Game Designers' Workshop






































Game Designers' Workshop
Former type
Corporation (1973-1996)
Industry
Wargame and Role-playing game publisher
Founded June 22, 1973
Defunct February 29, 1996
Headquarters Normal, Illinois, United States
Key people

Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman
Products Wargames, role-playing games

Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996.[1] Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.[2]




Contents






  • 1 History


  • 2 Products


    • 2.1 Role-playing games


    • 2.2 Board Games


    • 2.3 Miniatures rules


    • 2.4 Grenadier Magazine


    • 2.5 Journal of the Travellers Aid Society


    • 2.6 Challenge




  • 3 Awards


  • 4 References





History


Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973. The founding members consisted of Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, Marc Miller, and Loren Wiseman. GDW acquired the Conflict Games Company from John Hill in the early 1970s.


GDW published a new product approximately every twenty-two days for over twenty years. In an effort to bridge the gap between role players, board wargamers and miniature wargamers, the company published RPGs with fantastic settings alongside games with realistic themes including rulesets for 15mm and 20mm miniatures set during the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the modern era; and boardgames involving these eras such as the Air Superiority series and Harpoon.


The company disbanded February 29, 1996 after suffering financial troubles.



Products



Role-playing games




  • En Garde! (1975) - Dueling game set in 17th-century France, often run as a Play-by-mail game.


  • Traveller (1977) - A science fiction game originally intended as a ruleset for generic space adventures. Revised and reissued as Megatraveller (1987) and with completely different rules and a greatly changed setting as Traveller: The New Era (1993)[3]


  • Twilight: 2000 (1984) - An alternate history game set in a Europe devastated by nuclear war, with adventures and supplements also dealing with the U.S. and Bangkok.


  • Traveller: 2300 (1987) - A hard science fiction roleplaying game, set 300 years after the Twilight War featured in Twilight: 2000. Traveller:2300 was later renamed to 2300 AD in (1988) with the release of the second edition.


  • Space: 1889 (1988) - Victorian-era spacefaring game which provided for roleplay opportunities, steampunk aerial gunboat engagements and "colonial" miniature warfare with retro-futuristic elements such as Martian brave warbands and odd space creatures.


  • Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (1990) - Based on the underground comic book Xenozoic Tales.


  • Dark Conspiracy (1991) - a near-future horror role-playing game (RPG), created by Lester Smith


  • Dangerous Journeys (1992) - Roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system.



Board Games


























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Game
Year
Designer
Category
Notes
1940
1980

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Series 120
1941
1981
John Astell
wargame
Series 120
1942
1978

Marc Miller
wargame
Series 120
1815: The Waterloo Campaign
1975 (2nd ed. 1982)

Frank Chadwick
wargame

8th Army: Operation Crusader
1984

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Double Blind series
Battle of Agincourt - 1415 AD
1978

Marc Miller
wargame
Series 120
Air Strike
1987
JD Webster
wargame
Air Superiority series
Air Superiority
1987
JD Webster
wargame
Air Superiority series
Battle of Alma
1978

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Series 120
Arctic Front
1985

Frank Chadwick
wargame
The Third World War series
Assault
1983

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Assault series

Asteroid
1980

Frank Chadwick
sci-fi
Series 120
Attack in the Ardennes
1982

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Avalanche
1976

Frank Chadwick
wargame


Azhanti High Lightning
1980

Frank Chadwick & Marc Miller
sci-fi

Charles S. Roberts Award winner
Bar-Lev
1977

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Battle for Basra
1991

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series
Battle Rider
1994

Frank Chadwick
sci-fi

Battlefield Europe
1990

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series
Beda Fomm
1979

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Series 120

Belter
1979

Frank Chadwick
sci-fi

Blood & Thunder
1992

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series

Bloodtree Rebellion
1979
Lynn Willis
sci-fi

Bloody Kasserine
1992

Frank Chadwick
wargame


Blue Max
1983
Phil Hall
wargame

Boots & Saddles
1984

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Assault series
Brilliant Lances
1993
David Nilsen
sci-fi

Bundeswehr
1986

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Assault series
Burma
1976
Bob Fowler
wargame

Case White
1977

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Europa series game VII
Chaco
1973

Marc Miller
wargame

Chieftain
1988

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Assault series
Citadel
1977

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Coral Sea
1974 (2nd ed. 1976)

