James Clavell's Tai-Pan is a board game published by FASA in 1981 that is based on the best-selling 1966 novel Tai-Pan by James Clavell.
James Clavell's Tai-Pan is a board game published by FASA in 1981 that is based on the best-selling 1966 novel Tai-Pan by James Clavell.
Set in the 1830s, Tai Pan is a game of international commerce for 2–4 players. Each player uses a clipper ship to buy opium in India and sell it in China, then uses three local lorchas to buy Chinese goods such as silk and tea. The players race back to England with their cargos; the first clipper ship to arrive is able to sell their goods for the highest price. [1]
After the success of the 1980 TV miniseries Shōgun and the 1981 miniseries Noble House , both based on novels by James Clavell, FASA quickly produced four family board games based on Clavell novels: Tai-Pan (1981), designed by Ian Bailey and Albie Fiore; [2] Noble House (1981); Shōgun (1983); and Whirlwind (1986).
In Issue 140 of Dragon (December 1988), Jim Bambra thought the rules were "simple and elegant, taking into acount[ sic?] such things as clipper movement, market fluctuations, and a wide range of events." He recommended it, saying, "Tai-Pan is a fun, family game that makes for a good evening's entertainment." [1]
Rick Heli, on the website Spotlight on Games noted that "Each clipper sailing is a race in which greater profits are realized for coming first, and realized in ways that are very sensible for the theme." Heli noted that there are a large number of cards drawn, and that "some may complain that there is too much luck in the 'take that' cards". But overall, he felt that this game is "Definitely the best entry in the James Clavell series." [3]
James Clavell was an Australian-born British writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known as the author of his Asian Saga novels, a number of which have had television adaptations. Clavell also wrote such screenplays as those for The Fly (1958) and The Great Escape (1963). He directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love for which he also wrote the script.
Shōgun is a 1975 novel by James Clavell. It is the first novel of the author's Asian Saga. A major best-seller, by 1990 the book had sold 15 million copies worldwide.
BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for videogames, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.
Dirk Lochlin Struan (1797–1841) is the fictional main character of James Clavell's 1966 novel Tai-Pan. The title comes from a Cantonese term that Clavell loosely translates as "supreme leader", and Struan is the Tai-pan or head of his own trading company in China, Struan & Company. In Clavell's literary universe, moreover, Struan is presented as the Tai-pan, and his company as the Noble House, the greatest private trading company in nineteenth-century Asia. A Scotsman, "the devil Struan" is portrayed as a tough and resourceful rogue, endowed with vision and determination. A man of extremity, he is capable of tremendous love and terrible hate. He will stop at nothing to protect his home, his family, and the Noble House.
Tai-Pan is a 1966 novel written by James Clavell about European and American traders who move into Hong Kong in 1842 following the end of the First Opium War. It is the second book in Clavell's Asian Saga, and the first to feature the fictional Struan family.
Noble House is a novel by James Clavell, published in 1981 and set in Hong Kong in 1963. It is the fourth book published in Clavell's Asian Saga and is chronologically the fifth book in the series. The "Noble House" in the title is the nickname of Struan's, the trading company first introduced in Clavell's Tai-Pan.
The Asian Saga is a series of six novels written by James Clavell between 1962 and 1993. The novels all centre on Europeans in Asia, and together explore the impact on East and West of the meeting of these two distinct civilizations.
Gai-Jin is a 1993 novel by James Clavell, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of Tai-Pan, it chronicles the adventures of Malcolm Struan, the son of Culum and Tess Struan, in Japan. The story delves deeply into the political situation in Japan and the hostility Westerners faced there, and is loosely based on the Namamugi Incident and the subsequent Anglo-Satsuma War.
Whirlwind is a novel by James Clavell, first published in 1986. It forms part of The Asian Saga and is chronologically the last book in the series.
Shōgun is a 1980 American historical drama television miniseries based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name. The series was produced by Paramount Television and first broadcast in the United States on NBC over five nights between September 15 and September 19, 1980. It was written by Eric Bercovici and directed by Jerry London, and stars Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, and Yoko Shimada, with a large supporting cast. Clavell served as executive producer. To date, it is the only American television production to be filmed on-location entirely in Japan, with additional soundstage filming also taking place in Japan at the Toho studio.
Shōgun is a military rank and historical title in Japan.
James Clavell's Shōgun is an interactive fiction video game written by Dave Lebling and published by Infocom in 1989. It was released for the Amiga, Apple II, DOS, and Macintosh. The game is based on the 1975 novel Shōgun by James Clavell. It is Infocom's thirty-third game.
Tai-Pan is a 1986 adventure drama film directed by Daryl Duke, loosely based on James Clavell's 1966 novel of the same name. While many of the same characters and plot twists are maintained, a few smaller occurrences are left out. Filmed under communist Chinese censorship, some portions of Clavell's story were considered too offensive to be filmed as written and considerable changes were made.
Pilot major John Blackthorne, also known as Anjin-san, is the hero of James Clavell's 1975 novel Shōgun, and is loosely based on the life of the 17th-century English navigator William Adams, who was the first Englishman to visit Japan. The character also appears in the 1980 TV miniseries Shōgun, played by Richard Chamberlain.
Robert N. Charrette is an American graphic artist, game designer, sculptor and author. Charrette has authored more than a dozen novels. His gaming materials have received many Origins Awards. Charrette was inducted in the Origins Hall of Fame in 2003. His work is known for a clean, realistic style that invokes themes from Feudal Japan and Chanbara films and in particular, historical and fantastic representations of Samurai culture. His early work in game design and miniature sculpting set the tone for depictions of Japanese mythology in American fantasy and science fiction. His 1979 role-playing game Bushido was one of the first role-playing games with a non-Western theme and remained in print for more than three decades. Charrette produced gaming products for Fantasy Games Unlimited, Grenadier Models Inc., Ral Partha Enterprises, FASA and currently operates Parroom Enterprises, LLC, a boutique miniatures game company.
Marc Gascoigne is a British author and editor.
Noble House is an American action-drama television miniseries that was produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, and broadcast by NBC in four segments on February 21–24, 1988. Based on the 1981 novel of the same name by James Clavell, it features a large cast headlined by Pierce Brosnan as business tycoon Ian Dunross and was directed by Gary Nelson. Due to time restrictions, several of the many subplots from the book were removed.
Ian Bailey was the Head Buyer and later Financial Director of Games Workshop until 1985. He left Games Workshop to write books and develop games. He has had seven books published in three languages and three games in the UK and United States. He was a best-selling author in France with the Compton Murder, an interactive detective book, published by Éditions Gallimard.
Eric Bercovici was an American television and film producer and screenwriter. He was best known for producing and adapting the screenplay for the 1980 television miniseries Shōgun.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual is a supplement published by FASA in 1988 for Star Trek: The Role Playing Game to update game material following the premiere of the new television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. However Paramount Pictures did not feel FASA's new material matched the ethos of the new series, and pulled FASA's license to produce Star Trek material the following year.