"Lou Zocchi passed" Topic

I have not seen this mentioned anywhere yet.

I met Lou at multiple gaming conventions, and always enjoyed talking with him about multiple game related subjects. He was an interesting man.

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I met him once and,as noted, he was an interesting man. It was fun talking to him even though I don't consider myself an "adventure" gamer. He put a lot of effort into his endeavors and added to the hobby. Those are admirable qualities and he will be missed. RIP

+1 Added a lot to the hobby

Another great passes.

RIP

Met him at a local hobby shop when he was coming back from a convention. He had a ton of stuff crammed into his van and was fun just looking at all the games, accessories, and dice that he had. I recently found an old Zocchi catalog from the late 70s and the amount of stuff he was selling at the time was pretty incredible.

He was an exuberant, motivated dice seller. LOL! He was a really interesting guy. If you met him, you likely will remember him for the rest of your life. He is hard to forget -- in a good, positive way. Nice man. He had a good, full, and long life, per his Wikipedia entry. A more fascinating person than I knew before I read his Wiki entry. Few men live such a diverse, full, and interesting life. Thank you for sharing his passing. Cheers!

Was he the first to write and publish sci-fi miniature rules?

I met him at a Denver Convention in the early 1980's. A interesting man, who commanded attention.

He was an interesting gentleman and a significant contributor towards growing the hobby. RIP

I bought several games and a tactical analysis of the P40 vs the A6M in my early gaming days of the mid-1970s. Unfortunately sold the games quite some time ago. His catalog was simply amazing.

His name was all over the place when I was a young gamer. Another hobby great has passed.

I worked one summer for him in 1984. Watched him design the Zocchihedron while he stared at past dice designs hanging from the rafters.
Went on a east coast tour with him that year.
Many stories about him and methodology. We even visited his US dice factory.
Learned how to set up my store by helping him open a store at the Kessler front gate.
Great guy and long time friend.
Yes he did have a box set of Space Marine rules. From the 1970s.

So long, and thanks for all the dice!

May your D4s be ever truncated for safety.
=^,^=

I met him at one convention. Just a greeting no long conversation. I know I had one of his rule sets but can't remember which one.
RIP Sir

My condolences to his family. I always found him to be kind, friendly and very affable during our conversations. He inspired many people in the gaming industry and helped me to be successful in creating many gaming rule sets. He will be greatly missed. RIP Lou!!
Regards,
Hitman
😥

He also published a Battle of Britain game that tracked every single plane. My very first Monster Game. 🙄

Sorry to hear it. He truly helped build this hobby. In the 1970s Gamescience made the best (only?) polyhedra dice, and they carried everything. There was no other way to learn about all the publishers and products; all the magazines were house organs. Space Gamer did reviews of other company's products, but only a few. The Gamescience catalog was just a page, iirc, a big list of all the games, but I discovered much through that one page. I'm sure I saved it somewhere, I spent so much time studying it.

I saw him at a Pacificon in '81 or thereabouts, but I don't think I spoke to him.

I will always be grateful for what he accomplished.

I will miss him. I got to meet him and got the infamous dice speech in person from him. I have a couple of his early games around the house, though I have never played them.

One of my first gaming endeavors was to use 1/72 aircraft models with his air combat rules.

I use to go to his shop at Kessler. Probably saw TP there. Heard many stories, mostly about dice, some about the air force. He was an NCO for awhile.
Quiet a character.
RIP and roll dice up there my friend!

Joe

My introduction to Lou's genius was also his remarkable "Battle of Britain" board game in either 1969 or '70. My friends and I played it endlessly and I still think it's the best simulation on the subject ever. Really an amazing and insightful game.

He wrote the first "Star Trek" rules (for use with the AMT Frog full sized model kits) and an eponymous RPG that produced countless games (I still have my copy with "Mr. Sulu's" character stats autographed by George Takei.

When he produced the first wide range of starship models, a variant of his space battle rules was produced which I further developed so it could be played on gymnasium floors as we used actual warp factors for speed (from 1mm for sub-light impulse power to over 16" for Warp Six), and kept his original concept of mounting models on 360 degree compass bases with firing along degree lines using up to 20' of string attached.

Had, but never played, his ACW rules, "Hardtack," for use with 20mm Airfix figures (since hardly any others were available in those days), and I think a few more.

Prolific, original, imaginative, and responsible for uncounted hours--no, days--of games large and small, from two players to twenty. I only wish to have met him and expressed my thanks and gratitude.

AVE ATQUE VALE!

TVAG

Didn't know him, but played his space combat rules and used his ships. Rest well.

D--m, I used to meet him at GENCON, for dinner with. One year he did his magic act for me and my son. I covered his both at more that one convention. I will miss him.