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Birth,Death and then Rebirth

OSG started out as TSG(Tactical Studies Group) with Napoleon at Bay.Then quickly changed their name to OSG(Operational Studies Group) .I'm glad they did. TSG sounded too close to TSR! OSG came out with a very nice line up of games in the early years-Napoleon at Leipzig,Dark December,Tunisia,Panzerkreig(update of Rands von Manstein in the Ukraine),Napoleon at Bay,Bonaparte in Italy and those nice little capsule games like Legend of Robin Hood ,Arcola,Battles of the Hundred Days,20th Maine.

Then OSG disappeared. NaB,Panzerkrieg and the small capsule games were sold to Avalon Hill. and NaL ended up with Clash of Arms.

OSG came back again like the legendary Phoenix to grace our gaming tables with a new Napoleon at Bay,Four Lost Battles,Highway to the Kremlin ,Sun of Austerlitz and other titles.I'm glad Kevin Zucker brought the company back to us again. I missed OSG when they faded from the scene. I had hopes when OSG first came out with those first games they would fill a large nitch left by SPI's downfall but that was not to be.But Kevin has produced some fine new games and the future looks good for them. at least I'm happy they came back.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Kranz on March 26, 2008 at 3:34pm

I'm embarrassed to say that OSG falls under the unique category of a company I truly admire, yet for some very odd reason, I have never been able to break out and play one of their games. :-( My goal is to start with Napoleon at Bay, naturally -- I have to start where it all began for Kevin Zucker...and I remember to this day receiving the original TSG ziplock version of the game and coming away very impressed with it.

Permalink Reply by Greg Blanchett on April 4, 2008 at 12:01am

John, I have all of Kevin's Nappy games except for Habit of Victory. So maybe one of these days we could bust out one... :-)

Permalink Reply by enrico acerbi on March 27, 2008 at 5:17am

OSG and Kevin did (do) always the deepest historical research before publishing games. So they are not only games but important studies about the period described (I use them for my lessons too ... psst don't tell this to my pupils)

Permalink Reply by Kevin Zucker on March 27, 2008 at 1:46pm

Hi.
I just heard that Vae Victis Nr. 79 has appeared with the review of The Habit of Victory. My copy hasn't arrived yet. Has anyone seen this?

Permalink Reply by Andy Loakes on March 27, 2008 at 3:16pm

I have it Kevin, my daughter just got back from Tours (she went to France for St Paddy's day - there is logic behind it believe it or not). I'll email you a copy of the article - but don't tell Mr Bey ;-)

Permalink Reply by Kevin Zucker on March 27, 2008 at 3:44pm

Andy,

Your daughter had recently left to school in France when I visited you. Thanks for emailing the review.

Permalink Reply by enrico acerbi on March 27, 2008 at 3:25pm

The review is by Denis Sauvage (the issue game designer). The reviewer gives a very good opinion about the game (map is a masterpiece!) and remarks the set-up operations as faster than previous games. The Mark Herman approach to the system is judged as surprisingly innovative. The only doubt about the role of cards upon the speed of the game and the random events: " Designers said the game will be faster with cards and with a lot of suspence, but is difficult to give a detailed impression only by reading rules. Let the answer to the players"
However Frédéric can better detail this French review.
Ciao

Permalink Reply by Andy Loakes on March 27, 2008 at 3:19pm

The title of this thread is very apt in my case. I do believe that the first game I bought new on returning to the hobby was Sun of Austerlitz. And one of the last ones I bought before losing my way was Bonaparte in Italy (1st Ed). Coincidentally I'm due to start a game of BinI (2nd Ed) tomorrow night - it'll be the first play of this game in over 20 years. Spooky. :-)

Permalink Reply by Harry Warren on January 25, 2014 at 6:42am

It seems this is an old thread but I was wondering what the ISG story was. I believe the Zucker games are some of the best wargames out there. Historical fidelity, challenging play, always interesting and fun. I am trying to collect them all...

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