Game Designers' Workshop

Not to be confused with the unrelated UK-based Games Workshop.

Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996.^[1] Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.^[2]

Game Designers' Workshop

Company type	Corporation (1973–1996)
Industry	Wargame and Role-playing game publisher
Founded	June 22, 1973
Defunct	February 29, 1996
Headquarters	Normal, Illinois, United States
Key people	Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman
Products	Wargames, role-playing games

History

Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973. The founding members consisted of Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, Marc Miller, and Loren Wiseman. GDW acquired the Conflict Games Company from John Hill in the early 1970s.

GDW published a new product approximately every twenty-two days for over twenty years. In an effort to bridge the gap between role players, board wargamers and miniature wargamers, the company published RPGs with fantastic settings alongside games with realistic themes including rulesets for 15mm and 20mm miniatures set during the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the modern era; and boardgames involving these eras such as the Air Superiority series and Harpoon.

The company disbanded February 29, 1996 after suffering financial troubles.

Products

Role-playing games

• En Garde! (1975): Dueling game set in 17th-century France, often run as a play-by-mail game.
• Traveller (1977): A science fiction game originally intended as a ruleset for generic space adventures. Revised and reissued as Megatraveller (1987) and with completely different rules and a greatly changed setting as Traveller: The New Era (1993)^[3]
• Twilight: 2000 (1984): An alternate history game set in a Europe devastated by nuclear war, with adventures and supplements also dealing with the U.S. and Bangkok.
• Traveller: 2300 (1987): A hard science fiction roleplaying game, set 300 years after the Twilight War featured in Twilight: 2000. Traveller: 2300 was later renamed to 2300 AD in (1988) with the release of the second edition.
• Space: 1889 (1988): Victorian-era spacefaring game which provided for roleplay opportunities, steampunk aerial gunboat engagements and "colonial" miniature warfare with retro-futuristic elements such as Martian brave warbands and odd space creatures.
• Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (1990): Based on the underground comic book Xenozoic Tales.
• Dark Conspiracy (1991): a near-future horror role-playing game (RPG), created by Lester Smith
• Dangerous Journeys (1992): Roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system.

