{"id":3930,"date":"2008-05-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-11T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/2008\/05\/11\/armageddon\/"},"modified":"2008-05-11T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-11T10:00:00","slug":"armageddon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/blog\/2008\/05\/11\/armageddon\/","title":{"rendered":"Armageddon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Transcript of our podcast from 11 May 2008<\/h4>\n
\"\"\/<\/a>\u00a0subscribe with iTunes
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\n\"Pod<\/a>\u00a0play now<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\n
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\"cover\"\/<\/a><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
designer<\/td>\nHubert Strassl
Eduard Lukschandl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
publisher<\/td>\nErster Deutscher Fantasy Club (EDFC)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
released<\/td>\n1968<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
players<\/td>\n2-10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
playing time<\/td>\n240\u00a0minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
rating<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Armageddon<\/a><\/h2>\n

by Moritz Eggert<\/p>\n

I once did a feature on the Dice Tower about why there are practically
\nno wargames produced in Germany<\/a>. I don’t want to repeat these statements, suffice it to say
\nthat there are practically no historical wargames coming from Germany, Udo Grebe Gamedesign, a
\ncompany which collaborates with GMT, being the exception that reinstates the rule.<\/p>\n

The best widely known wargame in Germany is probably “Risk”, if you want to even call
\nit a wargame, and the German version has the players “liberate” the countries instead of
\nconquering them. “Axis and Allies” is known a little, but people would look at you
\nstrangely if you proposed it during a normal games evening, even though it is more regarded as some
\nkind of family game in the US. Board War Games are a hobby for experts only, and most games have to
\nbe imported. Still there are many enthusiasts for war games here in Germany, but they will
\ninvariably be fluent English speakers and import their games. Interestingly enough this situation
\nonly exists in board war games, there are actually quite a lot of computer wargames produced in
\nGermany, and World War II titles have become as popular as they are elsewhere, so in a way many of
\nthe qualms about depicting World War II warfare have eroded over the time, but only in computer
\ngames.<\/p>\n

The situation is very different when one looks at roleplaying games, which somehow are connected
\nto wargames as I tried to show in my eulogy to Gary
\nGygax<\/a>. Germany was the first country outside the US to develop its own brand of Roleplaying
\nGame, called “Das Schwarze Auge”, which is known as “Realms of Arkania” in the
\nUS because the literal translation “The Black Eye” just doesn’t sound as good in
\nEnglish.<\/p>\n

Miniature fantasy or SF wargaming have also always been popular here, and Warhammer and its
\nrelated brands are as fiendishly popular here as everywhere else.<\/p>\n

But few people know that Germany was actually a forerunner in the genre of the Epic Fantasy
\nBoard Wargame. Even before games like “Titan” and “Dragon Pass” were created
\nGerman Fantasy Fans played what was called “The Eternal Game”, or more commonly
\n“Armageddon – The Strategic
\nFantasy Battle Game<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

This game has a peculiar story that I would like to tell here. In the 60’s SF pulp novels
\nbecame popular in Germany, and the most popular SF serial “Perry Rhodan<\/a>” was created, the
\nlongest running SF series in the world with now nearly 3000 issues. Eat that, Buck Rogers! In the
\nwave of this success the main pulp publishers also began to publish Fantasy novels of the Heroic
\nFantasy style, based on muscle packed heroes fighting along scantily clad damsels in distress. Of
\ncourse this was also the time where “Lord of the Rings” became more and more popular and
\nsoon the German fantasy fans looked for more complete worlds that had believable and consistent
\ncultures like Tolkien invented famously.<\/p>\n

In the late 60’s some Austrian and German fantasy fans tried to emulate the American Society
\nof Creative Anachronism and wanted to create a consistent fantasy world that they would mutually
\nevolve and develop together. Some of the founding fathers of this society were also fantasy
\nauthors, and they went about their work very seriously and thoroughly, like we German speakers
\noften do. So “Follow<\/a>” was
\ncreated, the “Fellowship of the Lords of the Lands of Wonder” as it was called.<\/p>\n

The founders of this society became the imaginary lords of various fantasy empires that
\npopulated a world of their own creation, Magira<\/a>. Clans were founded and slowly the numbers of members were rising and
\nthe world had to be expanded to make room for new cultures. Today FOLLOW has around 400 members,
\nbut it used to have more. The Internet and new lifestyles like LARP<\/a> have eroded their numbers. The members
\nof this society meet regularly at cons called “Fantasy Fests”. During these cons they
\ndecide about the political future of their world, Magira, dressed up in costumes indigenous to
\ntheir culture and very much trying to pretend living in a fantasy world. Although similar to LARP
\n(Live Action Roleplaying) on first glance this is quite different in reality, as the emphasis is
\nless on elaborate costumes but more on a consistent approach to simulate an ongoing complex fantasy
\nsociety.<\/p>\n

