This has been an interesting issue to put together. The Canadians do a fine job of supporting their traditions and we should compliment them on the depth of material and knowledge they brought to this issue. In fact, we continued to receive material for this issue long after we had started to kay it out. Some of that new stuff made it in, but some of it had to be excluded for various reasons. The only trouble is that we were so deluged in material that we were late in getting this issue out again! Or at least later than we would have liked. This issue will be appearing along with # 13 in another double mailing, but hopefully (as of this writing at least) these issue will be the first typeset on a genuine typesetting machine. Our printer has just purchased a Linotronic that will allow us to have greater flexibility in graphics, cleaner, more readable text, and excellent shades and backdrops. I've only just begun to experiment with the possibilities and it will probably take a few issues to settle out, so please bear with me. The tournament for ORIGINS is all set and I'm hoping that it will be a true and fair test of player ability. We'll see. I won't be participating in this year's Air Superiority Tournament since I'm running the show, but JD may be able to talk me into joining the fun and frolic of the Air Strike game. In fact, more than one person has requested that JD participate in the Air Sup tourney so they'll get a shot at him. What do you say, JD? Are you game? As for the newsletter business, we seem to be doing all right. Quite a few subscriptions expired with issues #11 and #12 and most everyone signed back up -- many for two years. This has brought our cash levels back up to a respectable level and we'll be back to where we were a year ago if things go well. What do I mean by "going well"? It depends on several factors. First, JD and I would like to get a bunch of new subscribers aboard at ORIGINS and get a substantial piece of the New England gaming constituency. We also hope to establish ourselves as a legitimate gaming entity and perhaps look toward publishing full-fledged games and gaming materials in the future. In addition, we hope that 2nd Edition Air Superiority will attract a fair number of new gainers and that we'll be able to put a flyer or some such in the actual game box so we can reach a larger target audience. We will be able to do new things only as long as the subscriber base continues to increase. If we merely maintain our current levels, we will be forced to maintain our current product. This is not necessarily bad, but we do have higher hopes. I want to take an opportunity to thank the subscribers for their overwhelming support on the offering of their time to edit, typeset, and layout the newsletter. The response has been much greater than anticipated. Frankly, while performing those functions was the most time consuming in the past, since JD and I share a common computer system now, the technical details of putting together an issue are getting easier. Unfortunately, the time that either of us have to devote to the process is considerably smaller. I recently received one of the few pieces of negative feedback that we get, suprisingly enough. The author took issue with us over the delay of the past three AIR POWER's. My first reaction was to take the letter personally and I was considering how to phrase an appropriate response when I happened across another piece of mail with the exact opposite tone. It congratulated us on maintaining service in the face of two major moves, two job changes, and a war. I think a reasonable reaction is somewhere in between. It's true that the last few issues have been unreasonably late. It's also true that the publication of AIR POWER is very much a hobby and "labor of love" for both JD and myself. We do not directly benefit from the money we receive for this publication. All of the profit goes back into improving the newsletter. While I am willing to go to great lengths to make an issue the best it can be, I do have my limits. When JD first asked me to edit this publication, he did not realize the potential afforded by the Macintosh computer. He expected a typewritten newsletter with minimal graphics and formal layout. I do take pride in AIR POWER and I'm glad to see that you readers get a lot out of it, but I have never received any training in graphics arts, I do not have access to the kind of facilities available to a real publication, and I am the only staff member, required to keep up with mailing lists, accounting, billing records, unpublished material, and copy editing. And I work full-time. Try this one on for size. The gist of the matter is that I apologize in advance for erratic service, delayed issues, and typos. I will continue to do best that I can in maintaining the quality of AIR POWER. I ask that the readers try to understand that we are not Fire & Movement or Challenge. This is a "niche" product -- servicing a relatively small and dedicated band of Air Superiority players. If I wanted to get rich, I'd write a newsletter on beating the state lottery. If you feel the need to comment on this, please feel free. We read every piece of mail that arrives here, even if we can't respond to all of it (and can't read the small share that never seems to arrive). Now on to more important matters. Issue #15 will be dedicated to the India-Pakistan conflict and while #16 has no theme yet, it will certainly contain a great deal of material from the ORIGINS tournaments. We will be using the tournament scoring system I outlined in a previous issue and I have some new ideas on victory points that I'll share with our readership after I've had a chance to test them out on hapless young gainers in Baltimore. Expect both of these issues to go to press sometime in late July and arrive in the mail in late August. Since issue # 16 is the Jul/Aug issue, we'll be pretty much back on track. No theme has been decided for issues # 17 or # 18 either, but I'm pretty excited just to realize that we'll be reaching the end of our third year soon. And what surprises do we have in store for next year? I will say that JD and I have a few tricks up our sleeves and you won't be disappointed. Now, on to the games! Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 14 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com