Personal ludography
Below are the various games I have designed, in rough chronological order of their design. Not all have been officially published; some were testbeds for later designs.
(updated 21 April 2020)
| Title
(year designed) |
Publication dates and publishers | Details | Notes on versions, etc. |
| Power Play
(1991) |
1997 (Cry Havoc! #18)
1999 (Academic Gaming Review, vol 1 #2) 2000 (Schutze Games) 2017 (BTR Games) |
2 players, 50 counters, area map, abstract troop and time scale, playing time 30-45 minutes. | Coup d’etat in an imaginary country. Designed while living in Japan. ‘Seminar’ version for nine players published in AGR. 2017 version is complete redesign called Palace Coup. |
| Civil Power
(1991) |
1996 (Strategist #294)
2016 (BTR Games) 2020 (Conflict Simulations LLC) |
2-3 players, 200 counters, two-part generic B+W staggered square map, troop scale individuals to mob size, 1-3 hours to play. 2016+20 version has squared map and 140 counters. | Generic tactical riot-making and –breaking. Inspired by Hunter S. Thompson’s essay “The Police Chief”. Designed while I was living in Japan. Many wacky scenarios. |
| Land of the Free
(1994) |
1995 (Microgame Design Group)
2014 (BTR Games) |
3 players, 280 counters, area map of the USA, abstract troop/ time scale | Radical American politics during the Great Depression. MDG production 200+. |
| Arriba Espana!
(1994) |
1995 (Microgame Design Group)
2004 (Fiery Dragon) 2007 (Fiery Dragon) 2009 (Decision Games, World at War #8) |
2-3 players, 280 counters (brigade/division), area map, time scale 2-3 months per turn. 3-4 hours to play. | Spanish Civil War, 1936-9. One of MDG’s original and best selling titles (production 500+). 2007 FD version had better components. 2009 Decision Games edition production 1,000+? |
| Somalia
(1994) |
2000 (Schutze Games)
2011 (Blue Panther reissue) |
2-6 players, 100 counters, area map of Somalia, troop scale roughly battalion size for the UN and “large group” for the Bandits | On the UN intervention there, 1993. 2011 Blue Panther reissue has box, diecut counters, a better map, and a 2002 American invasion scenario (scenario available free on my webpage). |
| Tupamaro
(1995) |
1996 (Strategist #287)
2000 (Schutze Games) 2009 (Simulacrum #29) 2015 (BTR Games) 2018 (One Small Step) |
2 players, 80 counters, non-representational map, abstract troop and time scale. | Urban guerrillas in Uruguay, 1968-72. BTR Games and 2018 OSS edition has graphic update and revised rules. |
| Green Beret
(1996) |
2002 (Simulations Workshop)
2014 (BTR Games) 2015 (One Small Step Games) |
2 players, 99 cards, 40 markers.
2014-15 version is 140 counters, area map. |
Central Highlands 1964-5. Probably the first card game on the Vietnam War. SW production 65 copies. Submitted to Wizards of the Coast, who actually tried to play it. 2014/15 OSS Games edition is heavily revised map-and-counter port. |
| Shining Path
(1996) |
1997 (Strategist #306)
1998 (Microgame Design Group) 2015 (One Small Step Games) |
280 counters, area map of Peru, abstract troop and time scale. 2015 version has 140 counters. | Maoist guerrillas in Peru, 1980-. First use of 4Box system. Microgame Design Group production 200+. Self-published and OSS versions have graphic update and revised rules. |
| Red Guard
(1996) |
2002 (Schutze Games) | 2-6 players, 192 counters, 36 tiles, abstract troop and time scale. | On the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966-69. Went through several conceptual reworks before publication. |
| 1848
(1997) |
2015 (BTR Games) | 2-4 players, 200 counters, area-movement map, abstract troop and time scale. | On the popular revolutions of that year. |
| Freikorps
(1998) |
1999 (MDG)
2004 (Fiery Dragon) 2007 (Fiery Dragon) 2012 (Decision Games, Strategy and Tactics #276) 2018 (Flying Pig Publishing, Yaah! #11) |
2 players, 280 counters (divisions and brigades), hex map.
