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Kevin S. Zucker (born June 26, 1952) is an American wargame designer, historian, author, and musician.
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Kevin S. Zucker (born June 26, 1952) is an American wargame designer, historian, author, and musician.
Kevin Zucker started playing board wargames as a teenager in La Jolla, California, and began to design his own games. [1] In 1971 he found his first job in the wargaming world as co-founder and editor of the first two issues of Conflict magazine. [1] Zucker then moved to New York to work for the wargame publisher Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI). Zucker worked his way up to Production Manager, and over two years, oversaw production of 24 issues of Strategy & Tactics plus the games enclosed in each issue, and 48 boxed games. [2]
Zucker left SPI in January 1976, but stayed in New York and spent his time working in bookstores and studying music. [2] Zucker met with other ex-SPI employees, and the group started to plan a Napoleonic wargame that would be presented as a spiral-bound book. However the logistics of this format were beyond the ability of the group to create economically, and in the end, the group changed the design to a ziplock bag game titled Napoleon at Bay . [2] In order to publish the game, Zucker formed the company Tactical Studies Group, and convinced George Blagowidow, the owner of Hippocrene Books and distributor of SPI wargames, to buy 800 copies. On the basis of that sale, Zucker convinced SPI's printer to print 2000 copies. Zucker went to Origins '78 with the ziplock game and sold 250 copies. [2]
Due to the similarity of "Tactical Studies Group" and "Tactical Studies Rules" (TSR — the publishers of Dungeons & Dragons ), Zucker changed the name of his company to Operational Studies Group (OSG). At the 1978 Origins Awards, Napoleon at Bay was a finalist for the Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best Pre-Twentieth Century Game". The following year, Zucker's game Napoleon at Leipzig won the Charles S. Roberts award for "Best Pre-Twentieth Century Game".
In 1979, Zucker left OSG and moved to Baltimore, Maryland to join game publisher Avalon Hill. [2] In his absence, OSG carried on for a year, then went out of business. At Avalon Hill, Zucker designed The Struggle of Nations, [2] which was a finalist for the Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best Pre-Twentieth Century Game of 1981." Zucker left Avalon Hill after a year to go back to college to study music. [2] In addition to his studies, he designed 1809: Napoleon's Danube Campaign for Victory Games; the game was also a Charles S. Roberts Award finalist, for "Best Pre-Twentieth Century Game of 1983."
In 1985, while still at school, Zucker was approached by Ed Wimble to provide a wargame for his new game company called Clash of Arms. The result was The Emperor Returns , published in 1986. [2]
Zucker graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Visual Arts in 1985. [2]
Zucker eventually refounded the moribund OSG as a publisher of operational-level wargames about Napoleon's campaigns, and published Bonaparte in Italy: The Defense of Mantua and the Quadrilateral in 2000. Zucker was inducted into the Clausewitz Award Hall of Fame in 2003 for his contributions to wargaming. [3]
In October 2008, Zucker announced that OSG was going out of business at the end of the year, [4] but after a year-long hiatus, the company recommenced production with The Coming Storm, which was a finalist for the Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best Ancient to Napoleonic Era Wargame of 2010".
In addition to designing Napoleonic games for OSG, Zucker also became interested in flower essence therapy, and created The Flower Essence Game for the Flower Essence Society in 2018. [5]
Strategy & Tactics (S&T) is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue.
Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) was an American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s. It produced an enormous number of games and introduced innovative practices, changing the course of the wargaming hobby in its bid to take control of the hobby away from then-dominant Avalon Hill. SPI ran out of cash in early 1982 when TSR called in a loan secured by SPI's assets. TSR began selling SPI's inventory in 1982, but later acquired the company's trademarks and copyrights in 1983 and continued a form of the operation until 1987.
The Charles S. Roberts Awards is an annual award for excellence in manual, tabletop games, with a focus on "conflict simulations", which includes simulations of non-military as well as military conflicts, as well as simulations of related historical topics. From its founding in 1975 through 2021, the award was almost exclusively focused on historical wargaming, changing to a broader "conflict simulations" in award year 2022.
Tactical wargames are a type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry. The first tactical wargames were played as miniatures, extended to board games, and they are now also enjoyed as video games.
Operational Studies Group, also known as OSG, is a publisher of board wargames.
Redmond Aksel Simonsen was an American graphic artist and game designer best known for his work at the board wargame company Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in the 1970s and early 1980s. Simonsen was considered an innovator in game information graphics, and is credited with creating the term "game designer".
Tobruk, subtitled "Tank Battles in North Africa 1942", is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1975 that simulates tank combat in North Africa during World War II.
A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby developed in 1954 following the publication and commercial success of Tactics. The board wargaming hobby continues to enjoy a sizeable following, with a number of game publishers and gaming conventions dedicated to the hobby both in the English-speaking world and further afield.
War and Peace, subtitled Game of the Napoleonic Wars: 1805–1815, is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1980 that simulates ten years of Napoleonic wars.
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.
Napoleon's Last Battles is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications in 1976 that simulates the last four battles fought by Napoleon. It was one of SPI's most popular games, and also received many positive reviews.
The Legend of Robin Hood is a board game published by Operational Studies Group (OSG) in 1979, and later republished by Avalon Hill that is based on the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Napoleon at Leipzig is a board wargame published by Operational Studies Group in 1979 that simulates the Battle of Leipzig.
Arcola, The Battle for Italy 1796 is a board wargame published by Operational Studies Group (OSG) in 1979 and republished by Avalon Hill in 1983 that is a simulation of the Battle of Arcola between French and Austrian forces in 1796. The game was designed to tempt players to purchase OSG's previously published and larger wargame Napoleon in Italy.
Rodger B. MacGowan is an artist, game developer, art director and magazine publisher who has been active in the board wargame industry since the 1970s. MacGowan is a prolific artist of cover art for wargames, and the wargaming magazine he founded, Fire & Movement, won the Charles S. Roberts Award several times while under his editorial control.
Napoleon at Bay, subtitled "Prelude to Waterloo: The Campaign in France, 1814", is a board wargame published by Tactical Studies Group/Operational Studies Group in 1978 that is a simulation of Napoleon's attempts to keep the Allies out of Paris in the early months of 1814.
Quatre Bras: Stalemate on the Brussels Road is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Quatre Bras, one of the engagements leading to the Battle of Waterloo. Quatre Bras was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual game.
Battles of the Hundred Days is a board wargame published by Operational Studies Group in 1979 that simulates the final Hundred Days of Napoleon's reign, culminating in the Battle of Waterloo. The game rights were purchased by Avalon Hill who retitled it Hundred Days Battles.
Von Manstein: Battles for the Ukraine is a board wargame published by Rand Game Associates (RGA) in 1975 that simulates combat in southern Russia and Ukraine during World War II. A revised and expanded version titled Panzerkrieg was released by Operational Studies Group in 1978, and then by Avalon Hill in 1984.
Wagram: The Peace of Vienna, 5–6 July 1809 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Wagram in July 1809. It was one of four games that were part of the "quadrigame" titled Napoleon at War, but it was also released as an individual game with a set of metal miniatures. Wagram was rated highly in a 1976 poll of favorite wargames, and critics called it the best of the four games in the Napoleon at War box.