Don Lowry is a wargamer, businessman, illustrator, and game designer who is best known as the publisher of '' Chainmail'' and the editor of ''

Panzerfaust Magazine ''Panzerfaust'' was a wargaming magazine started by Don Greenwood in 1967 and named after the German '' panzerfaust'', a recoilless anti-tank weapon. Like the more successful '' Strategy & Tactics'' magazine, ''Panzerfaust'' included complete g ...

''. Lowry was active in the

International Federation of Wargaming The International Federation of Wargaming (IFW) was a wargaming club operated from 1967 to about 1973. Formation Founded by Bill Speer, Gary Gygax, and Scott Duncan in 1967, it emerged as a successor to an earlier club called the United States Co ...

in the late 1960s and ran a mail order business called "Lowry's Hobbies" with his wife Julie. In 1970 he produced a supplement to the

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

game ''

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

'' called ''

Operation Greif Operation Greif ( () was a special operation commanded by ''Waffen-SS'' commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the brid ...

'' which was distributed via the IFW newsletter. In 1971 he started a publishing imprint called Guidon Games which produced rulebooks for miniature wargaming and board wargames, and he tapped

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...

to serve as editor. Lowry designed two of the games, ''

Ironclad An ironclad was a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by iron armour, steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or ince ...

'' and ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

'', himself and provided the illustrations for some of the other games. Lowry's mail order business was originally in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

, but he relocated to Belfast, Maine in 1972. The same year he acquired ''

'' from Don Greenwood and took over as editor. Lowry declined to publish ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'', which motivated Gygax to found TSR, Inc. TSR would republish some of the Guidon titles, and the Guidon board game ''

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

'' was picked up by

. By 1975 Lowry moved his company, now called "Lowry's Enterprises", to Fallbrook, California. That year he designed a set of rules for Napoleonic miniatures called '' Grand Army'' and released it under his Panzerfaust Publications imprint. ''Panzerfaust'' magazine was renamed ''Campaign'' in 1976, and Lowry published it as late as 1982. He holds, or has held, the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

s to ''Alexander the Great'', '' Chainmail: rules for medieval miniatures'', and ''Dunkirk, the Battle of France'', all with Gary Gygax.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, Don Board game designers Living people People from Belfast, Maine People from Evansville, Indiana People from Fallbrook, California Wargame designers Year of birth missing (living people)