2012 Decision Games version had 176 counters. |
1920 alt-hist Soviet invasion of Germany. MDG production 260+. 2007 FD version had better components. 2012 Decision Games version published with very different system and title (Reichswehr and Freikorps); actually co-design with Ty Bomba. 2018 version heavily revised and updated; published as Strike For Berlin. |
| Pusan Perimeter
(1982, 1999) |
2000 (Schutze Games)
2011 Blue Panther reissue |
2 players, 100 counters, hex map, division/regiment level with some battalions, 2 hours to play. | Korean War, summer 1950. Overhaul of a game I designed in high school. Blue Panther reissue has box, diecut counters and better map. |
| Battle for China
(1999) |
1999 (Microgame Design Group)
2004 (Fiery Dragon) 2002 (Japanese Command #42) 2007 (Fiery Dragon) 2009 (Fiery Dragon) 2009 (Decision Games, Strategy & Tactics #259) |
2-3 players, area map, 280 counters (brigade to army), 3 months per turn | 1937-41 Sino-Japanese War. MDG version sold well, 300+. 2002 Japanese Command Japanese language version included expansion kit (see below) and had die-cut counters, production 1,000 copies?. 2007 FD version had better components. 2009 FD version was “deluxe” version with expansion kit and revised rules, production <125. 2009 Decision Games production 3,000+? |
| More Battle For China
(1999) |
1999 (Microgame Design Group)
2002 (Japanese Command #42) 2008 (Fiery Dragon) |
2 area expansion maps, 140 more counters, more rules and scenarios. | Expansion for Battle for China, including Civil War. MDG production 160+. Included in Fiery Dragon “deluxe” version. Now available as a free download on Boardgamegeek. |
| Battle of Seattle
(2000) |
2000 (Strategist #336)
2002 (free) |
96 counters, area map, abstract troop and time scale. | Anti-WTO riots of 1999. Now available as free download on my webpage, and other “copylefted” places on the Internet. |
| Algeria
(2000) |
2001 (Microgame Design Group)
2005 (Fiery Dragon) 2016 (One Small Step Games) |
2 players. 280 counters, area map. 2016 version has 140 counters. | French-Algerian War, 1954-62. MDG production 200+. Later used by US government personnel as base for research and training aid. Modified 4Box, 2016 version is extensively revised, 140 counters and updated rules and map. |
| War Plan Crimson (2000) | 2001 (Microgame Design Group)
2006 (Fiery Dragon) 2007 (Fiery Dragon) 2016 (Tiny Battle Publishing) |
2 players, 2 hex maps, 280 counters (battalion to brigade).
2016 version has 176 counters. |
Alt-hist American invasion of Canada, 193-?. Modified Freikorps system. MDG production 160+. 2007 FD version had better components, Alex Cox has a copy. 2016 version has better art and counters and some revisions. |
| Operation Whirlwind
(2002) |
2002 (free)
2002 (Microgame Design Group) 2007 (Fiery Dragon) 2015 (One Small Step Games) |
2 players, area map of downtown Budapest, 192 counters (company to regiment), 8 hours per turn.
2015 version has 140 counters. |
Street fighting in Budapest, November 1956. Won first prize in the 2002 Microgame Design Contest. MDG production 160+. |
| Autumn Mist
(2002) |
2004 (Fiery Dragon)
2007 (Fiery Dragon) 2015 (Tiny Battle Publishing) |
2 players, hex map, 280 counters, 2 days/turn.
