Veteran wargame designer Dean Essig has died, leading to an outpouring of tributes from fans and industry friends across social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Essig’s wargame design career spanned more than 35 years, during which time he founded publishing company The Gamers and spent the last 22 years working with Multi-Man Publishing, the publisher of Advanced Squad Leader and the Operational Combat Series of games, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His death comes four months after he suffered a cancer-related stroke, which saw him involved in an auto-accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multi-Man said in the wake of the accident that despite Essig being aware of what happened and being able to joke during a conversation, he had suffered a brain bleed and would need therapy and some time to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An update from the company on March 11, however, confirmed that Essig’s cancer had continued to spread, and he had been moved into a hospice rather than continue to receive aggressive anti-cancer treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multi-Man said late yesterday that Essig had passed away peacefully in his sleep, with a memorial expected to be held by his children in his home town in Illinois in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement added that it had been “quite a shock to us as to how quickly he was overcome by this terrible disease.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Essig’s designs were highly regarded within the industry, and he won a string of wargame-focused Charles S Roberts awards during his long career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multi-award-winning designs of Essig’s included Afrika, Enemy at the Gates, DAK and Case Blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of tributes to Essig poured in across Twitter and Facebook, praising not only his sharp designs but also his warmth and friendliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark Herman, the veteran wargamer designer of titles including We The People and Empire of the Sun, said on Twitter, “This is very sad news. I hope his passing was gentle. One of my favorite designers and an old friend from my early days in the industry. RIP my friend.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles S Roberts Award director Gary Mengle said on Twitter that Essig’s death was a “devastating loss”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Essig’s long-time friend Carl Fung took over management of The Gamers’ line of games at Multi-Man Publishing earlier this month, heading up the Battalion Combat Series and Line of Battle Series as well as project managing several other series of games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n