Schubel & Son
Type | Play-by-mail |
---|---|
Founded | October 4, 1974[1] |
Headquarters | Sacramento, CA |
Key people | George Valintine Schubel, Sr. George Vernon Schubel, Jr.[1] |
Products | The Tribes of Crane, Starmaster, Global Supremacy |
Schubel & Son was a hobby and gaming company that published play-by-mail (PBM) games. The company began in 1974 and expanded to large-scale PBM games in August 1978. It also published the game The Tribes of Crane in 1978, followed by StarMaster in 1980 and Global Supremacy in 1982.
History[]
Schubel & Son opened for business on October 4, 1974 in Sacramento, California.[1] For the first few years, the company worked in science hobby supply.[2] They began in the PBM field in 1974[3] and began moderating large-scale PBM games in August 1978 with the game The Tribes of Crane.[4] The company stated that it proved very popular in the initial months of play and enrollment quickly expanded.[2] They later published StarMaster in 1980 and Global Supremacy in 1982. Both of these were human-moderated PBM games.[2] In 1990, the company stated that Global Supremacy III was their largest and most successful game.[4]
Various observers noted that Schubel & Son had a relatively high fee structure in the industry. Reviewer Bill Flad, in the November/December 1986 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine, stated that the game Company Commander had $3.50 fees for "everything", including special actions (required in critical situations) as well as being attacked by another unit.[4] He also indicated that coordinated attacks among multiple players could potentially bankrupt another player as a result.[4][a]
In the March–April 1993 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine, the company announced that they had concluded an agreement with Northwest Simulations for the sale of their games, license contracts and most office equipment.[6] The announcement noted that "George and Patty Schubel of Schubel & Son Inc. are planning to run one game of Global Supremacy in retirement in a license arrangement through Northwest Simulations."[6]
Published games[]
- Alien Conflict[7]
- Alien Invasion[7]
- Arena Combat[2]
- Ancient Empires[7]
- Catacombs of Chaos[8]
- Company Commander[7]
- Computer Boxing[4]
- Conquest of the Stars[7]
- Crusade[7]
- Fog of War[7]
- Gallic Wars[7]
- Global Supremacy[7]
- Global Supremacy III
- Horizon's End[7]
- Kings War
- Masters of Magic[7]
- Robot Armies[7]
- Siege America[7]
- Star Venture
- StarMaster
- StarMaster II[7]
- Strategic Conflict
- The Tribes of Crane[7]
- Vietnam[7]
- War 1940[7]
- War of 1812[7]
See also[]
- Adventures by Mail
- Flagship magazine
- List of play-by-mail games
- Paper Mayhem magazine
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ a b c "Public Notice". The Sacramento Bee. October 4, 1974 – via Newspapers.com.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d Schubel & Son 1990.
- ^ Paper Mayhem 1984. p. 18.
- ^ a b c d e Paper Mayhem 1990. p. 26.
- ^ Hill 2021.
- ^ a b Paper Mayhem 1993. p. 27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Mostellar 2011.
- ^ Armintrout 1982. p. 2.
Bibliography[]
- Armintrout, W.G. (November 1982). "The Great Buffalo Hunt: Heroic Fantasy vs. Catacombs of Chaos". The Space Gamer. No. 57. pp. 2–5. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Gameline News and Updates". Paper Mayhem. No. 6. May–June 1984. pp. 18–20.
- "Gameline". Paper Mayhem. No. 59. March–April 1993. pp. 22–27.
- Mostellar, Charles (6 January 2011). "PBM Boneyard". Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- Hill, Mark (June 20, 2021). "Remember When Multiplayer Gaming Needed Envelopes and Stamps?". Wired. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- Schubel, George V. (November 1980). "Company Report: Schubel & Son". The Space Gamer. No. 33. p. 16. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Schubel & Son, Inc". The Journal of the PBM Gamer (4th ed.). Paper Mayhem. 1990.
Further reading[]
- Stanley, Don (March 30, 1986). "Fun 'n' Games". The Sacramento Bee Magazine. pp. 7–8, 10. Retrieved October 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- Companies based in Sacramento, California
- Play-by-mail game publishing companies
- Publishing companies established in 1974