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Iron Crown Enterprises

Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the Rolemaster rules system, and its science-fiction equivalent, Space Master, have been the foundation of ICE's business.

Iron Crown Enterprises
IndustryGaming
Founded1980
SuccessorAurigas Aldebaron LLC, Guild Companion Publications
Key people
Pete Fenlon, S. Coleman Charlton, Bruce Neidlinger, Rick Britton, Terry K. Amthor
ProductsMiddle-earth Role Playing, Rolemaster, High Adventure Role Playing (HARP), HARP SF, HARP SF Xtreme, Shadow World, Space Master

History

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Early years and Rolemaster

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Pete Fenlon was running a six-year Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in Middle-earth while he was attending college in the late 1970s, when he started developing unique house rules with S. Coleman Charlton and Kurt Fischer. When most of them graduated from the University of Virginia in 1980, they wanted to make a business out of their special game rules, so they founded Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE), named after a regalia from Middle-earth.[1] Aside from Fenlon and Charlton, ICE originally included Richard H. Britton, Terry K. Amthor, Bruce Shelley, Bruce Neidlinger, Kurt Fischer, Heike Kubasch, Olivia Johnston, among others.[1] The company originally only had a few full-time staff, relying on volunteer work from the other founders. But as income increased, it brought more on as employees.[2]

ICE soon published its first three game products: Arms Law (1980), The Iron Wind (1980), and Manassas (1981).[1] Arms Law was the first release including the house rules from the University of Virginia days, which began Rolemaster as an alternate system for combat in AD&D rather than a standalone role-playing game.[1] The Iron Wind was a campaign for any fantasy role-playing game taking place on a fantastic island, and although it did not receive supplements for years it would come to be considered the first release from ICE in their Loremaster campaign setting.[1] Manassas by Rick Britton was an wargame set during the American Civil War in the ICE home state of Virginia.[1]

ICE's series of rules supplements, beginning with Arms Law, were intended to serve as modular add-ons to other RPG systems offering greater detail. Arms Law was followed by Spell Law (1982), Character Law (1982), and Campaign Law (1984). In time, these supplements were tied together to form an RPG system of their own, Rolemaster. Concurrent with the rules supplements, ICE began releasing world campaign content materials in what was originally called the Loremaster series, beginning with The Iron Wind.

Middle-earth RPG line and expansion

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Rolemaster had originated from a game set in Middle-earth, so ICE sought a license from Tolkien Enterprises to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which was granted because no had ever asked them for such a license before.[1] Tolkien Enterprises granted an exclusive, worldwide license to ICE in 1982, and ICE began the Middle-earth line by publishing the sourcebook A Campaign and Adventure Guidebook for Middle-earth (1982) which could be used with any fantasy role-playing game.[1] According to some interpretations, at the time of its publication ICE's Middle-earth Role Playing was the second best selling fantasy RPG after TSR's Dungeons & Dragons.

ICE then added the science fiction RPGs Spacemaster (1985) and Cyberspace (1989) to its line. ICE also published a moderately successful space miniatures battle game called Silent Death (1990), based on Spacemaster but with simpler mechanics. Silent Death was released in two major editions, with supplemental books and a fair number of paintable lead miniatures.[3] ICE also expanded its original Loremaster supplements into a full-blown fantasy world to support Rolemaster, called the Shadow World, supported by dozens of adventures and sourcebooks. In 1986, ICE signed a publication contract to take over Hero Games' production and distribution. Later, with Hero Games staff leaving for other jobs, ICE took over the creative reins of Hero's products.[3]

