This column is scheduled to be a continuing feature in The Grenadier. I see two basic functions that can be fufilled here: first, we can give you some general news about Game Designers' Workshop, covering games in the works and publishing schedules; secondly, we can provide background information about what GDW does and why, especially in the realm of game design. To those of you who read this column regularly, I welcome comments and criticism, as well as suggestions as to other items I can cover.

New Games from GDW:

Published 1 December 1977 were Overlord, The Fall of Tobruk, and Imperium, all in boxed format with hard mounted maps, under the Conflict line. Each retails for $11.98.

Imperium is brand new. Overlord is a revision of the old Conflict Overlord, with additions and changes, as well as a complete re-execution of the game graphics. The Fall of Tobruk is entirely unchanged from the previous edition, with the exception that the map is hard-mounted and the box is the new standard size.

Coming Soon:

Currently scheduled for the first quarter of 1978 are Tacforce, Battle for Verdun, The Iliad, Agincourt, The Battle of the Alma, and Star Duel.

The Battle for Verdun is a new game, based on the old Conflict game of the same title. The new version will be done at the regimental level, instead of the old battalion level, and the new map will cover more area than before.

The Iliad is a game of the heroic siege of Troy, involving combat between the mythical heroes in a lengthy attempt to take Troy. Both of these games will be boxed with mounted maps and published under the Conflict label. Both will retail for $11.98.

Agincourt, The Alma, and Star Duel are all Series 120 games. All three of these games are bagged, and will sell for $5 each.

Tacforce is a set of detailed miniature rules for modern Micro-Armour. In cooperation with GHQ MicroArmour, we are publishing this boxed set of rules to provide officially sanctioned rules for the field of 1/287th miniatures. In typical GDW detail, the scale is 1:1 for figures, and involves more than just dice throwing. This set is not simply a collection of rules in a few booklets; central to the game are data cards for each weapon, overlaying on target cards for targets, which then read out in percentage hit probabilities. The percentage dice required, as well as several other accessories (although not the Micro-Armor miniatures) are also included in the boxed game.

Series 120 Games:

In January 1977, while the Workshop staff was at Wintercon in Champaign, Illinois, the idea for the Series 120 games was proposed. Originally, it was called System 120, but no basic game system held the concept together, so the change was made to Series 120. Four basic parameters defined the concept:

1. Each had to be a short game, taking no more than two hours (120 minutes) to play. This was a very important condition, made primarily in response to the gainers who are not willing to spend hours and hours playing a single game. This recognized the fact that many of our products are aimed at the hard-corps gainers.

2. We had to keep our costs down; the game could only use a 17"x22" map and 120 counters. Talking about money always sounds mercenary, but establishing a specific size for components (and then determining that there would be no exceptions to the format) enabled us to accurately forecast our production costs, in preparation for the third parameter.

3. The low costs would be passed on to the customer. Originally, we thought to price each game at 120 nickels, but that was carrying the Series 120 concept too far. Besides, it made the price too high. We dropped the proposed retail price to $5.00.

4. Finally, we all agreed that, while Series 120 would be an inexpensive series of fast games, the standard GDW quality would not be left out. We did not want the Series to become labeled as cheap or simplistic by our hard-corps followers.

Series 120 did open up a great many new possibilities for our design staff. Many game ideas are simply not producable at the $8 level, let alone at the $10 or $12 levels. Certainly Raphia (the first of the Series 120 games) was too small a subject for a large map, $8 game; there is not enough detail in the battle, and not enough people willing to spend that much money for a relatively obscure battle. We have found that people will buy the game at $5. More importantly, these people play and greatly enjoy the game.

Agincourt (a Series 120 game currently in design) is another example of the suitability of the 120 format. Recreating the battle at the typical large game size was just mind-boggling. The designer would have to bend reality too much to make the game balanced. Furthermore, once balanced, the game would probably take too long to play. Agincourt as a 120 game provides a reasonable historical analysis of the battle in a short playing time. The price is right, and the gamer can always delve deeper (if the topic catches his fancy) in other, more complex games on the subject.

Some other titles in various stages of design and development at GDW include a set of Napoleonic miniatures rules, a very large North Africa campaign game, Gallipoli, Twilight (a science fiction game simulating civil war in a galactic empire), Space: 1889, and The Indian Ocean Adventure (in April, 1942).

By the way, have you noticed one of our more subtle experiments? On several of our games, we have printed a distance scale, correlated to the hex grid, to allow instant reference to the map scale. Nearly all non- game maps carry such a scale; nearly all game maps do not. We would like your comments and opinions as to whether our practice is worth the effort.