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NEW -

5/14/23 A new Rules Overview / Game discussion. The subject this time? Operation Grenade! (Link) Nathan Mueller gives a quick view of strategic and tactical choices, while I provide a quick review of the rules to get you playing this 'perfect for solo play' game!

4/14/23 A list of publications by hobby mainstay Martin Campion - scholar, researcher, writer, and long-time chronicler of the simulation games hobby! I have also linked all the articles of his that are already on the website so you can read them. Special thanks to the late John Kula for this, and to Brian   Link Link to unpublished Campion article here!

4/6-8/23 George Nap is at it again! This time it is the SPI great, Chickamauga! See it here! Link

And now,  Fredericksburg! Link

A highly detailed replay of Balaclava from The Crimean War Quad has been delivered to me from Leo Zappa. This is a very enjoyable effort! Link

My newest effort - a look at The Crimean War and a detailed rules overview designed to get you playing fast is also online now. Link

Also one for Blue & Gray. (I know, but what the heck.) Link

3/31/23 Wade Wilson has recently provided us with a beautifully cleaned version of the Musket & Pike map! Link And Rob Hickman has a colorized version of the Grenadier map as well. Link .

3/25/23 Bannockburn scenario cards for ROI Link and Yeoman Link. Honoring the day Robert the Bruce became King of the Scots - and the battle that marks the beginning of the end of the Feudal system. Need the ROI VASSAL module? Link 

New 3/22/23
Two intriguing replays that also teach you the rules of play. See the Agincourt scenario in Yeoman (played by  Andrew Hobley, and to explore the differences, I did the same scenario from the grandfather of all the tactical games, Renaissance of Infantry. I  contributed additional info to teach the rules to both these great games!
Link - ROI  Link - Yeoman
And this link will allow you to hear Dr. Nofi talk about the design and development of ROI! Link

Gary N. Mengle pulled together a Zoom call with 5 SPI greats (Davis, Herman, Butterfield, Parker, and Eric Lee Smith) to discuss the SPI days! WONDERFUL!See the video on YouTube HERE!

New 3/18/23

PRESTAGS Scenarios!!

Mod 1 2 3 4 5
Five modules of PRESTAGS scenarios by the best in the business! Look under Scenarios and then PRESTAGS to find them all! From Joe Miranda, Steven B. Guy, and Kim Meints!

Musket & Pike Scenarios!!  

Musket & Pike The Gold Rush of scenarios for this old favorite, by "the usual suspects?" MANY THANKS to Steven B. Guy, Kim Meints, Arthur Hendrick, Lawrence P. Duffield, John Lee, and Rob Gibson.

There are 23 scenarios here. Enjoy!

New 3/16/23

New Replays!
Mike Dyer and a short sharp battle introducing you to Rifle & Saber! Link A rules recount that could have you playing ASAP!
And don't miss the replay of Naseby in Musket & Pike by Joseph Bruce Redenour! Link 
And Andrew Hobley contributed this Yeoman replay! Link

New 3/12/23

New Replays!
Clayton Martin provided a short replay of a Viking scenario featuring - no Vikings! It is the Byzantines vs those pesky Bulgars at Balthusta, 1014. Keep an eye out for this one. (Oh, did I go there? 'Eye' guess 'eye' did.)

PRESTAGS Quick Ref Chart
A handy quick rules reference Chart for PRESTAGS - and should help anyone play the earlier versions of the game using the new rules, too.

New 3/8/23

Adjourned Game Sheets
Lee Enderlin sent these Excel worksheets to record unit positions for the eight GBACW Games!

New 3/7/23

New Replays!
I have added  six new replays in the past few days. The list: Battle of the Wilderness, and Hooker & Lee out of the Blue & Gray Quad; Bloody Ridge, from the Island War Quad, Sedan, from the Battles for the Ardennes Quad,  and Outreach, the SF Classic!

New 3/2/23

Have you noticed the new menu item, Tactics? I have recently added some nice articles, including a look at reinforcement choices in Arnhem, and other articles to follow!

New 12/18/22

Cedar Mountain Tactics If Tactics is all about how you move the units, this 11 page booklet looks at making your maneuvers on the board 'all about menace' that forces your opponent to prevent disaster! The booklet focuses on the power and proper use of Artillery and Cavalry. Don't overlook the little realized points of a cavalry charge. Quizzes review your understanding of elevation and line of sight, and the later review of calculations for fire and melee combat!

New 12/13/22

King Arthur Replay!
Jeff Parker serves up a short, sharp replay of the final battle between Arthur and Mordred from the Great Medieval Battles Quad! 

Cedar Mountain Strategy Russ Gifford walks through the first two turns of Cedar Mountain, and discusses the development of a winning strategy for the Union!

New - 6/20/22

JFD interview by Pat Flory
With Pat Flory's recent passing, I thought we should remember him with this look back at his interview of Jim Dunnigan. RIP, Patrick.

New - 6/12/22

Chinese Farm
Mark Saha provide player's aids and insights on this great little game from the Modern Battles Quad!

New - 4/17/22

Invasion America
One page PDF Addenda for Invasion America, from 1980!

GBACW 4 to 1
Four pages of rules to use the NEW GBACW games as GBACW v1 games!!

And a three page look at separate rules to add more chrome from the new games!

Plus a few examples to drive home the points.

SPI Videos
Added a set of videos from Hex 2 Hex featuring Pleasant Hill. Four parts but each are about 6 to 7 minutes. Nice to hear his strategy and the results!