Iron Crown branched out into the solo gaming books under the Tolkien Quest (later called Middle-earth Quest, 1985), Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries (1987) and Narnia Solo Games (1988) book lines.[3] Unknown to ICE at the time, the Middle-earth Quest books violated ICE and Tolkien Enterprises' contract with Tolkien's book publishing licensee, George Allen & Unwin. ICE and TE considered the books to be games and under their license, but the format came too close to being literary books. ICE was forced to recall and destroy the whole line of books, at devastating cost. Meanwhile, ICE sued the Narnia licensor as they turned out to not have the necessary rights to license Narnia to ICE. That company went bankrupt from the legal settlement and was unable to pay ICE their damages. ICE reached terms in 1988 for a gamebook license with the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and George Allen & Unwin for four new Middle-earth Quest books, beginning with A Spy in Isengard. However, the solo game book market was going soft by this time. ICE canceled all solo game book lines, with dozens of books still in development. Returns were high on the Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries line. All this brought ICE to near bankruptcy in a "voluntary-type of receivership".[3]

Middle-earth CCG and demise

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With the rise of collectible card games, ICE released Middle-earth Collectible Card Game (1995) and Warlords CCG (1997). In 1997, ICE bailed out Mayfair Games, a publisher well known for the Settlers of Catan board game.

Despite ICE's many successes and overcoming many setbacks over 17 years, in 1997 ICE suffered financial difficulties from a rapid decline in its distribution net; nearly 70% of ICE's distributors either went bankrupt or became moribund. There has been some debate over whether Tolkien Enterprises forced ICE into bankruptcy in order to get the gaming license in anticipation of the upcoming new movie franchise.[4]

The company entered bankruptcy and filed for Chapter 7 in October, 2000. This bankruptcy cost ICE the Middle-earth license, ending both the MERP and MECCG lines. Many of the authors and illustrators were not paid for substantial amounts of work.[4]

Aurigas Aldebaron

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ICE's logo since relaunch

In December, 2001, ICE's assets were purchased by Aurigas Aldebaron LLLC, an intellectual property ownership company backed by several wealthy individuals. The new owners licensed the Iron Crown Enterprise name and other assets to Mjolnir LLC until 2011. Starting in January, 2011, licensing was transferred to Guild Companion Publications Ltd.

In 2016, Aurigas Alderbaron merged with Guild Companion Publications Ltd to create a single company: Guild Companion Publications. This company both holds the Iron Crown Enterprises intellectual property and produces and sells Iron Crown products.

On January 9, 2017, Guild Companion Publications Limited officially changed its name to Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd.[5]

Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd

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Iron Crown Enterprises continues to produce products for its Rolemaster and High Adventure Role Playing (HARP) line, including products set in the Shadow World.

Selected Publications

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Board games

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Solo gaming books

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  • Tolkien Quest/Middle-earth Quest line
    • Night of the Nazgûl (1985)
    • The Legend of Weathertop (1985)
    • Rescue in Mirkwood (1986)
    • Murder at Minas Tirith (unpublished)
    • A Spy in Isengard (1988)
    • Treason at Helm's Deep (1988)
    • The Mines of Moria (1988)
    • Search for the Palantir (1989)
  • Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries line
    • Murder at the Diogenes Club (1987)
    • The Black River Emerald (1987)
    • Death at Appledore Towers (1987)
    • The Crown vs. Dr. Watson (1988)
    • The Dynamiters (1988)
    • The Royal Flush (1988)
    • Honor of the Yorkshire Light Artillery (1988)
  • Narnia Solo Games line
    • Return to Deathwater (1988)
    • Leap of the Lion (1988)
    • The Lost Crowns of Cair Paravel (1988)
    • Return of the White Witch (1988)
    • The Sorceress and the Book of Spells (1988)

Role-playing games

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Miniatures games

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Collectible card games

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  2. ^ Varney, Allen (25 March 2010). "Rolemaster, Puppetmaster, Catan Master: Pete Fenlon". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 2021-09-22.
  3. ^ a b c d Appelcline, Shannon (2006-11-21). "A Brief History of Game #8: ICE, Part One: 1980-1992". rpg.net. RPGnet. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  4. ^ a b Appelcline, Shannon (2006-12-05). "A Brief History of Game #9: ICE, Part Two: 1993-Present - RPGnet". rpg.net.
  5. ^ "Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd. Filing History". Companies House.
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