GMT Games
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GMT Games, probably the most prolific of the wargame companies in the 1990s and 2000s, was founded in 1990. Majority owners Gene and Mary Billingsley built a management and creative team over the years that now includes Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, Mark Simonitch, and Andy Lewis. The company has become well known for graphically attractive games that range from "monster games", of many maps and counters, to quite simple games suitable for introducing new players to wargaming. They also produce card games and family games.
[edit] Project 500
After the downsizing of the game distribution network in the mid-late 1990s, the company decided they needed a new way to fund the production of new games. This prompted them to introduce the "Project 500" system, which allows customers to vote via pre-order for the games they most want to see produced. Production of a new game does not start until there are a minimum number pre-orders for a particular game (originally about 500, but now more realistically about 750). Pre-orders are generally offered at a discount to encourage people to commit to a game that may never be produced.
[edit] Games
Some of the better-known games produced by GMT Games include:
- Barbarossa to Berlin
- Europe Engulfed
- Great Battles of History (series)
- Great Battles of the American Civil War (series)
- For The People 2
- Here I Stand
- Invasion: Sicily
- Ivanhoe
- June 6th
- Paths of Glory
- Reds!
- Roads to Leningrad
- Sword of Rome
- SPQR
- Twilight Struggle
- Wilderness War - a game set in the French and Indian War
- Down in Flames - a card driven game of WW2 air combat
- Commands and Colors: Ancients - a block game with card-driven action, based upon tactical combat in the Classical Period. The first game set covers ten battles of the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. An expansion pack covering the Greeks, Persians, and Eastern Kingdoms is expected in 2006.