"John Hill: An Appreciation" Topic

As the word is leaking out slowly on social media, many of you might have heard that John Hill, the designer of Squad Leard, Johnny Reb, Across a Deadly Field and many other games, suffered a terrible heart attack yesterday and has passed on.

Many of us involved in wargaming owe Mr. Hill a lot for his efforts; certainly the Johnny Reb community is greatly saddened by his loss.

I took a moment to write my own appreciation, which is here: link

Thanks for the interest,

Walt

A great loss – condolences to family and friends

Well said, Walt. I share many of your experiences with Mr. Hill's games, esp Squad Leader. And the few times I met him at cons, he was always a gentleman and a scholar.

Mike

I met him at Nachcon last year. A very nice fellow. He will be missed.

I never met the man, just saw him across the room at a couple of conventions. Each time he was at the gaming table, having a grand time in cheerful company. His games have given a lot of gamers many hours of pleasure, myself included.

A life well lived.

Thank you, Mr. Hill; we'll see you when _our_ turns are over.

He was someone I modeled my rules writing on when I wrote rules. I loved his design style of effects over detailed modeling. His prosaic view of where games lay with life and the hobby was refreshing and it made sense to my military mind. He was a good person who always made me feel special when I met him and just seemed to give himself up to everyone.

Shocking, simply shocking. Thank you John for sharing your ideas and values with us.
Larry

Between Johnny Reb and Squad Leader, I can think of no other author of wargaming rules who shaped my outlook on wargames as much as John Hill. I am sorry to hear of his passing. The gaming community has lost a giant.

I'm sorry to hear this. I met him once, and he seemed like a nice guy. He was explaining that he'd been offered a job in Washington DC, but chose to stay in retirement in Santa Fe. I thought that was a good decision, and wish he'd had longer to enjoy it.

Nice tribute to a pioneer of the hex-and-counter board game hobby. Thanks for sharing and may John RIP.

Perhaps HMGS might consider an on-going award in his honor.

As a teen I was enthralled with a new game called Squad Leader. As a twenty something I played rules heavily influenced by Johnny Reb. Mr. Hill certainly had a big influence on my early gaming years. He will be missed.

Thank you Mr. Hill for hours/days/weeks/years of enjoyment in your creations.

Nice job Walt. Thanks.

Good idea historygamer.

Agreed, brilliant idea historygamer.

Those are definitive wargames, he made massive contributions.

I've played Johnny Reb. A very nice appreciation WaltOHara.

I played JR2 and JR3 many times over the years. Thanks John for all the enjoyment you brought me.

In board wargaming you can't leave a better legacy then Squad Leader, I still play it to this day, I guess he failed that final rally check.

Sad news

Game designers like John Hill played a large part in the choice my choice of jobs and hobbies. I bought Dungeons and Dragons and Squad Leader in the same month when I was 13. Those two games are responsible for a deep love of historical and fantasy gaming. Thank-you, Mr. Hill.

Sad news. Nice tribute WaltOHare. John Hill designed a lot of great games.

Spent many, many hours playing SL and ASL. That is sad news.

Sad news. I played a lot of SL and often ran into him at H-Con.

Walt, a well said piece on John.

Curt Daniels

+1 Walt…. Squad Leader and ASL were two of my favorite games growing up….still are…. Many, many hours of my youth were spent around the SL boards…

I like the award idea.

Very sad news. I have spent many happy hours playing Johnny Reb. So thank you John Hill, you will are appreciated and will be missed.

John has died but his influence on our hobby will live on for years. Even today games clearly inspired by his original concepts are being published.

Ours is a small hobby by conventional standards and doesn't have "big granite memorials". But John and his colleagues such as Featherstone and Gygax who have passed probably have the best memorial possible: a living memorial composed generations of gamers who come together to entertain one another. Last night my son played D&D with his boy scout troop and this weekend both sons will be playing an ACW game partially inspired by Johnny Reb. Those kids are their memorials.

I'm sure their joy brings a smile to John Hill even today.

I considered John Hill a friend that I met from time to time at wargame conventions. John was a true gentlemen and we had some very congenial conversations. I think I first met him in 1977 at a con. Probably the era of the first squad leader release. I consider his designs wargame genius and played a little squad leader and lots of Johnny Reb. My one regret is that I didn't attempt to join his group when he lived in Manassas. That would have been something I'm sure. My deepest sympathy goes to his family and close friends. He was a great person to know. I will miss him.

I think his hidden orders and movement system in JR -- simultaneous for both sides but in phases -- is maybe the best idea ever in miniaiture gaming.

