List of wargame publishers

Last updated January 16, 2025

List of wargame publishers is an index of commercial companies that publish wargames.

3W or World Wide Wargames – publishers of the wargaming magazine The Wargamer .
A and A Game Engineering – concentrating on air and naval rules
ACIES Edizioni - publishers of wargames like Lepanto and others.
Agema.org.uk – publishers of the Game of War 18th century/Napoleonic rules, Salvo WW2 naval, and Challenge & Reply WW1 naval, among others.
Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. (ADB) – publisher of Star Fleet Battles (SFB), along with the related strategic game Federation & Empire .
Australian Design Group (ADG) – publishers of World in Flames .
Avalanche Press – publishers of the Great War at Sea and Panzer Grenadier series, among others.
Avalon Hill – the first publisher of board wargames, Avalon Hill (AH) made many classic games, such as Squad Leader , Third Reich , and PanzerBlitz , bought out by Hasbro in 1998.
Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. – publisher of Flames of War (FoW), a World War II wargame.
Battlefront.com - publisher of Combat Mission series of games
Battleline Publications – founded in 1973 and bought by Heritage Models around 1980. They were the original publisher of several Avalon Hill games, such as Wooden Ships and Iron Men , and Circus Maximus .
Black Skull Games – founded 2007. Publisher of Universal War .
Clash of Arms
Collins Epic Wargames – publisher of the Frontline General series of board/mini wargames.
Columbia Games (originally Gamma Two Games) – the biggest producer of "block games", using wooden blocks instead of cardboard counters.
Compass Games – founded 2004. Publisher of Paper Wars .
Computer Strategies – founded in 1990. They are the producer of the widest range of computer moderated wargames rules for tabletop miniatures.
Conflict Games – 1970s company founded by designer John Hill.
Corvus Belli – publishes Infinity , a wargame in which sci-fi themed miniatures are used to simulate futuristic skirmishes.
Critical Hit – publishes tactical-level wargames, notably games in the Advanced Tobruk System as well as ASL-compatible modules and scenario packs.
Crocodile Games – publishers of Wargods of Ægyptus and Wargods of Olympus.
Decision Games – current license holder of most of the old SPI titles. Current publisher of Strategy & Tactics , Modern War and World at War magazines.
Dwarfstar Games – published a line of small SF&F games around 1980.
E-Mail Games – provides free wargaming and computerized referee/AI, via e-mail
Excelsior Entertainment - current (as of 2005) publisher/manufacturer of Chronopia and Warzone.
FASA – original publisher of the boardgame/miniatures game BattleTech . Now closed.
Firefly Games - publisher of science fiction tabletop fighting games including Monster Island and CyborGladiators.
Flashpoint Miniatures – publishers of Flashpoint Vietnam.
Flying Pig Games – founded by Mark Walker in 2014
Fort Circle Games - publisher of Shores of TripoliVotes for WomenHalls of Montezuma among other games.
Fresno Design Group
The Gamers - publisher of Tunisia
Game Designers' Workshop – published many popular wargames as Drang Nach Osten! and role-playing games such as Traveller ; disbanded in 1996.
Game Research/Design – produced expansions for Europa and eventually took on the series.
Games Research Inc – published Diplomacy in 1961 and 1971.
Games Workshop – publishers of a number of fantasy and science fiction wargames and role-playing games.
GMT Games – probably the most prolific of the wargame companies in the 1990s and into 2018.
Graviteam Software - publisher of Graviteam tactics
Grenier Games
Guidon Games – original publisher of Chainmail .
Harebrained Schemes – publisher of Golem Arcana .
Historical Military Services – took over GRD in 2004
JagdPanther – original company of Steve V. Cole and Allen Eldridge.
Jedko Games – 1970s Australian company of John Edwards, which initially published some Avalon Hill games such as The Russian Campaign and War at Sea .
John Tiller Software
Johnny Reb Gaming Society - publishes the free quarterly newsletter Charge! newsletter / fanzine with an annual paid membership dues. Also publishes wargaming scenarios books, such as Crossed Sabers, for its members.
Knight Models – publishes Batman Miniature Game, a skirmish game based on the adventures of the iconic Dark Knight, and Harry Potter Miniatures Adventure Game, a board game with miniatures featuring the famous wizarding saga.
L2 Design Group
Legion Wargames - publisher of several games including Toulon, 1793, Maori Wars and many more.
Lock N' Load Publishing – publisher of Lock 'n Load series, and A World at War series.
Lost Battalion Games – games include the man-to-man scale Sergeants! and several card-based wargames.
Majestic Twelve Games – publisher of several games including Starmada, Iron Stars, and Grand Fleets.
Mantic Games – publisher of several games including Deadzone, Kings of War, and Mars Attacks.
Marek/Janci Design - publishers of full-color miniature wargaming scenario books, including the Enduring Valor: Gettysburg in Miniature series and Undying Courage: Antietam in Miniature.
Matrix Games –
