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.

The story is (as well as I can remember it), Lou wanted a game of
spaceship
combat based on Trek so he created one where you had a miniature on a
disk
with degrees marked around the edge of the circle (based on a paper
plate).
The player would then try an visually sight the target ship and state
what
weapon fired at what heading.  Then a string tied to the ring around the
post was stretched out at the stated heading and if it hit the ship, you
did
damage.  This was a skill and not a random dice thing.	Lou said people
were
playing this on gymnasium floors and still hitting most of the time with
some practice.	The rest of the game is simple power allocation with
very
free form movement rules.

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.

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