Wargame companies

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 27. Chapters: Avalon Hill, TSR, Inc., Ral Partha Enterprises, Game Designers' Workshop, West End Games, Grenadier Models Inc., Avalanche Press, Simulation Publications, List of wargame publishers, Columbia Games, Strategic Simulations, Inc., Yaquinto Publications, GMT Games, Metagaming Concepts, Task Force Games, Clash of Arms, Wastelands Interactive, Decision Games, L2 Design Group, 3W, Multi-Man Publishing. Excerpt: Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio produced miniature figures in 25 mm, 30 mm, 15 mm, and 54 mm scale from 1975 to 2001. Their products, manufactured by spin-casting, depicted soldiers, adventurers, and monsters inspired by history and fiction. The miniatures were sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting. The company was founded by a group of wargamers around the talents of Tom Meier, a 16-year-old sculptor. The company grew with the increasing popularity of board and role-playing games. By 1982 Ral Partha products were sold worldwide. Ral Partha is best known for its historical figures, Fantasy Collector's series, and miniatures produced for TSR, Inc.'s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and FASA's BattleTech games. Tom Meier became a freelance sculptor in 1988, and retains rights to much of his work for Ral Partha. He currently works on commission and operates Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures, a boutique company for pet projects involving dioramas, 54 mm figurines, and a new series of elves and goblins. During its 26-year history Ral Partha employed more than two dozen sculptors, of whom the most prolific were Dennis Mize, Julie Guthrie, Sandra Garrity, Bob Charrette, and Dave Summers. The owners of Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. sold the company to FASA in 1998, and was one of the assets acquired by Wizards of the Coast in 2000. The following year Ral Partha was recast as Iron Wind Metals, LLC of Cincinnati, a company that continues to produce many of the old lines. As early as 1979 Citadel Miniatures acquired the license to produce and distribute Ral Partha figures in Britain. Citadel Miniatures attempted to establish a U.S. division in 1982 with Ral Partha as the local manufacturer. By 1984 the Citadel Miniatures were brought under the Ral Partha logo and marketed as Ral Partha Imports. In 1985 the import lines included the FTx-xx Fantasy Tribes, FA