game designer known for writing Fight in the Skies . He also co-authored Don't Give Up The Ship! with Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. Carr began wargaming with the International Federation of Wargamers as a teenager. At the invitation of Gygax, he joined TSR, Inc...	GG103
Atlanta Atlanta (board game) Atlanta Civil War Campaign Game is an American Civil War board wargame which simulates the Battle of Atlanta. It was published by Guidon Games in 1973. The game came boxed with a hex grid map and 240 counters....	1973	Don Lowry Don Lowry Don Lowry is a wargamer, businessman, illustrator, and game designer who is best known as the publisher of Chainmail and the editor of Panzerfaust Magazine....	GG201
Lankhmar Lankhmar Lankhmar is a fictional city in the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two anti-heroes....
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....	unpublished

Board Game Supplements

Title	Date	Authors	Game Supplemented	Product Code
Alexander's Other Battles	1972	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....	Alexander the Great Alexander the Great (board game) Alexander the Great is a board wargame first published in 1971 by Guidon Games.Printed when board wargaming was relatively new, this game was designed by Gary Gygax...	PG2
Wargamer's Guide to Afrika Korps	1972	Don Greenwood Don Greenwood Don Greenwood is a board game designer. He worked for Avalon Hill from 1972 to 1998 and has done work for GMT Games. He was editor of Panzerfaust Magazine from 1967 until 1972 and of The General Magazine from 1972 until 1982. He is the founder of the Origins, Avaloncon, and WBC gaming conventions...	Afrika Korps Afrika Korps (game) Afrika Korps is a two-player wargame published by the Avalon Hill Game Company in 1963 and then re-released in 1965 and 1977. Played on a mapboard depicting the northern coastline of Africa, the game follows Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and their Italian allies as they fought back-and-forth...	WG101
Wargamer's Guide to Battle of the Bulge	1972	Don Greenwood Don Greenwood Don Greenwood is a board game designer. He worked for Avalon Hill from 1972 to 1998 and has done work for GMT Games. He was editor of Panzerfaust Magazine from 1967 until 1972 and of The General Magazine from 1972 until 1982. He is the founder of the Origins, Avaloncon, and WBC gaming conventions...	Battle of the Bulge	WG102
Wargamer's Guide to Stalingrad	1972	Don Greenwood Don Greenwood Don Greenwood is a board game designer. He worked for Avalon Hill from 1972 to 1998 and has done work for GMT Games. He was editor of Panzerfaust Magazine from 1967 until 1972 and of The General Magazine from 1972 until 1982. He is the founder of the Origins, Avaloncon, and WBC gaming conventions...	Stalingrad

External links

• Acaeum Website Chainmail Page