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Columbia Blockgames Listed Chronologically
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This is the first in a series of lists that I hope to create that will cover every block game in existence at this moment. There are lists available right now that have to do with block games, some of them even claiming to be definitive, but, in most of these lists, there is a lack of a clear organizing principle. If you're wondering why anyone would care about blockgames, you can check out my earlier list here: Development of a Blockgamer - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/17248In this list, I intend to present a chronological listing (according to year published) of every Columbia block game (they have printed a few non-block games that I am not concerned with here) that exists (excluding expansions), with some comments lifted straight from the descriptions here on the 'Geek. I'm using the 'Geek's descriptions here instead of my own original comments because I haven't even played 1/10 of these games yet (though I'm aching to do so!). Additionally, it should be noted that I'm not giving Gamma Two Games their own list, but I've included here their block games that have been reprinted by Columbia. I hope this will be a useful tool for anyone considering purchasing/playing Columbia games.
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Posted Tue Dec 5, 2006 1:29 am
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Published 1972 (originally published by Gamma Two Games)
"Quebec 1759 is a small, simple and short war game covering the conflict between the British and the French in Canada during the Seven Years War. The game comes with a gorgeous map drawn in the style of the period. Movement is conducted via a point-to-point system following the roads and towns in the area around Quebec. The game comes with handfuls of blocks to represent the British and French units."
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Published 1973 (originally published by Gamma Two Games)
"War of 1812 Depicts the American-British struggle for control of the Great Lakes 1812-14. The roles of navies, infantry and cavalry are depicted."
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Published 1974 (originally published by Gamma Two Games, then Avalon Hill)
On June 18, 1815, one of the most decisive battles in military history was fought in Belgian fields twenty miles southeast of Brussels. Within a short 100 days, Napoléon, former emperor of France, had returned from exile on the island of Elba, again seized power, quickly assembled an army, and marched to defeat the dispersed British and Prussian armies now preparing to invade France. Napoléon can be played by two or three players. With three, the allied side has two players, one British and one Prussian, and some special rules apply.
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Published 1984
"Rommel in the Desert is a pre-"Front" game touching on the conflict between the British and Germans in North Africa during WWII. A game of maneuver, each side has to move with precision and know when to strike, since a cut in supply spells disaster for either side. The supply system is card driven. The game comes with a well painted map of North Africa and 100 wooden blocks to represent the British and Germans."
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Published 1991
"EastFront details the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union during WWII. Players have to contend with production, supply, command control and weather to try and break the other sides' lines. Several scenarios cover every major point of the war. The game comes with a fantastic detailed map of Eastern Europe and Russia printed on card and many wooden blocks for the units. This is one section of the complete EuroFront series that covers the entire European conflict of WWII."
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Published 1992
"WestFront details the conflict between the Allies and Germany during WWII between 1943-45. Players have to contend with production, supply, command control and the weather to try and break the other sides lines. Additional rules are included for amphibious invasions. Several scenarios cover every major point of the war. The game comes with a fantastic detailed map of Western Europe and Italy printed on card and many wooden blocks for the units. This is one section of the complete EuroFront series that covers the entire European conflict of WWII."
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Published 1993
"Bobby Lee covers the eastern theater of the American Civil War around the Virginia area from 1861-1865. It comes with a beautiful card-stock map of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Eastern Virginia and heaps of wooden blocks for the North and South. The game utilizes both a strategic layer of the conflict but also provides a slightly more tactical layer of combat with additional battle maps that allow for center, and flank positions of specific units. The game can be combined with Sam Grant so that both theaters of the Civil War can be played out at the same time."
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Published 1994
"MedFront details the conflict between the Allies and Germany during WWII from 1940-43, as well as the Spanish Civil War from 1936-39. Players have to contend with production, supply, command control and the weather to break the other side's lines and achieve victory. The game comes with a fantastic detailed map of Spain and North Africa printed on card and many wooden blocks for the units. This is just one portion of the complete EuroFront series, which covers the entire European conflict of WWII."
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Published 1994
"Volgafront is a folio add-on to Columbia Games EastFront. It provides an eastern map extension of Russia so that a complete picture of the strategic possibilities during WWII in Germany's fight with the Soviet Union. It also comes with an additional EastFront rulebook and a set of new scenarios that utilize the map extension directly. EastFront is required to play with the VolgaFront map. VolgaFront is also part of the EuroFront series."
