Lamming The Latest Casualty FLASH -Lamming Miniatures is the latest casualty of the economic squeeze and the strength of the dollar vis-a-vis European currency. They report that the price of the tin - based metal needed for the high detail of their figures has reached a Ievel where the profit margin is nil! Lamming investigated metals the other manufacturers are using (bismuth based) but found the quality so poor that "I wouldn't want the figures in my own army - so I won't sell them to someone else!" Not to panic however. The Lammings are keeping the molds and will produce any figures necessary to help their customers round out armies. They will close down general operations as soon as their present stock is exhausted. Best get your orders in now to: Unit 18, Anglo Wharf, 254 Wincolmlee, Hull HU2, OPZ, England. MDG WINTER GAMEFEST CONVENTION REPORT Winter Gamefest, held this past November 12-14 in Detroit's Cobo Hall, was termed a success by the convention's sponsors, Metro Detroit Garners (MDG). "We estimate our attendance was 2200 people and things went more smoothly than ever before," reports MDG president Paul Wood. The show was the third event held by MDG at its new location in Detroit's downtown convention center. "We moved to the convention center to take advantage of the many services available to convention attendees and sponsors," said Wood. "Now with Origins '83, the national Adventure Gaming convention, coming to Detroit in July of 1983, we feel ready to get the maximum use out of this site. We are really looking forward to putting on a show that will top the one we did in Ann Arbor in 1978." According to MDG vice president Bill Somers, "Over 200 events were held at the convention this time, including many, many tournaments in board games, miniatures and role playing games. We also had 3 auctions, an art show, a painting contest and several painting workshops; plus a sanctioned Scrabble tournament, and a chess exhibition. Our new decentralized tournament HQ's worked very smoothly and made people a lot happier. We plan to continue these features for Origins, with an expanded auction, a contract bridge event (sanctioned) and much, much more." MDG will sponsor Origins '83 on july 14-17,1983 at Cobo Hall Detroit. To sponsor an event or get on the mailing list or volunteer your services write MDG, Origins Events/info POB 656 Wyandotte MI 48192. For exhibitor and/or advertiser information write MDG Origins Exhibits/ads, POB 787 Troy MI 48099. Please include telephone numbers in your correspondence where you can be reached by day or evening. WinterCon Report by Steve Herndon THE COURIER has received the following report on the recent WinterCon held in Cobo Hall, Detroit. It is particularly interesting in that it was staged by Metro-Detroit Garners, who will be bringing you ORIGINS '83 in July in the same location. It should be stressed that this is only one person's perception of the convention but there are some indications of problems with organization that may well affect people's enjoyment of ORIGINS. Hopefully these problems will be straightened out by the time July rolls around. "I just returned f rorn WinterCon 82 hosted by the Metro-Detroit Garners in Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. I find myself with wistful thoughts about the opportunity missed to have an enjoyable and successful convention for miniature gamers. Unlike most conventions, it seemed that at WinterCon 82, miniature player.3 predominated. My impression was that there were many more miniatures players than either board gamers or fantasy gamers. There were a number of colonial wargames as well as quite a number of armor oriented games. Napoleonics seemed to be in nominal attendance only. The dealer areas of Cobo Hall was spacious but I was disappointed by the low dealer attendance. Essex Miniatures, Ral Partha, Mini-Figs, Naismith (Enola Games), Jacobite, and Heritage were present. Ral Partha had few, if any, historical figures avaiIabIe. Had the tournaments and events been as well organized as either PennCon or Origins usually are, the convention would have been a huge success for miniatures players. Unfortunately, most events seemed to have significantly less organization than I have grown accustomed to thanks to Richard Bryant, Bob Luddy, Wally Simon and the HMGS people. However, local gamers were impressed by the amount of organization in evidence. The WRG Ancients Tournament began as a 2-3 round tournament for 25mm, and a 3-4 round tournament for 15mm. In the second round they became single elimination tournaments. The entire tournament was scheduled for one day only, compared to the more usual 2-3 days, and there were no breaks between rounds. I found the tournament exhausting and the great majority of players in both ranges did not stay for the second round. The 1 5mm tournament was played to completion, however the 25mm tournament was not finished due to the desire of the referee and one finalist to play another game in another tournament. Yet local players told me that this had been the best