Uncle Toby -> Groniard Quiz (7/17/2002 4:28:12 AM)
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Well let’s see my ADG copy says 1983, (that would be about 11 years after I started gaming) no doubt they were working on it a few years before that but then so were others who published about the same time. It was well into a boom time for strategy games, so long the restricted to a few sources and dominated by Avalon Hill. More to the point lets separate the unusual elements of EIA from those (a map with area movement or modifiable CRT to resolve combat for instance) so mundane as to be regarded as ubiquitous. The unusual elements are (or were for the time, some have since become quite common): Attrition based on seasons, movement and terrain. Restricted supply lines. Diplomatic system with restricted results, binding and penalty agreements. Delayed troop construction. Accumulated victory points based on national prestige. Some other elements such as the political ranking of leaders are unusual but these don’t effect the game much. These systems combined with ordinary ones make EIA the game it is. There may be more, it’s been 10 years since I played EIA last. Also some may disagree with what elements are unusual. Plenty of room for disagreement without, I think, my point being lost. Also it should be noted that EIA was finely balanced by handicapping and restricting the interests and interaction of the players, this is a fine attribute but it is a goal (rarely achieved) rather than an element or idea. I can think of at least one example of an idea in a game the same or very like each of these elements in EIA which predate 1983. I invite the Groniards of the board to make their own lists by way of an instructive quiz in game history.
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