Rodger B. MacGowan
Rodger B. MacGowan | |
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game designer |
Rodger B. MacGowan (born 1948) is an artist, game developer, art director and magazine publisher who has been active in the board wargame industry since the 1970s. MacGowan is a prolific artist of cover art for wargames, and the wargaming magazine he founded, Fire & Movement, won the Charles S. Roberts Award several times while under his editorial control.
Early life
Rodger MacGowan was born in San Francisco in 1948, the son of career
He also restarted his gaming hobby again after playing Avalon Hill's
MacGowan moved to Los Angeles to become a television graphic artist.[3]
Professional career
In 1975, there was no professionally-published independent review magazine for wargames – the largest,
In 1977, Avalon Hill approached RBM to produce cover art for their wargames. MacGowan's first cover was for The Russian Campaign, which became the first American wargame to portray Soviet soldiers on its cover.[1] In 1977, MacGowan created the cover art for Avalon Hill's bestselling wargame Squad Leader. For subsequent expansion sets and related games, Avalon Hill's plan had been to only portray German soldiers, but MacGowan insisted on using a different nationality on each box cover.[1] MacGowan continued breaking new ground, being the first to portray Japanese pilots and crews on a wargame box for 1979's Flat Top by Avalon Hill, and the first to portray Egyptian soldiers on 1981's Suez '73 by GDW.[1]
MacGowan quickly made a reputation for wargame cover art. Game critic Kevin Pollock, reviewing Beachhead by Yaquinto Publications in 1980, opined that "the cover painting by Rodger B. MacGowan is excellent. I think Roger is far and away the best illustrator in the industry and I'm sure all the Squad Leader devotees out there will back up that statement."[6]
In 1982, F&M was sold to Steve Jackson Games.[4] In 1990, MacGowan co-founded GMT Games, and two years later created C3i Magazine, in MacGowan's words to readers, to "inform, entertain, add to your perspective and instruct you in your enjoyment of GMT games."[7] For many years, MacGowan was a graphic design consultant with Computer Gaming World.[2]
Partial list of box cover art by company
MacGowan is a prolific artist, having created over 275 pieces of box cover art for over twenty different wargame companies. A partial list includes:[5]
- 3W: 34 covers
- Australian Design Group: 2 covers
- Avalon Hill: 24 game covers including Squad Leader, Cross of Iron, Advanced Squad Leader
- Game Designers' Workshop: 17 covers including White Death
- GMT Games: 137 covers including Air Bridge to Victory
- Hobby Japan: 25 covers including Ironbottom Sound
- Operational Studies Group: 4 covers including Napoleon at Bay
- Peoples War Games: 4 covers
- Quarterdeck Games: 4 covers
- Simulations Canada: 11 covers including Kriegsmarine, Dieppe
- Yaquinto Publications: 11 covers including Swashbuckler and Beachhead
MacGowan has also created cover art for several video games including TAC, Midway Campaign, Carrier Strike, and Carriers at War.[5]
Awards
- After winning the Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best Professional Magazine" from 1978 to 1983, Fire & Movement was inducted into the Origins/GAMA Hall of Fame in 1999, and MacGowan himself was also inducted in 2004.[8]
- In 2004, at ConsimWorld Expo, MacGowan received the "Ed Blomgren/Winston Hamilton Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement",[8] and the same year MacGowan's company RBM was awarded the "Academy of Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame Award".[8]
- Several wargames with art and graphics designed by MacGowan have won industry awards for graphic design,[5] including Modern Naval Battles (1989 James F. Dunnigan Award for Playability and Design).[9]
Personal
MacGowan uses music, especially movie scores by
References
- ^ a b c d e Flahive, Peter (November–December 1987). "Rodger MacGowan: His Art & Style". Battle Plan. No. 5. pp. 38–48.
- ^ a b c d Zalewski, Tony (May–June 1994). "Rodger MacGowan". Fire & Movement. No. 94. pp. 12–13.
- ^ a b c d e DeBaun, Richard (July–August 1981). "Founders & Memories: Looking back on the Genesis of Fire & Movement". Moves. No. 59. pp. 26–29.
- ^ a b Newberg, Stephen M. (July–August 1986). "F&M's First Decade". Fire & Movement. No. 49.
- ^ a b c d "Rodger B. MacGowan". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ Pollock, Kevin (January–February 1981). "Beachhead". Campaign. No. 98. pp. 32–34.
- ^ MacGowan, Rodger B. (Winter 1992). "Editorial". C3i. No. 1. GMT Games.
- ^ a b c "Profile on Rodger B. MacGowa". c3i Ops Center. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ "Modern Naval Battles (1989)". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved January 22, 2022.