Guilford Courthouse is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1978 that simulates the Battle of Guilford Court House during the American Revolution. Reviews of the game were mixed: critics liked the rules system but found the game predictable, with only a few strategic options open to either player.
In March 1781, a small British force of professional soldiers engaged a much larger colonial force of mainly militia near Guilford Courthouse, South Carolina. [1]
Guilford Courthouse is a two-player game in which one player controls the British forces, and the other controls the rebels. The game was one of the first "Series 120" games produced by GDW, small and simple wargames with a small 17" x 22" hex grid map, only 120 counters, and designed to be played in less than 120 minutes. The game system uses a simple alternating "I Go, You Go" system, where one player moves and fires, followed by the other player. In addition, there are rules for morale that affect the firepower of units, special rules for the various types of soldiers, and leaders have an effect on combat.
In the mid-1970s, large and complex board wargames such as Drang Nach Osten! and Terrible Swift Sword were very popular among experienced gamers, but were impossible to play in a single session, and were very difficult for new players to learn. In response, GDW created "Series 120", smaller and less complex games that used no more than 120 counters and would take less than 120 minutes to play. One of the first was Guilford Courthouse, designed by Frank Chadwick, Marc Miller, and Greg Novak, and published by GDW in 1978 as a ziplock game. In 1980, GDW re-released it as a boxed set retitled The Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
In the 1980 book The Best of Board Wargaming , Marcus Watney commented "Although the game is simple and without any serious rule problems, it remains a strangely unsatisfactory game." He ascribed this to "lack of strategic options: realistic perhaps, but in the end uninteresting." He also noted that the map did not contain a terrain key, leading to misunderstandings about what was wooded forest and what was clear terrain. Nevertheless, although he gave an "Excitement Grade" of only 10%, he gave a guarded recommendation, saying, "Still, there are so few games about the individual battles in the American Revolution that any such game should be welcomed." [2]
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames , game designer Jon Freeman called the game interestingly subtle and covers many areas of eighteenth century warfare in nice detail." However he found the game unsatisfying, commenting, "the system is better than the game." He also noted the lack of a terrain key for the map didn't help the game. He pointed out that strategic possibilities were limited for both players, saying, "both sides seem to have optimum strategies, and play can become stereotyped (and tangentially quite dissimilar to the actual battle.)" He concluded by giving the game an Overall Evaluation of only Fair to Good, commenting "Despite its ease of play and excellent system, many players will probably lose interest quickly [...] the game is not equal to the sum of its parts." [3]
PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set in the Eastern Front of the Second World War. The game is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation (wargame). It also pioneered concepts such as isomorphic mapboards and open-ended design, in which multiple unit counters were provided from which players could fashion their own free-form combat situations rather than simply replaying pre-structured scenarios. Over the next ten years, it became the most popular board wargame of its time.
Drang Nach Osten! is a monster board wargame published in 1973 by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) that simulates Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The game was the first of what was envisioned as a series of games with identical wargame rules and map scale that would simulate the entire Second World War in Europe.
Tactics is a board wargame published in 1954 by Avalon Hill as the company's first product. Although primitive by modern standards, it and its sequel, Tactics II, signalled the birth of modern board wargaming for the commercial market. Tactics is generally credited as being the first commercially successful board wargame.
Gettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill in 1958 that re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. The game rules were groundbreaking in several respects, and the game, revised several times, was a bestseller for Avalon Hill for several decades.
Stalingrad is a strategic-level board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1963 that simulates the first 24 months of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II. As one of the first board wargames it was extensively played and discussed during the early years of the wargaming hobby.
Panzergruppe Guderian is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1976 that simulates the 1941 Battle of Smolensk during World War II.
Dark Nebula is a two-player science fiction board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1980. Dark Nebula is the seventh Traveller boardgame published by GDW. A second edition was published in 1983 with a new cover. It was republished in 2004 as part of Far Future Enterprises Traveller: The Classic Games, Games 1-6+.
Wacht am Rhein is a grand tactical monster board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1977 that simulates Germany's Battle of the Bulge offensive in late 1944 during World War II.
Chaco, subtitled "Classical Infantry Warfare in the Thirties", is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1973 that simulates the 20th-century Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay.
Crimea: The Dawn of Modern Warfare is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1975 that simulates the Crimean War.
Battle for Midway: Decision in the Pacific, 1942 is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Midway during World War II.
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The Battle of Raphia, 217 B.C. is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1977 that simulates the Battle of Raphia during the Syrian Wars. The game was the first in GDW's "Series 120", which featured shorter and less complex games containing only 120 counters that supposedly could be played in 120 minutes.
Bar-Lev, subtitled "The Yom-Kippur War of 1973", is a board wargame published by Conflict Games in 1974, only months after the end of the Yom Kippur War. The game simulates battles on the two major fronts of the war: the Golan Heights and the Suez Canal. The game proved very popular, and a second edition was published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1977.
1815: The Waterloo Campaign is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1975 that simulates the final three days of Napoleon's last campaign, culminating in the Battle of Waterloo. Reviewers characterized the game as not too complex, playable, fast-moving, and enjoyable. The game was found to be tilted in favor of the French, and GDW released a second edition in 1982 that addressed that issue.
Torgau is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1974 that simulates the Battle of Torgau between Prussians and Austrians in 1760 during the Seven Years' War, a costly battle for both sides. Reviews were generally favorable, although gameplay was characterized as very long, complex, and more similar to traditional miniatures wargaming than board wargames.
Leyte: Return to the Philippines, October 1944 is a board wargame published in 1975 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulates the return of General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines during World War II. The game was originally published as part of the four-game collection Island War: Four Pacific Battles, but was also released as an individual game. Leyte was not considered an outstanding success by critics.
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