Columbia Games is one of the oldest manufacturers of

board wargame A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board game, board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military ...

s, and has also produced the '' Hârn''

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

as well as various card games and collectible card games. Their wargames are notable for using small wooden or plastic blocks instead of the more conventional cardboard counters. The company, originally titled Gamma Two Games, started in Vancouver, Canada, but after ten years changed its name to Columbia Games, and eventually moved to Blaine, Washington. It is currently run by founder Tom Dalgliesh and his son Grant. Gamma Two Logo

Gamma Two Games

In 1971, Tom Dalgliesh, Lance Gutteridge and Steve Brewster all graduated from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

in Vancouver, and decided to start a Canadian games company called Gamma Two Games. They published their first game in 1972, the block wargame titled '' Quebec 1759''. Brewster left the company soon after its formation, and was replaced by Ron Gibson. The company produced two more wargames, ''

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

'' in 1973, and '' Napoléon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815'' in 1974. Although ''Quebec 1759'' eventually sold over 20,000 copies, the next two titles were not as successful, and the business partners realized there was not much of a market in Canada for board wargames. Starting in 1975, they switched to more family-oriented games such as ''Airline'' (1975), '' Klondike'' (1975), ''Supermoney'' (1978), ''Smokers Wild'' (1978), ''Foreign Exchange'' (1978), ''Maneuver'' (1979), and ''Score! Soccer Game'' (1980).

Columbia Games

In 1982, the partners changed the company name to Columbia Games. The following year, Columbia entered the role-playing games market with '' Hârn'', designed by N. Robin Crossby. In the mid-1980s, both Gutteridge and Gibson left the company, leaving Dalgliesh as the sole owner. In 1986, Dalgliesh moved the company just across the American border to Blaine, Washington, where the company could do an efficient mail order business to the much larger American market without the expense of cross-border customs and duties. The company is still based in Blaine, and Dalgliesh's son Grant is now a member of the company. The company produces three main types of games: *Block wargames *

Role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eith ...

* Collectible card games (CCGs) and card games

Block wargames

Gamma Two's first game, ''Quebec 1759'', used embossed wooden blocks rather than cardboard chits. The design proved successful, and after the move to the United States, Columbia designed many more block wargames. Some of these games are designed to introduce new players to the wargaming hobby, but considerably more complex games have been produced, such as ''EuroFront'', a wargame depicting the entirety of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Europe. The relatively expensive embossed wooden blocks originally used in the games have been replaced by plain plastic blocks. Each game comes with a sheet of stickers to affix to the front of the blocks. Columbia's list of block games includes: *'' Quebec 1759'', simulating the Battle of the Plains of Abraham during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

*''

'' (1973), a game based on the

*'' Napoléon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815'' (1974) *'' Rommel in the Desert'' (1982) *'' EastFront'' — the entire Eastern Front of World War II (First edition 1991, and Second Edition 2006) *''WestFront: The War in Europe, 1943-45'' (1992) *''Bobby Lee: The Civil War in Virginia 1861-1865'' (1993) *''MedFront: War in North Africa 1940-43'' (1994) *'' Eurofront: War in Europe, 1936-45'' (First edition 1995, Second Edition 2006) *''Sam Grant: The Civil War in the West 1862-1864'' (1997) *''Victory: The Blocks of War'' (1998), a generic

strategic, combined arms game *''Wizard Kings'' (2000), — fantasy armies and creatures warring at the strategic level *''Pacific Victory: War in the Pacific 1941-45'' (First edition 2000, Second edition 2018) * '' Hammer of the Scots'' (2002) — English invasions of Scotland *''Liberty: The American Revolution 1775-83'' (2003) * ''Gettysburg: Badges of Courage'' (2004)

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

*''Crusader Rex'' (2005) — the 3rd Crusade. *''Athens & Sparta'' (2007) — the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

*''Texas Glory'' (2008), — Texan War of Independence, including the

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio L� ...

*''Richard III: The Wars of the Roses'' (2009) *''Shiloh: April Glory'' (2010) *'' Julius Caesar: Caesar, Pompey, and the Roman Civil War'' (2010) *''Shenandoah: Jackson's Valley Campaign'' (2011) *''Borodino: Napoleon in Russia, 1812'' (2012) *''The Last Spike'' (2015) — completing the

First transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...

*''Victory in Europe'' (2015) — the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

*''Combat Infantry: WestFront 1944-45'' (2017) and ''Combat Infantry: EastFront 1941-43'' (2019) — platoon tactics during

Role-playing games

In 1983, Columbia published ''Hârn'', a low-magic fantasy role-playing game campaign setting created by Robin Crossby. The ''Hârn'' product line is compatible with ''Hârn'' products produced by Kelestia Productions (Crossby's own company) and is supported by additional material produced by the game's fans. It publishes a set of supplemental materials called ''HârnQuest''. Each issue is approximately 32 pages and includes articles about Hârnic kingdoms, cities, castles, history, creatures, and other gaming topics. New Hârn Atlas maps are also sent under this subscription as they are released. Columbia also published the '' Lionheart'' supplement in 1987.

Card games

In the late 1990s, the company began producing collectible card games based upon military themes for the

(such as '' Dixie'') and the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

('' Eagles: Waterloo''). ''Slapshot'' is a card game that focuses on managing a hockey team. Players trade, take, draw new team members and attempt to challenge opponents when they feel their opponents are weak. It is not necessary to know much about hockey to play.

References

External links

* * {{Official, http://www.columbiagames.com/ Board game publishing companies Companies based in Whatcom County, Washington Publishing companies established in 1970 Role-playing game publishing companies Wargame companies 1970 establishments in Washington (state)