Block wargame
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A block wargame is a board wargame that represents military units using wooden "blocks" instead of cardboard counters. These blocks are typically square and are generally thick enough that they can be placed on their side with the front facing the owning player. Details about the unit (for instance, its identity as well as its attack, defense and movement scores) can then be seen easily by the owning player, while the opposing player will be left unsure of the exact nature of piece; while he can see where his rival's forces are, fog of war is emulated by preserving the secrecy of the type and quality of the troops.
Often, block pieces display the main information in the center with a series of numbers (or pips) around the edge, so that the current strength of the unit can be shown in a step-reduction system. When the unit is wounded (representing a single person) or diminished in number (representing more than one person), the player turns it counterclockwise, with the number of pips at the top of block indicating its current strength. While the example block has four steps (strengths of 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively), blocks can have fewer steps.
Alternatively, some block wargames require the player to remove the block representing the wounded unit from the board and replace it with a block with a lower strength.
[edit] History
The initial idea of pieces that are visible to only one of two players traces back to the 1908 introduction of the game L'attaque, the first version of Stratego. Early Stratego pieces were cardboard but were replaced by wood after World War II. These wooden pieces may have been the direct inspiration for block wargames. (Today Stratego pieces are plastic.)
Published in 1974 by Gamma Two Games, Napoleon was one of the first block wargames.
With the shift in usage from board wargaming to computer wargaming in the 1990s, Columbia Games was virtually the only wargame company producing block wargames. Releases include EastFront, detailing the campaigns of the Great Patriotic War, and Rommel in the Desert, covering the North African war, from the Italian invasion all the way to the Afrika Korps's defeat at El Alamein.
[edit] Today
Block wargames are enjoying a minor resurgence. Columbia Games' Crusader Rex has been well received. GMT Games entered the block wargame market in 2003 with the release of Europe Engulfed, a simulation of the entire ETO. A sister game, Asia Engulfed, is slated for release in late 2006. Simmons Games has published the innovative Bonaparte at Marengo, which was nominated for a 2005 award for Best Historical Simulation by Games Magazine[1]; the game features unique long blocks, reminiscent of the symbols used on battle maps.
