Mark H. Walker

Last updated
Mark H. Walker
http://www.markhwalker.com/

Mark H. Walker is a writer and board wargame designer. He has written articles about information technology and video games for publications including AutoWeek , PC Gamer , Computer Gaming World , Armchair General , and Playboy and websites such as GameSpy and Science Fiction Weekly .

Contents

Background

Walker spent over 23 years in the U.S. Navy, (17 years active and 6 in the Naval Reserve) reaching the rank of Commander. He has a master's degree in Warfighting and International Relations from the Naval War College.

Writing

Walker has written or co-authored dozens of computer-related books, including the official game guides for several computer games.

His first novel, A Craving for Blood ( ISBN   1-60145-008-7), was published on October 2, 2006 . He has since published two novels, World at War: Revelation and Everyone Dies in the End , as well as several short stories.

Game designs

Walker designed an award-winning series of board wargames called Lock 'n Load. The games are squad-level wargames in which a counter can represent a squad, a vehicle or a person such as a sniper or a commanding officer. The first of these games, Lock 'n Load: Forgotten Heroes: Vietnam was published by Shrapnel Games in 2003. Lock 'n Load: ANZAC Attack, an expansion pack was released in 2004. Lock ’n Load: Band of Heroes, published in 2006 by Matrix Games, is set during World War II. Both Forgotten Heroes and Band of Heroes were voted best boardgame of the year by readers of The Wargamer.

Walker subsequently designed the award-winning Mark H. Walker's World at War. A platoon-level game system set in an alternate history in which NATO and Warsaw Pact fought a Third World War beginning in May 1985. The game system ties in with Walker's novel World at War: Revelation, which tells the tale of the darker side of the war, mixing military adventure with elements of horror and paranormal events.

In 2010 Walker, then the owner of Lock 'n Load Publishing, published a third tactical series with the release of Nations at War: White Star Rising, a platoon-level game set in Western Europe between 1944-45.

Walker also designed several smaller board wargames for free publication in Armchair General Magazine, although none of them were particularly challenging to hardcore gamers.

Publishing companies

Lock 'n Load Publishing: From June of 2006 until March of 2013, Walker owned Lock 'n Load Publishing. [1] Under his ownership the company released 61 products. After the company's sale, Walker remained with the firm as a designer until November 2014.

Flying Pig Games: In December 2014, Walker announced the founding of a new company, Flying Pig Games. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wargame</span> Strategy game that realistically simulates war

A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to study the nature of potential conflicts. Many wargames recreate specific historic battles, and can cover either whole wars, or any campaigns, battles, or lower-level engagements within them. Many simulate land combat, but there are wargames for naval and air combat as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miniature wargaming</span> Wargame genre

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.

Jeff Grubb is an author who writes novels, short stories, and comics and a computer and role-playing game designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on the Dragonlance campaign setting under Tracy Hickman, and the Forgotten Realms setting with Ed Greenwood. His written works include The Finder's Stone Trilogy, the Spelljammer and Jakandor campaign settings, and contributions to Dragonlance and the computer game Guild Wars Nightfall (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Stafford</span> American game designer (1948–2018)

Francis Gregory Stafford, usually known as Greg Stafford, was an American game designer, publisher, and practitioner of shamanism.

<i>PanzerBlitz</i> World War II board wargame published in 1970

PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set on the Eastern Front of World War II. The game, which was the most popular board wargame of the 1970s, is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation wargame. It also pioneered several concepts that would become industry standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles S. Roberts Award</span>

The Charles S. Roberts Awards is an annual award for excellence in the historical wargaming hobby. It was named in honor of Charles S. Roberts the "Father of Wargaming" who founded Avalon Hill. The award is informally called a "Charlie" and officially called a "Charles S. Roberts Award". The Wargamer magazine called it "very prestigious". The Award is managed by the Charles S. Roberts Award Committee which has no commercial sponsorship, made up of designers, writers and hobbyists. It is a "people's award" with winners chosen through votes submitted by fans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Miller (game designer)</span> American game designer (born 1947)

Marc William Miller is a wargame and role-playing game designer and author.

Matrix Games is a publisher of PC games, specifically strategy games and wargames. It is based in Ohio, US, and Surrey, UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man-to-man wargame</span>

A man-to-man wargame is a wargame in which units generally represent single individuals or weapons systems, and are rated not only on weaponry but may also be rated on such facets as morale, perception, skill-at-arms, etc. The game is designed so that a knowledge of military tactics, especially at the small unit or squad level, will facilitate successful gameplay. Man-to-man wargames offer an extreme challenge to the designer, as fewer variables or characteristics inherent in the units being simulated are directly quantifiable. Modern commercial board wargaming stayed away from man-to-man subjects for many years, though once the initial attempts were made to address the subject, it has evolved into a popular topic among wargamers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tactical wargame</span> Type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Berg</span> American wargame designer (1943–2019)

Richard Harvey Berg was a prolific American wargame designer. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hill (game designer)</span> American designer of military wargames

John Evans Hill was an American designer of military board wargames, as well as rules for miniature wargaming. He is best known as the designer of the Avalon Hill board game Squad Leader and the American Civil War miniatures game Johnny Reb. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Board wargame</span> Wargame played on a printed surface or board

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.

Lewis Errol Pulsipher, often credited as Lew Pulsipher, is an American teacher, game designer, and author, whose subject is role playing games, board games, card games, and video games. He was the first person in the North Carolina community college system to teach game design classes, in fall 2004. He has designed half a dozen published boardgames, written more than 150 articles about games, contributed to several books about games, and presented at game conventions and conferences.

Panzer Campaigns is a series of operational level wargames originally developed by John Tiller Software, and currently by Wargame Design Studio. The games were originally published until 2010 by HPS Simulations, then self published by John Tiller Software until being taken out by Wargame Design Studio in 2021, after Tiller's death. There are currently twenty-eight titles in the series, spanning the various fronts of World War II.

Lock 'n Load Publishing is a developer and publisher of board and computer games, specifically strategy games and wargames. They are based out of Colorado. From a small three-game beginning, Lock 'n Load Publishing has grown to a game company offering over fifty products including the Nations at War, World at War, Lock 'n Load, Corps Command, Tank on Tank series, Command Ops 2, and a company magazine, Line of Fire. In addition to historical, conflict-centered games, Lock 'n Load Publishing has also branched out into science fiction and horror, with All Things Zombie, Space Infantry, and Nuklear Winter '68.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panther Games</span>

Panther Games Pty Ltd is an Australian games developer, best known for the WWII Airborne Assault and Command Ops PC video game series. Panther Games specialises in developing operational level wargames for the PC Wargame market.

References

  1. "FAQ". FlyingPigGames.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-10.
  2. "Flying Pig Games". FlyingPigGames.com.