Michael Bennighof

Last updated
Michael Bennighof
Nationality American
Occupation Game designer

Michael Bennighof is a game designer who has worked primarily on board games.

Contents

Early life and education

Mike Bennighof is a Fulbright Scholar, and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. [1] He has played and coached semi-pro football, taught college, worked as a newspaper reporter, and shoveled gravel professionally. [1]

Career

Bennighof has been designing games since the early 1980s, working on over 100 titles as a designer or developer. [1] Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press, Ltd., a publisher of traditional board wargames. [1] He has won Origins Awards both for wargame design ( U.S. Navy Plan Orange ) and role-playing game design ( Celtic Age ). [1] He scripted the Panzer General II (for which he also designed the maps [2] ) and Destroyer Commander computer games, among others; designed such games as Survival of the Witless , Panzer Grenadier , and Great War at Sea ; and was the author of the infamous book, Black Flags . [1] Great War at Sea received awards at the Origins Awards in 1998 and 1999. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Dunnigan</span>

James F. Dunnigan is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City.

<i>Panzer General</i> 1994 video game

Panzer General is a 1994 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). It simulates conflict during World War II. The designers of Panzer General were heavily influenced by the Japanese wargame series Daisenryaku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Costikyan</span> American game designer

Greg Costikyan, sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X", is an American game designer and science fiction writer. Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including: hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games, and mobile games. Several of his games have won Origins Awards. He co-founded Manifesto Games, now out of business, with Johnny Wilson in 2005.

Avalanche Press is an American company that publishes board wargames and has published some role-playing game supplements. They have produced The Great War at Sea and Panzer Grenadier series, as well as Red Parachutes, one of their earliest games and a detailed study of the Soviet crossing of the Dnepr River in 1943.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles S. Roberts Award</span>

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.

Yaquinto Publications was the wargame publishing arm of the Robert Yaquinto Printing Company of Dallas, Texas.

<i>Kingmaker</i> (board game) Game about the War of the Roses

Kingmaker is a board game published in the UK by PhilMar Ltd. in 1974 that simulates the political struggles to place a king on the throne of England during the Wars of the Roses. The game was popular, and other editions, including a computerized version, were produced by Avalon Hill, TM Games, and Gibsons Games. The game won a Charles S. Roberts Award in 1976.

Matrix Games is a publisher of PC games, specifically strategy games and wargames. It is based in Ohio, US, and Surrey, UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tactical wargame</span> Type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Berg</span> American wargame designer (1943–2019)

Richard Harvey Berg was a prolific American wargame designer. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 1987.

<i>Panzergruppe Guderian</i> (game) 1976 WWII board wargame

Panzergruppe Guderian is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1976 that simulates the 1941 Battle of Smolensk during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer wargame</span> Wargame played on a computer or other digital device

A computer wargame is a wargame played on a digital device. Descended from board wargaming, it simulates military conflict at the tactical, operational or strategic level. Computer wargames are both sold commercially for recreational use and, in some cases, used for military purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Borg</span> American board game designer

Richard Borg is a game designer who has designed many wargames. In 2010, he was elected to the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame.

Lewis Errol Pulsipher, often credited as Lew Pulsipher, is an American teacher, game designer, and author, whose subject is role playing games, board games, card games, and video games. He was the first person in the North Carolina community college system to teach game design classes, in fall 2004. He has designed half a dozen published boardgames, written more than 150 articles about games, contributed to several books about games, and presented at game conventions and conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Simonitch</span>

Mark Simonitch is an American wargame designer and graphic artist. His game designs include Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage and Ardennes '44, and he has made maps for Wilderness War and Empire of the Sun among others. He has worked at Avalon Hill and GMT Games. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 2002.

<i>JagdPanther</i> (magazine)

JagdPanther is a game magazine that was published from 1973 to 1976.

Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Orange is a board wargame designed by Michael Bennighof and published by Avalanche Press in 1998. It is part of the Great War at Sea board game series.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bennighof, Mike (2007). "PanzerBlitz". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best . Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 227–230. ISBN   978-1-932442-96-0.
  2. Coleman, Terry (August 1997). "Herr General, It Is Time for You to Return to Battle!" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 157. p. 76. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  3. "List of Winners Presented at Origins 1999". Archived from the original on October 31, 2007.
  4. "List of Winners Presented at Origins 2000". Archived from the original on May 5, 2009.