Academy Games

Academy Games

Conflict of Heroes - Awakening the Bear! is the first game to be published by Academy Games. We are a new American publishing company striving to introduce Euro-style quality games produced in the USA.

Conflict of Heroes is a unique, easy to learn, and fast playing game system that we are sure you will enjoy for years to come. CoH - Awakening the Bear is the first in a series of strategic tactical games using this system. Future games currently in development will cover the western front, the eastern front in 1943-44, the African and Pacific theaters, Vietnam, and Iraq. Each game is based on extensive historical and statistical research and will introduce boats, airplanes, and many more units to the series.

Academy Games places a special emphasis upon high quality materials and components, similar to European games, including large counters, mounted maps, and incredible graphics. This game was printed in the USA using specialized linen papers, no-warp core boards, and customized glues. We hope you enjoy the results.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail us. Since this is a new game with a revolutionary new system, it is very important to have a core group of gamers who understand the rules thoroughly. Send us an e-mail, we would love to hear from you.

Finally, positive word of mouth and endorsements are vital for a new company. If you like CoH, please tell others. If you have a BoardGameGeek account, please rate the game at www.boardgamegeek.com/game/24800. This will help make the game successful and hopefully add vital resources for the exciting new games that we have in development. Thank you for your support and I hope to meet you at a convention soon.

Uwe Eickert - Principal: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Uwe has built and sold several successful businesses. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA specializing in corporate finance and strategy. His hobbies include soccer, playing the violin, martial arts, painting, and sailing among other things. Uwe is married, has two children, border collies, and a barely tolerated cat.

Uwe is pronounced as "oova", the Germanic God of wine and frolic. Uwe lives up to his name 50% of the time and sleeps off his indulgences the rest of the time.

How Uwe is not pronounced!
Ewe - as in a female sheep.
Ohhhweee - as in the sound a midwest farmer makes at night with a Ewe.
Ohhhhh, Ohhhhh, Ohhhhh, vaaaa..... - Well, we will not go there.

Nicholas Warcholak - Editing and game development

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Nick is an institutional researcher for Penn State University where he is also a doctoral candidate in educational psychology. He was instumental in keeping the game rules streamlined. He formulated what I call the Warcholak guide:
1. Is the rule necessary to simulate the TYPICAL (over 10% of the time) conditions and outcomes on the battlefield? If YES, keep. If NO, go to 2.
2. Does the rule require significant mental resources to remember to play? (Significant is defined as needing to remember more than 2 facts.) If YES, dump. If NO, go to 3.
3. Does the rule add to the fun of the game? Does it produce outcomes that add significant replayability, oh-no moments, gotcha momments, or simulation pay-off outside the general flow of the game? If YES, keep. If NO, dump.
We feel that these rules also work well for girlfriends and wives. Note: You will always lose though.

Dave Kimmel - Game and tactics development: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dave is a Professor of English at Heidelberg College. His interests include writing, literature (particularly historical fiction), teaching, history, computers, cooking, gardening, and travel. He is currently working on a game about Midwestern farmers and sheep.

Bevan Ferreira - Game and statistical modeling development

Bevan is an associate professor of Applied Probability Modeling at Selkirk College, British Columbia. Bevan began nordic ski racing to help him remain focused enough to finish two degrees in Mathematics, all so he could gain an unfair advantage in wargaming.
Applied mathematics has given Bevan a unique insight into the way games of chance actually work and this has proven invaluable in the game design process. Needless to say, we all refuse to play poker with Bevan.

Gunter Eickert - Game and firefight development

Gunter is in the accelerated engineering program at The Ohio State University. He is an avid fencer, plays soccer, and loves any game with a good "screw you" factor. Gunter is currently developing several Euro style games. He thanks me once a week for not naming him Uwe Jr.

James Palmer - Rules questions: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

James has a Masters Degree in Computer and Information Science, and is currently working as a Software Quality Assurance Specialist in Waterloo, Ontario. His interests include boardgames of all kinds, building model ships, hiking, and ballroom dancing. Although he lives in Canada, he neither lives in an igloo nor watches hockey, but can drink maple syrup straight from the bottle just like any real Canadian.

Stephen Paschal - Original game cover artwork

Steve is a professional artist with his studio located in Hawaii. He dresses really cool and knows what is important in life. We all aspire to be like Steve. www.stephenpaschal.com

Jose Luis Vilar Benet: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jose Luis grew up and studied in Germany and works for a distribution and logistics mailorder company in Germany (his family originates from Spain, so his tri-lingualism in Spanish, German and English helps a lot). In his spare time, he is a history/wargames enthusiast and balances board gaming with his other hobbies: photography, graphic design and computers. These passions led to a natural progression into online gaming design platforms such as ZunTzu.