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Early Miniatures Games
Ray
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Doing an advanced search on games dates 1974 or earlier and categorized as miniatures only returns these 25 games (just enough for a 1 page geeklist).

Hopefully seeing this list will motivate people to (1) submit missing games to the BGG database and (2) submit corrections for other miniature games that don't have the Miniatures category flags. Maybe we'll even get lucky and one of these early designers will chime in and say what games were influences?

I'm using a sort by average rating as I'm a fan of dynamic sorts (and they don't have one for year at this time).

[Edit] My initial query was wrong as I only took games with one or more rating. The initial 25 have been increased to 50 by adding the unrated games.
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Popular Tags: minis [+] [View All]
The items in this GeekList are ordered by average rating
Posted Sun Jan 21, 2007 7:21 pm
Edited Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:09 pm
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1. Board Game: Introduction to Battle Gaming [Average Rating:10.00 Unranked]
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Ray
United States
Carpentersville
Illinois
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 Introduction to Battle Gaming (1969)
Robert Taylor-Smith
Canada
High River
Alberta
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Three simple rule chapters are included: Ancient/medieval, Horse and Musket (American Civil War), and modern (WWII). About the level of Memoir'44. Note the title 'Introduction' thus the rules are pretty simple yet capture the different periods. Many descriptive photos.
2. Board Game: Kriegsspiel [Average Rating:8.49 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Kriegspiel (1824)
Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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The very first military simulation game, meant for the training of Prussian officers. There was a Bill Leeson reprint a few years ago.
3. Board Game: How To Play War Games in Miniature [Average Rating:8.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 How To Play War Games in Miniature (1962)
Jay Richardson
United States
Lindsborg
Kansas
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star:)star:)star:)star:)star

Ah... the FUN I had with this one as a kid! A wonderful book by Joseph P. Morchauser.

Never owned a copy: the town library had to borrow it from a big city library whenever I wanted to check it out... and I hate to think how many times THAT was! Eventually I typed up all of the charts so I could keep playing even without the book.

The book had very simple rules for Ancients, Civil War, and World War II battles (probably Napoleonics as well), and photographs of games in progress. The complexity of these rules would be on the level of today's Memoir '44, and they would still be perfect for introducing kids to miniatures wargaming.
4. Board Game: Naval Wargames Rules Fleet Action 1000 B.C. to 500 A.D. [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Naval Wargames Rules Fleet Action 1000 B.C. to 500 A.D. (1973)
5. Board Game: The Naval War Game [Average Rating:8.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 The Naval War Game (1912)
6. Board Game: War Games [Average Rating:7.50 Unranked]
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Ray
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 War Games (1962)
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7. Board Game: StarGuard! [Average Rating:7.06 Unranked]
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Ray
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 StarGuard! (1974)
8. Board Game: Samurai wargame rules [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Samurai wargame rules (1974)
9. Board Game: Air War Games [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Air War Games (1966)
10. Board Game: London Rules Wargames Section American Civil War 1863c [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 London Rules Wargames Section American Civil War 1863c (1970)
11. Board Game: Naval War Games [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Naval War Games (1965)
12. Board Game: Armour and Infantry [Average Rating:6.93 Unranked]
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Ray
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Carpentersville
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 Armour and Infantry (1973)
Joe Donnelly
Canada
Unspecified
BC
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Oh, what fun I had with this one, a few dozen miniature tanks, some cotton puffs, and those tiny little infantry stands (1/300 scale?). I still have the booklet, and the miniatures have been stowed away in a trunk all these years. Time to take another look...
David Sullivan
United States
Lynnwood
Washington
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These rules have stood the test of time and are great for small unit actions. The mechanics are very similar to Overlord and I suppose that latter borrowed from it. I have a few editions of these rules.
13. Board Game: Little Wars [Average Rating:6.75 Unranked]
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Ray
United States
Carpentersville
Illinois
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 Little Wars (1913)
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Considered the founding game for the hobby of miniatures wargaming.
Eric Dodd
New Zealand
Martinborough
Wairarapa
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I love photo id:98871... that's the way to play wargames.