Marc Miller
wargame

Crimea
1975

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Dark Nebula
1980

Marc Miller
sci-fi
Series 120
Desert Falcons
1989
JD Webster
wargame
Air Superiority series

Double Star
1979

Marc Miller
sci-fi

Drang Nach Osten
1973

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Europa series game I
Eagles
1974

Loren Wiseman
wargame

En Garde!
1975 (2nd ed. 1977)
Darryl Hany
rpg

Eylau
1980
Rik Fontana
wargame

The Fall of France
1981
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game VIII
The Fall of Tobruk
1978

Frank Chadwick
wargame


Fifth Frontier War
1981

Marc Miller
sci-fi

Fire in the East
1984
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game I
Great Patriotic War
1988

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Guilford Courthouse
1978
Greg Novak
wargame
Series 120
Harpoon
1987

Larry Bond
wargame

Harpoon: Captain's Edition
1990

Larry Bond
wargame


A House Divided
1981 (2nd ed. 1989)

Frank Chadwick
wargame
2 time Charles S. Roberts Award winner
Illad
1978
Rik Fontana
sci-fi


Imperium
1977

Marc Miller
sci-fi

Indian Ocean Adventure
1978

Marc Miller
wargame


Invasion Earth
1981

Marc Miller
sci-fi

Kasserine Pass
1977

Frank Chadwick
wargame

La Bataille de la Moskowa
1977 & 1988

John Harshman
wargame

Last Battle
1989
Tim Ryan
rpg

The Battle of Lobositz
1978

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Series 120
Manassas
1975 (2nd ed. 1976)
Tom Eller
wargame

Marita-Merkur
1978

Rich Banner
wargame

Europa series game III

Mayday
1978

Marc Miller
sci-fi

Charles S. Roberts Award winner
Battle for Midway
1976

Marc Miller
wargame

Battle for Moscow
1986

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Narvik
1974 (2nd ed. 1980)

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Europa series game IV
The Near East
1983
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game IX
The Normandy Campaign
1983
Ben Knight
wargame
Double Blind series
Operation Crusader
1978

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Operation Market Garden
1985

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Double Blind series
Operation Crusader
1978

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Over the Top
1990
Greg Novak
wargame
Command Decision series rules
Overlord
1978

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Pearl Harbor
1977 (2nd ed. 1979)
John Prados
wargame

Persian Gulf
1986

Frank Chadwick
wargame
The Third World War series
Pharsalus
1977

Loren Wiseman
wargame

Phase Line Smash
1992

Frank Chadwick
wargame
solitaire game
Port Arthur
1976

Marc Miller
wargame

The Battle of Prague
1980

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Series 120
The Race for Tunis
1992

Frank Chadwick
wargame

The Battle of Raphia 217 BC
1977

Marc Miller
wargame
Series 120
Red Army
1982
John Astell
wargame

Red Empire
1990

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Red Star / White Eagle
1979
Dave Williams
wargame

Reinforcements
1985

Frank Chadwick
wargame
Assault series
Road to the Rhine
1979

Frank Chadwick
wargame

The Sands of War Expansion Kit
1992

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series
The Sands of War
1991

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series
Scorched Earth
1987
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game II

Snapshot
1979

Marc Miller
sci-fi

Soldier King
1982

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Southern Front
1984

Frank Chadwick
wargame
The Third World War series
Spain & Portugal
1984

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Europa series game X
Suez '73
1981

Frank Chadwick
wargame

SSN
1975
Stephen Newberg
wargame

Stand & Die
1991

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series
Tacforce
1980

Frank Chadwick
wargame
miniatures rules
Team Yankee
1987

Frank Chadwick
wargame
First Battle series
Test of Arms
1988
Larry Smith
wargame
First Battle series
Tet Offensive: 1968
1991

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Their Finest Hour
1976

Marc Miller
wargame

Europa series game V
Their Finest Hour
1982 & 1984
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game V
The Third World War
1984

Frank Chadwick
wargame
The Third World War series
Torch
1985
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game XI
Torgau
1974

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Trenchfoot
1981

Frank Chadwick
wargame


Triplanetary
1973 (2nd ed. 1981)

John Harshman, Marc Miller
sci-fi

Tsushima
1976

Marc Miller
wargame

Unentschieden
1973

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Europa series game II
Verdun
1978

Marc Miller
wargame

Western Desert
1983
John Astell
wargame

Europa series game VI
White Death
1979

Frank Chadwick
wargame

Yalu
1978

John Hill
wargame



Miniatures rules




  • Fire & Steel (Napoleonic Wars, 1978)


  • Harpoon (modern naval combat), later developed into a computer game


  • Johnny Reb (American Civil War)


  • Striker (science fiction, 1983), another Traveller based game.