2/8/22

'Your Move' Newsletter!
A 12 page newsletter with SPI articles, event notices, and a game challenge - it is 'Your Move!'

Writer's Guidelines for 'Your Move'
Lots of requests for these.

New - 1/23/22

Looking for Opponents?
New information on using the SPI Opponent's Finder to reach players!

SPI Napoleon Quad Tournament / Fest!
Details and Downloads!
Great way to find new opponents!

Quick Start VASSAL Guide!
See how to jump start using VASSAL as a way to exchange moves!

New - 1/8/22

TAC GAME #3 !!!Stephen Oliver has gifted us all with a beautifully restored copy of TAC Game #3!! Many, many  thanks for the game and the effort to restore it! Enjoy!!

Event-Year Cards  Added the cards for Empire of the Middle Ages - thank you John Edwards. Much nicer than my originals!

Foxbat Phantom Map Not perfect, but you should be able to see the setups and speeds info now!

Creature Video
Added Centurion Gamers Video play through of Creature that Ate Sheboygan. Watch this short video, and you can start playing the game!

Replay: Golan  George Nap finishes his replay / analysis of the original Modern Battles Quad with this replay of Golan! Can the Syrians change the outcome? Can the IDF repeat their stunning vistory? Special thanks, George!

Replay: Yugoslavia Breaking into the Mod Battles II quad, George Nap adds this Yugo/NATO effort to eject the invading Soviets from Zagreb!

Replay: Mukden Mr. Nap provides yet another great replay from The Modern Battles Quad. This time it is Mukden, a hypothetical battle that occurs when the Soviets invade China!

Replay: Wurzburg
An EXCELLENT new play by play AAR from George Nap! This time it is Modern Battles, and the name of the place is the Wurzburg.

New - 1/3/22

Campaign for North Africa
In Progress notes for the game that changed how we look at wargames - Campaign for North Africa. There is some amazing insights here, and well worth the read. Especially for those who don't think it was playtested.

RAS on Large Games
Redmond Simonsen discusses "The Large Game Syndrome."

RAS on Game Graphics
Redmond Simonsen considers "What Have I Been Doing??" when Tom Oleson questions his graphics qualities!

New - 12/31/21

The Next War Intro
A couple of turns of The Next War in a play by play. Enjoy!

Operation Typhoon
TC Bradley takes you through the first 6 turns of Operation Typhoon!

New - 12/23/21

Normandy Rules
With special thanks to David Barkey, the rules for the TSG game Normandy are now on the site. Special Note - these are not complete. But I am happy to have this much!

New - 12/21/21

Leipzig Rules
With special thanks to David Barkey, the rules for the TSG game Leipzig are now on the site!! 

Wreck of the Pandora
Excellent Review / Overview of the game by Jeffery Bass!

New - 12/12/21

Special Issues 
In 1977, 1979, and 1981, SPI created a special "Introduction to Wargaming" magazine. See them under 'Special Issues' on the menu for Advertisements

S&T Books
I - IV Link
 

New - 12/8/21

Barbarossa Rules
With special thanks to David Barkey, the rules for the TSG game Barbarossa are now on the site!! 

Tannenberg Rules
With special thanks to David Barkey, the rules for the TSG game Tannenberg are now on the site!! 

New - 12/4/21

Some Universe stuff added - like errata, other things.
Hey... check it out where it wasn't at last time you looked.

New - 11/26/21

Deployment Rules!
With special thanks to David Barkey, the rules for the TSG game Deployment are now on the site!! 

New - 11/26/21

Game Design Newsletter #5
The Last issue of the Game Design Newsletters!!   Lots of great articles including the upcoming 'Dark Ages (TAC 16) addition to the Renaissance of Infantry and Centurion series of TAC games!

Game Design Newsletter #4
The fourth issue of the Game Design Newsletters!! Designer's Notes discusses the new big game, WAR IN THE EAST. And the Reviews include a detailed look at TSG Deployment, and why it is re-imagined into GRENADIER.

 

Tactical Tips
Many articles on tactical play of these great games. Some are general, using the standard sticky ZOC games, and a number are specific to GBACW.

 

 - 11/17/21

The Never Quads
Brian Train looks deep into the Feedback questions and brings us a DETAILED look at all the Quads that never were - AND what happened going forward!

Game Design Newsletter #3
The third issue of the Game Design Newsletters!!  A new format made the scanning far nicer! Lots of great articles!

Game Design Newsletter #2
The second of the Game Design Newsletters!!  This one needs more work - but wanted to make what I had available.

New - 11/14/21

Against Four Worlds
In Progress notes for the game that never was - what would have been the last of the Quads!

Game Design Newsletter #1
The first of the Game Design Newsletters!!   Great articles reviewing the Test Series Games with lots of behind the scenes info; a nice article from Dr. Al Nofi on designing TAC 14 (Renaissance of Infantry.) And much more!

S&T Supplement 8
The final missing copy of S&T Supplement newsletters! (All links here.)

Below: I'm excited about these Designer / Developer Notes compilations. It was a goal when I started this web site to do ALL of these.

Compiled Development Notes for SPI Games:

Against Four Worlds

Battle of Monmouth

Berlin 85

Central Front Series

Rapid Deployment Force

If you want the original versions I did for the GBACW Development Notes, here is the link to the first page of them. Follow the links on that first page for the rest. (GBACW Link)

I recently added links to new videos - there are over EIGHTY videos at SPI Videos!