Before there was Dungeons & Dragons there was Chainmail

Chainmail 1st Edition

Chainmail 2nd Edition

Chainmail 3rd Edition

Most of us know the history of the D&D game from about 1974 onward but there is a fascinating back story to that point in time. In 1967 there was a little known PBM board wargame club focused in AH game line  named the United States Continental Army Command (USCAC). The club was run by Scott Duncan, President, Bill Speer, Vice President, and Gary Gygax, treasurer. Well, around 1968 these guys decided to change the focus of this group. The new course was to be one which would encourage and foster the growth of an international club of wargamers.

Rechristened as the IFW (the International Federation of Wargamers), it was this group that, at the urging of Gary Gygax, ran the first GenCon in Lake Geneva in 1968. Nearly one hundred people attended from all over the country. One attendee by the name of Jerry White, brought with him a fabulous collection of Elastolin 40 mm Medieval figures and accompanying castle to run The Siege of Bodenburg, a game written by Henry Bodenstadt.

Gary Gygax played in that game and was quite taken with the figures and castle brought by Jerry. It was this event and Gary's fascination with the Medieval period that inspired him to found the Castle & Crusade Society. That winter Gary met a young Robbie Kuntz for the first time, as Gary and Bill Hoyer played a game of Afrika Korps.

Not too long after that, the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association was formed, by Gary, Rob, Mike Reese and a few others. This group regularly played miniatures games on the sand table in Gary's basement at 330 Center St. They often invited other folks to join in, especially one fellow who had a wonderful collection of Elastolin 40 mm figures. That fellow was Jeff Perren.

One time when Jeff came up from Rockford, he brought along a set of rules for 1:20 scale Medieval battles that he had written up. It was these 4 handwritten pages that became the foundation of the Chainmail game. Over the next several years these rules were expanded by Gygax.

By 1971, the Castle & Crusade Society was in full swing with King Robert (Kuntz) and The Earl of Walworth (Gary Gygax) at its head. The club's fanzine, The Domesday Book, served as the proving grounds for the Chainmail rules and the members as the soldiers who proved them. As time wore on the various players of the game were looking for some variety on the sand table. Gygax answered by throwing in The Fantasy Supplement, a section of rules for conducting fantastic battles such as those found in fantasy literature.

The medieval rules, Chainmail (Gygax and Perren) were published in Domesday Book . Of course they were in a less developed state, and were only for 1:20 figure scale. Between the time they appeared in Domesday Book and the Guidon edition, I revised and expanded the rules for 1:20 and added 1:1 scale games, jousting and fantasy.

Formally published in 1971 by Guidon Games, Chainmail became immensely popular. This led to many fantastic tabletop battles.

Whether the "Fantasy Supplement" to Chainmail formed the basis of D&D is a matter of some disagreement between D&D's co-creators, Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax.

Arneson claims in Heroic Worlds that the influence of Chainmail in the development of the Original D&D rules was in the Combat Matrix only (i.e., giving RPG characters and monsters "hard statistics"). According to Arneson, Chainmail bears little resemblance to D&D whatsoever; "not a hit point, character class, level, or armor class" anywhere. Furthermore, Arneson states that a series of naval combat scenarios, "The Braunsteins", were the critical foundation of his Blackmoor campaign, and later, D&D.

Gygax disagrees. In Best of Dragon Volume 1, he notes: "...when the whole appeared in Chainmail, Dave (Arneson) began using the fantasy rules for his campaign and he reported a number of these actions to the C&C Society by way of articles. I thought that this usage was quite interesting and a few months later when Dave came to visit me we played a game of his amended Chainmail fantasy campaign. A few weeks after his visit, I received 18 or so handwritten pages of rules and notes pertaining to his campaign and I immediately began work on a brand new manuscript. About three weeks later, I had some 100 typewritten pages, and we began serious play testing... Dungeons & Dragons had been born." Gygax quickly goes on to say that Arneson was only given co-authorship of D&D for his "valuable idea kernels", and that D&D bears little resemblance to the Blackmoor campaign.

Further, as contributor Bruce Robertson notes, "I don't see how you can argue that D&D doesn't draw heavily on Chainmail... 'fireball', 'lightning bolt', 'conjure elemental', 'phantasmal force', and all the core monsters are in the 1971 edition -- along with an armor sequence that exactly matches the one in D&D."

