I'm not at my best at four in the morning, especially when a 10-plus hour drive is facing me. Of course I didn't sleep a wink the night/morning before. Too nervous, I guess. I drank a couple of beers to relax. Bad move since I rarely drink. So I had a hangover to boot. The coffee and cold shower didn't help, but at least I was a wet and hyperactive drunk, which could only be an improvement. Or so I hoped.

Why was Little Bill punishing himself worse than a monk after Vespers? Simple! I was off to AvalonCon in a matter of minutes. Yes, after twenty years and countless dollars in the hobby (in all its forms), I was making a Pilgrimage to Mecca. The mountain had refused to come to Mohammed, so Mohammed was heading for the mountain (over West Virginia's mountains, no less). Baltimore, the birthplace of wargaming, was mine to conquer.

Well not entirely mine. Two friends were making the trip with me. We would share the driving and hopefully wouldn't kill ourselves at close quarters before reaching Maryland. Jim Johnson, a computer programmer with a typical programmers analytical mind is a penultimate tactical gamer. John Herrington, a student at Asbury College, is at the other end of the spectrum, specializing in strategic level games. I defy any classification. Whether that is due to skill or mental (inst)ability I have no idea.

I will not dwell on our exploits at AvalonCon in great detail, but a capsule summary is in order. John played in the ADVANCED THIRD REICH tourney and did quite well. This is THE game for John, so I'm not surprised. He placed 7th in the massive two day event. He also played CANDIDATE and ATTACK SUB but without success. Jim, after having no luck at CAESAR-ALESIA or ENEMY IN SIGHT played well in MUSTANGS and took third place in the ATTACK SUB tournament.

This was only my third tourney and I was like a kid in a candy shop. My two forays into multiplayer games (NAVAL WAR and KINGMAKER) did not go past the first round but I had fun. I won my first round match of STORM OVER ARNHEM before losing in round two to Jim Doughan (who later won BKN over Don Greenwood).

I "lost" my first round game of 1776 on the last turn. I put lost in quotes because I later realized my opponent forced marched a supply unit to reach the final battle, which is a rules violation. I don't think it was deliberate, and it was my fault for not catching it at the time. I was in bed mulling over the game later that night/morning when it hit me. I had little luck at ATTACK SUB other than teaching Jim and John how to play over breakfast at McDonald's Sunday morning. Talk about a disciple tar outshining his master!

But the gaming is not the whole story behind AvalonCon. That honor belongs to the people. I made several friends from Maine to California with whom I plan to stay in touch. I can't begin to name all so I won,t name any so as to not leave anyone out. Of course I ran into those heavy, competitive types to whom winning is everything, but thankfully they were not as numerous.

As far as fellow SGS members go, I had the pleasure of putting several faces on what had just been names in THE STRATEGIST before. I introduced myself to two masters, Randy Heller (BULGE) and Tom Olsen (ANZIO) playing their games. Tom was reading a newspaper while his foe sweated over a key move. Talk about confidence! I dropped by the FIREPOWER event to say hello to Judy Krauss and Frank Cunliff looked me up (my wearing a University of Kentucky tee-shirt aided his search, no doubt).

I later had to watch Frank and John Herrington play each other in ATTACK SUB. Like a true friend I decided to cheer for the winner! Fen Yan was involved in the Kingmaker tourney, although we didn't play in the same game. Fen definitely made my day, "Wow, the SGS VicePresident, cool!" Being very subject to flattery, I would award him a lifetime subscription to the STRATEGIST if I were editor! I enjoyed meeting all of you.

We even managed to do a little sight seeing around Baltimore. The inner harbor was neat but Fort McHenry was awesome. A history buff cannot help but be moved by standing on those ramparts, watching the water flow by, putting myself back in time. And the weather was perfect; a cool and crisp Saturday morning made to order. I became homesick for south Alabama, where I grew up a stones throw away from Fort Morgan and the Gulf of Mexico. For a moment I was a kid again.

Last issue Ken raised the question of whether the increase of multi-game events over two player games was a good thing? After only three cons (Origins'83, DragonCon'88 and this one) I really can't answer that. Multi-player events have increased social advantages over playing just one person. But the groups encountered at Cons are often different than your click at home.

For instance, in my group blatant backstabbing for its own sake is simply not done. The JERK FROM HELL in my KINGMAKER game at AvalonCon was obviously from a gaming click with less manners. And many people will play multi-player games at Cons because getting five to seven people together in their area is simply not possible. If two player games are declining, I think the time element can be blamed. Can you really enjoy such abbreviated versions of RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN or RUSSIAN FRONT?

Will I return next year? As long as a major catastrophe stays out of my life the answer is yes. What I will play is up in the air. My problem is that unlike Jim and John, I'm not 100% Avalon Hill. For competitive play, my best games are A HOUSE DIVIDED (GDW), ETO/PTO (TSR), and TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD (and all its lesser cousins). But winning is not my biggest goal in gaming.

The hobby is one of the ways I meet people and enjoy my life. I'll probably still play ATTACK SUB next year. The only other game I'm sure about is ACROSS FIVE APRILS. Other than that it is all up in the air. I plan to write Mr. Greenwood and Co. about Gamemastering a STALINGRAD event. After all, if WATERLOO and AFRIKA KORPS are around, why not STALINGRAD? if nothing else, it will give me another opportunity to hand out SGS flyers!