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''Blitzkrieg Module System'' is a series of expansion modules published by
Simulations Publications Inc.
Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) was an American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship ''Strategy & Tactics'', in the 1970s and early 1980s. It produced an enormous number of games and introduced innovat ...
(SPI) in 1969 that are designed to be used with 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 company' ...
board wargame
A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military exercises, o ...
''
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...
''.
Description
''Blitzkrieg'' was a popular non-historical board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1965. Four years later,
Jim Dunnigan
James F. Dunnigan (born 8 August 1943) is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and Wargaming, wargame designer currently living in New York City.
Career
Dunnigan was born in Rockland County, New York. A ...
and
Redmond A. Simonsen, the co-founders of the new rival wargame company SPI, designed a series of 16 modules of new rules for ''Blitzkrieg''. These allowed players to mix and match any combination of new and old rules in order to explore new ways to play the game. These rules included the use of navies, railways, air forces, the arming of the small neutral countries, production, weather and guerrillas.
Although SPI provided the new rules, as well as more counters and revised charts, most unusually, players still needed to buy a copy of Avalon Hill's original ''Blitzkrieg'' in order to use SPI's modules. As Nicholas Palmer noted, this was a "unique example of one leading company building on the game of another."
In the 2016 book ''Zones of Control: Perspectives on Wargaming'', Henry Lowood noted that "Players were thus given access to the
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engine itself, mixing rules in any combination they chose with the rules of the original game."
Publication history
''Blitzkrieg Module System'' was originally published in ''
Strategy & Tactics
''Strategy & Tactics'' (''S&T'') is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue.
Beginnings
''Strategy & Tactics'' was first published in January 1967 under its original edit ...
'' #9 as a pull-out game with paper counters that had to be glued to cardboard. SPI then released it as a
boxed set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
with die-cut cardboard counters, first in a white box with a red stripe highlighting the title, then in 1979 as a "flatpack" boxed set.
Reception
In Issue 30 of ''
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
'', Charles Appleby found that the various modules only pin-pointed problems that he felt were not being addressed by the games industry, lack of simultaneous movement being the most important. Problems specific to this game included issues with the point system used to "buy" units; Appleby felt that "Even at the start, the forces are not by any means as equal as one could envisage possible." He concluded on an upbeat note though, saying, "''Modular Blitzkrieg'' in my opinion marks the end of a generation of games.
..The game is well worth getting purely for reference for any would-be designer."
In his 1977 book ''
The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming
''The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming'' is a 1977 book by Nicholas Palmer about the hobby of board wargaming.
Contents
''The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming'' is a 223-page book about the hobby of wargaming for non-gamers and game ...
'', Nicholas Palmer commented "Any attrition tendency in the original game is removed, and the result is widely felt to be an improvement, though naturally more complex."
Henry Lowood wrote, "SPI's ''Module System'' revisited ''Blitzkrieg'' not to improve Avalon Hill's game, but to morph it into a different, open system."
Other reviews and commentary
*''Strategy & Tactics Guide to Conflict Simulation Games, Periodicals, and Publications in Print'' #2
*''Wargamer's Collector's Journal'' #7
References
{{reflist
Board games introduced in 1969
Simulations Publications games
Wargames introduced in the 1960s