A. Mark Ratner

A. Mark Ratner (born November 1948 in New Jersey) is an American game designer, notable for his work on Space Marines and Space Opera.

Early life

Ratner lived in New Jersey until he joined the Army in 1972. Dissatisfaction with existing games, such as Star Guard and Traveller, and his military experience led to the creation of Space Marines.

FanTac

In 1977 Mark formed FanTac Games primarily to market Space Marines. FanTac published 3 titles; Space Marines (a science-fiction wargame), Gi'ac My (a Vietnam wargame), and Orbit War (an interplanetary combat wargame). [http://tomeoftreasures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2712 Orbit War cover] Mark was the author of Space Marines and he collaborated with Fitzhugh MacCrae and Bruce Lutz on Gi'ac My.

He met Scott Bizar, the founder of Fantasy Games Unlimited, at Gen Con in 1977, and that meeting eventually led to the sale of the rights for Space Marines to FGU.

Fantasy Games Unlimited

After selling rights to FGU, Mark wrote a second edition of Space Marines.

Scott Bizar wanted to produce a science-fiction role-playing game, and asked Ed Simbalist (who's Chivalry and Sorcery was already being published by FGU), Phil McGregor, and Mark to develop it. Prior to publication the three had never met and the development was done by correspondence. However the collaboration with Mark turned out to be mostly Ed drawing on the material in Space Marines. While Mark was listed as an author for Space Opera and the Space Opera supplement "Ground & Air Equipment", he had very little input into the final product and seriously considered asking for his name to be removed from Space Opera entirely [http://www.space-opera.net/GB/interviews/mark.htm Interview with Mark Ratner] .

He was working on an ancient/medieval miniatures game, "Clash of Arms", which was typeset and ready to go to the printer when FGU ran into financial difficulty and essentially stopped operating.

Academia

Mark spent much of the 1980s as a college professor. His degrees include Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, Master of Science in Civil Engineering, and a PhD in Civil/Structural Engineering.

Books written or co-authored by A. Mark Ratner

* Space Marines (1977), FanTac Games
* Gi'ac My (1978), FanTac Games [http://tomeoftreasures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1505&sid=c27ef16ee0796dde9fe4260dbac90655 Gi'ac My cover]
* Space Marines, 2nd edition (1979), Fantasy Games Unlimited
* Space Opera (1980), Fantasy Games Unlimited
* Ground & Air Equipment (Space Opera) (1981), Fantasy Games Unlimited

References