Ben Madison

served as Church Historian of an obscure Mormon sect before veering into Episcopalianism. Ben’s personal interests include flags, foreign paper money, historical atlases, and exotic foreign food. His interest in wargaming dates from November 1982 when he bought SPI’s “World War II: European Theater.” That got him started on small games with a vast scope, a theme he has carried with him into the world of game design. “I don’t like games unless they have at least two national capitals on the map,” he says, noting that his game designs typically feature lots of historical chrome and random events. Ben describes himself as a historian first, and an “average gamer” more interested in research and design than in actually playing games, a combination that has successfully cried out for a competent co-designer and a ruthless developer. Ben has worked for a decade with math- and strategy-genius game design partner Wes Erni to produce a number of titles on a broad variety of topics, including the Charles S. Roberts Award-winning “Death in the Trenches,” a grand strategy game of World War I. The happy result has been such diverse games as “Byzantium Reborn,” “C.S.A.: America’s Civil War,” and the controversial “Liberia: Descent Into Hell.” Since 2014, Ben and Wes have been part of the White Dog Games design team, although he continues to publish for a variety of companies. Games by R. Ben Madison: BYZANTIUM REBORN, R. Ben Madison [and Wes Erni] (2004 First Edition, Microgame Design Group; 2007 Second Edition, Fiery Dragon) -- Greek-Turkish War following WWI DEATH IN THE TRENCHES, R. Ben Madison [and Wes Erni] (2005 Schutze Games) -- First World War strategic game -- CHARLES S. ROBERTS Award Winner C.S.A., R. Ben Madison & Wes Erni (2008 Fiery Dragon) -- American Civil War two-player strategic game LIBERIA: DESCENT INTO HELL, R. Ben Madison & Wes Erni (2009 Fiery Dragon) -- Liberian Civil War of the 1990's, two-player game SWING STATES 2012, Wes Erni & R. Ben Madison (2012 Victory Point Games) -- US Presidential Politics, solitaire game MOUND BUILDERS, R. Ben Madison & Wes Erni (2014 Victory Point Games) -- Culture, Trade and Warfare in Prehistoric North America, solitaire game DON'T TREAD ON ME, R. Ben Madison [and Wes Erni] (2014 White Dog Games) -- American Revolutionary War strategic solitaire game ABSOLUTE VICTORY, R. Ben Madison and Wes Erni (2017 Compass Games) -- Global-level World War II strategic game N: THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, R. Ben Madison (2017 White Dog Games) -- Grand Strategic game of the Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815 MRS THATCHER'S WAR: THE FALKLANDS 1982, R. Ben Madison (2017 White Dog Games) -- Falklands War of 1982 (Argentina/Britain) GORBACHEV: THE FALL OF COMMUNISM, R. Ben Madison (2018 White Dog Games) -- Fall of the USSR, 1985-91 THE WHITE TRIBE: RHODESIA, R. Ben Madison (2018 White Dog Games) -- The Rhodesian Bush War 1965-1980 and the battle for majority rule in what is now Zimbabwe NUBIA: EGYPT'S BLACK HEIRS, R. Ben Madison (2019 White Dog Games) -- The fall of Medieval Nubia, 1172-1504 JEFF DAVIS: THE CONFEDERACY AT WAR, R. Ben Madison (2019 White Dog Games) -- Solitaire American Civil War, military, politics and economics. You play the Confederacy. Includes slaves! THE FIRST JIHAD, R. Ben Madison and Wes Erni (2020 White Dog Games) -- The rise of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries, an "inside out" States of Siege-style game THE MISSION: EARLY CHRISTIANITY FROM THE CRUCIFIXION TO THE CRUSADES (2021 White Dog Games) -- Solitaire game where you play the early Christian Church evangelizing the Roman Empire and adjacent areas; a game of ideas that feels like a wargame DEATH IN THE TRENCHES, SECOND EDITION (2021 Compass Games) -- Complete redesign of our 2005 grand strategic WWI game, not quite in time for the 100th anniversary of the Armistice KAISERKRIEG! (2022 White Dog Games) -- Control the Central Powers of WWI against the Entente controlled by the game GLOBAL WAR (2023 White Dog Games) -- An epic solitaire game of World War 2 from the Allied perspective GIFT OF THE NILE (2024 White Dog Games) -- Build and maintain the ancient Egyptian empire SWORD OF ORTHODOXY (2024 White Dog Games) -- An epic thousand year tale of heroism, betrayal, intrigue and cultural achievement BLACK SKIN BLACK SHIRT (2025 White Dog Games) -- Defend Ethiopia from Fascist Italy's 1935 invasion LA CONQUESTE (2026 White Dog Games) -- The French and Indian War 1754-1763. Decide the fate of Canada and North America.