SSG – Strategic Studies Group.
When talking strategy and war games of the eighties and early nineties we simply can’t deny the significance of our favourite Aussie publisher SSG.
Founded in 1983 by Ian Trout and Roger Keating, SSG published throughout the eighties a string of historical military/strategy games for all of the most common home computers.
We can’t mention SSG and not mention the “Warlords” series, I think most gamers of the late eighties have been running around with their heroes and sieging castles to produce even more soldiers and heavy war machines. The original “Warlords” released in 1989 featured eight different clans battling for the control of the mythical land of Illuria, they were: Sirians, Storm Giants, Grey Dwarves, Orcs of Kor, Elvallie, Horse Lords,Selentines, and Lord Bane. Each clan could either be controlled by the computer or by a human player, allowing up to eight participants taking turns in hot seat play.
Absolutely great games, which still can be played to this day, they might seem a bit simple by todays standard but don’t get fooled there’s a ton of satisfaction playing “Warlords”.. Last winter I chucked away hours on the original and the sequel.
Here’s some photos from my partially sealed collection.. really great packaging for the most part (some were a bit fragile).