Tuesday Q&A: Rick Young

This week's Q&A subject is Mr Rick Young, a tabletop designer primarily associated with GMT.

If my plaque was to go in the Wargaming Hall of Fame next week, the 2-sentence bio on it would say this about me:
He only designed games that he himself wanted to play and loved to play, hoping others would love them too. For many of us, his hopes rang true.

You would know me from my work in this corner of the wargaming world:
Primary block game designer for GMT Games.

I'm currently working on:
FAB Sicily, a block and counter game on the Allied conquest of Sicily in 1943.


What wargame made you want to be a designer?
World in Flames, it was amazingly fun, but took sooooo long to play.  I wanted to design games that were just as fun, but playable in a faster time period.

What was your first game convention?
The Origins that took place in San Francisco, fairly early in their history. It was the year SPI released SPIES, and they had a huge tournament with a large cash prize. I won in the first round as Italy, and then in the second round drew Germany and thought I had a great chance of making the final, until somebody working for SPI announced "Germany won 80% of the games in the first round - so watch out for Germany" - I looked around the table and knew I was toast (sigh).

What kind of wargame do you never see yourself playing?
One with more than 48 pages of rules. In fact, if it has more than 24 pages, then it better come highly reccomended by a fellow gamer I know and trust.

If you could be in one general's command post the night before a battle, which one would you choose, and which battle?
Julius Caesar, [at] Alesia, I would love to see him poised and confident, being the donut with donut-hungry enemy forces outnumbering him significantly and being both inside the donut-hole and outside the donut.


When did you first start to find online communities for wargaming?
November of 2000, when I discovered Consimworld.com.  That was amazing.  I had thought the hobby that I loved was long dead, what an eye-opener to find it not only alive, but vibrant. 

Favorite current TV show?
I haven't watched TV in over a year.
 
All-time favorite TV show?
The first season of Eli Stone, it was amazing!  The second season they went in the wrong direction and wrecked the show.
And promptly got it canceled, too...

First music cassette, LP, 8-track, or CD you bought yourself?
Uriah Heep, Demons & Wizards.
Rock on!

What was your favorite subject in school?
Math

images mostly from Boardgamegeek, GMT Games, and Wikimedia

By: Brant