The argument between Gygax and Arneson, we believe, stems from a lawsuit Arneson brought against TSR in 1979, demanding royalties from the AD&D line of products. Arneson was listed as the co-author of the Original D&D rules, and as such, he believed he was owed a portion of the proceeds from all things derived from that work. It was certainly not advantageous for Arneson to claim inspiration from Chainmail, a product authored by Gygax! The outcome of that lawsuit was never made public, but rumor has it that Arneson received a lump sum in exchange for ceasing legal action.

Regardless to the degree Chainmail guided Arneson in his campaign, the influence of this little yellow booklet on the eventual development of D&D is undeniable.

By 1974, the first fully realized roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons was in print.

Chainmail Rules For Medieval Miniatures

The progenitor of Dungeons & Dragons. Ostensibly a straight-wargaming rulebook for miniatures, its "Fantasy Supplement" sparked a phenomenon.

1st & 2nd Editions (Guidon Games) by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren
3rd Edition (TSR) by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren

1st Edition

• First (1971)
  • Published by Guidon Games -- no company address listed
  • 62 total pages (47 numbered pages)
  • Binding is stapled
  • Cover is yellow-orange
  • Contrary to rumor, the 15-page Fantasy Supplement is indeed present
  • While this version has 12 more pages than later prints, this is almost entirely due to the font size and formatting used.  In fact, this version contains only six spells, which were expanded to 20 in later print

2nd Edition

• First (1972)
  • Published by Guidon Games -- address of the company is Evansville, Indiana (on the copyright page)
  • 48 total pages (35 numbered pages); font size is now smaller and easier to read
  • Binding is stapled
  • Cover is yellow-orange, but compared to the Second print of the 2nd Edition, is a heavier, parchment-like stock
  • Inside cover is white
  • Incorporated rule changes first published in the Domesday newsletter (unknown issue, but the corrections appear on page 16 of that issue)
     
• Second (1972?)
  • Published by Guidon Games -- address of the company is Belfast, Maine (on the copyright page)
  • 48 total pages (35 numbered pages)
  • Binding is stapled
  • Cover is yellow-orange, but compared to the First print of the 2nd Edition, is rather flimsy
  • Inside cover is the same color as the exterior (yellow-orange)

3rd Edition

• First (1975)
  • Published by Tactical Studies Rules
  • 44 total pages (all numbered)
  • Binding is stapled
  • Cover is yellow-orange, and has now reverted back to heavy parchment-like paper
  • Cover has the GK (Gygax/Kaye) logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "Tactical Studies Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside indicates First printing 
  • Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table on bottom of page 28) 
• Second
  • Published by Tactical Studies Rules
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is stapled
  • Cover is now light silver
  • Cover has the GK (Gygax/Kaye) logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "Tactical Studies Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside does not indicate any printing number
  • Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
• Second+ (Jul 1975)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is light silver
  • Cover has the GK (Gygax/Kaye) logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "Tactical Studies Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside now indicates Second printing
  • Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table on bottom of page 28) 
• Third (Jun 1976)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is light silver
  • Cover has the Lizard logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside indicates Third printing
  • Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table on bottom of page 28) 
• Fourth (Mar 1977)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is light silver
  • Cover has the Lizard logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside indicates Fourth printing
  • Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
• Fifth (Jan 1978)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is light silver
  • Cover has the Lizard logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside indicates Fifth printing
  • References to Hobbits and Ents have now been changed to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
• Sixth (Aug 1978)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is light silver
  • Cover has the Lizard logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
  • Cover lists the price ($5.00)
  • Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside indicates Sixth printing
  • Contains references to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
• Seventh (Apr 1979)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is now a noticeably darker silver
  • Cover has the Wizard logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
  • Cover lists price ($5.00), although identical copies have been spotted with no price
  • Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside indicates Seventh printing
  • Contains references to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
  • This printing (and later printings) were originally shrinkwrapped; unknown if earlier ones were
• Eighth (Nov 1979)
  • Published by TSR
  • 44 total pages
  • Binding is black-plastic spiraling
  • Cover is dark silver
  • Cover has the Wizard logo
  • Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
  • Cover lists no price
  • Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
  • Inside still indicates "Seventh Printing, April 1979" (though this is incorrect)
  • Contains references to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
  • Originally shrinkwrapped
• Printings after Eighth are identical to Eighth in all respects, but have a white, photocopied-look cover (they're essentially photocopies).