run WRG tournament that they had ever participated in Michigan. One of the advantages of organizations similar to HMGS is that the organization has some idea of the ability of numerous individuals to organize and run tournaments. An isolated organization has a great deal of difficulty in organizers. This can lead to real problems; a good player is not necessarily a good referee. Even more true is the fact that an enthusiastic player may not be a good referee. Little attention seemed to be paid to starting times by any of the events or the convention organizers. A number of miniatures events were scheduled in the dealers area prior to its opening. But the guards would not let the players in until one hour past the starting time as this is when the dealers area opened! Some were scheduled in the dealers area at rather late times. This meant that the game terminated at the time that the dealer area closed'. The facilities were comparable to those available at PennCon or any convention held on a college campus. There was adequate parking although it was relatively difficult of access. The access to fast food places are poor; there was very little available within a reasonable distance. The food available within Cobo Hall itself was of low to average quality and expensive. Six donuts, two cokes, and a small milk cost $5.80. There were two hotels within reasonable distance but accommodation was not cheap. Attendance seemed to be excellent. My weekend ticket was numbered 1490 and I arrived relatively early on the first day. I hear estimates of attendance ranging from 2250 to 2800. The hall adequately handled all of the people there without noticeable crowding. WinterCon 82 missed a wonderful opportunity to provide a fun-filled weekend for minatures players by not coordinating its efforts with other gamers, and providing a structured opportunity to play the maximum number of miniatures games desirable in a weekend." MINIFIGS RE-RELEASE S.Y.W. RANGE Miniature Figurines USA. have re-issued their 25mm Seven Years War range in sets of figures for mail-order customers only. The sets contain 6 foot or 3 cavalry figures for $3.98, and guns, limbers etc. are also available. British, French, Prussian, Russian and Austrian figures are well represented, and there are also French and Indian War sets in the range. The idea behind the "no frills" mail-order-only policy is to cut costs to the minimum. MiniFigs assumed (I think correctly) that we don't care how the figures are packaged as long as we receive them quickly and undamaged. Certainly any effort to keep down the cost of figures should be appreciated by gamers. The re-issue is possibly the first of several of MINIFIGS depending upon the response. They would be very interested in re-issuing other out-ofproduction figure lines on a mail-order-only basis if the interest was there. Please write to MINIFIGS if there are any particular lines that you would like to see available again. The address is Box P, Pine Plains, N.Y. 12567. Tel. (518) 398-5166. A complete listing of the figures available in the S.Y.W. range and ordering details are also available from the above address. GLEANINGS Adventure Gaming (Published monthly, $19.00 for 12 issues.) Manzakk Publishing Inc., POB 40169, Forest Park, OH 45240. Back from the near-dead, A.G. seems none the worse for the experience. Volume 11 #1 is mostly devoted to F.R.P.C. and boardgames with features on Role Playing via cable television in Cincinnati, a "Call of Cthulhu" scenario and an in-depth review of "Wings"; a WWI air combat boarclgame. There are also the usual review columns and departments, including Fineous Fingers. Adventure Gaming is a well written magazine that tries, and succeeds, to cover all areas of gaming interest. For example previous issues have contained many articles of interest to historical miniature gamers. The all-things-to-all- people approach may put off some purists, but those gamers with interests in several aspects of the hobby are well served by this magazine. Lone Warrior (Published bi-monthly, $10.00 for6 issues.) Jeff Bayton, 63 Beckingham Rd., Guildford, Surrey, England. The Journal of the Solo Wargamers Association, this magazine is not only for the solo gamer. The latest issue to hand (No. 44, November 1982) is typical in that it has many articles of general interest to historical games. There are features on computers and wargaming, ideas for handling trade and commerce in wargames, notes on the Maxim gun and a description and brief history of the Real Macedonian Regiment; an 18th century Albanian unit in the service of Naples. There are also many articles on the mechanics of solo gaming, a play- by-mail column and an extensive letters column. Lone Warrior has always been a substantial publication and, together with the content, this makes for good value for money. P.W. Review (Published monthly, $8.00 for 12 issues.) Potomac Wargamers, 12905 Layhill Rd., Silver Springs MD 20906. My favorite magazine (newsletter?) after THE COURIER. The December issue has a couple of battle reports (one using