Mayfair Games – original publisher of many "train" games, 18xx series, and Empire Builder.
Megalith Games – Publishers of Godslayer
Metagaming - originator of the microgame format; original publisher of Ogre .
Mongoose Publishing – publishers of RPGs, historical SF and fantasy rules.
Multi-Man Publishing – republishes Avalon Hill's Advanced Squad Leader (ASL)
New England Simulations – a New Hampshire-based group that has created three games based on previously designed systems, with an emphasis on both graphics and design.
Operational Studies Group – focuses primarily on the Napoleonic Era.
Pacific Sky Games - publisher and creator of tabletop miniature wargames, specifically historical and sci-fi.
Paradox Interactive – creator of such computer grand-strategy games as the medieval wargames Crusader Kings and Crusader Kings II , and the post-medieval wargames Europa Universalis , Europa Universalis II , Europa Universalis III and Europa Universalis IV , and the Iron-Age series of wargames Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun , and Victoria II , and the WW2 series of wargames Hearts of Iron, and Roman-era game Legion.
People's War Games – publishers of the WW2 Russian Front monster wargame Korsun Pocket and some others WW1 and WW2 wargames.
Privateer Press – publishers of WARMACHINE and HORDES as well as the Iron Kingdoms d20 RPG setting.
Quarterdeck International - publishers of wargames since 1979, founded and operated by Jack Greene.
Radioactive Press – publisher of the Toy Battle System series of games, which includes Atomic Super Humans, Giant Monster Rampage, and Mega Bots.
Renaissance Ink – owned by Jay Wirth. Published Fantasy Gladiators and Armistice, manufactures wargame bases and other modeling items.
Revolution Games
River Horse Games – run by Alessio Cavatore. Publishes wargames and provides game design services for wargames companies.
Scarab Miniatures - publisher of War and Conquest.
Shrapnel Games, Inc. – owned by Timothy W. Brooks, primarily publishes war and strategy games.
Simmons Games – contemporary publisher of two (so far) diceless Napoleonic wargames that look very much like the battlefield maps published at the time.
Simulations Canada
Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) – another early and very prolific wargame publisher, SPI published the magazines Strategy & Tactics and Moves .
Slitherine Software - publisher of several wargame titles, including Panzer Corps
Specialist Military Publishing - publisher of BlitzkriegCommander , Cold War Commander and Future War Commander..
Stealthy Spider Publishing – publishers of the Occult Wars horror/fantasy skirmish miniatures game.
Steve Jackson Games – early successes were Ogre , Car Wars , and Illuminati . Also published many titles in the microgame format: tiny low-priced plastic boxes (US$4–6).
StrikeNet Games - publisher of Panzer Miniatures Rules.
Task Force Games – founded in 1979 by Steven V. Cole and Allen Eldrige, went out of business in the mid-'90s. Produced many games, most notably Star Fleet Battles and Starfire .
Tiny Battle Publishing
Too Fat Lardies – publishers of Chain of Command, Sharp Practice, Infamy, Infamy!, Dux Britanniarum, What a Tanker, Algernon Pulls it Off, Bag the Hun, I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! , If the Lord Spares Us, Kiss Me Hardy, Le Feu Sacré, Triumph of the Will, Kriegsspiel in both its 1824 and 1862 versions, They Couldn't Hit An Elephant, Sharp Practice and Troops, Weapons & Tactics.
Tower Games – provides pay-for-play wargames for multiple players online. Titles include Line of Muskets and Lightning War
Wargames Factory
Wargames Research Group – publisher of the popular De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA), De Bellis Multitudinis (DBM) and De Bellis Renationis (DBR) rule sets for the ancient, medieval and Renaissance periods.
Warhammer Historical Wargames (a division of Games Workshop) – produces Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB), Warhammer English Civil War, Legends of the Old West and Warmaster Ancients.
Warhorse Simulations – publisher of Empire and Automated Card Tracking System (ACTS).
Warlord Games - publisher of Bolt Action , Black Powder, Blood Red Skies, Victory at Sea, and several other wargames, as well as lines of miniatures for them.
WBS games – wargame and boardgame publisher
Wessex Games – historical and sci fi / fantasy rules including Air War C21, Strange Tydes, and Iron Cow.
West End Games
Wyrd Miniatures - publisher of Malifaux .
XTR Corp - former publisher of Command magazine, a military history and strategy magazine that contained insert wargames.
Yaquinto Publications
Zvezda - publisher of Art of Tactic .
Z&M Publishing Enterprises – publisher of Angriff! .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wargame</span> Strategy game that realistically simulates war

A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to study the nature of potential conflicts. Many wargames re-create specific historic battles, and can cover either whole wars, or any campaigns, battles, or lower-level engagements within them. Many simulate land combat, but there are wargames for naval, air combat, and cyber as well as many that combine various domains.

Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company's "Hasbro Gaming" division.

<i>Strategy & Tactics</i> Wargaming magazine

Strategy & Tactics (S&T) is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue.

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. Miniature wargames are played using model soldiers, vehicles, and artillery on a model battlefield, with the primary appeal being recreational rather than functional. Miniature wargames are played on custom-made battlefields, often with modular terrain, and abstract scaling is used to adapt real-world ranges to the limitations of table space. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is immersion, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out. Models' dimensions and positioning are crucial for measuring distances during gameplay. Issues concerning scale and accuracy compromise realism too much for most serious military applications.

Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) was an American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s. It produced an enormous number of games and introduced innovative practices, changing the course of the wargaming hobby in its bid to take control of the hobby away from then-dominant Avalon Hill. SPI ran out of cash in early 1982 when TSR called in a loan secured by SPI's assets. TSR began selling SPI's inventory in 1982, but later acquired the company's trademarks and copyrights in 1983 and continued a form of the operation until 1987.

Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.

<i>PanzerBlitz</i> World War II board wargame published in 1970

PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set on the Eastern Front of World War II. The game, which was the most popular board wargame of the 1970s, is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation wargame. It also pioneered several concepts that would become industry standards.

The Charles S. Roberts Awards is an annual award for excellence in manual, tabletop games, with a focus on "conflict simulations", which includes simulations of non-military as well as military conflicts, as well as simulations of related historical topics. From its founding in 1975 through 2021, the award was almost exclusively focused on historical wargaming, changing to a broader "conflict simulations" in award year 2022.

<i>PanzerArmee Afrika</i> (board game) Board wargame

PanzerArmee Afrika, subtitled "Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 - November 1942", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates the World War II North African Campaign that pitted the Axis forces commanded by Erwin Rommel against Allied forces. The game was revised and republished in 1984 by Avalon Hill.

A man-to-man wargame is a wargame in which units generally represent single individuals or weapons systems, and are rated not only on weaponry but may also be rated on such facets as morale, perception, skill-at-arms, etc. The game is designed so that a knowledge of military tactics, especially at the small unit or squad level, will facilitate successful gameplay. Man-to-man wargames offer an extreme challenge to the designer, as fewer variables or characteristics inherent in the units being simulated are directly quantifiable. Modern commercial board wargaming stayed away from man-to-man subjects for many years, though once the initial attempts were made to address the subject, it has evolved into a popular topic among wargamers.

Tactical 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. The first tactical wargames were played as miniatures, extended to board games, and they are now also enjoyed as video games.

Real-time tactics (RTT) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time, simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the absence of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, and by the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Priestley</span> English miniature wargame designer and writer (born 1959)

Richard "Rick" Priestley is an English miniature wargame designer and writer. He co-created the miniature wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle and its science fiction counterpart Warhammer 40,000 during his tenure at Games Workshop in the 1980s and 1990s. Following his time at Games Workshop, he went on to establish Warlord Games and co-create other titles such as Bolt Action.

Air 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:

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 modern, commercial wargaming hobby developed in 1954 following the publication and commercial success of Tactics. The board wargaming hobby continues to enjoy a sizeable following, with a number of game publishers and gaming conventions dedicated to the hobby both in the English-speaking world and further afield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micro armour</span> Small military scale models

Micro armour refers to scale models made of lead, pewter, die cast metal or plastic, usually used for wargaming purposes. Variations of the name include: mini armour, microscale, mini tanks, miniature armour, miniature tanks, micro tanks, minitanks, minifigs, armour figurines, tank figurines, etc. are also used. Micro armour is a sub-category of model military vehicle miniature figures used for military simulation, miniature wargaming, scale models, dioramas and collecting.

Alessio Cavatore is a game designer.

Richard Fretson Halliwell was a British game designer who worked at Games Workshop (GW) during their seminal period in the 1980s, creating many of the games that would become central to GW's success.

<i>Waterloo</i> (board game) Board wargame

Waterloo is a Napoleonic board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1963 that simulates the Battle of Waterloo. It was one of the first board wargames produced and despite its lack of historicity and complexity, it still received positive comments more than twenty years later as a fun and playable game, and remained in Avalon Hill's catalogue until 1990.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

List of wargame publishers

See also

Related Research Articles