2015 version has 176 counters. |
Battle of the Bulge. 2007 FD version had better components. 2015 version revised and published under title Winter Thunder. |
| Paranoid Delusions
(2006) |
(2006) (free) | 2-? players, 160 1″ counters, no map, no scale | Crazy game about conspiracy nuts. Tied for first prize in the 2006 Microgame Design Contest (there were only two entries!). Available as free download on my web page. |
| Konarmiya
(2007) |
2008 (Fiery Dragon)
2017 (Tiny Battle) |
2 players, hex map, 192 counters. | Russo-Polish War, 1920. Prequel to Freikorps, games can be mated. Freikorps system. Heavily revised version published in 2017 as Red Horde 1920. |
| Balkan Gamble
(2006) |
2015 (BTR Games) | 2 players, hex map, 280 counters, brigade-division scale. | Alt-hist on Allied Balkan invasions that weren’t, 1943-5. Autumn Mist system. Originally advertised as Balkan Gambit. Only 30 copies made. |
| Virtualia
(2008) |
Not officially published | 2-5 players, area map, 280 counters | Game on urban insurgency in fictionalized post-Chavez Venezuela. Amplification of Tupamaro system. |
| Andartes
(2008) |
2015 (BTR Games) | 2 players, area map, 280 counters. | Greek Civil War 1947-49. Modified 4Box system. |
| Summer Lightning
(2009) |
2011 (Lock n’ Load)
2018 (Lock n Load) |
2 players, hex map, 280 counters, brigade-division scale. | Published May 2011. Production likely 650 or so. Autumn Mist system. 2018 edition had larger map and counters (but no rule changes). |
| Finnish Civil War
(2009) |
2010-12 (free)
2016 (Compass Games, Paper Wars #84) |
2 players, hex map, 270 counters. | 2 versions, coy/bn and bn/bde scale. Heavily modified Freikorps system. Compass Games version significantly different from free PnP version. |
| Kandahar I
(2010) |
not officially published | 2-4 players, area map, 280 counters. | Afghanistan – situation in Kandahar province, 2010. Modified Virtualia system. Used in a Political Science class at McGill University in 2011, modified several times later. |
| Guerrilla Checkers
(2010) |
2010 (free)
2017 (Nestorgames) |
2 players, abstract game using checkerboard, checkers and Go stones. | Available as free download on personal web page and Free Games page. VASSAL module and beta of version for Android devices available free. |
| BCT Command Kandahar
(2010) |
2013 (Modern Conflict Studies Group) | 2 players, area map, 242 counters, 98 cards | Co-design and development work with Joe Miranda and Mike Anderson. |
| Next War in Lebanon
(2010) |
2014 (Decision Games, Modern War #13) | 2 players, area map, 228 counters | Hypothetical Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, 201?. Modified Bulge 20 system. Original version available as free PnP as Third Lebanon War. |
| The Scheldt Campaign
(2010) |
2012 (Microgame Design Group)
2016 (Hollandspiele) |
2 players, hex map, 244 counters, 30 cards. (Hollandspiele: 264 counters, no cards) | Clearing of the Scheldt estuary by First Canadian Army, Oct-Nov 1944. Modified Bulge 20 system. |
| EOKA
(2011) |
2016 (BTR Games) | 2 players, area map, 140 counters. | Greek Cypriots vs British security forces. Modified 4Box system. |
| Uprising
(2011) |
2015 (Flying Pig Games, Yaah! #2) | 2 players, hex map, 45 counters | Abstract, single-blind game about insurgency. |
| Asymmetric Warfare/ Army of Shadows
(2012) |
2013 (Naval Postgraduate School)
2015 (Flying Pig Games, Yaah! #2) |
2 players, 2 area maps, 40 counters | Abstract, single-blind game about insurgency. From an idea by Michael Freeman, faculty member at NPS where this game was used on the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program – website. Published in Yaah! Magazine as Army of Shadows. |
| Kandahar II (2012) | 2014 (BTR Games)
2015 (One Small Step Games) |
2-3 players, area map, 140 counters. | Published as Kandahar. Players are ANSF and Taliban mid-level commanders, with optional Criminal. Heavily modified 4Box system pitched at mid-level command. |
| District Commander Basic
(2012-18) |
test bed for modules; not published | 2 players, area map, varying counters. | COIN system with a generic Red vs. Blue setting to test engine. Basis for later historical modules. |
| Greek Civil War
(2012) |
2014 (Decision Games, Modern War #11) | 2 players, area map, 280 counters. | Complete redesign of Andartes for DG using modified Joe Miranda “Netwar” system. |
| Palace Coup
(2012) |
Not yet published | 2-5 players, area map, 40 counters, 50 cards | Complete redesign of Power Play, featuring multi-player play and hidden agendas. |
| A Distant Plain
(2012) |
