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SPI is remembered by many for their innovations in game design, marketing,
and packaging. In 1975, they pioneered
another great innovation - the creation of the Quad format.
A Quad was a set of four games on a similar subject,
sharing the same scale, and most importantly, the same rules.
Redmond Simonsen announced their coming in Moves 17, in the Designer
Notes Column:
The
Quadrigame
"Announcing, the 'quad game' concept, which you will be seeing in the
spring. The Quad Games are so named because we are packaging four complete
games, each with its own map, counters. rules, and an OB folder, into one
package, for $12.
In addition , we will sell the individual games for $4 each (not $3. as a
typo in the feedback questionnaire of S& T 46 put it).
The separated individual games will not be in our plastic box. It will be in
a lighter paper package (basically, a flat. stiff folder with an interior
pocket). The Quad Games will almost all use as their basic rules a variation
of the Napoleon at Waterloo rules. But, along with a high degree of
playability, these games will also have a considerably high degree of
realism. It took a lot of "basic research" to make that happen."
What RAS didn't mention is the maps would add another innovation for SPI -
four color maps!
Quads were a huge bonus for the purchasers and players. if you could play one of the games in the set, you could play all
of them.
What makes a "Quad?"
The Quad games launched in 1975 and became extremely
popular.
Within 1 year, they would release 7 of these sets -
that's 28 games! While slightly above the 'beer and pretzel' level of gaming,
each of these games were clearly the equivalent of any early AH classic -
i.e., the level of wargaming before 1970 when SPI challenged and then
changed the standard. Much of that was from the original 'Tactical
Studies Games' (TSG) that were highly tactical, with ranged fire, etc. (Tactical Game 3 would
sold to Avalon Hill and become Panzerblitz, which expanded the wargaming hobby greatly.)
Advertisement / Promotion
Though SPI always budgeted in magazine ads for
their new games, in another innovation for at least the first year, each new
Quad got a full page, text-heavy advertisement on page 3 of S&T. This
started with issue 49 and ended over a year later, with issue 57. (They
still got a full page after this, but later in the magazine.) I have
attached these pages to the title link below, so you can read in detail
about each game. (Links are with the game lists below).
"5th Game"
A later innovation in the Quad was the use of that
month's S&T game to be a feature game for a soon to be released quad,
which also proved popular with the audience. These have become known as the
"5th" game to most gamers. Dr. Al Nofi points out "The 'fifth' game was
actually usually the first," delivered in the magazine "as a teaser to intro
the quad & the game system." I have listed these 5th games with
each set.
Folios
And though the Quads were sold as a set, you could
also purchase them separately by mail, but with an added bonus to the Zpack
format. The game was still in a plastic bag, but with a folder to hold the
game. The folder featured the title and photo on the cover, and promo
materials on the back, with a pocket to hold rules on one side, and map on
the other. These continued to be offered until mid 1979, but it appears The
Crimean War (publish 4/78) was the last quad given folio cards - at least,
that's what the catalogs show. Not certain I've seen Crimean War folio
games, though I have seen Modern Battles II games as folios. Also, later
folios were single cards, printed front and back - not a folder.
Link to Folio lists
Capsules
Late in their lives, some quads made the transition
to Capsule Games, listed as the Moments in Conflict capsule series. Army
Group South and Great Medieval Battles would be offered this way, along with
three others, including two of the all-time best individual quads (Arnhem
and Chickamauga).
Link
to Capsule list
With the advent of the Monster games - nearly the
opposite of a quad game - the pace would slow. And Art of Siege would not
follow the Quad rules at all, since the games did not share a basic set of
rules. By the end of SPI's initial
run, they had produced 16 sets of these fast setup / fast play
games.
The List
Below are notes for each set.
I will develop individual pages for each set as time allows. (The link will
appear on the name.)
Of some interest at this point might be a question
of how the market responded. Here's a link to the SPI Bestseller lists for 1975
and 1976. This link will also open in a new window.
(SPI Bestsellers 1975
link | SPI
Bestsellers 1976 link
)
And don't miss this article from Brian Train lists ALL
the feedback offers of "The Quads that Never Were" !!
link
Enjoy!
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Link to Full
Page Ad |
Game Scale |
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ARMY GROUP SOUTH
(advertisement) |
Release Date:
6/1/1979 Games included:
 | Kiev |
 | Rostov |
 | Operation Star |
 | Korsun |
Units are Divisions / Regiments
Maps vary from 7.5 to 17 km/hex.
Turn scales vary from 2 days to 2 weeks.
S&T Game: Kharkov (5/1/78) -(questionable) |
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ART OF SIEGE WARFARE
Part 1
Part 2 |
Release Date:
7/1/1979 Games included:
 | Tyre |
 | Acre |
 | Lille |
 | Sevastopol |
Mixed systems, all different scales.
