Board wargame
Elsewhere, notably Great Britain where miniatures had evolved its own commercial hobby, [citation needed] a smaller following developed.
[citation needed] Wargames tend to be representational, with many using soldier-shaped pieces on a map-like board; as such, they may colloquially be called "dudes on a map" games.
[3] Generally, they depict a fairly concrete historical subject (such as the Battle of Gettysburg, one of several popular topics in the genre), but it can also be extended to non-historical ones as well.
[citation needed] While there is no direct correlation, the more serious wargames tend towards more complex rules with possibilities for more calculation and computation of odds, more exceptions (generally to reproduce unique historical circumstances), more available courses of action, and more detail or "chrome".
[citation needed] The extreme end of this tendency are considered "monster games", which typically consist of a large subject represented on small scale.
[4] A good example of this would be Terrible Swift Sword, which tracks individual regiments in the Battle of Gettysburg, instead of the more common scale of brigades.
[4] These games typically have a combined playing surface (using several map sheets) larger than most tables, and thousands of counters.
[citation needed] However, there are some common solutions, such as employed by block wargames, which can simulate fog of war conditions in relatively playable ways.
[citation needed] Avalon Hill was subject to a number of bad economic forces around 1961, and quickly ran up a large debt.
[7] The sale turned out to be an advantage, as being owned by a printing company helped insure that Avalon Hill games had access to superior physical components.
Avalon Hill had a very conservative publishing schedule, typically about two titles a year, and wargames were only about half their line.
Hundreds of wargamers, this writer being one of them, strained, sweated, argued and meditated over those two games, devising strategies, set-ups and variants almost ad infinitum.
However, Jim Dunnigan bought the ailing magazine, and restructured his own company (then known as Poultron Press) to publish it, creating Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI).
Two of these new companies would each last for about two decades and became well known in just a few years: Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), and Tactical Studies Rules (TSR).
Started in 1973 by Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, Marc W. Miller, and Loren Wiseman, GDW's first game, Drang Nach Osten!, immediately garnered attention and led to the Europa series.
It has been estimated that GDW published one new product every 22 days for the 22 year life of the company (to be fair, this would include magazines and supplements, not just complete games).
[citation needed] From 1975 to 1981 SPI reported $2 million in sales—steady dollar volume during a time when inflation was in double digits.
[citation needed] Avalon Hill formed a subsidiary company, Victory Games, staffed by the former SPI employees.
Victory Games was allowed to publish pretty much what they wanted, and produced many commercially and critically successful wargames.
[citation needed] However, there were no new hires to replace departing personnel, and the company slowly died a death of neglect in the 1990s.
These attracted the same sort of players that had gravitated to wargames before, [citation needed] which led to a declining, and aging, population in the hobby.
[17] The subject matter of wargames is broad, and many approaches have been taken towards the goals of simulating wars on a grand or personal scale.
This subgenre started with Risk in 1957 and focuses on entire wars rather than battles, typically using regions or countries as spaces rather than hexes, and often using plastic pieces.
The Gamemaster Series popularized the subgenre further in the 1980s, with Axis & Allies eventually evolving into an entire line of games.
The most recent of the major types of board wargame, which was created by the game We the People published by Avalon Hill in 1994.
In most aspects it is much like a typical board wargame (on the simpler side of the spectrum), but play is driven by a deck of cards that both players draw from.
These cards control activation points, which allow the use of troops, as well as events that represent things outside the normal scope of the game.
Twilight Struggle, a game based on the Cold War, was ranked #1 on the website BoardGameGeek from December 2010 to January 2016.
Conflict of Heroes differs from many board wargames in that it allows players to instantly react to almost any action by the opponent.
In the naval game Victory at Sea, the attacking player determines if a ship is within range and if it is within the firing arc of the chosen gun.