2013 (GMT Games) | 4 players, area map, about 250 pieces and 72 cards. | Afghanistan 2003-14. Co-designed with Volko Ruhnke, using his COIN system. |
| District Commander Kandahar
(2013-18) |
2020 ? (Hollandspiele) | 2 players, area map, 176+88 counters. | Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, 2009-10. Part of District Commander quad. |
| Caudillo
(2013) |
2016 (BTR Games) | 2-5 players, 85 cards, various bits. | Card game on power struggle in “Virtualia” after departure of charismatic strongman ruler. Plays up tension between competition and cooperation. Coups too. Free PnP version and hand-made versions available. |
| Korean War Battles
(2013) |
2015 (Decision Games, Strategy & Tactics #296) | 2 players, hex map, 240 counters | S&T #296, late 2015. Three battles of Korea 1950 (Pusan Perimeter, Seoul, Changjin) using the DG Fire & Movement folio game system. |
| Balkan Gambit
(2014) |
2015 (Decision Games, Strategy & Tactics #298) | 2 players, hex map, 240 counters | Complete redesign of Balkan Gamble for DG, using the Victory in Normandy system. |
| Ukrainian Crisis
(2014) |
2014 (self)
2017 (Hollandspiele) |
2 players, area map, 48 cards, 70 counters | Designed very quickly in March 2014 to explore Ukraine-Russia crisis. Available as free PnP. Hollandspiele edition in box, with The Little War. |
| District Commander: Binh Dinh
(2014-18) |
2020 (Hollandspiele) | 2 players, area map, 176+88 counters | Campaign in Binh Dinh province, Vietnam 1969. Part of District Commander quad. |
| Binh Dinh 69
(2014) |
2016 (One Small Step) | 2 players, area map, 140 counters | Simpler COIN game on campaign in Binh Dinh province, Vietnam 1969. Originally developed for use in 20C history course at Nipissing University. |
| Colonial Twilight
(2014) |
2017 (GMT Games) | 2 players, area map, 71 cards, 107 pieces, 90 counters. | GMT COIN system game for 2 players on the Algerian War. |
| Winter Thunder
(2015) |
2015 (Tiny Battle) | 2 players, hex map, 176 counters. | Revised version of Autumn Mist. |
| China’s War
(2015-19) |
2020? (GMT Games) | 4 players, area map, 52 cards, 147 pieces, 88 counters. | GMT COIN system game for 4 players on 1937-41 Sino-Japanese War. |
| The Little War
(2015) |
2017 (Hollandspiele) | 2 players, 30 counters, area map of eastern Slovakia | On the one-week border skirmish between Hungary and Slovakia in March, 1939. Action driven by deck of ordinary playing cards. Published in two-fer box with Ukrainian Crisis. |
| Chile ’73
(2016) |
2018 (Tiny Battle) | 2 players, 88 counters, area map of downtown Santiago | Small game on execution of 1973 coup that overthrew Allende. Variant of Palace Coup system. |
| Red Horde 1920
(2016) |
2017 (Tiny Battle) | 2 players, 176 counters, hex map of Poland/Ukraine | Drastic update and revision of Konarmiya, using heavily modified Freikorps system. |
| Nights of Fire: Battle for Budapest
(2017) |
2019 (Mighty Boards, via Kickstarter) | 2-3 players, cards and bits and counters, area map of downtown Budapest. | Street fighting in Budapest, November 1956. Co-design with David Turczi, who also designed Days of Ire: Budapest 1956, to which this is a thematic sequel. |
| Strike For Berlin
(2017) |
2018 (Flying Pig Games, Yaah! #11) | 2 players, 176 counters, hex map of Poland/ Germany. | Drastic update and revision of Freikorps, using heavily modified system. |
| District Commander: System module (2012-18) | 2019 (Hollandspiele) | 2 players, 176 counters | Basic rules for District Commander system. 176 counters used in all four games in quad. |
| District Commander: ZNO (Zone Nord Oranais) (2018) | 2019 (BTR Games)
2020? (Hollandspiele) |
2 players, area map, 176+88 counters | Section of Algeria, 1959. Part of District Commander quad. Released for free PnP September 2019. |
| District Commander: Maracas (2018) | 2018 (BTR Games)
2019 (Hollandspiele) |
2 players, area map, 176+88 counters | Imaginary megacity, 2019. Part of District Commander quad. |
| Brief Border Wars quad (2017-18) | 2020 (Compass Games) | 2 players, 4 area maps, total of 176 counters. | Set of four mini-games on brief border wars: El Salvador-Honduras 1969, Turkey-Cyprus 1974, China-Vietnam 1979, Israel – Hezbollah 2006. |
| Kashmir Crisis (2019) | 2019 (BTR Games) | 2 players, play mat | Simple pol-mil game on 2019 Indo-Pak crisis in Kashmir. Developed with Nathaniel Brunt, researcher and photographer. Uses deck of ordinary playing cards. Released for free PnP August 2019. |
Another way to see my work is by design “family”: ludography, by family
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