Mark Simonitch


Mark Simonitch is an American wargame designer and graphic artist. His game designs include Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage and Ardennes '44, and he has made maps for Wilderness War and Empire of the Sun among others. He has worked at Avalon Hill and GMT Games. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 2002.

Biography

Simonitch was raised in Ross, California. He studied at California Polytechnic State University. He began wargaming in 1966, his first gaming experiences included Jutland and Gettysburg by Avalon Hill. From 1991 to 1994 he was a freelance artist and created maps and counters for over 100 wargames with clients including Strategy & Tactics, Command Magazine, GMT Games, 3W, and Avalanche Games. During this period he also started Rhino Game Company and published three games. He moved to Baltimore, Maryland in spring 1995 where he was employed by Avalon Hill until 1997. He has worked at GMT Games from 1997 to the present as a Graphic Designer.

Awards

The below are all Charles S. Roberts Award wins, the list does not include nominations. Of his 14 awards, 5 were won by him alone, the rest shared awards where he designed the map.
  • 1990 Best Wargame Graphics, Kadesh, map
  • 1991 James F. Dunnigan Award for Playability & Design Winner, The Legend Begins
  • 1992 Best Wargame Graphics, SPQR, map
  • 1993 Best Wargame Graphics, Lion of the North, map
  • 1994 Best Wargame Graphics, Battles of Waterloo, map
  • 2000 James F. Dunnigan Award for Playability & Design Winner, Ukraine '43
  • 2000 Best World War Two Game, Ukraine '43
  • 2001 Best Wargame Graphics, Wilderness War, map
  • 2002 Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame
  • 2003 Best Wargame Graphics, Ardennes '44, map
  • 2005 Best Wargame Graphics, Empire of the Sun, map
  • 2007 Best Wargame Graphics, 1914: Twilight in the East, map
  • 2010 Best Wargame Graphics, Normandy '44, map
  • 2010 Best World War Two Game, Normandy '44
Other awards include:
  • 2004 The Wargamer magazine Award for Excellence, Ardennes '44
  • 2008 Golden Geek Best Wargame Winner, Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage, game
  • 2008 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Winner, Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage, game
  • 2018 Golden Geek Best Wargame Winner, Hannibal & Hamilcar, game with Jaro Andruszkiewicz

Game designer

  • 1991 The Legend Begins
  • 1992 Campaign to Stalingrad
  • 1994 Decision in France
  • 1996 Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
  • 1997 Successors . With Richard H. Berg
  • 2000 Ukraine '43. With Tony Curtis
  • 2003 Ardennes '44
  • 2008 Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
  • 2009 The Caucasus Campaign. With Joe Youst
  • 2010 Normandy '44
  • 2013 France '40
  • 2015 The U.S. Civil War
  • 2017 Holland '44: Operation Market-Garden
  • 2018 Hannibal & Hamilcar. With Jaro Andruszkiewicz
  • 2019 Stalingrad '42
  • 2022 Salerno '43
  • 2023 North Africa '41
  • 2024 ''France '40''

Notable graphic art

Simonitch has designed maps, counters, box art, cards and other elements for hundreds of games, below are some of the most notable titles.