Empire III rules) and a lengthy examination of some of the Lanchester equations that deal with battlefield attrition rates over time. There is also a discussion on attempts to assign advantage to one side or another given specific battlefield situations. The conclusion is that there is a great deal of disagreement amongst gamers on just how much of an advantage heavy cavalry (for example) should have when attacking infantry not in square. P.W. Review is well written, humourous and altogether excellent; cynical without being pretentious. OTHER MAGAZINE NOTES Military Modeling have changed their address. It is now POB 35, Wolsey House, Wolsey Rd., Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 4SS. CONVENTION NOTES OrcCon 1983: This is one of the Californian conventions that are run by the Strategicon group. OrcCon will feature Wargame, S.F., Fantasy, Sports and Family Game tournaments. There will be dealer and industry exhibitors and many special events. Cost is $13.50 for pre-registration, $15.00 at the door for three days or $10.00 for one day. CoastCon VI: Everything you'd ever want in a convention! Tournaments, dealers, an auction, movies and video shows, as well as seminars and panel discussions. There will also be plenty of free gaming available. Gaming areas covered will include historical, S.F. and fan tasy. Cost is $10.00 for pre- registration or $15.00 at the door for the three days. Salute 183: Put on by the South London Warlords, Salute is probably the largest wargaming event in Britain. It will feature over 40 demonstration and participation wargames and more than 20 trade stands including all the main firms. There will also be a painting competition and a "bring and buy" stand with bargains galore. TexCon 1983: Featuring many S.F., fantasy and historical games plus Napoleonics and Ancients. Also planned are seminars, demonstrations of new releases, a fully stocked dealer room and other wonders and marvels. Old Colony Historical Miniatures Convention: Sponsored by Old Colony Wargamers, the convention will feature military miniature gaming covering many different historical periods. There will be a WRG Ancients tournament, plenty of participation gaming and several dealers booths. Cost will be $3.00 pre- registered or $4.00 at the door. There will be an additional charge of $3.00 to enter the Ancients tournament. Genghis Con V Denver, CO. Board game, FRP, miniatures and computer tournaments and events, dealers area, demonstrations, auction, movies. Reasonable on-campus housing available. Tri-State Con: Tournaments, Seminars, Game Auctions, Miniatures, Role Playing games, Boardgames and more. GenCon South VI: All the info we have is that it will be at the Thunderbird Resort Hotel in Jacksonville FL. $12 pre-registration and $15 at the door. THE EMPEROR'S BIRTHDAY "Indiana's oldest Wargaming convention" will be held again on March 19,1983 at Century Center in South Bend. There will be dealers, a painting competition and a prize for the best gaming presentation. Historical miniature events include: SYW, Ancients, Colonial, AMR, ACW, WWI, WWII and Napoleonic Naval and many more. 20+ miniatures events in all. For more information write to: Emperor's Birthday Con. XII, P.O. Box 252Elkhart, Ind 46516. CONVENTION CALENDAR Mar 3-6,1983 MICROCON'83 San Marcos TX MicroCon '83, 601 River Rd. #604, San Marcos TX 78666 Mar 4-6,1983 COASTCON VI Biloxi MID Gerry Patton, 165 Devon Way, Biloxi MID 39530 Mar 5-6,1983 WESTPOINTCON West Point, NY Dave Sutter, POB 2998, West Point, NY 10997 Mar 5-6,119113 CENTCON New Britain, CT Downtown Holiday Inn, New Britain Ron Vincent, 471 Commonwealth Ave. New Britain, CT 06053 Mar 11-12,1983 GENCON SOUTH VI Jacksonville FL Mar 18-20, 1983 Fantasy World Fair Oakland, CA Lisa Waters, POB 352, Berkley CA 94701, Mar 19,1983 Emperor's Birthday Elkhart IN Robert Haggerty, 225 Middlebury, #302, Elkhart, IN 46516 Mar 25, 1983 OCW CAME DAYBrockton, MA Phil Jarvio, 117 Cross St., # 6, Central Falls, R.I. 02864 Mar 25-27, 1983 Nova 8 Rochester MI Nova, Order of Liebowitz, Oakland Center, Rochester, MI 48063 Mar 25-27, 1983 Fantasy Fair Tonkawa OK North Oklahoma Dungeoneers, POB 241 Ponca City OK 74602 Apr 23,1983 Salute 1963 London, England J. Merritt, 110 Salehurst Rd., London SE4. Apr 22-24, Contretemps Omaha, NE Contretempa, POB 12422, Omaha, NE 68112 May 20-22,1983, CW1 Spring Con Chicago, IL Chicago Wargaming Inc. POB 217, Tinkley Pk, IL 60477 May 20-23,1983, Can Games Ottawa, ONT Jun 4-6,1983 Dallcon Dallas, TX Dalcon, POB 345125, Dallas, TX 75230 Jun 10-12,1983 Atlanticon Baltimore, MD Atlanticon, PON 15405, Baltimore, MD 21220 Jun 17-19,1983 Genghis Con Denver CO Denvers Games Assoc., P.O. Box 2945, Littleton, CO 80161 Jul 14-17,1983 Origins 83 Detroit MI Metro Detroit Gamers POB 787 Troy MI 48099 Jul 22-24, 1983 Flying Buffalo Con Phoenix, AZ Flying Buffalo Inc. POB 1467, Scottsdale, AZ 85252 Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. IV #3 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1982 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com