Wargamer (website)

Last updated

Wargamer
Wargamer logo.svg
Available inEnglish
OwnerNetwork N
Created byMario Kroll
EditorAlex Evans
URL wargamer.com
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedSeptember 1995;28 years ago (September 1995)
Current statusActive

Wargamer (originally The Wargamer) is a British website specialising in tabletop games, with a particular focus on miniature wargames, tabletop role-playing games, and strategic card games. It also publishes articles on various digital wargames and strategy games for the PC and other digital platforms. It is currently owned and operated by Network N. It has several sister sites, including PCGamesN , Pocket Tactics, The Loadout, and The Digital Fix, which cover video games and home entertainment respectively.

Contents

History

The Wargamer was founded in September 1995 by Mario R. Kroll originally with the purpose of being a website to facilitate matchmaking play-by-email opponents for computer wargames. [1] Its initial support included the Panzer General , Steel Panthers and the Close Combat series, although it quickly expanded to cover titles like Norm Koger's Age of Rifles , TalonSoft's Battleground series, and a number of HPS Simulations games. Eventually, The Wargamer evolved to provide editorial coverage, game reviews, news reporting and served as a custom scenario repository for nearly all war or strategy video games that supported custom scenario creation.

It suffered an outage for about ten days and data loss when hackers used a Microsoft FrontPage vulnerability for its defacement on 7–8 December 2012. [2] [3] As Kroll later said, the hacking incident was "the final straw" in his decision to sell the website after facing nearly two years of financial hardship. [4] He contacted Matrix Games' owner David Heath, with whom he had cooperated in the past for making The Gamers Net (which The Wargamer was briefly part of), to arrange a deal with Shaun Wallace of MilitaryGamer, a website belonging to Heath. [4] On 19 February 2003, Kroll announced that his site to be acquired by Virtual Business Designs, Inc. owning MilitaryGamer; [5] it was merged with the latter in March. [6]

The Wargamer was previously part of the Strategy Allies Network, together with Armchair General and HistoryNet , [6] —the affiliation has since disbanded.

In 2010, Slitherine Software merged with the parent company of The Wargamer, Matrix Games. [7]

In 2015, it was paired with mobile-strategy website Pocket Tactics [8] when the latter was acquired by the Slitherine Group of companies. The definite article was dropped from its logo in February that year. [9]

In 2017, it was joined by a third companion website when Strategy Gamer was launched in April. [8] In February 2018, all three websites were sold to Network N. Ltd. [10]

From 2018 to 2020, Joe Robinson was editor in chief of Wargamer (as well as of Pocket Tactics and Strategy Gamer).

Then, in January 2021, Network N relaunched Wargamer, with Alex Evans taking over as editor. [11] The website launched with a new design, branding, and petrol-blue colour scheme, as well as a new editorial mandate to cover tabletop games of all kinds, alongside digital wargames.

Content

Since its 2021 relaunch, Wargamer's expanded focus has included significantly more coverage of miniature wargames, collectible card games, board games, tabletop role-playing games (including Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition), as well as Warhammer 40,000 , Warhammer Age of Sigmar , and other Games Workshop tabletop miniature wargames.

Recognition

Wargamer has received recognition for excellence in content, including several mentions via PC Gamer 's military gaming column, authored by William R. Trotter. At its height of popularity, Wargamer enjoyed over a million monthly visitors [5] and had incorporated Pie's Tactics, which at the time was the leading website for the tactical video game series Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear by Red Storm Entertainment. In spring 2001, it was ranked 66th out of the 100 most popular gaming websites by Hot100.com. [1]

The site also achieved recognition outside its niche around 2002, when it was recommended by PC Magazine [12] and the generalist gaming book The Rough Guide to Videogaming. [13] The site's importance for the computer wargaming genre, usually deprived of reviews in the traditional wargaming media of the time, was academically recognised in the same year. [14]

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 some military operation. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miniature wargaming</span> Wargame genre

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. 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 aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.

<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.

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">Man-to-man wargame</span>

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.

