Multi-Man Publishing, LLC ("MMP"), founded in 1994, is a
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
based game company that publishes many
wargame
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
titles, including ''
Advanced Squad Leader'' and
Operational Combat Series.
History
Multi-Man Publishing (MMP) was founded in 1994 by four Avalon Hill playtesters and a graphics art designer.
[ Their first publication was ''Backblast'', a ]fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
for Avalon Hill's wargame '' Advanced Squad Leader'' (ASL).[ MMP also entered into discussions with AH about purchasing the rights to ASL.][ In late 1995, professional ]baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player Curt Schilling, who was a devoted player of ASL, separately also tried to buy the rights to ASL.[ Avalon Hill did not agree to either offer, they held out for more money, but introduced Schilling to MMP, who subsequently joined the company as a one-third partner, the other two-thirds owned equally by Perry Cocke and Brian Youse.][
After Avalon Hill was sold to Hasbro in 1999, MMP negotiated to license ASL from Hasbro. MMP would also develop, print and sell some of the other former ]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' ...
titles. In 2002 MMP acquired The Gamers
The Gamers was a wargaming company founded and run by Dean Essig in Homer, Illinois. Their distinction was the focus on a few series, with special rules for each individual game. This made it easier to play new games within a series that was w ...
line of wargames, vastly increasing its list of titles including the popular Civil War Brigade Series and Operational Combat Series.
MMP also continued publication of The Gamers' ''Operations Magazine
''Operations'' was Multi-Man Publishing's house organ for articles and discussion about its wargaming products, published from 1991 to 2010. The stated aim of Multi-Man Publishing was to have ''Operations'' be to their line of games what ''The Ge ...
'' as a "house organ" similar to Avalon Hill's '' The General'', which had ceased publication with the demise of Avalon Hill. In summer 2011, MMP started a new magazine called ''Special Ops'' which replaced ''Operations'' as the MMP house organ.
The company is privately owned and thus does not publicly report financial information. Co-owner Brian Youse has stated that the company supports itself solely through the sale of its games, and has done so since 1999.
Published games
Series games
*'' Advanced Squad Leader''
*'' Area Movement Series''
*'' Battalion Combat Series''
*'' Civil War Brigade Series''
*'' G.C.A.C.W.''
*''Grand Tactical Series
The Gamers was a wargaming company founded and run by Dean Essig in Homer, Illinois. Their distinction was the focus on a few series, with special rules for each individual game. This made it easier to play new games within a series that was w ...
''
*'' International Game Series''
*'' Line of Battle Series'' (LoB)
*'' Napoleonic Brigade Series''
*'' Operational Combat Series''
*''Panzerblitz 2''
*'' Regimental Sub-Series''
*'' Standard Combat Series''
*'' Tactical Combat Series''
*'' Variable Combat Series''
*''War Storm Series
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
''
Individual games
*''Circus Minimus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
''
*''Front Toward Enemy''
*'' Lincoln's War''
*'' Shifting Sands''
*'' The Kingdom of Heaven''
References
External links
* {{bgg publisher, 196
Multi-Man Publishing
official website
1994 establishments in Maryland
Wargame companies