Board games

Game	Year	Designer	Category	Notes
1940	1980	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Series 120
1941	1981	John Astell	wargame	Series 120
1942	1978	Marc Miller	wargame	Series 120
1815: The Waterloo Campaign	1975 (2nd ed. 1982)	Frank Chadwick	wargame
8th Army: Operation Crusader	1984	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Double Blind series
Battle of Agincourt - 1415 AD	1978	Marc Miller	wargame	Series 120
Air Strike	1987	JD Webster	wargame	Air Superiority series
Air Superiority	1987	JD Webster	wargame	Air Superiority series
Battle of Alma	1978	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Series 120
Arctic Front	1985	Frank Chadwick	wargame	The Third World War series
Assault	1983	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Assault series
Asteroid	1980	Frank Chadwick	sci-fi	Series 120
Attack in the Ardennes	1982	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Avalanche	1976	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Azhanti High Lightning	1980	Frank Chadwick & Marc Miller	sci-fi	Charles S. Roberts Award winner
Bar-Lev	1977	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Acquired from John Hill/Conflict Games
Battle for Basra	1991	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
Battle Rider	1994	Frank Chadwick	sci-fi
Battlefield Europe	1990	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
Beda Fomm	1979	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Series 120
Belter	1979	Frank Chadwick	sci-fi
Blood & Thunder	1992	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
Bloodtree Rebellion	1979	Lynn Willis	sci-fi
Bloody Kasserine	1992	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Blue Max	1983	Phil Hall	wargame
Boots & Saddles	1984	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Assault series
Brilliant Lances	1993	David Nilsen	sci-fi
Bundeswehr	1986	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Assault series
Burma	1976	Bob Fowler	wargame
Case White	1977	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Europa series game VII
Chaco	1973	Marc Miller	wargame
Chieftain	1988	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Assault series
Citadel: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu	1977	Frank Chadwick	wargame	2 Game Designer Guild Awards
Coral Sea	1974 (2nd ed. 1976)	Marc Miller	wargame
Crimea	1975	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Dark Nebula	1980	Marc Miller	sci-fi	Series 120
Desert Falcons	1989	JD Webster	wargame	Air Superiority series
Double Star	1979	Marc Miller	sci-fi
Drang Nach Osten!	1973	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Europa series game I
Eagles	1974	Loren Wiseman	wargame
En Garde!	1975 (2nd ed. 1977)	Darryl Hany	rpg
Eylau	1980	Rik Fontana	wargame
The Fall of France	1981	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game VIII
The Fall of Tobruk	1978	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Fifth Frontier War	1981	Marc Miller	sci-fi
Fire in the East	1984	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game I
Great Patriotic War	1988	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Guilford Courthouse	1978	Greg Novak	wargame	Series 120
Harpoon	1987	Larry Bond	wargame	includes supplement Troubled Waters
Harpoon: Captain's Edition	1990	Larry Bond	wargame
A House Divided	1981 (2nd ed. 1989)	Frank Chadwick	wargame	2 time Charles S. Roberts Award winner
Illad	1978	Rik Fontana	sci-fi
Imperium	1977	Marc Miller	sci-fi
Indian Ocean Adventure	1978	Marc Miller	wargame
Invasion Earth	1981	Marc Miller	sci-fi
Kasserine Pass	1977	Frank Chadwick	wargame
La Bataille de la Moscowa	1977 & 1988	John Harshman	wargame
Last Battle	1989	Tim Ryan	rpg
The Battle of Lobositz	1978	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Series 120
Manassas	1975 (2nd ed. 1976)	Tom Eller	wargame
Marita-Merkur	1978	Rich Banner	wargame	Europa series game III
Mayday	1978	Marc Miller	sci-fi	Charles S. Roberts Award winner
Battle for Midway	1976	Marc Miller	wargame
Battle for Moscow	1986	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Free giveaway, Charles S. Roberts Award finalist
Narvik	1974 (2nd ed. 1980)	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Europa series game IV
The Near East	1983	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game IX
The Normandy Campaign	1983	Ben Knight	wargame	Double Blind series
Operation Crusader	1978	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Operation Market Garden	1985	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Double Blind series
Over the Top	1990	Greg Novak	wargame	Command Decision series rules
Overlord	1978	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Pearl Harbor	1977 (2nd ed. 1979)	John Prados	wargame
Persian Gulf	1986	Frank Chadwick	wargame	The Third World War series
Pharsalus	1977	Loren Wiseman	wargame
Phase Line Smash	1992	Frank Chadwick	wargame	solitaire game
Port Arthur	1976	Marc Miller	wargame
The Battle of Prague	1980	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Series 120
The Race for Tunis	1992	Frank Chadwick	wargame
The Battle of Raphia, 217 B.C.	1977	Marc Miller	wargame	Series 120
Red Army	1982	John Astell	wargame
Red Empire	1990	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Red Star / White Eagle	1979	Dave Williams	wargame
Reinforcements	1985	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Assault series
Road to the Rhine	1979	Frank Chadwick	wargame
The Sands of War Expansion Kit	1992	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
The Sands of War	1991	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
Scorched Earth	1987	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game II
Snapshot	1979	Marc Miller	sci-fi
Soldier King	1982	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Southern Front	1984	Frank Chadwick	wargame	The Third World War series
Spain & Portugal	1984	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Europa series game X
Suez '73	1981	Frank Chadwick	wargame
SSN	1975	Stephen Newberg	wargame
Stand & Die	1991	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
Tacforce	1980	Frank Chadwick	wargame	miniatures rules
Team Yankee	1987	Frank Chadwick	wargame	First Battle series
Test of Arms	1988	Larry Smith	wargame	First Battle series
Tet Offensive: 1968	1991	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Their Finest Hour	1976	Marc Miller	wargame	Europa series game V
Their Finest Hour	1982 & 1984	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game V
The Third World War	1984	Frank Chadwick	wargame	The Third World War series
Torch	1985	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game XI
Torgau	1974	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Trenchfoot	1981	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Triplanetary	1973 (2nd ed. 1981)	John Harshman, Marc Miller	sci-fi
Tsushima	1976	Marc Miller	wargame
Unentschieden	1973	Frank Chadwick	wargame	Europa series game II
Verdun	1978	Marc Miller	wargame
Western Desert	1983	John Astell	wargame	Europa series game VI
White Death	1979	Frank Chadwick	wargame
Yalu	1978	John Hill	wargame

