The Last Thing...

Editorial

by Dave Watkins

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to us! First Empire is eight! So endeth the fourth binder, (new binder available soon - unsubtle plug I know!) The last eight years have seen quite a few changes, we've gone from a Napoleonic Gaming Mag to an all encompassing respected (and quoted) periodical. Which I think ain't bad really considering that all who contribute do so freely. Even the humble editor does so gratis most of the time - "yes park the roller by the pool James, and feed the horses . . ." Of course I have been privileged to meet many of First Empire's readers over the years and mostly it has been a pleasure, your enthusiasm and support have been most welcome and appreciated. Thanks to you all. Victory Long time readers of First Empire will remember a certain altercation between myself and the old "Battle Honours" trading partnership. Well earlier this year good triumphed over evil and victory was mine, not only over the errant couple but also against one of the mighty big four UK banks, who colluded in the affair. Ah! Happiness is a High Court Judgement. Mind you I'm just bloody glad its over, when it started I was a young whippersnapper and now I'm nearing my pension! Wot No Waterloo... Put away your muskets boys, its off! The 2000 re-enactment of Waterloo isn't going to happen and its official. Allegedly, the local government reasoning behind this is that there is a Euro 2000 semi-final in Brussels that weekend so the organisers have "been 'advised' to postpone the event". I find this a little off to be honest, keeping in mind the distance between Brussels and Waterloo and the relatively small number of people who visit the battle area compared to those who might visit the football. Is there something more behind this, does the bicentennial re-enactment at Marengo & Hohenlinden shortly before have anything to do with it? Perhaps some of the European Re-enactment groups who are involved in organising both events might like to enlighten all of us. Particularly in light of the fact that UK and US groups (I remember meeting ANZACS at the last one in 95 also . . .) have been supporting the Waterloo event regularly over the last 20 years or so, and apparently none of them have been troubled by even so much as a phone call saying "Ta very much but its off until 2001". I understand that many UK & US re-enactors were already gearing up for next year so if this is news to you, book a holiday in Corfu next June, 'cos your not doing anything else then! More Articles Time for a plea for more articles. I want to keep a diverse range of articles in each issue, so here is a wish list of topics that you might like to have a stab at; Battles (both factual and wargaming), figure reviews, book reviews, uniform descriptions, re-enactment unit histories, your favourite Napoleonic Unit, your most admired Napoleonic commander (anybody but Wellington, Blücher and Napoleon). But please no hand-written articles -- my eyesight is waning! Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #48 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com