Games - Simulations Publications

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	Games - Simulations Publications

Simulations Publications, Inc., often abbreviated to SPI, was an American publisher of board games in the 1970s and early 1980s.

History

The company was founded in 1969 by James F. Dunnigan. SPI produced a bimonthly conflict and history magazine called Strategy & Tactics
, each issue of which included a complete conflict simulation game, comprising a map, rulebook and a sheet of die-cut counters. In its first two or three years, it embarked upon an expensive advertising campaign, including - but not limited to - full page advertisements in Scientific American magazine. New subscribers were promised free copies of its most highly successful game, Napoleon At Waterloo - an "easy to play" pocketsized game with a foldout map and 78 pieces punched from cardstock. This advertising campaign led to a much higher subscribership, and as a result of which, SPI came to be considered a direct competitor with Avalon Hill.

Although starting with small to medium wargames, SPI found an insatiable market was out there, with subscribers clamoring for an ever wider range of wargames including the monstergames War in the East, War in the Pacific, Terrible Swift Sword and Campaign for North Africa, each comprising several maps, thousands of counters and multiple rulebooks. Campaign for North Africa was an ultra-detailed and virtually unplayable game covering the entire North African campaign down to the level of individual fighter pilot ratings.

Some of the more popular and well known games include Firefight and Air War both of which were later reprinted by TSR.

SPI went bankrupt in 1982. Its assets were acquired by TSR, but not its debts and liabilities, after the Lake Geneva company didn't receive back the money (said to be $ 300,000) owed by SPI to it and guaranteed by SPI's assets. TSR refused to honor subscriptions and to repay debts quoting the 'assets, not liabilities' agreement with SPI. Avalon Hill managed instead to hire the majority of ex SPI staffers and let them form Victory Games Incorporated, a wholly owned New York based Avalon Hill subsidiary.

Due to the quick collapse of the wargame market, TSR published fewer and fewer simulation games and, with time, all the magazines (except for Strategy & Tactics) were discontinued.

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