Hardtack is a set of rules for American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 miniature wargaming

Miniature wargaming

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...

 by Lou Zocchi

Lou Zocchi

Louis Zocchi, Sergeant, USAF , is a gaming hobbyist, former game distributor and publisher, and maker and seller of polyhedral game dice....

. It was published as a thirty-page pamphlet by Guidon Games

Guidon Games

Guidon Games produced board games and rulebooks for wargaming with miniatures, and in doing so influenced Tactical Studies Rules , the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons. The Guidon Games publishing imprint was the property of Lowry's Hobbies , a mail-order business owned by Don and Julie Lowry...

 in 1971

1971 in games

This page lists board and card games, wargames, and miniatures games published in 1971. For video and console games, see 1971 in video gaming....

, with an introduction by Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax

Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....

 and artwork by Don Lowry

Don Lowry

Don Lowry is a wargamer, businessman, illustrator, and game designer who is best known as the publisher of Chainmail and the editor of Panzerfaust Magazine....

.

Hardtack was the first set of American Civil War rules published in the United States and had an early following. Though it had been supplanted by Scott Bowden's Stars and Bars and John Hill

John Hill (game designer)

John Hill is an American designer of military wargames, as well as rules for miniature wargaming such as Johnny Reb 3. He is a member of the Wargaming Hall of Fame....

's Johnny Reb 3 by the end of the decade and now is seldom played at wargaming conventions, Hardtack is considered groundbreaking, ushering in an era of Civil War miniature wargaming in the United States.

See also

• Hardtack
  Hardtack
  Hardtack is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Inexpensive and long-lasting, it was and is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages and military campaigns. The name derives from the British sailor slang...
  
  , a common type of rations during the Civil War.