This editorial opens with a sad note - the passing of Fred Vietmeyer. Fred wrote the Column, Line & Square rules that so many of we "Old Guard" bit our wargaming teeth on. His passing marks the passing of an era in Miniature Wargaming and he will be sadly missed. See the obituary this issue.

Phil Barker

By the time you see this Historicon 97 will have taken place and you will be aware of the Scruby Award to Phil Barker. The Scruby Award is named for the father of Historical miniature Wargaming in the US and is given every other year to "that person whose contribution to the hobby is on such a level that the hobby would not be the same without him."

There were several very deserving candidates who, no doubt, will be awarded in subsequent award years. But who cannot realize that Phil, almost single-handed (though he will deny it) brought Ancient Gaming to the level it is today. His seminal rules and reference works led to the tournament play we see at just about every convention -the hobby is mush richer because of his effort. Congratulations, Phil.

SAPPER'S REPORTS

There has been a dearth of Sapper's Report articles lately. It is very popular with the readers and I would like to have one in every issue. Many have promised such but have not been forthcoming. I know many of you have ideas on new approaches to terrain, buildings, gaming items, etc. send it in on disk with a hard copy and photos and illustrations.

OTHER ARTICLES

Quite a few readers have written in to ask why we don't have more of 'such-and-such articles'. We can only print what we get - there is no staff of writers. You the readers provide all our articles. Send a Stamped - Self Addressed envelope for our Authors Guide. We have plenty of articles on hand, but they tend to be about only a few periods and we like more diversity. We need DBM- and DBR-oriented articles, good scenarios in just about any period. We would like to see some Fire & Fury scenarios and battle reports as well as some based on Empire rules and Piquet. Of course we will entertain artic and battle reports as well as some based on Empire rules and Piquet. Of course we will entertain articles on any Historical Miniature Wargaming subject.