<i>Close Combat III: The Russian Front</i> 1999 video game

Close Combat III: The Russian Front is a 1999 computer wargame developed by Atomic Games and published by Microsoft. It is the third game in the Close Combat series. It revolves around the Eastern Front during World War II, and takes players from the invasion of the Soviet Union to the final battle for Berlin in 1945. A remake, Close Combat: Cross of Iron, was released in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slitherine Software</span> British video game developer and publisher

Slitherine Software UK Limited is a British video game developer and publisher founded on 25 June 2000. It is responsible for the production of a range of over 200 strategy and war video games. Slitherine developed and/or published a number of licensed games with brands including Battlestar Galactica, Warhammer 40,000, Starship Troopers, Horrible Histories and The History Channel. It also produces rules for a series of tabletop wargames called Field of Glory.

<i>Decisive Battles of WWII: The Ardennes Offensive</i> 1997 video game

Decisive Battles of WWII: The Ardennes Offensive is a 1997 computer wargame developed by Strategic Studies Group (SSG) and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector</i> 2021 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Black Lab Games and published by Slitherine Software for Windows on July 15, 2021. It is based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.

<i>Field of Glory</i> Computer strategy game series

Field of Glory is a series of turn-based strategy games published by British company Slitherine Software for personal computers. The series is based on a 2008 miniature wargame.

<i>Panzer Corps</i> (video game) 2011 video game

Panzer Corps: Wehrmacht is a computer wargame developed by Lordz Games Studio and Flashback Games, and published by Slitherine Software for Windows, iOS, and macOS. A sequel, Panzer Corps 2, was released in March 2020.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon</i> 2014 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon is a computer wargame developed by Flashback Games and The Lordz Games Studio, and published by Slitherine Software for Windows on 26 November 2014. It is based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War</i> 2018 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Proxy Studios and published by Slitherine Software for Windows and Linux on July 12, 2018. It is based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach</i> 2017 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Straylight Entertainment and published by Slitherine Software for Windows on January 19, 2017. It is based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000, specifically The Red Waaagh! campaign.

<i>Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch</i> 2015 video game

Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch – Tyranid Invasion is a turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Rodeo Games. Initially released for iOS on July 16, 2015, ports for the Windows and PlayStation 4 were released as Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch – Enhanced Edition. It is based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. The game has been described as a spiritual successor to Hunters series.

<i>Warhammer Quest</i> (video game series) Video game series

Warhammer Quest is a series of three tactical role-playing video games developed and published by Rodeo Games and Perchang Games. The first game, Warhammer Quest, was released in 2013. The second game, Warhammer Quest 2: The End Times, was released in 2017. Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower, was released in 2020. The first two games are based on Games Workshop's 1995 board game Warhammer Quest, which itself is based on the tabletop wargame Warhammer. Silver Tower is based on the 2016 sequel board game of the same name.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wargamer.com History". The Wargamer. Archived from the original on 1 February 2003. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. ↑ Kroll, Mario (9 December 2002). "The Wargamer's December Outage". The Wargamer (Press release). Archived from the original on 28 December 2002.
  3. ↑ Kroll, Mario (22 December 2002). "General Site News: After the Hacker Update..." The Wargamer. Archived from the original on 12 February 2003.
  4. 1 2 "The Wargamer's March '03 Newsletter". The Wargamer. March 2003. Archived from the original on 28 November 2006.
  5. 1 2 Kroll, Mario (19 February 2003). "Virtual Business Designs, Inc. to Acquire Wargamer.com". The Wargamer (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 April 2003.
  6. 1 2 "The History of The Wargamer". The Wargamer. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  7. ↑ Martin, Matt (7 May 2010). "Slitherine and Matrix Games complete merger". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  8. 1 2 "About Us". Pocket Tactics. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Home". The Wargamer. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Dring, Christopher (12 February 2018). "Network N acquires Slitherine's media websites". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Welcome to your new Wargamer". Wargamer. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Carroll, Sean (26 February 2002). "The Wargamer". PC Magazine . Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  13. ↑ Berens, Kate; Howard, Geoff (2002). "Websites". The Rough Guide to Videogaming. London: Rough Guides. p. 508. ISBN   1-85828-910-6.
  14. ↑ Sabin, Philip A.G. (2002). "Playing at War: The Modern Hobby of Wargaming". In Cornell, Tim J.; Allen, Thomas B. (eds.). War and Games. Studies on the Nature of War. Vol. 3. Boydell Press. p. 199. ISBN   0-85115-870-6.
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