Columbia Games
Columbia Games is one of the hobby’s veteran game companies. Columbia Games has produced some of the highest rated wargames in the industry such as Hammer of the Scots and Julius Caesar. They are the pioneers of the “Columbia Block System”, a system which has found even more popularity with newer wargamers over the past few years.
In the Columbia Block System, a military unit’s strength and other stats are hidden from the opponent, giving a built-in fog-of-war element not seen in most other wargames. This adds a depth of play in each game that allows for feints and bluffs, instead of simply a game of hard mathematics.
Another integrated innovation of the Columbia Block System is how they approach step-reduction. In normal hex and counter games, step reduction has a maximum of two steps, full and reduced strength. In the Columbia Block System, however, blocks are rotated as they take damage allowing for a maximum of four steps, allowing for further possibilities.
You can learn the system in four short minutes in this video below. By the time you are done you will have learned the basics of combat that Columbia Games uses in all their wargames.
