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| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Owner | Network N |
| Created by | Mario Kroll |
| Editor | Alex Evans |
| URL | wargamer.com |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | September 1995; 30 years ago (September 1995) |
| Current status | Active |
Wargamer (originallyThe Wargamer) is a Britishwebsite specialising intabletop games, with a particular focus onminiature wargames,tabletop role-playing games, and strategic card games. It also publishes articles on various digital wargames andstrategy games for the PC and other digital platforms. It is currently owned and operated by Network N. It has several sister sites, includingPCGamesN,Pocket Tactics,The Loadout, andThe Digital Fix, which cover video games and home entertainment respectively.
The Wargamer was founded in September 1995 by Mario R. Kroll originally with the purpose of being a website to facilitate matchmakingplay-by-email opponents for computer wargames.[1] Its initial support included thePanzer General,Steel Panthers and theClose Combat series, although it quickly expanded to cover titles like Norm Koger'sAge of Rifles,TalonSoft'sBattleground series, and a number of HPS Simulations games. Eventually,The Wargamer evolved to provide editorial coverage, game reviews, news reporting and served as a custom scenario repository for nearly all war orstrategy video games that supported custom scenario creation.
It suffered an outage for about ten days and data loss when hackers used aMicrosoft FrontPage vulnerability for itsdefacement on 7–8 December 2012.[2][3] As Kroll later said, the hacking incident was "the final straw" in his decision to sell the website after facing nearly two years of financial hardship.[4] He contactedMatrix Games' owner David Heath, with whom he had cooperated in the past for making The Gamers Net (whichThe Wargamer was briefly part of), to arrange a deal with Shaun Wallace ofMilitaryGamer, a website belonging to Heath.[4] On 19 February 2003, Kroll announced that his site to be acquired by Virtual Business Designs, Inc. owningMilitaryGamer;[5] it was merged with the latter in March.[6]
The Wargamer was previously part of the Strategy Allies Network, together withArmchair General andHistoryNet,[6]—the affiliation has since disbanded.
In 2010,Slitherine Software merged with the parent company ofThe Wargamer, Matrix Games.[7]
In 2015, it was paired with mobile-strategy websitePocket Tactics[8] when the latter was acquired by the Slitherine Group of companies. The definite article was dropped from its logo in February that year.[9]
In 2017, it was joined by a third companion website whenStrategy Gamer was launched in April.[8] In February 2018, all three websites were sold to Network N. Ltd.[10]
From 2018 to 2020, Joe Robinson was editor in chief ofWargamer (as well as ofPocket Tactics andStrategy Gamer).
Then, in January 2021, Network N relaunchedWargamer, with Alex Evans taking over as editor.[11] The website launched with a new design, branding, and petrol-blue colour scheme, as well as a new editorial mandate to cover tabletop games of all kinds, alongside digital wargames.
Since its 2021 relaunch,Wargamer's expanded focus has included significantly more coverage of miniature wargames,collectible card games,board games, tabletop role-playing games (includingDungeons & Dragons 5th edition), as well asWarhammer 40,000,Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and otherGames Workshop tabletop miniature wargames.
Wargamer has received recognition for excellence in content, including several mentions viaPC Gamer's military gaming column, authored byWilliam R. Trotter. At its height of popularity,Wargamer enjoyed over a million monthly visitors[5] and had incorporatedPie's Tactics, which at the time was the leading website for the tactical video game seriesRainbow Six andRogue Spear byRed Storm Entertainment. In spring 2001, it was ranked 66th out of the 100 most popular gaming websites by Hot100.com.[1]
The site also achieved recognition outside its niche around 2002, when it was recommended byPC Magazine[12] and the generalist gaming bookThe Rough Guide to Videogaming.[13] The site's importance for the computer wargaming genre, usually deprived of reviews in the traditional wargaming media of the time, was academically recognised in the same year.[14]
