GRD Retrenches

It has announced plans to halve its print runs on upcoming (and overdue) games. It also suggested that it would cut out distributors, and perhaps even dealers other than the list 20-some "Europa HQ Stores," beginning in perhaps a year with the publication of Narvik.

Were this to plan come about, *you* may suffer in three ways. First, the games are going to be harder to find generally. A limited number of retail stores can get them. GRD has explicitly and repeatedly declined to include mail order companies such as Fine Games in their plans. And the small number of retail HQ stores cannot possibly cover the entire world of Europa players. Second, by restricting how Europa games are sold, the average price of a game will rise. Third, the whole scheme will do nothing about the slow attrition of Europa system players due more to demographics (child rearing) and lack of in-print games.

More News

Azure Wish Edition announces 8 more titles! For those who can't get enough rules to read, or nice MAC graphics, you'll have a great spring. AWE will have 8 titles appearing over time during the first half of this year. See the Pending list below for more details.

Osprey Historical Books sink a cargo ship in the Suez Canal. This is no joke, at least not to Osprey. A cargo vessel carrying a sizable shipment of these books was lost enroute to the US. One consequence is that Osprey titles may be in tight supply for several months. Strange but true... [To the Editor's knowledge, this is at least the second time this sort of event has happened to a games shipment from Europe.]

Nuclear War is more expensive. Flying Buffalo's Nuclear War card games series have increased in price by 25% to $25 list each (FG price $17.50). Since these hadn't changed prices forever, and they're a lot of mindless fun, they're still worth it. Super Germ speaks.

GMT lives! GMT has published two new Great Battles modules, one each for Caesar and Alexander. And they've announced the impending publication of 3 new games and the SPQR Players Guide we'd already given up hope on. See the New & Pending Releases sections for full details. But note that the most noteworthy element here is the pulse at GMT, a sign of life, the first in some time.

Victory Games are going. I checked my distributors' stock of Victory Games & discovered that nearly a third were no longer available. That includes such games as Across 5 Aprils, Battle Hymn, Flashpoint: Golan and even Omaha Beachhead. So, I recommend that you plan to pick up an Victory Games titles you really want by year end.

New Games Releases

Even in an especially slow season for board gaming, there are always some treats. AH's ASL Classics mag just arrived today. 48pgs of the best of ASL, with charts & scenarios galore from prior Generals. $11. The 3rd Euro-News Pack, this one covering 8 scenarios in the last 5 months of the war is also out at $7.

Moments in History published Jack Greene's update of Ironbottom Sound. This has always been a popular game by those who enjoy naval combat, and Jack has specialized in naval games thru his career. This version is thoroughly updated in the rules & graphics. It has essentially (only) the same set of 10 scenarios, however. $29.

Another Master Europa series rules kit is available, this one for the Balkans Front. $16. Last, all of the Babylon 5 miniatures published by Agents of Gaming to date are now available. Production problems have dogged this company from the start, but now about 10 smaller ships are now in print. Limited quantities of each are stock.

Hot Picks

Simply Cosmic by Mayfair Games is still available. For those anxiously seeking a hard to find copy of Cosmic Encounters (good luck), I recommend this little "beginners" set. While not as elaborate as the full game, obviously, it does allow 2-4 players to thrill in ignoring the normal rules of the game. Simply Cosmic follows the basic parameters of CE. It also can be combined with CE should you later pick up a copy, allowing up to 10 players in a CE orgy. Simply Cosmic is technically out of print but supplies are still plentiful so it will be around for a while ($14).

Mighty Fortress: The game is a 6 player treatment of the reformation, a lengthy period of continental wars in which the the monolithic control of the Catholic Church was broken. This game was, I believe the first and one of very few outside submissions published by SPI. The reason is that the game is elegantly simple but oh so rich in the potential for alliances of steel, dastardly back stabbing and economic ruin. Plus a little bon fire building under a stray missionary or two.

Six players--no more and no less--seek to fulfill secret and widely variable victory conditions using simple, generic military units of land & sea. But these military units must be paid for. And the aggressor in a war gets *no* income for the duration of the war... So its great fun to horde some money, then lure an unsuspecting, unprepared nation into a war it can't afford. After several turns they'll gladly sell you whatever concession you were squabbling over.

Underlying the military dimension is another in which two players' missionary compete for religious control of Europe. In fact, these two players get most of their points from religious conversion rather than military control. So both players duke it out in this way, while asking for the assistance of other players who can knock off missionaries outside of cities. If it weren't for the fact that this game takes 6 players all of two solid nights to play, it would certainly be one of the best games of all time. IMO. Worth looking for.

Essig, Powell Injured in Crash

Sara Essig writes, in a message forwarded to the Internet:

Dean, Dave & Chris flew down to Rod Miller's for a weekend of Miniature Airplane fun and at Chapel Hill they had a crash. Dean & Dave have broken bones but are doing okay. Chris Volny is in serious condition. I am asking everyone to keep them, especially Chris & his family, in your thoughts and prayers.

Cards may be sent to UNC Memorial Hospital, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill NC 27514. Dean's room number is 4716, Dave's is 5306 & Chris is in ICU in rm #2731. They are not receiving phone calls.

Update: 2/27/98 . Dave is doing okay. He's had surgery on his leg. Dean has a broken ankle (and has had surgery on it) He has broken ribs, a broken nose and a very badly broken shoulder/arm. He will be laid up for a while. Sara said he's looking at 6-8 weeks in a wheel chair once he's released from the hospital (no time frame for that yet). Dean will probably be needing surgery on his shoulder. Chris is awake and cheerful and is regaining more feeling. They are talking about doing surgery on his spine on Monday. He also has many broken bones.

If you live in the Chapel Hill area and want to go see the guys, itwould be great if you could just go for a short time and tell them how many people are thinking of them and praying for them.If you don't live in that area, go ahead and send a get well card-- it will be appreciated!

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com