OSG Blog

vintage print ad for Avalon Hill's D-Day wargame

HOW I BECAME A WARGAME PUBLISHER

At the age of 13, I started studying the "Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation" published in the back of magazines, usually in the D...

IN 1972

In the course of editing over 100 games I came to know something no one else at SPI knew—where all the best ideas were.

OPEN UP THE TIRED EYES

I confess I was surprised when GDW's Avalanche won 'Best Graphics' at Origins '77. Perhaps one contributing factor is that the three SPI games nomi...

WHY ARE UPDATES

ALWAYS NECESSARY? Is there a wargame out there without errata?

COUNTERSTRIKE DISPATCHES

At Wartenburg the combat loss was estimated as equal to the after-battle attrition... The full story isn’t recorded for Bertrand’s IV Corps but the...

BUT IT'S NOT YET HELL

Every game has rules. Some of the most important rules are implicit. You accept them merely deciding to play the game…

DRESDEN DEFENSES

The Dresden walls had been partially demolished beginning in 1809. George Nafziger says the walls were in "rather poor condition," not compatible w...

detail of the boxcover art on OSG's Napoleon at Bay

Kevin Zucker Interview 1997

I had just designed Napoleon's Last Battles and wanted a larger scale, to show how battles got set-up. I chose 1814 as the campaign "next to" Water...

vintage Talavera battle-map, 28th of July, 1809

Some Ideas About
“The Meat Grinder Revisited”

Drawing on our previous experience of TLNB, I've come across some quite interesting aspects that I'd like to discuss with you. Thank you very much ...

detail of the Chattanooga Quadrigame map by SPI

THE LIMITS OF ART

The physical system available to the wargame designer is the single greatest limiting factor on his design... But the graphic designer can help the...

central map detail of 3-map Katzbach Campaign setup

Preview: Napoleon’s Counterstrike

Five maps, three of which go together to create one 66” x 34” playing area for the Katzbach Campaign. One of our playtesters remarked: “I tell ya, ...

About
Zones of Control

This is a misleading term that many gamers crack their heads on. Instead of trying to imagine exactly what this animal called a “Zone of Control” w...