As you've probably noticed already, in the center-spread pages of this issue you'll find the results of the vote taken two issues back for the Best Game of the Year and the Best Game of All Time. Neither contest was very close.

THIRD REICH won Best of the Year by a margin of about 3 votes for every 2 won by the second place winner, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

BLUE & GRAY, on the other hand, took third place only by one vote more than TOBRUK and PANZER LEADER).

Meanwhile, DNO took Best of All Time honors for the second consecutive year, and it was no contest. Second place Panzerblitz, also finishing second last year, got less than a third of the votes received by DNO, and eased past Anzio by one vote. The two that tied for third place last year finished far down: Diplomacy was 7th and SPI's WWII (last year's runner-up for Best of the Year) has evidently not stood up well under the test of time, for this year it did not receive one single, solitary vote!

There are a couple of other interesting things to note. First, notice that, while THIRD REICH soundly defeated DUNGEONS & DRAGONS for Best of the Year, they finished in the opposite order in the Best of All Time running - though here the difference was only 1 vote.

It's also interesting to note how well Avalon Hill did: First, Fourth, and Fifth for Best of the Year; Second, Third, and Fifth for Best of All Time.

Ordering

Switching now to another topic, I want to say that most of you who order games, books, or back issues from us will probably receive your order within a couple of weeks, possibly sooner, if your order weighs a pound or more - for then it will go via the United Parcel Service. Smaller packages, or customers in Canada or with P.O. Box addresses, may have to wait 3 weeks or 4, because such orders go via third or fourth class mail.

Occasionally, however you may find it takes even longer - sometimes we run out of something and have trouble getting more quickly, especially if it has to come a long way, like from Australia. Therefore, while on the average, you can expect to receive you order within 3 weeks, please don't start getting worried until, say, 60 days have gone by. If you feel you must check on an order sooner than that please be specific about what and when you ordered and where it was to be sent, and send a stamped, self- addressed envelope. The more time answering your questions takes up is that much less time we have to fill the order, to order whatever it is we're out of, work on the next issue of the magazine, etc.

Return Fire

Having gotten that behind us we can get on to the results of last issue's Return Fire. In the 1 to 10 ratings the results averaged as follows:

Thumbnail Analysis 7.15
issue #71 as a whole 6.86
My Pilgrimage to the Cathedrals 6.47
ROMMEL: The War For North Africa 6.41
LA BATAILLE DE LA MOSKOWA 6.35
The Southern Strategy 6.33
The Campaign & Battle of Brussels 5.94
Line of Communications 5.51
Mail Call 5.50
Book Review 5.36
G2 Reports 4.83
Miniature Warfare 4.76

Yet again "Thumbnail Analysis" tops the list, but it is down from 7.75 for issue #70. All down the line the articles and columns rated lower than those in #70, yet the overall rating is up, from 6.80. This would seem to indicate that, while no one article really excited everyone, the combination of articles was more pleasing as a whole.

In the voting for best three articles "The Southern Strategy" moved up to nose out two articles that rated higher on the 1-10 rating a sign that those who liked it really liked it.

Cathedrals of Wargaming - Greene $5.00
The Southern Strategy - Holland $3.00
ROMMEL - Sarnoff $2.00