A game company which recently purchased the rights to the production of the
game of Diplomacy in the USA (Philmar retains the
rights in Britain, but the Avalon Hill version is obtainable at specialist
stores). Originally intended to be an adult games company, the success of
'Tactics II', 'Chancellorsville' and 'Waterloo', its first three board
wargames, pushed them in this direction. Held the field virtually unchallenged
until the appearance of SPI in the early 1970s.
The purchase of the rights to the game by Avalon Hill was widely expected to
give a boost to the hobby. That boost turned out to be more quantative that
qualitive. What Avalon Hill's purchase did do, however, was to add a level of
legitimacy to the game that only a large, commerical company can offer. As part
of AH's large array of offerings the game was presented again, to a new market
of potential players, in the context of an 'Avalon Hill offering'.
A4, A5, A6 [PB:1980]
Obscure references by zine editors to paper sizes and
prices.