Origins Awards

So the Origins awards were presented this weekend at the convention of the same name in Columbus. Readers may well remember the adventures of the Big Box, which involved coming up with the nominees for two of the catagories (Best RPG and Best RPG Supplement).

Here are the winners, announced over the course of the convention. Oh, and don't worry if you don't recognize some/all of the winners - the hobby game industry is pleasantly diverse and heavily sub-niched, so that miniature gamers, roleplayers, and card gamers are sometimes overlapping, often separate, markets.

Best Role Playing Game - Ars Magica: 5th Edition - Atlas Games

Best Role Playing Game Supplement - Eberron Campaign Setting - Wizards of the Coast

Best Play-By-Mail Game - Fall of Rome - Enlightened Age Entertainment

Best Historical Board Game - Sword of Rome - GMT Games LLC

Best Historical Miniatures Line - WWI: Western Front 28 mm - Brigade Games

Best Historical Miniatures Game - Dawn of the Rising Sun: The Russo Japanese War 1904-1905 - Clash of Arms Games

Best Board Game - Ticket To Ride - Days of Wonder

Best Miniatures Game - Attack Vector: Tactical Ad Astra Games

Best Miniature Line - Elmore Dragons - Dark Sword Miniatures, Inc.

Best Collectible Card Game - Seven Masters Vs. The Underworld - Z-Man Games, Inc.

Best Traditional Card Game - Cthulhu 500 - Atlas Games

Best Fiction Publication- Path of the Bold - Guardians of Order

Best Non Fiction Publication - Pyramid Magazine - Steve Jackson Games

Best Game Accessory - Cardboard Heroes Castles - Steve Jackson Games


Vanguard Award
Note: The Vanguards are selected by the members of the academy for design to reward innovation. It has been noted that revolutionary concepts in the industry often are not recognized in the traditional awards ceremony, often because there is no category for these what these products are. A good example of this is the Pirates game from the 'Kids, which blurs the line between Collectable Miniatures (you get pirate ships) and Collectible Cards (The ships are made out of punched-out pieces, which are sold like booster packs). Pirates is an innovative, revolutionary, and successful game, and did not even make it out of the nominating round in its category (Historical Miniatures).

All Wound Up - Twilight Creations, Inc.

Flames of War - Battlefront

Fire as She Bears! 2.1 - Starboard Tack Press

Pirates of the Spanish Main - WizKids, Inc


Gamers’ Choice Award
Note All of the above were voted in by members of the Academy (cost to enter the academy - free, but you have to show your gaming credits), much like the Oscars. The Gamers' Choices are like the People's Choices, in that they are open to the fans. I'd prefer to see all the awards be voted on by the fans, since the membrane between "fan" and "professional" is often wafer-thin. As it stands, though, two different games in the same category can get awards - a professional award and a fan award.

The Gamers' Choices were not listed by category, perhaps for that very reason.

Legends - Harlequin Games

Desert Rats – British in the Desert - Battlefront

Axis and Allies D-Day - Avalon Hill

A Call to Arms (Babylon 5) - Mongoose Publishing

VS System: Marvel Origins and X-Men VS The Brotherhood - The Upper Deck Entertainment

Cthulhu 500 - Atlas Games

World of Darkness Storytelling System Rulebook - White Wolf

Betrayal at House on the Hill - Avalon Hill

Hall of Fame
Duke Seifried
Mage Knight

Congratulations to the winners!