This book covers wargaming's early days back when the kings of game producers were still around, such as Avalon Hill and SPI. All of the games covered in this book are now long out of print and it's a nice compendium of these games.The book is split into two parts. Part 1 gives a brief introduction to the wargaming hobby and includes an introductory wargame entitled Kassala which allows the reader/gamer to play out an historic battle that took place between Moslem and Christian soldiers in northeast Afica during the 16th century. Being an introductory wargame from 1980 the rules are short and simple and the combat system uses the tried and true odds based combat results table.
The second part of the book delves into the games that were produced during the 1970's and covers them by the period depicted in the game. The periods are:
1) Ancient
2) Medieval
3) Battles Before Bonaparte
4) Napoleonic
5) Dawn of Modern Warfare
6) WWI
7) WWII
8) Future/hypothetical
9) Science-Fiction
10) Fantasy
11) Dungeons, Dragons, and Role-Playing
12) Computer based games
Each game in each category has its vital information presented:
1) Name and published date
2) Publisher
3) Suggest Retail Price (in 1970's prices)
4) Subject
5) Playing Time
6) Scale
7) Physical Map Size
8) Game balance
9) Key Features
10) Comments
11) Overall Evaluation
Many games also have a picture of the game box and/or components as well. A sample of games covered includes (but is certainly not limited to): Caesar - Epic Battle of Alesia, King Maker, Musket & Pike, Quebec, 1776, Wooden Ships & Iron Men, Waterloo, Fury in the West, Road to Richmond, Source of the Nile, Terrible Swift Sword, Diplomacy, Air Assault on Crete, Bismark, Panzer Leader, Third Reich, War at Sea, Victory in the Pacific, Bar-Lev, Yalu, Alpha Omega, G.E.V., Ogre, Starship Troopers, Warp War, The Creature That Ate Sheboygan, King Arthur's Knights, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Gamma World, and many more.
