The following was written by Jim Dunnigan who, among other things, was editor ofStrategy & Tactics magazine when it was owned by the original, non-TSR incarnation ofSP1. It appears courtesy of Alan Emrich, who posted it on his Internet Home Page.

The term grognard, as applied to veteran wargamers, was first coined back in the early 1970's by John Young. He was, at that time, an employee for wargame publisher SPI, and the use of the term around the office (and among the local playtesters) soon led to grognards being mentioned in one of SPI's magazines (Strategy & Tactics).

Several hundred thousand board wargamers picked up the term from that publication and it spread to computer wargamers, as the board wargamers (the ones with PCs, of course) were the first people to snap up computer wargames when they appeared .

Consider this a first hand account, not an urban legend. I actually heard John Young utter it the first time, and was one of the people who razzed him about it for some time thereafter. I was also the one who put the term into circulation in S&T. Alas, John Young passed away in 1976 (or was it 77?) 1 can confirm that also; I was at the funeral. Now you know.

Grognard, n., French, literally "grumbler". A member of Napoleon's Old Guard A veteran soldier. 

The table provides information about Strategy & Tactics (S&T) Magazine while it was the flagship of Jim Dunnigan's companies, first Simulations Corporation with Poultron Press, and then Simulations Publications Incorporated (SPI).

S&T issues 1 to 10 were edited and published by Christopher R. Wagner. S&T issues 11 (Volume 11 Number 1) to 17 (Volume III Number 1) were edited by Christopher R. Wagner and published by the Project Analysis Corporation.

S&T issue 18 was the first issue to contain a game, but the map and counters were not printed separately. This was corrected for S&T issue 19 and subsequent issues, all of which had separate maps, counters, and for the early issues as well, rules.

The columns in the table represent the following:

the issue number
the title of the issue game
the year of publication
the month of publication
the quantity printed.

S&T was one of the few magazines which actually published its monthly circulation figures. This information offers a fascinating glimpse into the past, and very clearly demonstrates how interest in the hobby of wargaming took off so quickly in the early 1970's and plateaued by the late 1970's.

This information also provides the collector with a sense of relative rarity.

18 Crete 1969 Sep/Oct
19 Blitzkrieg Module System 1969 Nov/Dec
20 Bastogne 1970 Jan/Feb 1,200
21 Flight of the Goeben & Chicago, Chicago! 1970 May/Jun
22 Renaissance of Infantry 1970 Jul/Aug 1,428
23 T-34 1970 Sep/Oct 1,522
24 Battle of Moscow 1970 Nov/Dec 1,607
25 Centurion 1971 Jan/Feb
26 Grunt 1971 Mar/Apr
27 Fall of France 1971 May/Jun 2,100
28 Lost Battles 1971 Sep/Oct 2,500
29 U.S.N. 1971 Nov/Dec
30 Combat Command 1972 Jan/Feb 6,000
31 Flying Circus 1972 Mar/Apr
32 Borodino 1972 May/Jun
33 Winter War 1972 Jul/Aug 15,000
34 Armageddon 1972 Sep/Oct 15,100
35 Year of the Rat 1972 Nov/Dec 16,500
36 Destruction of Army Group Center 1973 Jan/Feb 21,000
37 Scrimmage 1973 Mar/Apr 24,100
38 CA 1973 May/Jun 24,400
39 Fall of Rome 1973 Jul/Aug 25,100
40 PanzerArmee Afrika 1973 Sep/Oct 26,100
41 Kampfpanzer 1973 Nov/Dec 26,800
42 East is Red 1974 Jan/Feb 27,200
43 American Civil War 1974 Mar/Apr 27,600
44 Tank! 1974 May/Jun 28,100
45 Operation Olympic 1974 Jul/Aug 28,100
46 Combined Arms 1974 Sep/Oct 28,100
47 Wolfpack 1974 Nov/Dec 28,100
48 Sixth Fleet 1975 Jan/Feb 29,900
49 Frederick the Great 1975 Mar/Apr 30,200
50 Battle for Germany 1975 May/Jun 31,500
51 World War I 1975 Jul/Aug 31,500
52 Oil War 1975 Sep/Oct 31,500
53 Punic Wars 1975 Nov/Dec
54 Dixie 1976 Jan/Feb 31,500
55 Breitenfeld 1976 Mar/Apr 31,500
56 Revolt in the East 1976 May/Jun 31,500
57 Panzergruppe Guderian 1976 Jul/Aug 3 1 1 500
58 Conquistador 1976 Sep/Oct 31,500
59 Plot to Assassinate Hitler 1976 Nov/Dec 31,500
60 Road to Richmond 1977 Jan/Feb 31500
61 October War 1977 Mar/Apr 31:500
62 South Africa 1977 May/Jun 31,500
63 Vera Cruz 1977 Jul/Aug 34,000
64 Raid! 1977 Sep/Oct 34,000
65 Cobra 1977 Nov/Dec 34,000
66 Siege of Constantinople 1978 Jan/Feb 34,500
67 Stonewall 1978 Mar/Apr 36,000
68 Kharkov 1978 May/Jun 36,000
69 Tannenberg 1978 Jul/Aug 36500
70 Crusades 1978 Sep/Oct 36:300
71 Cassino 1978 Nov/Dec 36,300
72 Armada 1979 Jan/Feb 36,500
73 Panzer Battles 1979 Mar/Apr 36,500
74 Ney vs. Wellington 1979 May/Jun 36,500
75 Napoleon's Art of War 1979 Jul/Aug 36,500
76 China War 1979 Sep/Oct 36,500
77 Paratroop 1979 Nov/Dec 36,500
79 Patton's Third Army 1980 Jan/Feb 36,500
79 Berlin '85 1980 Mar/Apr 36,500
80 Wilson's Creek 1980 May/Jun 36,500
81 Tito 1980 Jul/Aug 36,500
82 Fifth Corps 1980 Sep/Oct 36,500
83 Kaiser's Battle 1980 Nov/Dcc 36,500
84 Operation Grenada 1981 Jan/Feb 36,500
85 Fighting Sail 1981 Mar/Apr 36,500
86 Cedar Mountain 1981 May/Jun 36,500
87 Desert Fox1981 Jul/Aug 36,500
88 BAOR (British Army on the Rhine) 1981 Sep/Oct 32,000
189 Sicily 1982 Jan/Feb 32,000

S&T circulation continued as follows:

91-25,000
92-22,000
93- 18,000
94-17,000
95-16,000
97-15,000
99-14,000
104- 13,000
108-11,507
118-5,571
125-4,613
170-6,048
180- 6,451

TSR: S&Ts 90 to 110.
World Wide Wargames: S&Ts 111 to 139
Decision Games: S&Ts 140 to date (188).