First of all, my sincere apologies for the lateness of this installment of CoE. I developed a mild form of writer's block while writing the French Foreign Legion scenario for this issue. Initially, I had planned for a simple scenario involving the FFL in Spain, but as I wrote, the background information kept expanding until it took over the article! There is still reams of information available on the Carlist Wars, a fascinating period in Spanish history, which will be worked into future issues of Clash of Empires.

This issue also features our first submission from outside the usual Clash of Empires study group: Scott Hansen has submitted a review of the Principle of War rules-set. Scott is one of the few miniature gamers I know who games the Schleswig War of 1864, and has offered to put together some information and scenarios on this little-known campaign.

Cold Wars 97

Cold Wars '97 was something of a disappointment as far as 19th Century warfare goes. Despite the theme of "Port Arthur: The Russo-Japanese War" our period was woefully under-represented. Were it not for the efforts of Nigel Marsh and his Franco-Prussian "Amanvilliers" game, and Ben King with his Russo-Japanese naval scenario, 19th century European Wars of Empire enthusiasts would have found little of interest.

There was another set of games scheduled, but I could not find them in any of the game rooms, despite the aid of R.H. Cassidy. According to the brochure, they were both Franco-Prussian games, both scheduled for 1:00 PM Saturday, and both run by the same fellow. Hmm...I wonder if there was a scheduling problem.

Be that as it may, I have resolved to run the "Second Battle of Nachod" scenario from last issue at Historicon '97. At least one of these will run on Sunday. I am frantically trying to finish painting the second Austrian Corps (Uncle Leopold's), and I hope that those readers who make it to the convention will honour me by playing.

Regarding last issue of CoE: My apologies to those who had trouble with the coloured ink. While some reeders maintain that red text posed no problem, others reported having trouble and for that I apologise. In future, look to more conventional presentation. (Actually, I had nothing to do with it: It wasn't me, I wasn't there, I couldn't have stopped them, it was my evil doppelganger, I was only following orders!)

Also, sorry about the quality of the map on the back inside cover; I'm no artist, but even I must admit it didn't print well on the blue background (on a positive note, an artistically gifted wargaming friend of mine has offered to assist in map production, so look forward to an improved quality in future issues.)

Thanks to...

Also, my sincere thanks to all those who have taken subscriptions, and especially to Mike Condello for a generous donation of money to help get us going. Thanks also to all those who promised articles, a few have already begun to trickle in, and also great thanks to Andrew Preziosi, who has made some invaluable donations of time and information, and who has kindly agreed to become a contributing Editor end assist with the more obscure orders of battle.

Finally, on Sunday, July 20th 1997, Turner Network Television will premier "Rough Riders", an account of the Spanish-American War, starring Gary Busey, Sam Elliot and Tom Berringer. From the promotions seen on TV, the historical accuracy of the uniforms and equipment looks quite good: one hopes that they can sustain the same quality of story as their production of "Gettysburg."

-Finis-