How many other famous authors have a game to their credit?
Andrew Parkin
United Kingdom
Wakefield
West Yorkshire
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Quote:
I love photo id:98871... that's the way to play wargames.

How many other famous authors have a game to their credit?


Gavin Lyall - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/20940
Andrew Parkin
United Kingdom
Wakefield
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Quote:
How many other famous authors have a game to their credit?

Also Dennis Wheatley - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16231
14. Board Game: Tricolor: Rules for the Napoleonic Wargame [Average Rating:6.71 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Tricolor: Rules for the Napoleonic Wargame (1974)
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15. Board Game: Alien Space Battle Manual [Average Rating:6.70 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Alien Space (1973)
16. Board Game: Seapower II [Average Rating:6.67 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Seapower II (1970)
17. Board Game: Battle: Practical Wargaming [Average Rating:6.67 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Battle: Practical Wargaming (1970)
18. Board Game: Warpath [Average Rating:6.50 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Warpath (1966)
19. Board Game: Denmark Straits [Average Rating:6.50 Unranked]
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 Denmark Straits (1971)
20. Board Game: Bismarck [Average Rating:6.44 Overall Rank:1488]
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Ray
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 Bismarck (1962)
Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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The original 1962 edition was purely a board game. It was the later edition that included miniatures-style play in the advanced game.
21. Board Game: Tipp-Kick [Average Rating:6.35 Overall Rank:2058]
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Ray
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 Tipp-Kick (1923)
Colin M
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Edinburgh
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Sticking with football I guess Subbuteo deserves a miniatures tag as well then.
22. Board Game: Fletcher Pratt's Naval War Game [Average Rating:6.07 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Fletcher Pratt's Naval War Game (1943)
Seth Owen
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Norwich
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This was the most important early set of rules for the naval wargaming hobby.
Ray
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I agree. I see this one at major miniatures cons every year.
Eric Dodd
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If this is the same Fletcher Pratt who wrote the "Incomplete Enchanter" series in the 1940s and 50s with L. Sprague De Camp then I guess the answer to my earlier question is: "Yes"!

The things you learn on BGG.
Jay Richardson
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Quote:
If this is the same Fletcher Pratt who wrote the "Incomplete Enchanter" series in the 1940s and 50s with L. Sprague De Camp...

Yes, it is! See:

Rescue these people from the mists of time!
(Obscure games, possibly obscure names)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/16625

Entry #3 on that Geeklist has more information about Fletcher Pratt.
23. Board Game: Victory at Sea [Average Rating:6.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Victory at Sea (1971)
Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Was designed as a simpler and more realistic alternative to the Fletcher Pratt rules.
24. Board Game: Ironclad [Average Rating:6.00 Unranked]
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Ray
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 Ironclad (1973)
25. Board Game: Cavaliers and Roundheads [Average Rating:5.50 Unranked]
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 Cavaliers and Roundheads (1973)
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4 comments [Hide]
Thomas Eager
United States
Portland
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:) Great job finding these. I'm allways on the lookout for older rulessets like these. :)
Jay Richardson
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Great list, Ray! I saw two titles I own that I hadn't realized had been added to the database here.

You're missing "Flight of the Goeben" from S&T #21, 1970. That issue had a regular strategic board game of that name; but it also had a separate set of miniatures rules – with the same name – for fighting tactical battles with the ships that were in the strategic game, and Jutland-like ship counters were provided for people who did not have miniatures.

Only the strategic game is listed here on BGG:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5864
Ronald Pehr
United States
Las Vegas
Nevada
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While technically an rpg, not a miniatures game, the first edition of "Chivalry & Sorcery" had rules for miniatures which we actually used.
Ray
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Also see:

The Courier Presents A Timeline of the Historical Miniatures Wargaming Hobby
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/timeline2.html
Edited Tue Mar 4, 2008 9:14 pm
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