Stephen V. Cole is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

game design Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

er and the CEO of

Amarillo Design Bureau Amarillo Design Bureau is a company which specializes in tactical and strategic board Wargaming, wargames. The company is a successor to Task Force Games, and is owned and operated by Steve and Leanna Cole, with partner Steve Petrick, and based i ...

(also known as ADB or, incorrectly, Starfleet Games) which publishes ''

Star Fleet Battles ''Star Fleet Battles'' (SFB) is a Military tactics, tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the ''Star Trek'' setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current ...

'', '' Federation and Empire'', '' Federation Commander'', ''

Prime Directive In the fictional universe of '' Star Trek'', the Prime Directive (also known as "Starfleet General Order 1", "General Order 1", and the "non-interference directive") is a guiding principle of Starfleet that prohibits its members from interferin ...

'' (a series of RPGs for D20, D20M, and GURPS), and other

wargames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follows Dav ...

set in the

Star Fleet Universe ''Star Fleet Battles'' (SFB) is a tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the '' Star Trek'' setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current edition is pu ...

. ADB became ADB, Inc., in 1999.

Career

Stephen Cole is a registered

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and former Texas State Guard company commander (and operations officer). He was awarded the

Texas Medal of Merit The Texas Medal of Merit, formerly known as the Texas Meritorious Service Medal, is the seventh highest military decoration that can be conferred to a service member of the Texas Military Forces. Subsequent decorations are denoted by a bronze or s ...

with "V" for valor, a non U.S. military citation. While attending school at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in 1973, he founded the company JagdPanther Publications, which published ''

JagdPanther The ''Jagdpanther'' (German: "hunting Panther"), Sd.Kfz. 173, was a tank destroyer (''Jagdpanzer'', a self-propelled anti-tank gun) built by Germany during World War II. The ''Jagdpanther'' combined the 8.8 cm Pak 43 anti-tank gun, similar to th ...

'' (1973-1976), a magazine which featured complete small games in every issue in addition to scenarios and variants for existing games.

Allen Eldridge Allen D. Eldridge is a game designer who has worked primarily on board games. Career Allen Eldridge met Stephen Cole at a local game club in Amarillo, Texas, and joined Cole at his company JP Productions a few years after he founded it in 1973. ...

, who Cole had previously met at an

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...

game club, joined Cole at his company a few years later. the company published several games separate from the magazine. Cole and Eldridge made the decision in November 1976 to close the company, and then shut the company down in spring 1977. They closed the company after paying all of its bills and subscriptions. JP Publications operated from 1973 to 1977. In autumn 1978, Cole and Eldridge co-founded

Task Force Games Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen V. Cole. TFG published many games, most notably including both ''Star Fleet Battles'' (currently published by the original designers, Amarillo Design Bureau) and ...

to sell games only to wholesalers and retailers and initially not to individual consumers. They started a "Pocket Games" line, with four science-fiction releases in 1979 designed by Cole: '' Starfire'', ''

Asteroid Zero-Four ''Asteroid Zero-Four'' is a science fiction board wargame published by Task Force Games in 1979. Description American and Soviet miners in the asteroid belt have been cut off from contact with Earth by solar flares, and become engaged in a nucle ...

'', ''

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the mo ...

'', and ''

''. Cole had first conceived the idea of ''Star Fleet Battles'' in 1975, and finally published the game after obtaining a license from

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

. Cole's '' Valkenburg Castle'' was also released in 1979, and was the company's first fantasy game. Cole has designed over 100 published games on many subjects. He won two Charles Roberts awards for JagdPanther and several awards for Star Fleet Battles. Stephen V. Cole took ROTC from 1971-1975 but the Army chose not to offer him an active duty slot and was placed in the inactive reserves, never attending Officer Basic Course (OBC). He has made claim to have taken US Army Command & General Staff School (a master's degree in military science) through the Army Reserve and the influence of his father, a serving Colonel in the U.S. Army at the time. He wrote and published the military intelligence newsletter For Your Eyes Only from 1983-1999. He was a consultant to the military and DIA during this time. He has written over 200 articles on military affairs for several magazines. As the Pocket Games line ended in 1983, Cole left Task Force Games and formed the new company

, which would be his design house for more ''Star Fleet Battles'' products. Through the Amarillo Design Bureau, Cole continued to support ''Star Fleet Battles'' heavily. After Task Force Games was sold to John Olsen in April 1990, Olsen relocated the company back to Amarillo so that they could better coordinate with Cole. Task Force Games refocused on ''Star Fleet Battles'' beginning with Cole's ''Star Fleet Battles Captain's Edition Basic Set'' in 1990. Cole took over publishing ''Star Fleet Battles'' in 1999, and in the process made Amarillo Design Bureau into a corporation. ''Star Fleet Battles'' continues to be published by Amarillo Design Bureau and was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming, Arts, & Design Hall of Fame in 2005 where they stated that "''Star Fleet Battles'' literally defined the genre of spaceship combat games in the early 1980s, and was the first game that combined a major license with 'high re-playability'." Cole was previously a contributor to StrategyPage that "provides quick, easy access to what is going on in military affairs." Cole has been married since 1979 to Leanna. They have owned several Felis bengalensis wildcat crossbreeds. Cole regularly visits the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary where he gives talks on wolf nutrition and behavior as Chef Steve.

Bibliography

*''Star Fleet Battles: A Captain's Log #14 - Betrayal at Oxvind V'' (Paperback - 1994) *''Captains Log Trek Star Fleet'' (Paperback - Jan 1, 1993) *''

Introduction to Star Fleet Battles ''Introduction to Star Fleet Battles'' is a supplement published by Task Force Games in 1986 for the science fiction combat game ''Star Fleet Battles'' that is inspired by the TV series ''Star Trek''. Description ''Introduction to Star Fleet Ba ...

'' (Paperback) *''Star Fleet Battles: The Best of NEXUS (Captain's Edition, Captain's Log #13)'', with Steven P. Petrick (Paperback - Nov 14, 1993) *''Star Fleet Battles Captain's Log #15'', with Steven P. Petrick (Paperback - 1994) *''Star Fleet Battles Advanced Fighters Captain's Module J2'' (Paperback - 2002)

References

External links

Amarillo Design Bureau
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Stephen V. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American game designers Board game designers Star Fleet Universe People from Amarillo, Texas