a set of tactical miniatures rules for ground combat between humans and an assortment of aliens in the 22nd century. Many of the alien species are obviously similar to those of particular fictional settings, with the names changed. The rules were fairly complete and could be used with minatures or homemade counters for those not into miniatures. There were two very interesting sections at the end of these rules: "Space Marines in Dungeons and Dragons" and "Space Marines in Metamorphosis Alpha" which provided rules are using the aliens and equipment in those two games -- Blaster Rifles in D&D, what fun! Seriously, I ran any alien invasion of a fantasy world mini-campaign using this info back in the late 70s...
Mars wrote:I think I have a copy of the FGU edition. I will dig it out when I get home and see if there is any mention of the D&D/MA conversions.
Mars wrote: The cover art is actually by Jeff Dee but the interior illustrations are by David Sutherland. The book is copyright 1980 and there is no mention of any previous edition. I don't see any sections on how to use it with D&D or Metamorphosis Alpha. I guess that isn't too surprising though since they probably want to promote its use with FGU products. The book is 80 pages.
Mars wrote:Okay, I have pulled out the FGU Space Marines. The cover art is actually by Jeff Dee but the interior illustrations are by David Sutherland. The book is copyright 1980 and there is no mention of any previous edition. I don't see any sections on how to use it with D&D or Metamorphosis Alpha. I guess that isn't too surprising though since they probably want to promote its use with FGU products. The book is 80 pages.
Mark: I first met Scott at a Gencon; as I recall it was the one at the Lake Geneva Playboy Club, the event having outgrown the American Legion Hall where it had been held for years. Scott was selling C&S, which was brand new. Some time thereafter, he expressed an interest in publishing SPACE MARINES, and we made a deal that lead to the publication of second edition SPACE MARINES under the FGU logo. I published the original SPACE MARINES as FanTac Games. The other two games I published before FGU became the publisher were GIAC MY and ORBIT WAR.Dom : Coming back to Space Opera, the rules are using "Space Marines" as a background. What was the origin of this wargame and how did it proceed? Do SM rules evolved to match SO universe?Mark: SPACE MARINES was the SF wargame I wrote (long ago.) I had talked of doing an RPG game associated with it, Scott suggested that I collaberate with Ed, etc. I agreed. Unfortunately the collaberation was NOT a happy one. While I don't want to start an argument with Ed; I did not have any word in the process. I will never work with Ed again.
Dom: back in the 70's, Stan Johansen, sculpted the original 25mm figures for Space Marines (and he still produces these figures). Also, a license has been granted to T-Rex of Fort Worth, Texas to manufacture and distribute an approved line of Space Opera micro-armor, usable with the rules contained in Ground & Air Equipment. Did you met Stan or T-Rex to design the line up of this figures?Mark: I met Stan for the original "Space Marines" figures, which predate FGU taking over publication of "Space Marines"; I have had nothing to do with T-Rex.
Dom : As a designer, where does your inspiration come from?Mark: For the original "Space Marines" it was from existing games, reality, and disgust. About that time the main SF miniatures rules were "Starguard', which were not a bad set of rules. But they added an appendix for "obsolete" 20th century weapons, and it was clear that in many cases, by their own rules, the 20th century weapons were superior to their Hi-Tech ones. Then Travelor came out at about the same time, and I was disgusted by the crap they had. My National Guard unit (which had obsolecent gear by US Army standards) could have taken the non-powered armor troops of the Imperium apart, with ease! And if their starships had entered Earth orbit back then, they would have been toast. We still had one ABM site, with 100g acceleration missiles with ERW (neutron bomb warheads) that should have been unstoppable to forces that had 6 g acceleration missiles.
Stan : ...my involvement with FGU came thru the meeting with Mark Ratner. He wanted figures made for his game this was when it was his company FanTac games and the deal was simple: I made the figures and they were mine. He did the rules and they were his. Then he sold the rules to FGU, and Scott just continued with the original deal. He liked my work and asked me to sculpt the figures for his MERC Game, which I still produce today.Dom : You met Mark Ratner when you've sculpted the original 25mm figures for Space Marines in the ‘70. How did you worked together? Did you met other members of the FGU staff?Stan : There were only 2 meetings with Mark. At the first he gave me the rules and drawings of what he wanted, at the second I showed him the master figures by his request all were done with separate arms. He liked everything except the Hiss, which he said, were too large. They stood about 35mm high and he wanted them normal human height. So I resculpted the hiss as you see it today. I forget how many races we started off with but I was to add races over a period of time until all the races in the original space marines rules were done. The only ones I did not get to before FGU closed were the Mertuns and bugs. It wasn't until I started the MERC project for FGU that I went to Scott's HQ and I only meet with Scott. We had talked about other miniatures projects for FGU like vehicles for Space opera but he closed before anything got going.
Mars wrote:There was an auction for one of these the other day. I couldn't remember if I had one or not so I bid and won:** eBay auction listing blocked. Please enable cookies in your browser for this site and for eBay! **
