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En Garde!

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This article is about the role-playing game designed by Frank Chadwick. For other uses of the term, seeEn garde (disambiguation).

En Garde!
En Garde!4th edition cover byLee Brimmicombe-Wood
DesignersFrank Chadwick,Daryl Hany,John Harshman,Loren Wiseman
PublishersGames Designers’ Workshop,Margam Evans Limited
Publication1975 (1st edition)
1977 (2nd edition)
1988 (3rd edition)
2005 (4th edition)
GenresHistorical
SystemsCustom
Websitehttp:// engarde.co.uk/index.html

En Garde!is a hybridrole-playingand tactical dueling game published byGame Designers' Workshop(GDW) in 1975 that simulates theswashbucklingworld of theThree MusketeersandCyrano de Bergeracin 17th centuryParis.

Publication history

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En Garde!was GDW's first entry into the role-playing game field, a game designed by Darryl Hany,Frank Chadwickand Paul Evans and published as a 48-page digest-sized book in 1975.[1]Chadwick especially wanted thisswashbucklinggame to be a hybrid of role-playing game and strategy game.[2]David M. Ewalt,in his bookOf Dice and Men,pointed out that the game, published only a year afterTSR'sDungeons & Dragons,was one ofD&D's first early competing products.[3]

A revised second edition was published in 1977, but the game failed to gain an audience. As David Ewalt noted, "Players responded to theThree Musketeers-style setting, but they didn't care for the rules. "[3]

Theo Clarke and Evans ran a game for over 20 players at the UKGamesfairin 1983. Evans then wrote aBASICcomputer program to administer a PBM game and they ran increasingly large games at successive games fairs. Evans started a PBM game using the same computer programs in 1986 in a new magazine calledSmall Furry Creatures Press,which he co-published with Clarke. Evans continues to run this game asLes Petites Bêtes Soyeuses.[4]The success of the game also led to an annual convention which ran for over ten years.

Clarke and Evans found a demand for the rule book arising from their games and other postal games. Under the name SFC Press they intended to publish a new edition of the game under license from Chadwick. When SFC Press was liquidated in 2003 the rights to the game were acquired by Evans personally. Evans' company Margam Evans produced a new edition, the 4th, of the game.[5]

Although the 1987 Swedish productEn Garde!by Ragnarök Speldesign is also a role-playing game set in seventeenth-century France that emphasizes fencing, it has no connection to this game.[6]

Play-by-mail version

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En Gardetransitioned well to aplay-by-mail game(PBM) format. Its first appearance in this form may have been in the late 1970s through thefanzineChimera.By the early 1980s, the game had fully emerged in PBM with numerous games active. By 2001, the game was still running in PBM and PBeM formats.[7]

Reception

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In Issue 55 of the UK magazineGames & Puzzles(December 1976), Charles Vasey noted that GDW "have picked a really splendid period for the new duelling game." However, Vasey questioned the game system, saying, "Despite its complexity, the system does not play as well as one might think. Often duels end very swiftly." He concluded, "It is complex and convoluted, and it feels like real life. Players will soon find they have natural enemies and rivals who must be crushed directly or by a hired blade. One must seek to be in the best set, but beware bankruptcy or it's the frontier regiment and disgrace until you pay off your debts."[8]

In the inaugural issue ofGames International,Richard Ashley reviewed the republished edition by Small Furry Creatures Press, and was impressed by its improved layout, as well as the new chapter on postal play. He concluded by giving this game an above-average rating of 4 out of 5, saying, "This new edition retains all the old rules with a superior presentation."[9]

In the July 1980 issue ofFantastic Science Fiction,game designerGreg CostikyancalledEn Garde!"the first well-written set of role-playing rules....En Garde!was the first role-playing game by a major company and by established designers; and, as one might expect, it set new standards for role-playing rules — standards to which few subsequent games have risen. "[10]

In the 1979 bookThe Playboy Winner's Guide to Board Games,John Jackson noted that "There is a minimum of player interaction; play is geared toward individual deeds rather than group action." Jackson liked the clarity of the rules, commenting, "Although lacking neither color nor detail, the rules toEn Garde!are clear and comprehensible. "Jackson concluded," If it lacks the scope of true fantasy role-playing games, it's not as time-consuming, either, and it appears to be a pleasant diversion. "[11]

In the 1980 bookThe Complete Book of Wargames,game designerJon Freemanthought "the game's limited scope (no monsters, no magic, no hoards of treasure) will keep it from challengingDungeons & Dragons,but it makes a delightful change of pace. "Freeman concluded by giving the game an Overall Evaluation of" Good ", saying," except forMeleeandWizards,it's the only RPG you could imagine running concurrently with your major campaign on, say, alternate Tuesdays. "[12]

InThe Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training,Martin Campion called the game "a tongue-in-cheek simulation of the kind of life lived inThe Three Musketeersand other historical adventures. "Campion emphasized the open-ended nature of the game by concluding" No criteria for ending the game are included in the rules. "[13]

In his 1990 bookThe Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games,game criticRick Swancalled this "an out of print classic that's worth the search." He also noted "What makes it special is the inventive tactical combat system, perhaps the best fencing simulation ever to grace an RPG." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 3 out of 4, saying, "A simple, delightfully tongue-in-cheek game."[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Schick, Lawrence(1991).Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games.Prometheus Books. p. 266.ISBN0-87975-653-5.
  2. ^Shannon Appelcline (2011).Designers & Dragons.Mongoose Publishing. p. 53.ISBN978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. ^abEwalt, David M.(2013).Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It.Scribner. p. 107.ISBN978-1-4516-4052-6.
  4. ^"Les Petites Betes Soyeuses".
  5. ^"En Garde! - History".
  6. ^SeeRagnarök Speldesign[sv]
  7. ^Evans, Paul (September–October 2001). "His Eminence Speaks: A Brief History of En Garde".Flagship.No. 93. p. 13.
  8. ^Vasey, Charles (December 1976). "The Cut and Thrust of Sword Play".Games and Puzzles.No. 55. pp. 16–18.
  9. ^Thornton, Jake (October 1988). "Role Games".Games International.No. 1. pp. 39–40.
  10. ^Costikyan, Greg (July 1980). "Games fen will Play".Fantastic Science Fiction.Vol. 27, no. 10. p. 14.
  11. ^Jackson, John (1979).The Playboy Winner's Guide to Board Games.Chicago: Playboy Press. p. 274.
  12. ^Freeman, Jon(1980).The Complete Book of Wargames.New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 255.
  13. ^Campion, Martin (1980). "En Garde!". In Horn, Robert E.; Cleaves, Ann (eds.).The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training.Beverly Hills CA: Sage Publications. p. 492.ISBN0-8039-1375-3.
  14. ^Swan, Rick(1990).The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games.New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 79–80.

Further reading

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