The master of games

Or Gamemaster.  As in the Gamemaster Series.  In the mid-1980s, Milton Bradley, that Standard Oil of game companies, produced a series of games called the Gamemaster Series.  The flagship of this series was the game Axis & Allies.  Turns out, MB obtained the idea of Axis and Allies from an old, and rather crude, chit style wargame centered broadly around WW2.  I was happy when I discovered the game was purchased from one first published in the late 1970s.  In high school (c. 1981), I had the idea of a WW2 version of RISK, but never pursued it. When I discovered A&A, I was a bit bummed and wondered if I missed out.  Glad to see I didn't.  The idea was already there. 

Anyhoo, Axis & Allies is the main game, and I believe the most successful by far, spawning an endless stream of expansions, special editions, and micro-versions based on the original (my oldest recently received the latest, an A&A version of the North African Campaign from WWII).  Nonetheless, it wasn't the only one, as the name 'Series' suggests.   Over the years I managed to find all but one.  And even in the day, I managed to play all but one.  Several friends and acquaintances back then had at least one of the games.  Below are the games that made up the series.  Not in any order, just for fun and trivial things during these crazy, hazy days of the tale end of Bidenomics.  

Axis & Allies (1984)

I've written enough on this before, such as here.  Suffice to say it's still a favorite among the boys.  Naturally, we don't play it much now.  But in the day, it was a goto when game time was available but not so much as to stretch over endless days.  As I said, I believe it spawned the most variants, and we own several of those from back in the day.  

Conquest of the Empire  (1984)

This was the Ancient Rome variant.  I bought this some years ago, and our boardgame guru son warmed up to it nicely.  Unfortunately, the others didn't express much interest.  It's a shame, because just in our little tutorial session, it appeared fun, if not a bit predictable.  It was a game that seemed more interested in developing a skill for the game than sweating any thing close to a simulation of ancient Roman politics and military maneuvering.  Still, every game has to give and take. 

Fortress America (1986)

My best friend, who didn't mind D&D flavored video games but wouldn't be caught dead playing D&D, was the same way with board games.  He was like that with anything to be honest.  As a bona fide jock in high school, he was always sensitive about how any pastimes might appear to others around him.  He and I used to play RISK, but he kept it hush-hush.  Until a friend he knew, who was in some big local metal band in Columbus, came by one afternoon.  I was there and had brought the RISK game.  My friend was visibly aghast at me having a RISK game there and his cool big hair metal guitarist friend showing up.  Until his friend saw my game and brightened up immediately, singing the game's praises, and asked if we could play a round.  After that my friend practically had RISK tournaments in his house going late into the night with any and all friends available.  For some reason, piggybacking on this openness with RISK, he felt Fortress America was acceptable.  When I bought A&A a year or so into college, he purchased this on the same shopping trip.  I think it was an old Service Merchandise, but don't quote me on that.  The premise is basically Red Dawn in board game form, with a little sci-fi tech to add flavor.  Problem is, it seemed rather slanted toward America against its three invaders.  My friend chose the invaders. I simply hunkered down in Denver and let the super-lasers do their work.  After four rounds of trying to take Denver and losing everything, my friend took the game board with pieces still on it and heaved it out the door.  That was that.  But it was fun for those minutes we played.  Years later I got a copy and played it with our three older sons.  I was America, they were the invaders.  When it was over, they sympathized with my friend.    

Shogun (1986)

Perhaps the second favorite among my sons.  Shogun, as the name suggests, loosely (and I mean loosely) runs with the feudal period of Japanese history.  Truth be told, it's Axis & Allies, just scratch out 'Tank' and add 'Samurai.'  Or more honestly, it's really just RISK at the next level.  There is some secret investing in various items, and a ninja - because you have to have ninjas - you can hire for the odd assassination.  It has a little bit of a 'fog of war' mechanic, with entire armies peopled by so many of the plastic playing pieces, but only a single marker on the game board to show its location.  The idea being the others can't tell how large your armies are.  But they can.  All you do is count the pieces on the army board on the other side of the table.  But it adds flavor. And let's face it, any game that allows finely crafted miniature models of the celebrated Osaka castle is going to be pretty awesome. 

Broadsides and Boarding Parties (1984)

Never owned it.  Never saw it.  Never met a person who did.  You can almost see the desperate stretching of the concept to include the age of buccaneers into the series.  From what I've read, it didn't work.  Hence there's a reason I've never met a person who owned it.