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10.
Board Game: EuroFront
[Average Rating:7.09 Unranked]
[Average Rating:7.09 Unranked]
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Published 1995
"Eurofront is a supplementary rules system that allows all of the Front games (EastFront, WestFront, MedFront and possibly the VolgaFront expansion) to be combined into one sprawling game that covers the entire European theater of WWII. Rules are provided to link all the games together seamlessly and add units for neutral and minor powers in Europe. Further, rules are provided so that simulate the political history and allow for the possibility that non-historical outcomes occur with respect to how minor powers react to the events of WWII. Part of the EuroFront series."
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Published 1997
"Sam Grant covers the western theater of the American Civil War around the Mississippi area from 1862-1864. It comes with a beautiful card-stock map from Vicksburg to Cincinnati and heaps of wooden blocks for the North and South. The game utilizes both a strategic layer of the conflict but also provides a slightly more tactical layer of combat with additional battle maps that allow for center, and flank positions of specific units. The game can be combined with Bobby Lee so that both theaters of the Civil War can be played out at the same time."
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Published 1998
"Victory: The Blocks of War is the latest block game from Columbia Games. It is a generic war game in that it does not cover any specific war but instead is supposed to emulate WWII technology in an alternate generic world. The maps do not show any real world geography but instead are modular in that you can arrange them in a variety of ways to create different effects. The game system is a stripped down Front system, removing the whole command control element and also simplifies movement and unit production. The game comes with the basic block sets for blue and red players but Columbia has also put out an "elite" block set that adds and additional 10 units to a color. There is a dearth of supplements for the game, including basic and elite block sets for four other colors (black, orange, green, and gray), several more maps with various terrain to add further variety, and lastly a "Logistics" expansion which provides a twist on production and other strategic elements to the game."
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Published 2000
"Pacific Victory covers the war in the Pacific during World War II using the Columbia Block game system. Units are represented by wooden blocks which remain upright and hide the type and strength of the unit. A fusion of Columbia's older "Front" system and its newer "Victory" system, the game focuses on the grand strategy of the Pacific war. It provides a number of scenarios that deal with specific stages of the war and also a grand campaign."
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Published 2000
"You are one of the Wizard Kings locked in a desperate struggle to control the world. You command Orcs, Elves or one of the other races. Choose your army, build your fortifications, ready your spells and march to victory. Wizard Kings can play in as little as one hour or be used as part of a miniatures campaign for months. Victory conditions vary with the many possible scenarios."
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Published 2002
"Hammer of the Scots brings the rebellion of the Braveheart, William Wallace, to life. As the English player, you seek to pacify Scotland by controlling all the important noble lords. The Scottish player also seeks the allegiance of nobles to support a difficult struggle for freedom. Hammer of the Scots will give you many hours of entertainment and insight into this fascinating period in history."
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Published 2003
"Liberty is a fast-playing game covering the American Revolution from 1775-1783. British, American, and French forces are included and the role of the Indians and Navies is depicted. The unique problems faced by each side become clear in this playable game."
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Published 2004
"Gettysburg: Badges of Courage employs a game system developed for tactical combat. Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry are led by Division, Corps and Army commanders in a struggle to control terrain features like Little Round Top and Cemetery Ridge. All three days of Gettysburg can be played separately or together in battle-long scenario. Players have some control of which roads and at which time new Divisions and Corps arrive throughout the battle. Gettysburg: Badges of Courage features a Brigade level order of battle with historical units and leaders. The game system rewards players who maintain division and corps integrity."
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Published 2005
"Crusader Rex is a game of the 3rd Crusade. One Player plays the Christian Franks, the other, the Muslim Saracens. The objective of the game is to control important Victory Cities such as Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus, and Antioch. The board depicts the Middle East from Antioch in the north to Egypt in the south."
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Published 2007
"Athens & Sparta is a strategic level block game of the Peloponnesian War, fought from 431BC to 404BC. This war pitted the superior wealth and naval power of Athens against the militarism of Sparta. It was a bloody contest, with many heroic triumphs and great atrocities. Victory by Sparta ended the Golden Age of Greece."
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Posted Mon Dec 4, 2006 11:55 pm
