Well it's finally all change as First Empire steps up a gear or two. Yes, you can put your sun glasses away now. Even the title of my column has been rationalised, is nothing sacred?

The little band of followers that help me put First Empire together is increasing, seemingly by the day. Thanks are due to the timely assistance of my brother, Richard, who has managed to postpone my early and fast approaching stress induced dementia, by sorting out the accounting system, and to Peter Lawson for help and encouragement over the last month. Peter will becoming on board permanently from issue 11, contributing a new regular column aimed at introducing new people to the hobby.

The sharp eyed amongst you may have noticed two matters of importance, one the price has gone up, but the UK sub rate remains unchanged, and secondly the magazine has grown to near epic proportions, yes this is the biggest yet. Good job we don't fill space with photos or delivery would be by forklift!

A rather grubby subject has to be raised, it has come to the attention of Duncan Macfarlane of Wargames Illustrated, that the now defunct Battle Honours is still causing upset. It would appear that several people have bought shares in that company for rather large amounts of money, prior to it going belly up. Duncan has asked me to mention that there are various matters still pending and it will be helpful to ALL concerned, that, if you are one of these people, you would contact Duncan or myself so that pertinent information can be exchanged. All correspondence will be treated in the strictest confidence. Hopefully this saga will come to an end in the near future.

Finally a plea to contributors, if it is at all possible could you supply your contribution on an IBM compatible or Atari ST disc, in ASCII text or WordStar format. This is of great help and does make for a better mag! Those without a computer, panic not. There is no need to get involved in the 'Black Art', typed contributions are very welcome also.

The National Association of Wargamers

On a more cheerful note, I have been bombarded with literature from the newly formed National Association of Wargamers (NATAW).

NATAW is designed to encourage the hobby of wargaming, to be the voice of wargamers, and bring wargaming to the attention of the general public. It needs your support. So please contact your area representative, so that your views can be put forward.

Nottingham Region: Paul Stubbs 33 Speeding Drive, Hartlepool, Cleveland. TS24 9QE

Central Region: Kevin Townsend 10 Cranbourne Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands. DY8 1QZ

Southern Region: Stuart Burridge 43 Walcourt Road, Kempton, Bedfordshire. MK42 8SL