The Retroist » TSR

TSR’s John Carter Minatures Warfare Game (1974)

VicSage — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:00:24 +0000

I’m looking forward to Walt Disney’s John Carter next month, I’m hoping it will at least contain a glimmer of what made me fall in love with Edgar Rice Burrough’s books so many years ago. What I’ve seen from the trailers so far makes me think that I’ll be pleasantly surprised by the film.

Not quite as surprised though as when I stumbled on this post by the esteemed Mike Sterling of the Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin Blog. He got his hands on a 1974 Tactical Studies Rule book by THE Gary Gygax and Brian Blume of Dungeons and Dragons fame on how to create miniature warfare on Barsoom.

I was able to find this scanned image online as well showcasing some of the artwork within the rule book.

I can honestly say I’ve never heard of this rule book but I’m going to have to try and get my hands on it now!

Endless Quest Books

The Retroist — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:00:26 +0000

The Endless Quest books were two series of gamebooks released by TSR in the 1980s and 1990s. These books were the result of an educational group established by TSR to develop curriculum programs for reading, math, history, and problem solving. The first series of 36 books was released from 1982 to 1987, the second series of 13 from 1994 to 1996. I was especially fond of the 1980s series because I could get them in my schools bookmobile.

Welcome to D&D Basic Training

The Retroist — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:00:32 +0000

Ahh the Red Box. I remember when I got mine for Xmas, I ran upstairs to my bedroom and played with the dice for a few minutes and then I sat in my bed and read the whole thing from cover to cover. Then I read through the blue box and the first module I received, The Isle of Dread. I couldn’t wait to get to playing…

The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons

The Retroist — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:00:16 +0000

In 1991, TSR unleashed this kind-of-fun-to-play simplified Dungeons & Dragons board game upon the world and the above ad was in every comic book for months. When they “easy to master” what they meant is that they basically took out the roleplaying component of the game. That way the game could be played by “cool” people without having to be in character while they played. Overall it is a passable board game. It is well designed and themed, but that is about it. It lacks the excitement of “playing without a net” that an RPG can bring to the table. The only use I had for it was as a clever way to introduce unsuspecting friends to fantasy gaming.

1983 TSR Star Frontiers Ad

The Retroist — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:00:16 +0000

I find this ad a little confusing. The aliens … from a far away galaxy. For … they want …. or need to purchase … Star Frontiers?