GMT Games
GMT Games is a California-based wargaming publisher founded in 1990. The company has become well known for graphically attractive games that range from "monster games" of many maps and counters, to quite simple games suitable for introducing new players to wargaming. They also produce card games and family games.
GMT Games
- Name
- GMT Games
- Founded
- GMT Games was established or created in 1990.
- Headquarters
- GMT Games has its headquarters at Hanford.
- Activity
- GMT Games operates in game industry.
- Products
- wargame · board wargame
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GMT Games is a California-based wargaming publisher founded in 1990. The company has become well known for graphically attractive games that range from "monster games" of many maps and counters, to quite simple games suitable for introducing new players to wargaming. They also produce card games and family games.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q928726 · wikipedia · GMT Games
In this article
Overview
Overview
The current management and creative team includes Tony Curtis, Mark Simonitch, and Andy Lewis.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — GMT Games • Founded — 1990 • Industry — Gaming • Key People — Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, Mark Simonitch, and Andy Lewis • Website — http: www.gmtgames.com
History
History
GMT's name comes from the first name initials of founders Gene Billingsley, Mike Crane, and Terry Shrum. Crane and Shrum later left GMT and founded the Fresno Gaming Association. In the 1990s GMT pioneered a pre-order system called "Project 500" or "P500", where customers pre-order a title and production does not begin until a set minimum of orders had been reached. This system has been adopted by other wargame publishers. GMT was successful during the 1990s, when other war game publishers were failing, which has been credited in part to their innovative P500 system. GMT is known for publishing the COIN series of games, which started with Andean Abyss: Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Colombia by Volko Ruhnke, a CIA instructor. Most COIN titles feature four playable factions commanding guerrilla forces or conventional military forces, both trying to win the hearts and minds of the local population. The games focus on historical conflicts such as the Cuban Revolution, Vietnam War, Gallic Wars, American Revolution, War in Afghanistan, and others. GMT's best-known game may be Twilight Struggle, a card-driven strategy game about the global Cold War. In 2018, GMT began creating Windows and mobile adaptations for some of their titles, including Twilight Struggle and Labyrinth: The War on Terror. GMT was about to publish Scramble for Africa in 2019, but pulled the title after controversy erupted about its subject matter. The Washington Post called GMT "the modern hobby's highest-profile wargame publisher" and characterized P500 as a "Kickstarter before Kickstarter that allowed fans to vote with their wallets on which GMT games should come to market". Wargamer Magazine called them a "house-name in table-top wargaming". VICE News said they are "one of the biggest and most successful [companies], with one of the largest libraries."
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
Explore 1990
The full dated record · 3 entries
1990
GMT Games established.
1990
GMT Games is recorded from 1990.
1990
GMT Games was established or created in 1990.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
GMT Games is situated in United States.
Country
GMT Games is associated with United States.
Country
Published games
Some of the better-known games produced by GMT Games include: • 18XX series - strategy economic board games about railway construction and investing in railroad companies. • At Any Cost: Metz 1870 • Battle Line • Chandragupta • COIN series - a card-driven action board game series based on counterinsurgency and irregular warfare. • Combat Commander series - a card-drive game, simulating tactical warfare usually in World War 2. • Commands & Colors: Ancients - a block game with card-driven action, based upon tactical combat in the Classical Period. • A Distant Plain: Insurgency in Afghanistan • Dominant Species • Down in Flames, a series of air combat cards games that includes The Rise of the Luftwaffe and Eighth Air Force • Europe Engulfed • Fields of Fire • Here I Stand • Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 –? • Lost Victory • MBT series - wargame series that is modeling the hypothetical clash set in 1987 between US and Soviet forces in Germany. Later expansion added British, West German, and Canadian forces. • Next War series - wargame series that is based on hypothetical war on modern times. • No Retreat: The Russian Front - a two-player, hex-based game set on the Eastern Front of World War II. Won the "Best World War Two Game" category at the 2011 Charles S. Roberts Awards. • Operation Mercury • Panzer series - a detailed, tactical-level, World War II game based in the European theater, currently with 4 expansion sets. • Paths of Glory • Rome: Imperium, Circus Maximus, Hannibal vs Rome (2001) • Space Empires 4X • Sword of Rome • SPQR • Twilight Struggle - card-driven board game, based on the Cold War. • Wing Leader series - aerial combat wargames series with side-scrolling views, mainly based on World War II era aircraft.
Context
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which GMT Games stands. Recorded as board game publishing company. Established or created in 1990. Games has its headquarters at Hanford. Situated in United States. Games operates in game industry.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q928726: GMT Games
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “GMT Games”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Matthew B. Caffrey Jr. On Wargaming: How Wargames Have Shaped History and how They May Shape the Future. Naval War College Press. 396. 2019.
- 2.Hall, Charlie. The art and craft of making board games for the CIA. Polygon. June 22, 2017.
- 3.Roeder, Oliver. Designing The Best Board Game On The Planet. FiveThirtyEight dead link. May 2026.
- 4.Rob Zacny. GMT Games Already Make Great Tabletop Wargames, Now They're Going Digital. Vice News. July 25, 2018.
- 5.Kevin Draper. Should Board Gamers Play the Roles of Racists, Slavers and Nazis?. The New York Times. August 1, 2019.
- 6.Lozano-Monterrubio, Natàlia. Heritage, Memory and Identity in Postcolonial Board Games. Taylor & Francis. 2023-08-04. 978-1-000-91807-6.
- 7.Michael J. Gaynor. They created maybe the best board game ever. Now, Putin is making it relevant again. The Washington Post. July 17, 2018.
- 8.Jason Albert. In the world of war games, Volko Ruhnke has become a hero. The Washington Post. January 10, 2014.
- 9.Joe Robinson. GMT Games are bringing Labyrinth, COIN games and more to digital. Wargamer. July 24, 2018.
- 10.GMT. Best Sellers - All Time. gmtgames.com. 31 March 2021.
- 11.https://armchairgeneral.com/the-fate-of-france-hangs-in-the-balance-with-gmt-games-at-any-cost-metz-1870-board-game-review.htm
- 12.https://theboardgamingway.com/at-any-cost-metz-1870-a-player-review/
- 13.https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/158815/at-any-cost-metz-1870/ratings?comment=1
- 14.https://theplayersaid.com/2018/04/06/review-at-any-cost-metz-1870-from-gmt-games/
- 15.A Distant Plain Playbook. www.gmtgames.com. 2015.
- 16.Delwood, Robert. No Retreat: The Russian Front – Boardgame Review. Armchair General. Weider History Group. 5 June 2012.
- 17.History - 1987 to 2012 – Best World War Two Game. Charles S. Roberts Award.
References
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
It is classified as business, enterprise and board game publishing company. Its recorded field of business is game industry. It works in board wargame and board game.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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