Avalon Hill History

Started by ArizonaTank, October 23, 2022, 02:13:10 PM

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ArizonaTank

Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Crossroads

Neat :nerd: Thanks for the read!
Campaign Series Legion | CS: Vietnam 1948-1967 | CS: Middle East 1948-1985

CS: Vietnam DAR: LZ Albany as NVA (South Vietnam 11/17/65)  
CS: Middle East AARs: High Water Mark (Syria 10/12/73) Me vs Berto | Riptide (Libya 8/6/85) Me vs Berto | The Crossroads (West Bank 6/5/67)  Me vs Berto

Boardgame AARs: AH D-Day | MMP PanzerBlitz2 Carentan | OSS Putin's Northern War | GMT Next War: Poland | LnL Against the Odds DIY

88mmkwk

"The rise of computer games in the 1980s, however, spelled doom for publishers of war-themed board games...."

I guess the article authors did not hang around for the rise of GMT and its current large catalog of games - a number of which are Mark Herman re-do's of titles from that era?  ::)
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ArizonaTank

#3
Quote from: 88mmkwk on October 23, 2022, 06:14:43 PM
"The rise of computer games in the 1980s, however, spelled doom for publishers of war-themed board games...."

I guess the article authors did not hang around for the rise of GMT and its current large catalog of games - a number of which are Mark Herman re-do's of titles from that era?  ::)

I think it may be referring to the number of copies sold and the general availability of wargames in society. SPI apparently had many games selling over 15,000 copies (not including magazine editions), by 1977 at least one game that sold over 32,000 copies. But it seems like SPI's king of the hill were its Lord of Rings games, 100,000 copies. (James Dunnigan apparently had a thing about transparency and sales figures for SPI were routinely published in S&T magazine).

On the AH side, PanzerBlitz sold over 170,000 copies, and was selling 20,000 copies a year at one point.

Here is my source:
https://www.spigames.net/spi_by_the_numbers_ch10.htm

Wargames were more easily available in general society in the 70s. Avalon Hill games were routinely sold in department stores as well as hobby stores (I got my first wargame; Luftwaffe from Kmart in 1972 for example).

I am not certain, but it seems like a good GMT game does 3 to 5 thousand copies. Of course there are also plenty that seem to sell much more.

Although GMT is pretty tight with their sales numbers so hard to know. But they do have some good selling games. Twilight Struggle, has sold 100,000 copies according to Wikipedia.

Still, I agree in a way that the game market is better now. The improvements in printing technology, internet and logistics mean that GMT is making a better product than those companies from the 70s (IMHO) and doing it with lower volumes.   
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Crossroads

P500's, crowdsourcing, interwebs stores for easy access, this certainly is a golden era as far as we wargamers are concerned.Volumes might not be what they used to be, but something for everyone nowadays. Seems game companies have found a way to get their share as well as they now get a good idea how many prints are needed before committing to costs.
Campaign Series Legion | CS: Vietnam 1948-1967 | CS: Middle East 1948-1985

CS: Vietnam DAR: LZ Albany as NVA (South Vietnam 11/17/65)  
CS: Middle East AARs: High Water Mark (Syria 10/12/73) Me vs Berto | Riptide (Libya 8/6/85) Me vs Berto | The Crossroads (West Bank 6/5/67)  Me vs Berto

Boardgame AARs: AH D-Day | MMP PanzerBlitz2 Carentan | OSS Putin's Northern War | GMT Next War: Poland | LnL Against the Odds DIY