  • Command Decision (20th Century Warfare, World War II)


  • Combined Arms (Cold War, post-WWII)


  • TacForce (20th Century Warfare)


  • Over the Top (20th Century WWI)


  • Star Cruiser (23rd Century Space Warfare) a 2300AD based game


  • Sky Galleons of Mars (Space 1889 aerial Warfare)


  • Soldier's Companion (Space 1889 land, air and sea warfare)


  • Volley & Bayonet (Big battles in black powder era, 1994)



Grenadier Magazine


The Grenadier was the house magazine from 1978 to 1990, with 35 issues. It started off as a quarterly magazine, but towards the end was published sporadically. Although it covered games from all companies, it gave most of the magazine space to GDW games.



Journal of the Travellers Aid Society


Journal of the Travellers Aid Society was a magazine dedicated to Traveller published by GDW between 1979 and 1985.



Challenge


Challenge was a role-playing game magazine that replaced Journal of the Travellers Aid Society. It covered all of GDW's role playing games, not just Traveller. It was published between 1986 and 1996.



Awards




  • Best Graphics of 1976 Charles S. Roberts Award, Avalanche [4]


  • Best Fantasy/Futuristic Game of 1978 Charles S. Roberts Award, Mayday [5]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1978 H. G. Wells Award, Fire & Steel [5]


  • Best Historical Figure Series of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, System Seven Napoleonics [6]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, System Seven Napoleonics [6]


  • Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, Kinunir [6]


  • Best Magazine Covering Roleplaying of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society [6]


  • Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1980 Charles S. Roberts Award, Azhanti High Lightning [7]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1980 H. G. Wells Award, Tacforce [7]


  • Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1980 H. G. Wells Award, Twilights Peak [7]


  • Best Professional Magazine Covering Roleplaying of 1980 H. G. Wells Award, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society [7]


  • Best Pre-20th Century Boardgame of 1981 Charles S. Roberts Award, House Divided [8]


  • Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1981 H. G. Wells Award, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society [8]


  • All Time Best Miniatures Rules for 20th Century Land Battles of 1981 H. G. Wells Award, Tacforce [8]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1982 H. G. Wells Award, Striker [9]


  • Best Roleplaying Rules of 1984 H. G. Wells Award, Twilight: 2000 [10]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1986 H. G. Wells Award, Command Decision [11]


  • Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1986 H. G. Wells Award, Going Home [11]


  • Best Boardgame Covering the Period 1900-1946 of 1987 Origins Award, Scorched Earth [12]


  • Best Boardgame Covering the Period 1947-Modern Day of 1987 Origins Award, Team Yankee [12]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1987 Origins Award, Harpoon [12]


  • Best Miniatures Rules of 1988 Origins Award, To The Sound of the Guns [13]


  • Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1988 Origins Award, Sky Galleons of Mars [13]


  • Best Graphic Presentation of a Boardgame of 1988 Origins Award, Sky Galleons of Mars [13]


  • Best Pre-World War Two Game of 1989 Charles S. Roberts Award, House Divided (2nd edition)


  • Best Roleplaying Rules of 1993 Origins Award, Traveller: the New Era



References





  1. ^ Jason Weesner (2007-01-11). "On Game Design: A History of Video Games". Game Career Guide. Retrieved 2007-09-14..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "Far Future Enterprises - Home". Far Future Enterprises. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  3. ^ The Traveller Bibliography, page 25


  4. ^ "1976 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1977". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  5. ^ ab "1978 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1979". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  6. ^ abcd "1979 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1980". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  7. ^ abcd "1980 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1981". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  8. ^ abc "1981 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1982". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  9. ^ "1982 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1983". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  10. ^ "1984 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1985". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  11. ^ ab "1986 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1987". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  12. ^ abc "1987 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1988". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.


  13. ^ abc "1988 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1989". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-09-14.









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