I blogged about Titan when co-creator David A. Trampier died in 2014. Today I learned that the other co-creator of the game, Jason B. McAllister, died almost a year ago, on May 21, 2016.
Here's his obituary.
Here's a memorial piece by the Cryptic Archivist.
Rather than go on about how much I love this game (I did that in the prior post), let me quote Jason himself from the Designer's Notes that were included in the 1982 Avalon Hill edition of the game.
Our original conception of developing a fantasy wargame occured in 1970. We drew up a floor length board which depicted a popular world of adventure and populated it with its indigenous races as well as a few of our own. All movement was made on the map, and the game developed frontally out from the citadels and cavern-fortresses which generated new forces. The fronts did not consume as quickly as they were fed, and the game tended to bog down as second and third lines of reserves solidified the fronts.
During the early 1970's we worked with and playtested a system set on a symmetrical world of our own concoction. Movement remained confined to a single board, and the conflict kept up fronts, although these were more fluid than before. It was still too difficult to approach those enemy strongholds from which their troops sprang, and the games were endless.
In 1976 we added terrain specific tactical displays and placed the overgame on a hexagonal web of the various terrains. We made the production of forces dependent on movement rather than the retention of strongpoints. TITAN was born.
... [The note then details a number of tweaks intended to enhance play and shorten the game] ...
Our original impetus has been completed; we have made a fantasy wargame. Rather than represent any certain world or war, it is an abstract fantasy context that allows players to build their own armies and seek out their own battles. Across ten years the game has grown into an easily playable system with novel methods of movement, enlistment, and combat complex enough to engage the interest of a serious strategist. I certainly hope you enjoy it.
Jason McAllister
Thank you, Jason, I truly have. And my 12-year-old daughter loves your game too.
