RE: [OT] Alien Space

>I was one of the few who went to a seminar Lou Zocchi had on Alien
Space at
>last year's GenCon which billed Alien Space as the first space game.
>(History or space miniature gaming, on topic? ;) I'm not sure the '75
date
>from the web page is correct since I found an early edition which I
think is
>dated before that but will have to check.

Is this earlier edition pre-'73? I think that Dave Rotor's "Galactic
Warfare" rules (published in the UK by Skytrex) came out in '73, though
I'd
have to dig out my original copy to be sure. It was this ruleset  that
prompted me to start developing what eventually became Full Thrust, so
it's
got a lot to answer for....!

 [snip]
>This game was first called "Star Trek Battle Manual" but without a
license,
>he had to stop.  So he renamed the game and the ships (the stats stayed
the
>same) and "Alien Space" was born.  The when Task Force Games got a
license
>for "Star Fleet Battles" (through Franz Joseph and the Technical
Manual),
>they contacted him about his miniatures for the game (I can't remember
>exactly when they came into being and how) and in return he somehow was
able
>to get in on their Trek license and the "Star Fleet Battle Manual" was
>released.

I actually thought the Zocchi Star Fleet Battle Manual predated
Taskforce
and SFB, but I could be wrong....
>
>Lou is a unique guy and will talk as long as you let him, you might not
be
>interested in most of it though when he is making sense.  The latest
>versions of the game can still be found (those with the color covers)
but
>the early versions especially the "Star Trek Battle Manual" are hard to
>find.
>
>Dean

Jon (GZG)