Miniatures rules

• Fire & Steel (Napoleonic Wars, 1978)
• Harpoon (modern naval combat), later developed into a computer game
• Johnny Reb (American Civil War)
• Striker (science fiction, 1983), another Traveller based game.
• Command Decision (20th century warfare, World War II. 1st and 2nd editions; a 3rd edition was written by Frank Chadwick and published in 1998 by EHQ and Old Glory)
• Combined Arms (Cold War, post-WWII)
• TacForce (20th century warfare)
• Over the Top (20th century, WWI)
• Star Cruiser (23rd century space warfare) a 2300AD-based game
• Sky Galleons of Mars (Space 1889 aerial warfare, boxed board game with miniatures)
• Cloudships and Gunboats (Space 1889 aerial Warfare, boxed board game with miniatures)
• Soldier's Companion (Space 1889 land, air and sea warfare)
• Striker II (science fiction, 1994), Traveller: The New Era–based game.
• Volley & Bayonet (big battles in black powder era, 1994)

Grenadier Magazine

The Grenadier was the house magazine from 1978 to 1990, with 35 issues. It started off as a quarterly magazine, but towards the end was published sporadically. Although it covered games from all companies, it gave most of the magazine space to GDW games.

Journal of the Travellers Aid Society

Journal of the Travellers Aid Society was a magazine dedicated to Traveller published by GDW between 1979 and 1985.

Challenge

Challenge was a role-playing game magazine that replaced Journal of the Travellers Aid Society.^[4] It covered all of GDW's role playing games, not just Traveller. It was published between 1986 and 1996.

Video games

• The Battle of Chickamauga
• Rommel: Battles for Tobruk

Awards

• Best Graphics of 1976 Charles S. Roberts Award, Avalanche ^[5]
• Best Fantasy/Futuristic Game of 1978 Charles S. Roberts Award, Mayday ^[6]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1978 H. G. Wells Award, Fire & Steel ^[6]
• Best Historical Figure Series of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, System Seven Napoleonics ^[7]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, System Seven Napoleonics ^[7]
• Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, Kinunir ^[7]
• Best Magazine Covering Roleplaying of 1979 H. G. Wells Award, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society ^[7]
• Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1980 Charles S. Roberts Award, Azhanti High Lightning ^[8]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1980 H. G. Wells Award, Tacforce ^[8]
• Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1980 H. G. Wells Award, Twilights Peak ^[8]
• Best Professional Magazine Covering Roleplaying of 1980 H. G. Wells Award, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society ^[8]
• Best Pre-20th Century Boardgame of 1981 Charles S. Roberts Award, House Divided ^[9]
• Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1981 H. G. Wells Award, Journal of the Travellers Aid Society ^[9]
• All Time Best Miniatures Rules for 20th Century Land Battles of 1981 H. G. Wells Award, Tacforce ^[9]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1982 H. G. Wells Award, Striker ^[10]
• Best Roleplaying Rules of 1984 H. G. Wells Award, Twilight: 2000 ^[11]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1986 H. G. Wells Award, Command Decision ^[12]
• Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1986 H. G. Wells Award, Going Home ^[12]
• Best Boardgame Covering the Period 1900-1946 of 1987 Origins Award, Scorched Earth ^[13]
• Best Boardgame Covering the Period 1947-Modern Day of 1987 Origins Award, Team Yankee ^[13]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1987 Origins Award, Harpoon ^[13]
• Best Miniatures Rules of 1988 Origins Award, To The Sound of the Guns ^[14]
• Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1988 Origins Award, Sky Galleons of Mars ^[14]
• Best Graphic Presentation of a Boardgame of 1988 Origins Award, Sky Galleons of Mars ^[14]
• Best Pre-World War Two Game of 1989 Charles S. Roberts Award, House Divided (2nd edition)
• Best Roleplaying Rules of 1993 Origins Award, Traveller: the New Era

References

1. Jason Weesner (January 11, 2007). "On Game Design: A History of Video Games". Game Career Guide. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
2. "Far Future Enterprises - Home". Far Future Enterprises. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
3. The Traveller Bibliography, page 25
4. "The top 10 RPG magazines of all time". The Shop on the Borderlands. January 12, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
5. "1976 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1977". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
6. "1978 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1979". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
7. "1979 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1980". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
8. "1980 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1981". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
9. "1981 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1982". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
10. "1982 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1983". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
11. "1984 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1985". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
12. "1986 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1987". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
13. "1987 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1988". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.
14. "1988 List of Winners Presented at Origins 1989". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved September 14, 2007.