Columbia Games is one of the oldest manufacturers of

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 ...

s, and has also produced the '' Hârn''

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

as well as various card games and

collectible card games A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993. Genera ...

. Their wargames are notable for using small wooden or plastic blocks instead of the more conventional cardboard counters. The company, originally titled Gamma Two Games, started in Vancouver, Canada, but after ten years changed its name to Columbia Games, and eventually moved to

Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canada–U.S. border; the Peace Arch international monument straddles the border of both countries. The population was 5,884 at the 2020 census. ...

. It is currently run by founder

Tom Dalgliesh Tom Dalgliesh is the owner of Columbia Games and a designer of many wargames and fantasy role-playing materials. Biography Dalgliesh began his career playing poker as a midshipman in the British Merchant Navy, then emigrated to Canada in 1967. ...

and his son Grant. Gamma_Two_Logo

Gamma Two Games

In 1971, Tom Dalgliesh, Lance Gutteridge and Steve Brewster all graduated from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

in Vancouver, and decided to start a Canadian games company called Gamma Two Games. They published their first game in 1972, the

block wargame A block wargame is a board wargame that represents military units using wooden blocks instead of cardboard counters or metal/plastic miniatures. Description A block wargame uses wooden blocks to represent units. These blocks are typically sq ...

titled ''

Quebec 1759 Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

''. Brewster left the company soon after its formation, and was replaced by Ron Gibson. The company produced two more wargames, ''

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

'' in 1973, and ''Napoléon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815'' in 1974. Although ''Quebec 1759'' eventually sold over 20,000 copies, the next two titles were not as successful, and the business partners realized there was not much of a market in Canada for board wargames. Starting in 1975, they switched to more family-oriented games such as ''Airline'' (1975), '' Klondike'' (1975), ''Supermoney'' (1978), ''Smokers Wild'' (1978), ''Foreign Exchange'' (1978), ''Maneuver'' (1979), and ''Score! Soccer Game'' (1980).

Columbia Games

In 1982, the partners changed the company name to Columbia Games. The following year, Columbia entered the role-playing games market with '' Hârn'', designed by N. Robin Crossby. In the mid-1980s, both Gutteridge and Gibson left the company, leaving Dalgliesh as the sole owner. In 1986, Dalgliesh moved the company just across the American border to

, where the company could do an efficient mail order business to the much larger American market without the expense of cross-border customs and duties. The company is still based in Blaine, and Dalgliesh's son Grant is now a member of the company. The company produces three main types of games: *Block wargames *

Role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

Collectible card games A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993. Genera ...

(CCGs) and card games

Block wargames

Gamma Two's first game, ''Quebec 1759'', used embossed wooden blocks rather than cardboard chits. The design proved successful, and after the move to the United States, Columbia designed many more block wargames. Some of these games are designed to introduce new players to the wargaming hobby, but considerably more complex games have been produced, such as ''EuroFront'', a wargame depicting the entirety of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in Europe. The relatively expensive embossed wooden blocks originally used in the games have been replaced by plain plastic blocks. Each game comes with a sheet of stickers to affix to the front of the blocks. Columbia's list of block games includes: *''

'', simulating the

Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

*''

'' (1973), a game based on the

*''Napoléon: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815'' (1974) *''Rommel in the Desert'' (1982) *''

EastFront ''EastFront'', subtitled "The War in Russia: 1941–45", is a board wargame published by Columbia Games in 1991 that is simulation of the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II. Background In September 1941, German fo ...

'' — the entire

Eastern Front of World War II The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

(First edition 1991, and Second Edition 2006) *''WestFront: The War in Europe, 1943-45'' (1992) *''Bobby Lee: The Civil War in Virginia 1861-1865'' (1993) *''MedFront: War in North Africa 1940-43'' (1994) *'' Eurofront: War in Europe, 1936-45'' (First edition 1995, Second Edition 2006) *''Sam Grant: The Civil War in the West 1862-1864'' (1997) *''Victory: The Blocks of War'' (1998), a generic

strategic, combined arms game *''Wizard Kings'' (2000), — fantasy armies and creatures warring at the strategic level *''Pacific Victory: War in the Pacific 1941-45'' (First edition 2000, Second edition 2018) * '' Hammer of the Scots'' (2002) — English invasions of Scotland *''Liberty: The American Revolution 1775-83'' (2003) * ''Gettysburg: Badges of Courage'' (2004)

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

*''Crusader Rex'' (2005) — the 3rd Crusade. *''Athens & Sparta'' (2007) — the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

*''Texas Glory'' (2008), — Texan War of Independence, including the

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...

*''Richard III: The Wars of the Roses'' (2009) *''Shiloh: April Glory'' (2010) *''Julius Caesar: Caesar, Pompey, and the Roman Civil War'' (2010) *''Shenandoah: Jackson's Valley Campaign'' (2011) *''Borodino: Napoleon in Russia, 1812'' (2012) *''The Last Spike'' (2015) — completing the

First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

*''Victory in Europe'' (2015) — the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

*''Combat Infantry: WestFront 1944-45'' (2017) and ''Combat Infantry: EastFront 1941-43'' (2019) — platoon tactics during

Role-playing games

In 1983, Columbia published ''Hârn'', a low-magic fantasy role-playing game campaign setting created by Robin Crossby. The ''Hârn'' product line is compatible with ''Hârn'' products produced by Kelestia Productions (Crossby's own company) and is supported by additional material produced by the game's fans. It publishes a set of supplemental materials called ''HârnQuest''. Each issue is approximately 32 pages and includes articles about Hârnic kingdoms, cities, castles, history, creatures, and other gaming topics. New Hârn Atlas maps are also sent under this subscription as they are released.

Card games

In the late 1990s, the company began producing

based upon military themes for the

(such as ''

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

'') and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

('' Eagles: Waterloo''). ''Slapshot'' is a card game that focuses on managing a hockey team. Players trade, take, draw new team members and attempt to challenge opponents when they feel their opponents are weak. It is not necessary to know much about hockey to play.

References

External links

* * {{Official, http://www.columbiagames.com/ Board game publishing companies Companies based in Whatcom County, Washington Publishing companies established in 1970 Role-playing game publishing companies Wargame companies 1970 establishments in Washington (state)