John B. Firer

Leavenworth. BASS in International Relations (graduated with Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa) and MA in National Security Affairs (Middle East/North Africa Regional Concentration). Army Command and General Staff College Honor Graduate. Combat service during DESERT STORM. Two tours in Germany and one in the Middle East. Numerous state-side tours. He has been wargaming since 1963, hitting his stride from 1969 - 1975 with the classic SPI designs. His renaissance in interest began with the advent of the card-driven game (CDG) systems pioneered by Mark Herman. He prefers operational and strategic level games. He became involved in wargaming through his love of history. Publications: “Napoleon’s Campaign In Egypt”, Conflict Magazine, 1972 18+ Publications for the US DoD, 1986 – 1989 “Alexander’s Lieutenants”, The General, Volume 32-2, 1998 “Lesser Mortals”, The Boardgamer, Volume 4, Number 4, October 1999 “Gifts from the Gods” The Boardgamer, Volume 5, Number 2, April 2000 “Alexander’s Marshals”, The Boardgamer, Volume 5, Number 4, October 2000 “To the Strongest”, The Boardgamer, Volume 6, Number 1, January 2001 “Hinge of Fate”. Operations, Special Edition #1, Summer 2008 "Successors (3rd Edition)", GMT Games, 2008 "Spartacus: Crisis in the Roman Republic", Compass Games 2009 "The Grand Alliance", War Dairy, Issue 1, Spring 2014 "A Shorter Stalin's War", War Diary, Issue 2, Summer 2014 "I am Spartacus", War Diary, Issue 4, Winter 2015 "Spartacus Revisited", War Diary, Issue 5, Spring 2015 "Drang Nach Osten - 1914 Style", War Diary, Issue 6, Summer 2015 “WWII Blitzkrieg Variant – Eastern Front” Fog of War Publications, 2016 “WWII Blitzkrieg Variant – France 1940” Fog of War Publications, 2016 "The Sun King vs. the Captain General Thoughts on Strategy and Operational Art in No Peace Without Spain!”, War Diary, Vol. 2, No. 4 Winter 2016 "1866: The Struggle for Supremacy in Germany", Compass Games 2016 "Age of Bismarck: The Unifications of Germany and Italy 1859-1871", Fog of War Publications 2017 “WWII Blitzkrieg Variant – Northwest Europe 1942-43” Fog of War Publications, 2017 "Remember, Thou Art Mortal: Variants for Hannibal, Rome vs. Carthage”, War Diary, Vol. 3, No. 1 Fall 2017 "Ides of March: The End of the Roman Republic 44BC - 30BC", Fog of War Publications, 2018 "WWII Blitzkrieg Variant - NW Europe 1943" Fog of War Publications, May 2018 "Emperors' Waltz: Designer's Thoughts on 1866" War Diary, Vol. 3, No. 4 Spring 2019 "1859: High Tide of the Second Empire", Fog of War Publications, 2019 "A Pragmatic War: The War of the Austrian Succession 1741 - 1748", Compass Games, 2019 "A Pragmatic War: Double Shot and Solitaire Rules", Paper Wars, Issue 93, Summer 2019 "Stalin's War Revisited: Additional Short Campaign Scenarios", War Diary, Issue 14, Spring 2020 "Ground Truth vs. Fog of War vs. Converting Traditional Wargames Into CDGs" War Diary, Issue 20, Summer 2022