We received a letter from Jerry Lannigan which appears below. Jerry addresses the state of the hobby, in particular World War II gaming. He is taking up where my last editorial left off and is trying to organize an association of World War II gamers. We at Phoenix Military Simulations think this is a very good idea. An association would provide a means for people with similar interests to communicate and to get together to game and share ideas and information. Especially in the current climate, where some are attempting to rewrite the history of World War II using a selected set of facts, an organization that keeps the true history of the War alive is a good thing. We hope that people will work with Jerry to set up an organization that will address both historical and gaming interests.
One of the things Jerry would like to see is an annual tournament. We have run two tournaments and are preparing for number three at Historicon and number four at Cold Wars. We have observed that there is a good deal of interest in competition play. When we started the tournament, our goal was to develop an ongoing interest in the period. The model that we would like to copy is that established by NASAMW, with local tournaments and a yearly national tournament. If anyone is interested in running tournaments at local conventions, please let us know.
Speaking of tournaments, see the notice on page 48 for information on the tournament at Historicon this summer. For those who like to plan even farther ahead, the theme for the Cold Wars '96 tournament will be the Russian Front. For those who am interested in how the tournaments are run, see the article in this issue on the Cold Wars '95 tournament; it includes the three scenarios and the army lists of the winning player.
- Dear Editor
In the last few months, it has become abundantly clear that there is a large percentage of our fellow hobbyists who are avidly dedicated to gaming in the period of World War II. The recent Cold Wars at Lancaster is a very good case to examine. In this observees opinion, the premier game of the whole show was Prokorchovka, 14' long by 6' wide embracing hundreds of AFVs and thousands of other figures. The landscaping and scenery usage matched the effort the game sponsors had expended in constructing their detailed OBs for both sides. In addition, I was astounded to find not one but three Pegasus Bridge scenarios being fought out, as well as several well done micro-armor games being played. The rules used varied tremendously as well, from Soldat and Battalions In Crisis! to Command Decision. Of course, this does not even include the tournament run by the designers of Battalions In Crisis!
The intensity of interest displayed there, in our hobby periodicals, in the wealth of literature about the period generally, and apparently in the general population have led me to offer my services as a clearing house for other wargamers who share my enthusiasms. I propose founding a national organization it la Seven Yeaes War Association. The new organization will have the fundamental purpose of being a forum for those people who have an interest in simulating the period from the Spanish Civil War up to the Sinai Desert Campaign of 1956.
This twenty year period was chosen because of the similarity of weapons systems throughout the era. This World War II Forum initially will focus its activities in two, hopefully mutually supporting areas: a semi-annual tournament occurring at Cold Wars and Historicon and a newsletter. The newsletter will examine historical material of direct interest to gamers as well as material directly related to wargaming such as rules variants, game reviews, game scenarios, gossip, etc. With some planning, this might be expanded into an annual mini-con with this period as the focus.
I would greatly appreciate your support in helping to get this effort off the ground. Interested readers of your periodical can contact me at the above address. I plan to use their responses as a measure of interest in this effort and will get back to all potentially interested parties in as timely a manner as possible.
Thank you for taking the time and space to publish this letter. Hoping to hear from hundreds (well, at least dozens) of interested readers, I remain,
Cordially, Jerry Lannigan
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© Copyright 1995 by Mike Vogell and Phoenix Military Simulations.
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