Hunga Dunga
United States
Portland
Oregon
-
This month's BGG Wargame Designer of the month is Mr. Tom Dalgliesh, who has been designing games for over 40 years and has won numerous awards.
Mr. Dalgliesh became interested in wargames while serving in the British Merchant Navy in the early 60's. In 1972 he designed Quebec 1759 and published it through the newly formed Gamma Two Games. Over the next few years he designed and published War of 1812 and Napoleon, which was picked up by Avalon Hill. He also designed family games such as The Last Spike and Starlord.
In 1982, Mr. Dalgliesh founded Columbia Games, a red-letter day on most of our calendars. In addition to writing and publishing Harnworld, he created and published HârnMaster (1st Edition) in 1986. At this time Mr. Dalgliesh was working on EastFront, but delayed publication until he had simplified the system. In 1991, EastFront won an Origins Award.
Many games followed, along with collaborations with N. Robin Crossby, Criag Besinque, David Kowan, Eric Hotz, Jerry Taylor and many others.
2002 saw the publication of Hammer of the Scots, considered by many to be THE gateway game into our hobby.
I caught up with Mr. Dalgliesh on his sailboat here in the NorthWest, where we just hung out and sipped some really nice single malt scotch.
Please join me in giving Mr. Tom Dalgliesh a warm, BGG-Wargame-Sub-Domain welcome!
-
"L'état, c'est moi."
Canada
Vancouver
BC
Roger's Reviews: check out my reviews page, right here on BGG!
Who let this guy become wargame subdomain moderator anyways?
-
I've met both Tom and his son Grant, as they live conveniently close to me (albeit there is a border in the way). Columbia is one of my favorite board game publishers, and I have to add - it's amazing to me that their core products are all still in print and available to buy.
There's not a lot of game publishers that still have 40 year old games (Quebec 1759) in their active catalogue
-
Mike Szarka
Canada
Oshawa
Ontario
-
I'm a proud owner of the Gamma Two editions of 1812 and Quebec 1759. Gateway games extraordinaire, and fun for any occasion. Several Columbia Games products are among my favourites (particularly EastFront). A great choice for designer of the month!
One question for Tom: Where did the idea of using blocks come from? Before the Gamma Two Games, had there been anything like it that you drew inspiration from?
-
Robert Wesley
Nepal
Aberdeen
Washington
-
 Yeah, as I've also met them BOTH when these resided at "Custer, Washington". A few friends of us 'designed' some additional GAMES 'generic blocks' in which to ADD onto some for theirs with that, primarily through their Napoleon, War of 1812, and Quebec, 1759. He did "Like" these at the time, and I ended up with a huge BAG of 'blocks' they produced then, of GRAY & BLUE. We even played his "Pacific Victory"~'prototype', of which he denoted that 'moi' seemed 'overtlycautious', while I replied that I was going to take my 'time' in order to AVERT their "same mistakes" now, since essentially, it was entirely a NEWER 'Plan' "unfolding & unfeltupon!"
-
Roger Hobden
Canada
Montreal
Quebec
-
One of my favorite game companies !
I own nearly all their wargames.
Quebec 1759, War of 1812 and Napoleon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 have survived the test of time and are EXCELLENT games to introduce new players to wargaming !
EastFront is one of the all-time classic of classics.
All in all, a wargame company that has had a significant impact on the wargaming world.
-
Nagato Fujibayashi
Athens
-
I only own two of Tom's games at the moment but about five more of them are on my wishlist. I love the wooden blocks and the unique style of gameplay they offer, not to speak about the practical value and aesthetic quality.
I just learned about the WW2 tactical game you are preparing and I can't wait to try!
Well done, a thank you and all the best for the future.
-
Warren Bruhn
United States
Portland
Oregon
-
Fantastic choice! East Front II & Euro Front II are a couple of the best looking boardgames that I've seen pictured here. I really look forward to playing them. A lot of the appeal is the incredibly good looking map.
And Liberty is a fun game. Has another good looking map.
-
Roger Hobden
Canada
Montreal
Quebec
-
Hungadunga wrote:
Perhaps you are thinking of Napoleon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 ? 
-
Jon Williamson
Canada
Calgary
AB
-
Great choice Hunga and congratulations to Tom Dalgliesh. I hope the scotch was good...
I am very happy to state that I own several Columbia Games titles, most of which were designed by Tom. I can honestly say that playing them has brought me many, many hours of joy. And will do in the future as well. Thank you!
My question is....which of your games are you most proud of and why?
Oh, that was two questions. Oh well..... 
-
Brian Morris
United States
Raytown
Missouri
2nd, 6th & 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, 24th Michigan
24th Michigan monument at Gettysburg Pa.
-
Not all wargames need to be 40 rule pages long to have great historical depth. Gettysburg: Badges of Courage is a great example of this. It plays historically very accurately as does Sam Grant which when I played it for the first time blew me away with how well it showed the importance of the rivers in the wester theater.
