I had hoped to have four additional pages of color in this issue! Instead, we have to put an issue out that is 4 pages shorter than has been the case ever since we went to the new format in 1979! This is due to several advertisers having fallen on hard times and going out of business of reducing their ad sizes and/or not advertising at all! There seems to be a general slump in the hobby and we have been affected by it. I don’t know how much of this is due to more and more gamers buying directly from the internet or waiting for the dealer to show up at a convention. Our advertisers need to know that you see their ad in these pages. So even if you go to the internet to buy or by mailorder or at conventions, PLEASE tell them that you saw their ad of the review of their product in The Courier. If you rely on our reviews, you might want to tell a dealer out there who has not had his product reviewed by us that you rely on our opinion. He will send review items and perhaps will advertise. The Convention season is upon us and I hope that most of you can get to one. There is no experience quite like one of the major HMGS cons - they are Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory for Miniature gamers. Your local cons support the hobby in your area and is a great way to introduce newcomers to the hobby. You should support them all you can. And back to my old saw.....let the younger kids play! 9-12 year olds are as capable of playing in our games in a mature manner as are most of the adults that are in it. Their eagerness and awe will give your gaming new life! The Courier intends to have a “Courier” room at Historicon again this year - we will schedule some 50 games from Thursday afternoon to Saturday night. Come and join us! If you have a game you would like to put on, please contact me at mgluteus@aol.com. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #87 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com