JR has given me, family and friends years of pleasure, for this I am eternally gratefull.

Second Doc MCB re Johnny Reb Order system – still the best concept in gaming (DBX takes near 2nd).

Sorry that "Bloody Fields" did not make use of the concept.

Command Decision did and was great until it buried the concept in complexity. (Also borrowed for Games Workshops best game – Space Marine).

TomT

Like many I cut my gaming teeth on a number of John's designs such as Squad Leader, Battle for Stalingrad, and Kasserine. When I walked into my local hobby shop one day and saw "Johnny Reb" (the original red box release from Adventure Games) I bought all three copies from the shelf. One I kept for myself, and the other two I gave to my gaming buddies as gifts. I couldn't wait for the three of us to get started playing! From then on I was a Miniatures Gamer, as the ACW has always been my favorite period.

I first met John not at a gaming convention, but at a Civil War reenactment in 1987. After moving to Virginia I had joined a company of reenactors in time for the 125th anniversary series of battles. While crossing a field under heavy Union fire I took a "hit", and by pure chance fell next to a fellow who introduced himself as John Hill. Despite his somewhat begrimed face I instantly recognized him as the real John Hill of "Johnny Reb" fame! We laid there for what seemed like an hour as the battle raged around us discussing the Civil War, and how some of what we as reenactors did related to his game design for Johnny Reb. When the battle was over and evening began to fall I looked John up in his camp. We spent a good part of the night sitting around the campfire talking about the Civil War, and weaving in a few ideas here and there about game design. It was the most enjoyable evening I had spent around a camp fire.

On occasion when I would run into John at a convention we would take time to reminisce about our reenacting adventures. He was a true gentlemen and a "pard" in all respects, and he has left us with a legacy of enjoyable gaming for many years and generations to come! I doff my kepi to you, sir!! Thanks John, and may God bless you and your family!

John was a great guy, game designer and historian. Here's a link to my tribute on my blog –

link

Cory

Cory,

That was a very fitting tribute to John on your blog!!

While I couldn't call him a close friend of mine, I was fortunate enough to have spoken to him on a number of occasions while he was living in Virginia. He was a regular attendee at the Northern Virginia Gamers shows back in the 90s and he ran many games for us during those years.

He always seemed to be humble about his wargaming fame, friendly to everyone around him, and universally well-liked. A better representative to the Almighty of the wargaming hobby we could not ask for. Sleep well, sir.

I first meet him at Origins III in New York, 1977 and played in an early Johnny Reb game. I commanded DH Hills Division at Seven Pines. Wargamers Digest published an article on the game that I still treasure.

When John was in Lafayette, Indiana he invited my gaming group put on several games at his convention. His wonderful terrain used for ACW inspired our group to improve our own games.

John gave me an original photo copy of his playtest Johnny Reb rules before they were ever published, including the "role playing" rules for officers. These were to be published by Heritage Models originally.

I also briefly did some play testing for his never published "Fire Team!" which was the miniature version of Squad Leader. I still have his photo copy of these rules as well. They were to complement Heritage Models Panzer Troops, but also failed to see publication.

Probably my favorite John Hill game was his most enjoyable multi-player board game, the Brotherhood!

Last saw John at Origins in Columbus several years ago. God Bless you sir, you will be missed.

Kim

Big fan of Johnny Reb which introduced me to the ACW many years ago. Sad to see another gaming great throw his last dice. Leaves a great legacy behind.

Thank you, John

Regards, Ken
yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

I would like to highlight this here:

Remembering John Hill:

" I met John in the 1980's, just after JRII was published, when he was GMing his all-day, monster games of Resaca and Petersburg, the best times I ever had with miniatures. We exchanged hundreds of e-mails during the development of Across a Deadly Field and I found him to be a thoughtful, patient and inspired game designer. He was the reason that I got into miniature gaming. The gaming world has lost it's greatest designer and the world has lost a bright light. He will be sorely missed."

P.J. O'Neill

R.I.P John … He was one of the most influential game designers that myself and many of my gaming friends grew up on. He will be missed …

I never knew him but knew his work. I feel sad at his passing. Squad Leader and Johnny Reb made big impressions on me at different times. I think what really grabbed me was the feel of the rules. The line drawings both recalled those sketches in H G Wells's Little Wars and seemed to take us forward with a lot of imaginative mechanisms. I had not thought much about the similarity between the two but can now see how Johnny Reb was completing the work first started with Squad Leader

Cheers