-
Judy Krauss
United States
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
but I'm not the only one
My hands are small, I know, but they're not yours, they are my own
-
I met Tom at the WBC years ago, and was struck by how nice he is, in addition to being intelligent and creative.
BTW, the first of his games I got was Quebec 1759, back in the '70s, and I still have it.
-
Jeb Smith
United States
California
-
Tom, I really enjoy all the Eurofront games! Thank you for the great work.
What inspired you to create Eastfront and are there any thoughts about future changes/extensions to Eurofront games?
-
Mike Hoyt
United States
Durango
Colorado
-
You'd never guess by handle, but I'm also a big fan
I started wargaming (commerical) in the 70's with Panzer Leader and was a confirmed AH snob for years. I believe I passed on the AH version of Napoleon becuase the upright blocks reminded me of Stratego.
College, with cramped space and limited funds limited my wargaming for several years, then a friendly local game store (remember those?) recommended Rommel in the Desert. Love at first play! Quickly followed by Napoleon, then East Front. By which time I was living only 45 minutes south of Columbia Games so I called them and asked if I could come visit. Grant invited me up, then overslept so I spent a plesant interlude drinking tea with his mother and persuing an enormous bookcase full of military reference material.
Yes, Tom and Columbia Games are one of the real sucess stories in our hobby. Grateful for having had the pleasure of meeting both
-
Bob
United States
Nebraska
Don't squat with your spurs on.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.
-
I own several of Tom's games and continue to enjoy them even after many years of use. That in itself is a huge achievement in this hobby.
Thanks Tom for keeping the flame alive and well!!! 
-
Robert Wesley
Nepal
Aberdeen
Washington
-
 awww, MAN! now you's "done it" and don't further 'mention' the "Stratego/BLOCKS WAR! 
-
Jim O'Neill (Established 1949)
Scotland
Motherwell
I aten't dead yet...
-
He's Scottish too...
...says it all. I still love the purity of the original 48 blocks with their wee white engravings in the first edition of Napoleon, my first block game bought in the late seventies from Gamma Two Games in South Africa.
Jim......   
Est. 1949
-
Randy C
United States
Chicago
Illinois
-
I own many Columbia Games and love the blocks.
I really like the decoy blocks in Quebec.
Tom could you let us know your thoughts about why decoys may work in some games but not in others?
-
"L'état, c'est moi."
Canada
Vancouver
BC
Roger's Reviews: check out my reviews page, right here on BGG!
Who let this guy become wargame subdomain moderator anyways?
-
Calxx55 wrote: I really like the decoy blocks in Quebec. I actually love the decoy blocks in Quebec 1759 and I'm surprised that more block games don't use them.
-
Sean McCormick
United States
Brooklyn
New York
-
shinobu wrote: I only own two of Tom's games at the moment but about five more of them are on my wishlist. I love the wooden blocks and the unique style of gameplay they offer, not to speak about the practical value and aesthetic quality.
I just learned about the WW2 tactical game you are preparing and I can't wait to try!
Well done, a thank you and all the best for the future.
What tactical game is that?
-
"L'état, c'est moi."
Canada
Vancouver
BC
Roger's Reviews: check out my reviews page, right here on BGG!
Who let this guy become wargame subdomain moderator anyways?
-
seanmac wrote: What tactical game is that?
K.I.S.S.
-
Tom Dalgliesh
United States
Washington
-
Well, as it happens, 40 years later we have done this again. We have added decoys to SHENANDOAH, a game we published just six weeks ago. This game covers the famous Jackson Calley Campaign of May/June 1862. It has 15 decoys per side, to create that necessary "oh my, where is he" feeling essential to depict that campaign.
These decoys are similar to the three we used in Bobby Lee. They are all one step blocks, intended as decoys and detachments.
For any game, you can always buy some more blank blocks from us and use them as decoys.
Tom
-
Tom Dalgliesh
United States
Washington
-
K.I.S.S. is only a working title. I sort of wondered if we could get away with the famous "Keep it Simple Stupid" acronym, but there has been a lot of email telling me that's a "dumb name". I guess I had better reconsider...
Tom
-
Tom Dalgliesh
United States
Washington
-
Napoleon 3rd edition is almost sold out. I am seriously considering bring back a revised 1st edition as our 4th edition. You all following that?
Tom
-
Mike Szarka
Canada
Oshawa
Ontario
-
scotia61 wrote: Napoleon 3rd edition is almost sold out. I am seriously considering bring back a revised 1st edition as our 4th edition. You all following that?
Tom
Interesting. I ended up trading my 3rd edition for the AH 2nd edition because I thought the 3rd edition had too many blocks.
-
Tom Dalgliesh
United States
Washington
-
Yo, I wish I had done all you say.
I'm not the sole designer of EastFront. Craig Besinque was the lead designer for that series, although I helped at lot with EastFront. Also, the Hârn fantasy series, also still in print after 30 years, and we still publish new stuff, was also a co-design, this time with N. Robin Crossby.
All the rest is true, mostly...
Tom
-
|
|
