International Team was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 game company founded in the 1970s and active until the early 1980s. While the company started as a jigsaw puzzle

Jigsaw puzzle

A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...

 producer, it is mostly remembered as a wargame company, a business that IT approached in 1979, after game designer Marco Donadoni

Marco Donadoni

Marco Alberto Donadoni is an Italian game designer. He designed his first, self-produced wargame, Iliad, in 1977; he then joined the Italian company International Team , that at the time was mainly a jigsaw puzzle producer. IT published Iliad and changed its core business, focusing on the wargame...

 joined in. IT was the first Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 wargame company and its most successful games, such as Zargo's Lords

Zargo's Lords

Zargo's Lords, released in 1979, was one of the most popular war games released by the Italian company International Team . Designed by Marco Donadoni, the chief game designer at IT, Zargo's Lords was the first fantasy wargame to be produced in Italy, and was well received both in Italy and abroad...

, were instrumental in introducing the wargame culture in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. IT games were translated in other languages (mostly French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

) and exported abroad. At the peak of IT's popularity, foreign branches of the company were founded, such as International Team France (established in 1979).

Besides wargames, IT also published a few roleplaying games (such as Legio VII and Magikon) and ordinary board game

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...

s.

The company went bankrupt in 1988. Some of their assets were acquired by the French company Eurogames

Eurogames (game publisher)

Eurogames is a publisher of board games, founded in 1984 as Jeux Rexton to publish the man-to-man miniature combat game, Cry Havoc and its expansions. In 1988 Duccio Vitale expanded the company to begin publishing more board games, starting with six games purchased from the bankrupt Italian gaming...

, that later published a few games based on designs and materials by IT, such as Colonizer based on IT's Kroll & Prumni

Kroll & Prumni

Kroll & Prumni was the first wargame to be released by the Italian company International Team, in 1979. It is a hex map-based, science fiction-themed wargame, designed by Marco Donadoni, IT's chief designer, who also authored such IT best-sellers as Zargo's Lords. After IT went bankrupt in the late...

and Zargos based on Zargo's Lords.

Published games

Title	Year	Author	Languages	Description	Difficulty Lvl	Code
Attila	1981		Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Recreating the Hun invasion of the roman empire Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....	2	W114
Austerlitz	1981	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Recreating Napoleon's most famous victory at the Battle of three emperors	5	W116
Blue Stones	1987	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Fr, Ger	A Fantastic skirmish wargame set in the Zargo's Lords Zargo's Lords Zargo's Lords, released in 1979, was one of the most popular war games released by the Italian company International Team . Designed by Marco Donadoni, the chief game designer at IT, Zargo's Lords was the first fantasy wargame to be produced in Italy, and was well received both in Italy and abroad... milieu. Wizards and Monks defend magic stones against three new evil races.	3	W123
Bonaparte	1982	Marco Donadoni	IEFG	A strategic Army Corps-level recreation of the Imperial Napoleonic saga. Possibly IT's best effort	6	W119
East & West	1981	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	A 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....  strategic wargame divided in three different theaters: central Europe, Middle East and Sino-Soviet border (with China on West's side)	6	W111
Idro	1980	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Fantasy wargame pitting rebelling mermen and mermaids against the crustacean oppressors 'Krost'	4	W110
Iliad	1979	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Basic re-enactment of the siege of Troy Troy Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...  as narrated in Homer Homer In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is... 's poem	1	W104
Jena	1980	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	The clash of the Napoleonic Grande Armée and the Prussian Army in 1806	4	W107
Kroll & Prumni Kroll & Prumni Kroll & Prumni was the first wargame to be released by the Italian company International Team, in 1979. It is a hex map-based, science fiction-themed wargame, designed by Marco Donadoni, IT's chief designer, who also authored such IT best-sellers as Zargo's Lords. After IT went bankrupt in the late...	1979	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	IT's first wargaming effort, futuristic exploration and combat between two rival star empires	2	W101
Landsknecht	1987	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Fr, Ger	Tactical wargame in the European wars of religion	2-5	W124
Little Big Horn	1981?	Andrea Mannucci	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies... 's day of glory against Custer	3	W115
Millennium	1981	Giovanni Ingellis	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	A much-refined sci-fi wargame blending strategic and tactical aspects	4	W1117
Mockba	1984	Roberto Bonsi	Ita, Fr	Wehrmacht Wehrmacht The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:... 's do-or-die offensive against Moscow in December 1941	4	W122
Norge	1981	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Re-creating the fight for Norway in 1940	4	W118
Odyssey	1979	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	In this game one player, acting as Athena Athena In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...  tries to lead Ulysses Odysseus Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....  back home in Ithaca Ithaca Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...  while its adversary (playing Poseidon Poseidon Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon... ) must hinder and delay him	1	W106
Okinawa	1979	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Depicting the landing and conquest of Okinawa in World War II, complete with rules for bunkers, shore bombardments and kamikaze Kamikaze The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....  swarm attacks	3	W105
Rommel	1981	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	The u.s. army first defeat during the Tunisian campaign	5	W113
Sicilia '43	1981	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily Sicily Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...  in late 1943	5	W109
Supermarina	1984	Umberto Tosi	Ita, Fr	Probably's IT's most complex game, it re-created the duel between Regia Marina Regia Marina The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...  and Royal Navy Royal Navy The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...  between July and October 1940, an oft-forgotten topic in World War II wargames	8	W121
Waterloo	1980	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Recreating Napoleon's last battle 1815 against the combined forces of Wellington and Blucher	4	W108
Wohrom	1981	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	A fantasy game uniting aspects of wargaming and RPG 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... -adventure, with two clans of knights fighting for the vacant throne of the kingdom	4	W112
Yom Kippur	1984	Andrea Mannucci	Ita, Fr	Simulation of 1973 Ramadan War–Yom Kippur War Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...	2/5	W120
York Town	1979	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Recreating one of the turning points of the u.s. rebellion in 1781	2	W102
Zargo's Lords Zargo's Lords Zargo's Lords, released in 1979, was one of the most popular war games released by the Italian company International Team . Designed by Marco Donadoni, the chief game designer at IT, Zargo's Lords was the first fantasy wargame to be produced in Italy, and was well received both in Italy and abroad...	1979	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	Italy's first fantasy game. It had four races (Knights, Winged Men, Dragons and Monks) vying for supremacy in the world of Zargo	3	W103
Zargo's Lords II	1983	Marco Donadoni	Ita, Eng, Fr, Ger	First Zargo's Lords expansion: adding Amazons and Arachnids as new races and rules' updates and errata

Historical importance

While some of IT's games were quite "typical" of their era and generally not on par with u.s. and British offerings (which benefitted from a more developed hobby and gaming culture) they saturated the Italian marked (where in early 80s fluent English readers were by no mean common) and also enjoyed commercial success in France and Germany. Some of their best games were highly innovative, such as the non-strategic Napoleonic ones (Austerlitz, Jena, Waterloo), presenting a unique Octagons and Squares board, better suited to the Napoleonic infantry formations (square, line, column...). Some other, like 'Norge' and 'Supermarina' tackled topics and campaigns which seldom enjoyed dedicated boardgames.