HOBBY CONSOLIDATION

Michael Dean writes...

August is getting to be that most annoying month in which big, big changes take place in - or perhaps to the hobby industry. Just as stuff hit the fan last August when Avalon announced its sale, this August it is the announced sale of three of the nations largest (and 2 of the best) hobby distributors to a large entertainment conglomerate. Get ready for the aftershocks.

What news we have is at this point very sketchy. Distributor personnel are pretty tight lipped, perhaps from being as stunned as we are. The party line is, of course, that this is progress. But you can read a short press report yourself at http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/19990819 news/current/imgk.htm. Here is an email notice from one of the 3 distributors involved:

Dear Retailers,

Zocchi Distributing, Inc., Berkeley-Top Line, Inc., Alliance Games Distribution, Inc., and Entertainment Network, Inc., have agreed in principle to merge their respective businesses. We believe that as a group will be better able to provide a level of service that we cannot match separately.

Each of the four companies has product lines and services that d others do not. As one we will be able to provide you with a greater i of products. In fact, an important goal of the merger is to bring an entirely new dynamic to our industry. One is a developer of on-line games and CD- ROM tides. They believe that business to business e-commerce is a critical yet untapped strategy, and they want to use it to bring the products to our market. They are not an internet reguler and we want make it very clear that we will not sell directly to consumers. What I will do is introduce some exciting new concepts in marketing and distribution that could bring the best of the high tech world into your store. Electronic gaming, virtual warehousing, internet marketing, and AI based gaming are a few of the possibilities.

The bottom line is that through this merger we are going to be in better position to maintain the service and selection you expect from. In an industry dominated by specialty retailers and dependent on sall manufacturers with great new ideas, we believe that a three-tiered business structure is essential. We truly appreciate and value your business, and we intend to earn your continued loyalty well into the future.

Michael Dean Fine Games (503) 233-6969 M.Dean@FineGames.com

BOULDER GAMES WRITES...

Ah, the beauty of Desk Top Publishing. Where else are you going to find simulations of Caseros, or the operation to free the hostage during the Congolese Civil War or the conflict between Peru and Maoist guerillas or a game as good as Williamsburg, 1862 for $14.40?)... Simlations Workshop, Ivy Street Games, Microgame Co-Op, and Markham Designs are producing the best games in wargaming and selling them about 1/4 of what you'd pay for a boxed game. Simulations Workshop Caseros, 1852 covers the battle that put an end to the Rosa regime Argentina. Regiments- battalions, 250 meters/hex, 30 mins./turn.... Pariz at the Pyramids covers the hypothetical 1942 drive into Egypt by the Afrika Korps.... Cuba Libre! simulates the Bay of Pigs.... We have all Simulations Workshop games in stock. Ivy Street's Chantilly is a brigade level simulation of Jackson's September 1862 flanking movement against Pope. Ivy Street's other two games are Stonewall at Cedar Mountain Williamsburg, 1862 .... You can now buy these games directly from Ivy Street Games (mmrhhn@erols.com). Three new games from Microgame Co-op: Afghanistan is a grand tactical simulation of the critical battles of Russia's Vietnam. 6 miles/hex, battalion, 12 hrs./turn....

Freikorps covers the hypothetical invasion of Germany by the Russia Revolutionary Forces in 1920 after their defeat of the Poles.... The 13 of Armageddon is a 2 or 3 player game wherein the world powers ini in the Middle East for the final showdown. 40 miles/hex, division, 1 week /turn.... All the other Co-op games are in stock. Co-op's web p http://members.home.net/co-op/. Markham Designs' This Sceptered Isle (aka This Emerald Isle) simulates Marlburian War of the Roses battles: Towton, Mortimer's Cross, Tewkesbury, and Barnet.... Montcalm & Wolfe deals with The French and Indian War at an operational level. So far, Markham Designs is the only DTP company producing die cut counters.

Blue Guidon's Fire in Mississippi covers the 1862 Battle of Corinth mile/hex, 90 mins./turn, brigade. (Blue Guidon web site). Minden Games' Panzerschreck is a DTP magazine "dedicated to variants and play of wargames" with a game in it. This issue's solo game is Reichstag Fall of Berlin. Panzerschreck #2 includes Nuremberg, a simple solit~ simulation of the Nuremberg war crimes trial.

Boulder Games 4254 Holley Road, Lizella GA 31052.
http.//www.bakkster.com/boulderg.htm
BoulderG@aol.com