FIFTEEN YEARS AGO...

The March/April 1976 issue of Strategy & Tactics (Number 55) featured
BREITENFELD, a game by J.A. Nelson introducing SPI's latest Quadrigame,
the Thirty Years War Quad, available for $12.  The issue featured an
article on the Thirty Years War by Al Nofi and Ancient and Medieval
Armies by Jerrold Thomas.  The magazine's circulation stood at 31,500
subscribers.  Invasion America was advertised for the first time and
For Your Eyes Only reported that later in the year the Army would choose
its supplier for the new "Advanced Attack Helicopter."  Phil Kosnett had
an article on the Battle for Wurzburg game and Russian Civil War was
offered on the back cover for $12. The Games Rating Chart top five in
each category were:


POST WWII and CONTEMPORARY:        WORLD WAR TWO: 

   Mech War '77 (SPI)                   Unentschiden (GDW)
   Modern Battles Quad (SPI)            Drang Noch Osten (GDW)
   Wurzburg (SPI)                       War in the East (SPI)
   Bar Lev (Conflict Games)             Narvik (GDW)
   Chinese Farm (SPI)                   Patrol (SPI)


PRE-WWII                           FANTASY and SCIENCE FICTION

   Napoleon at War Quad (SPI)           Dungeons and Dragons (TSR)
   Blue & Gray Quad (SPI)               StarForce (SPI)
   Wagram (SPI)                         Triplanetary (GDW)
   Kingmaker (AH)                       Sorcerer (SPI)
   Wooden Ships and Iron Men (AH)       Alien Space (Lou Zocchi)


 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

                             TEN YEARS AGO...

The March/April 1981 issue of Strategy & Tactics (Number 85) featured the
game Fighting Sail by Joe Balkoski.  S&T's circulation stood at 36,500 and
SPI's last published game, TaskForce, was advertised for $18.  Christopher
Wagner was back at the helm of S&T after Jim Dunnigan moved into a different
career direction and Charles T Kamps, Jr. wrote an article on Singapore, The
Campaign for Malaya.  Outgoing Mail reported that SPI's growth as measured in
dollars increased over 100% over the previous period a year ago and SPI also
reported that it was dropping several game titles from its active product
line, including War in the Pacific and Wellington's Victory.  The Games
Rating Chart read as follows:


ANCIENT & DARK AGES                     MIDDLE AGES & RENAISSANCE
     
   Conquerors (SPI)                          Empires of the Middle Ages (SPI)
   Caesar Alesia (AH)                        Kingmaker (AH)
   Acre (SPI)                                Fredrick the Great (SPI)
   Spartan (SPI)                             Samurai (Ah)
   Viking (SPI)                              A Mighty Fortress (SPI)

NAPOLEONIC                              AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

   Napoleon's Last Battles (SPI)             Ironclads (Yaqunito)     
   Wellington's Victory (SPI)                Terrible Swift Sword (SPI)
   Grenadier (SPI)                           Bloody April (SPI)
   Wooden Ships and Iron Men (AH)            Chickamauga (SPI)
   Ligny (SPI)                               Pea Ridge (SPI)

WORLD WAR ONE                           WORLD WAR TWO

   To the Green Fields Beyond (SPI)          Cresendo of Doom (AH)
   Great War in the East (SPI)               Battle for Stalingrad (SPI)
   Red Star/White Eagle (GDW)                Squad Leader (AH)
   Serbia/Galicia (SPI)                      Cross of Iron (AH)
   Caporetto (SPI)                           War in Europe (SPI)

MODERN                                  SCIENCE FICTION
   
   Next War (SPI)                            Traveler (GDW)
   Air War (SPI)                             Freedom in the Galaxy (SPI)
   NATO Division Commander (SPI)             GEV (Metagaming)
   Tacforce (GDW)                            Imperium (GDW)
   Berlin '85 (SPI)                          Ogre (Metagaming)


                              FANTASY

                         War of the Ring (SPI)
                         Melee (Metagaming)
                         Wizard (Metagaming)
                         Death Test (Metagaming)
                         In the Labyrinth (Metagaming)