Winter 2023 ATO Magazine Newsgram - Happy Birthday, John Prados!

Many readers here will be aware that John Prados passed away in late November, 2022. John Prados published 11 games with Against the Odds or Turning Point Simulations.

When we started counting, it occurred to us that John might have published more games with ATO than with any other company.

We are proud of that.

So we’re using this Monday (John’s birthday) to send out a newsgram to mention we’re running a promotion this month around the games of John Prados. We want to celebrate his life-well-lived by highlighting the games he did with us (especially those still in print—and we are thankful we got Beyond Waterloo BACK into print!)

Two of his games have drawn less attention, and they are both fascinating. He did The Victory of Arminius for TPS games, a look at the "Teutoburg Forest" battle where Arminius (sometimes known as Hermann the German) destroyed 3 full Roman legions—often thought of as a "massacre" but really a near-run-thing. He also designed the game in our 2014 Annual called Set Europe Ablaze that looked at Britain's efforts by their Special Operations and Equipment (SOE) division to mobilize the partisan resistance in Europe. (Not many games have tackled that, have they?)

Arminius appears to be John's only "ancients" game—the only thing older than the American Civil War. And Set Europe Ablaze looked at "irregular warfare" from an economic measuring point. Cool idea—and so very John.

So, all this month we will give away these lessor known but fascinating games by John with purchase.

Spend $50 (US) or $75 (outside US) on any ATO items you want (and TPS items as part of a PICK 3 Ziplocks order), and we will include a FREE copy of The Victory of Arminius with your order.

Spend $100 (US) or $125 (outside US) on anything you want, and you get Arminius PLUS Set Europe Ablaze.

Spend $150 (US) or $175 (outside US) and you get Arminius, Set Europe Ablaze, PLUS you pick another John game from this list. Free:

• Fortress Berlin                                                                     

• Four Roads to Paris                                                                     

• Look Away!                                                                   

• Monty's D-Day                                                                 

• Toppling the Reich

For the big one, spend $200 (US) or $250 (outside US) and you get "all of the above" (3 free games) plus one of our "Fortress Berlin" coffee mugs.



We've created the special promotion code PRADOS you need to enter to show you're interested in this offer. Remember to hit the Apply button for it to work. List your free John Prados game in the Comments field of the order form.

Standard terms and conditions apply. All of our freebies are subject to "while supplies last." Previous sales are excluded from this offer. Items may ship separately, or with your next ATO issue.

Finally, as part of this "JOHN-uary" promotion, we will extend the ATO Subscription window through the end of January (but not beyond the absolute limit of issue #65), and yes, a subscription does "count" in these sales totals. More on that below.


In other news, the new deluxe edition of Beyond Waterloo is now shipping. You can see all the elements of both modules in the two images below.

1815 Base Game:



1814 Expansion Kit:





Then, next up will be the release of ATO issue #58 with Clash of Carriers (by Mark Stille) inside.

The Battle of Midway is certainly the best known "carrier action" of WW2.  Counting both sides, there were SEVEN aircraft carriers involved. The Battle of the Philippine Sea had TWENTY-FOUR carriers involved.

It was a battle where the odds were stacked mostly to favor the US forces, who not only had superior planes, pilots with much more training and experience, and more total ships, but also knew the Japanese battle plan in advance!

And yet, while the famous "Marianas Turkey Shoot" devastated Japanese aviation, their navy lost just 3 carriers, and two of those to submarine attacks!

Both sides missed opportunities to "do better."  From such historical material, great games can happen, as YOU are challenged to achieve greater success than the commanders.

Clash of Carriers uses the same game system as Imperial Sunset (in ATO #17) which stresses playability over complexity. Random activation allows air and naval forces to maneuver and attack. Detection is important, but not overwhelming. Both players will deal with the fog of war, and try to overcome.  While air strikes are paramount, the game includes potential for surface battles, submarine and anti-sub warfare, and straightforward mechanics for all of the above.

The basic historical scenario offers the 1944 OBs, but "what-if" scenarios add optional surface and air forces who could have been there, while optional rules allow greater flexibility and coordination for players than the historical commanders.

This game might be anything but a turkey shoot!


OK, that’s it for now. The two takeaways from this newsgram to remember are that it’s considered JOHN-uary all this month and you can score some great designs from John Prados as freebies. Also, ATO will be ending new subscriptions and renewals come Feb. 1, 2023. We’ll honor all existing subscriptions of course, and keep publishing issues in the future, but subscription services will cease. So here’s your last chance to get in under the wire and sign up for 4 more issues at a great price!

Thanks for reading,

Steve Rawling, Publisher, ATO Magazine