Because of Terrible Swift Sword, I can almost forgive him for Campaign for North Africa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Berg
RIP
RIP
Tonight I shall boil some pasta in his honor.
^^ Heh!
I'm told that there is a faithful reproduction of CfNA available as a module for The Operational Art of War 4 (and 3, originally), which incorporates all the rules into the TOAW engine so that players can just play the game.
Easily one of the most prolific war game designers ever. BGG lists almost 200 published games.
Probably 1/5 of my game library has his name it.
He did plenty of operational games, but his style of tactical games just always resonated best with me. GMT's "The Three Days of Gettysburg" has to be my favorite. I also spent a bunch of time happily playing a Berg / Herman collaboration, GMT's "Hoplite".
RIP, Mr. Berg. Thank you for leaving such a great gaming legacy.
^ Yeah, seriously. I'm not even that into boardgames and I'll be I've got at least a half dozen of his designs. It's nice to leave a legacy like that, you know?
Found this funny post on BGG. What if Richard Berg had designed Candyland?
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/165320/item/2931455#item2931455 (https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/165320/item/2931455#item2931455)
The latest from the SGBOCC (Simple Great Battles of Culinary Complexity) series comes Rise and Decline of the Land of Candy.
You'll be calibrating boiler pressures in no time with this easy to learn game system. Use the 75 page quick start guide to get this game to the table fast! This series covers the history of European candy making in 7 volumes, spanning 1000 years of history.
Below are excerpts from the sequence of play:
A. Sweetener Upgrade Phase
B. Strategic Carbohydrate Phase
C. Pre-Bake Initiative Phase
D. Oven Test Phase
1. Oven Insertion Segment
2. Post Oven Insertion Initiative Determination Segment
E. Cooling Operations Phase
F. Wrapping Phase
G. Candy Devastation Phase
1. Mastication Recovery Segment
2. Digestive Superiority Regurgitation Segment
3. Regurgitation Attempt Segment
H. "Recycling" Phase
1. Digestive Inertia Segment
2. Recovery from "Battle"
3. Victory Determination
Found this tribute to R. Berg on the FB Wargamers group.
Written by Randall Reed, one of the old time Avalon Hill guys who designed classics such as 1776, Starship Troopers, Richtofen's War and the Longest Day among others.
Richard Berg, Esq, RIP
Bergie was a complicated man, a damaged man, a sensitive man, a flawed man, a friggin' genius. When we reconnected a year ago, he was so pleased to have a member of the "old guard" in his backyard in Charleston SC. We talked about everything, with little of it having to do with wargaming; politics (Trump in hell was a theme oft visited), light opera, theater, old movies. He was master of them all, with copious knowledge seemingly at his fingertips instantly. His real love was musical theater; he acted and directed in numerous amateur and not-so-amateur musical and straight productions. Over dinner or lunch, he would break into voice or song, throwing one-liners so fast he couldn't catch his breath. He was my Jewish Robin Williams. He was also a gourmet cook who could talk about food in such a way as to make my stomach growl. A New York Rennaissance Man transplanted to the Deep South. Who knew?
During one of our first lunches, he couldn't help but to remind me, "You know, I panned one of your games in S&T. I mean I really let you have it!" To him, it was sweet irony that in spite of being on the receiving end of one of his "Berg Strikes" 40-some odd years ago, I would still connect with him. He mentioned that to me several times. I think he regretted the tone and tenor; I couldn't even recall the game review of which he referred. At our last meeting, he said, "Reed, let's do a game together!" I said sure. Brain-storming ideas, we came up with a Silk Road trading game concept and a framework for a Falkland Islands War, 1981, game. It was going to be a solitaire game with the player as the Argies. It would have been good, too. Alas, never to be.
Rich never got over the death of his only child, Alex, who died of a drug overdose in his early twenties. It was plainly an open wound that time would not heal. He would mention is son at odd moments. That tragedy colored his world and was with him every day of his life. He never got passed it or came close to resolving his son's fate in his own mind. It haunted him and he would bring it up at odd moments, especially when I would off-handedly mention my son, Randall, Junior. I tried to avoid any mention of children after a while. I think that, more than anything else, is what cost him his first marriage and, finally, his life. He was overweight, diabetic, and nagged by joint issues that limited his mobility. But under it all, he was still Bergie.
Like so many geniuses, he was a complicated, proud, profane man, with clear flaws. His acid pen was, I think, but a symptom of his deep hurt and despondency one is gripped with by the death of a child. I am not making excuses for him, but I understand where it comes from. I will miss him.
Gene Billingsley, one of the founders of GMT wrote a wonderful tribute to Richard Berg.
http://www.insidegmt.com/2019/08/farewell-my-friend-r-i-p-richard-h-berg/ (http://www.insidegmt.com/2019/08/farewell-my-friend-r-i-p-richard-h-berg/)