#guidon games

[oldschoolfrp]

Chainmail rules for medieval miniatures by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren, 3rd ed printing by TSR, 1975 (first published by Don Lowry's Guidon Games in 1971), with Lowry's illustrations plus photos of early sand table games which originally used 40mm scale Elastolin and Starlux toy soldiers.

Combat in Dungeons & Dragons was developed around the d6 Chainmail rules, but the first 1974 D&D set also included an optional d20 system that became the more popular choice.

[oldschoolfrp]

Another Don Lowry illustration from the “Fantasy Supplement” section of Chainmail (Guidon Games, 1971-72, and Tactical Studies Rules/TSR 1975-85), taking inspiration from a Pauline Baynes illustration in a 1949 edition of Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham:

[oldschoolfrp]

Knight vs dragon (Don Lowry, Chainmail wargame rules, Guidon Games 1971/TSR 1975; partially inspired by a Pauline Baynes illustration in Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham)

[oldschoolfrp]

The Chainmail miniature wargame rules by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren (Guidon Games, 1971) assumed a 1:20 scale of figures to men for historical mass battles, but included two pages on “Man-to-Man Combat” in which one figure represented one warrior, a table for one-on-one jousting, and the “Fantasy Supplement” which was a third of the rulebook.  The games played with these rules helped inspire the creation of Dungeons & Dragons.  (Don Lowry illustration from Chainmail 3rd ed, TSR, 1975)

[oldschoolfrp]

Chainmail: Rules for Medieval Miniatures, 1st Edition, Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren, Guidon Games, 1971.  Chainmail included the "Fantasy Supplement" rules allowing for fantasy armies and spell use.  Gygax co-founded Tactical Studies Rules in 1973 to publish Dungeons and Dragons, and produced the third edition printings of Chainmail with TSR logos in 1975.

(Via The Acaeum)