S&T Game: Constantinople (1/1/78) (Questionable)
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BATTLES FOR THE ARDENNES |
Release Date:
11/1/1978 Games included:
 | Celles |
 | Clervaux |
 | Sedan |
 | St. Vith |
Each Combat Unit represents 1000 to 7000 men; Armored Units are
40 to 180 tanks; Artillery units are 60 to 100 guns.
Scale: Each Hex 3.2 km
Each Turn represents 12 hours
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BLUE & GRAY |
Release Date: 5/1/1975 Games included:
 | Shiloh |
 | Antietam |
 | Cemetery Hill |
 | Chickamauga |
Scale: 400 meters / hex
Each Strength Point = 350 to 400 men.
Extremely popular. |
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BLUE & GRAY
II |
Release Date:
12/1/1975 Games included:
 | Chattanooga |
 | Wilderness |
 | Fredericksburg |
 | Hooker vs. Lee |
Scale: 400 meters / hex
Each Strength Point = 350 to 400 men.
S&T Game: Road to Richmond (1/1/77)
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CRIMEAN WAR |
Release Date:
4/1/1978 Games included:
 | Alma |
 | Balaclava |
 | Inkerman |
 | Tchernaya |
Tactical warfare on the Crimean peninsula in the mid 1800's.
Hex size and strength points vary by game.
S&T Game: None? |
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GREAT MEDIEVAL BATTLES |
Release Date:
11/1/1979 Games included:
 | King Arthur |
 | The Black Prince |
 | Robert at Bannockburn |
 | Tamburlaine the Great |
Scale: Highly tactical.
Hexes: 50 yards / Hex
Counters: From 100 to 300 men in some games to 500 to 1500 in
others. Turns represent 20 minutes real time.
S&T Game: None? |
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GREAT WAR IN THE EAST |
Release Date:
9/1/1979 Games included:
 | Caporetto |
 | Brusilov Offensive |
 | Serbia/Galacia |
 | Von Hindenburg in Poland |
Scale: Varies by game, from 6 to 12 miles.
S&T Game: Tannenberg (7/1/78) |
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ISLAND WAR |
Release Date:
11/1/1975 Games included:
 | Saipan |
 | Okinawa |
 | Leyte |
 | Bloody Ridge |
The ground combat battles from WWII in the Pacific.
Scale: Varies by game, but roughly 500 to 2000 yards. Turns are 1 to
2 days.
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MODERN BATTLES |
Release Date:
7/1/1975 Games included:
 | Chinese Farm |
 | Golan |
 | Wurzburg |
 | Mukden |
Scale: Highly tactical
Fast battles in a system that highlights fast action and quick
turns of fortune. |
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MODERN BATTLES II |
Release Date:
6/1/1977 Games included:
Link
 | DMZ |
 | Bundeswehr |
 | Jerusalem |
 | Yugoslavia |
Scale: Highly Tactical
(Some claim Berlin 85 is the 5th wheel S&T game. Since it
is not in the Basic/Exclusive rules format, I do not.) |
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NAPOLEON AT WAR |
Release Date:
8/1/1975 Games included:
 | Battle of Nations (Leipzig, 1813) |
 | Jena-Auerstadt (1806) |
 | Marengo (1800) |
 | Wagram (1809) |
Perhaps the original 'gold standard for SPI. They moved well
beyond this, but Napoleon at Waterloo is the standard for all the
early quads. S&T Game: Well, technically, could Eylau and
Dresden
qualify? (7/1/79) Borodino predates. |
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NAPOLEON'S LAST BATTLES |
Release Date:
9/1/1976 Games included:
 | Quatre Bras |
 | Ligne |
 | Wavre |
 | La Belle Alliance (Waterloo) |
Scale: 1 hex = 480 m.
Each SP = 350 to 750 men, or a battery of artillery.
Four small games, but maps interlock to create the battle of
Waterloo Campaign game! |
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NORTH AFRICA |
Release Date:
7/1/1976 Games included:
 | Cauldron |
 | Crusader |
 | Supercharge |
 | Kasserine |
The World War II North Africa battles from 1941 to 1943.
Each hex is from 1.7 to 3.0 miles depending on the game. |
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THIRTY YEARS' WAR |
Release Date:
5/1/1976 Games included:
 | Freiburg |
 | Lutzen |
 | Nordlingen |
 | Rocroi |
Operational warfare from first half of 17th century.
Scale: Each hex is 175 m.
Each Strength Point 75 to 100 men.
Each Turn is 45 minutes.
S&T Game: (3/1/76) Breitenfeld
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WESTWALL |
Release Date:
2/1/1976 Games included:
 | Arnhem |
 | Bastogne (II) |
 | Hurtgen Forest |
 | Remagen |
The Operational west front ground battles from WWII 1944-45.
Scale: 500 to 2000 yards. Each game turn is 12 to 24 hours. |
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