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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 and air combat, as well.
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.
Louis Zocchi is a gaming hobbyist, former game distributor and publisher, and maker and seller of polyhedral game dice. In 1986, he was elected to the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame.
Wooden Ships and Iron Men is a naval board wargame simulating naval combat during the Age of Sail that was published by Battleline Publications in 1974, then revised and republished by Avalon Hill the following year.
Charles Swann Roberts was a wargame designer, railroad historian, and businessman. He is renowned as "The Father of Board Wargaming", having created the first commercially successful modern wargame in 1952 (Tactics), the first wargaming company in 1954, and designed the first board wargame based upon an actual historical battle (Gettysburg). He is also the author of a series of books on railroad history, published by the small publishing firm, Barnard, Roberts, and Company, Inc.
Yaquinto Publications was the wargame publishing arm of the Robert Yaquinto Printing Company of Dallas, Texas.
Circus Maximus is a board game that was originally published by Battleline Publications in 1979, but is better known for the 1980 Avalon Hill edition. The game has become very popular at gaming conventions in an oversized form, with 10-foot (3.0 m)-long boards and baseball-sized chariots.
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.
Richard Harvey Berg was a prolific American wargame designer. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 1987.
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.
Battleline Publications was a board wargame company founded by Steven Peek in 1973. Output was relatively low at first, with each game being funded by sales of the one before, but their games were generally well-respected. Several were re-published by Avalon Hill, and their second game, Wooden Ships and Iron Men designed by S. Craig Taylor is still considered one of the better games on its subject. They also put out a couple games that can be considered card wargames, and at one point became a division of Heritage Models.
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.
Air Force is a board wargame published by Battleline Publications in 1976, and subsequently re-released by Avalon Hill in 1977, that simulates air combat during World War II. Several expansions for the game were also published.
Machiavelli is a board game published by Battleline Publications in 1977. Set in Renaissance Italy, the board is controlled by the Republic of Florence, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Papacy, Valois France, Habsburg Austria, and the Ottoman Turks.
Alpha Omega is a science fiction board wargame published by Battleline Publications in 1977 that simulates combat between alien and human space fleets. Avalon Hill acquired the game and republished it in 1980.
Pickett's Charge, subtitled "A Game of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863", is a board wargame published by Yaquinto Publications in 1980 that is a tactical simulation of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg.
Rodger B. MacGowan is an artist, game developer, art director and magazine publisher who has been active in the board wargame industry since the 1970s. MacGowan is a prolific artist of cover art for wargames, and the wargaming magazine he founded, Fire & Movement, won the Charles S. Roberts Award several times while under his editorial control.
Submarine is a board wargame published by Battleline Publications in 1976 that simulates submarine warfare during World War II. The following year, Avalon Hill bought the rights to the game, expanded the rules and republished it with new cover art.
References
- 1 2 3 Taylor Jr., S. Craig (2007). "A House Divided". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best . Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 150–152. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
- ↑ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-907702- 58-7.
- ↑ Walters, Eric M. (December 1989). "Board Wargames In Review". Marine Corps Gazette . 73 (12): 49–50.
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