In the months between cons each clan would develop their on history further by writing short
\nstories, historical articles, inventing languages and similar activities. The 60’s were the
\ntime when the first hex and counter wargames were created, and this in turn influenced the founding
\nfathers of FOLLOW who had travelled to the US and knew of these games. This idea took form in a
\nhome brewed rule set for a hex and miniatures wargame called “Armageddon”. With this rule
\nset it was now possible to simulate a huge fantasy world on several continents on a large political
\nscale. Once a year the lords of the various factions would meet at the Fantasy Fest and play what
\nthey would call “The Eternal Game” for several days without unnecessary interruptions
\nlike sleep to completely immerse themselves in their own fantasy world. What happens during these
\ngaming days is then carefully recorded so that one could continue at the same map situation next
\nyear. In addition in game events were treated as “history”. This meant for example that
\nif a capital of a culture was captured they became a nomadic folk, forced to wander the plains
\nuntil they found a new home. This would of course affect their cultural history. Other cultures
\nbegun to incorporate elements of conquered cultures, much like the Romans did in real history.<\/p>\n

Technically the game can’t end, as one can always come back. This is why it is called the
\n“Eternal Game”. If you get eliminated you just have to wait for a while until your exiled
\nculture could start again somewhere. Empires rose and fell much like in “Rise and
\nFall”.<\/p>\n

Game play is extremely formalized. I already talked about players playing in costume as the
\nlords of their countries. They would have squires and generals who roll their dice or make battle
\nplans for them. Sometimes up to 20 players would stand around the board, completely involved.
\nCombat round where often played simultaneously for different situations because of this.<\/p>\n

The game map itself is humunguous and has to be placed on 4 huge tables. “Campaign for North Africa<\/a>” is
\nnothing against it. At some point a three dimensional version was lovingly created, with different
\nterrain elevations clearly visible and realistic models of towers, siege engines and capitals., As
\nthe game was created at a time before lead miniatures were widely available, Airfix brand plastic
\nsoldiers were used and also modified to look more like fantasy warriors. I have seen the original
\nboard several times in person, and I have to say that it was pretty impressive.<\/p>\n

I would love to say that the game itself is as impressive, but as the rules set is rather old it
\ndoesn’t really hold up to contemporary wargames. Basically there are some paper-scissors-stones
\nmechanics at work, which make certain units stronger against specific other units and weaker
\nagainst others. Even though hexes cover 100 miles, it is possible for archers to shoot at distant
\nhexes, a rule which I always found very strange. The siege rules are very elaborate, and it is
\npossible to play out long sieges with siege towers and catapults. There are also some basic magic
\nrules that incorporate sorcerers and creatures. The feel of the game is very chess like – players
\nhover for openings in the opponent’s lines and go for the kill. Diplomacy is of course
\nimportant and necessary to be able to survive – you can’t beat ’em all like in Risk.<\/p>\n

The game most similar to Armageddon is probably “Lankhmar<\/a>” by TSR, which was also
\ncreated by its own author, Fritz Leiber, together with a friend, but Lankhmar has a much smaller
\nscale.<\/p>\n

As you can tell by my report I was a member of FOLLOW once, because only then one had access to
\nthe Fantasy Fest, which is not an open convention. In earlier times the rule set was used to play
\nout various play by mail campaigns or even stage your own alternative world battles at home – I had
\na fully self-created Magira Map myself once, I wonder what happened to it. But I think nowadays
\nwith the upvent of more exiting games game play happens solely at the Fantasy Fest.<\/p>\n

You will probably never play Armageddon, but if you’re interested you can catch some impressive
\npics of it if you look at “Armageddon – Das Strategische Fantasyspiel<\/a>” on the Geek. The date for the
\ngame’s creation is 1990 there, but that refers to the third printing of the game. As I already
\nsaid the game is much, much older, and is considered a hall-of-famer in the history of German
\ngaming. The game was always self-published and never produced by a professional game company, but
\nparts of the world were translated into Midgard, which is one of the oldest and most successful
\nGerman role playing games.<\/p>\n

I hope you enjoyed this piece of unusual wargame history, and may all your hits be crits.<\/p>\n

\n