This report was developed from inputs provided by Todd Fisher, Bob Coggins, Chris Parker and Kruse Smith. Atlanticon won Origins once again and decided to put it on in Baltimore over a 4th of July weekend! The venue and date were bad enough but the lack of any formal arrangement for the presentation of Historical Miniature gaming to the same level that is accorded to board and fantasy gaming added to a total disaster for Miniature gamers. HMGS or some similar organization for miniatures was sadly missed! The gentleman who was in charge of Historical Miniatures (sorry, I don't have his name) was running his own Dungeon games throughout, leaving the miniature game organizers to work things out for themselves. For instance, the Ancient Competition being run by Kruse Smith at great personal expense and at the express request of the Origins organizers was at one point thrown out of the room they were given for the event to make room for a board games tournament! I have never heard of that happening to any other group except miniature gamers at any Origins. There were some 28 miniature events, many of which cancelled because of a lack of participation. Even the Alamo game that has gamers deep at HMGS conventions didn't have enough players to fill all the slots. The highlight for Historical Miniature gamers was the seminar given by Ian Weekley of Battlements. He is the gentleman who constructs those marvelous wargame buildings seen in Miniature Warfare and Military Modelling magazines. The fireworks at the convention came at the GAMA meeting. During the site selection meeting for 1990 (Origins 88 is in Milwaukee and Origins 89 is in Los Angeles). Two bidders neglected to even mention Historical Miniatures in their plans which touched off a broadside from several HMGS members. Atlanticon was one of the bidders who lost out. A group from Atlanta has won Origins for 1990 and have already approached HMGS for support. THE GAMA AWARDS The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design announced the winners of the H.G. Wells and Charles Roberts awards for 1987. THE H.G. Wells awards are given for outstanding achievement in miniatures and role-playing games. The Charles Roberts awards are presented for outstanding achievement in boardgames. The awards are presented annually at Origins, the national adventure gaming convention. The awards for 1987 were presented at Origins '87 held in Baltimore, Maryland, July 2-5,1987. THE H.G. WELLS AWARDS Best Historical Figure Series, 1986 American Civil War Line Stone Mountain Miniatures Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Figure Series, 1986 Fantasy Lords Line Grenadier Models Best Vehicular/Accessory Series, 1986 BattleTech Mech Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. Best Miniatures Rules, 1986 Command Decision Game Designers' Workshop Best Role-Playing Rules, 1986 Ghostbusters West End Games, Inc. Best Role-Playing Adventure, 1986 Going Home, Twilight:2000 Game Designers' Workshop Best Role-Playing Supplement, 1986 1. BattleTech Technical Readout, BattleTech FASA Corp. 2. Cthulhu by Gaslight, Call of Cthulhu Chaosium, Inc. Best Professional Role-Playing Magazine, The Dragon TSR, Inc. Best Professional Miniatures Magazine, 1986 The Courier The Courier Publishing Co. Best Play-By-Maill Game, 1986 It's a Crime Adventures by Mail Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Computer Game, 1986 Bard's Tale II Electronic Arts Best Screen Graphics in a Computer Game, 1986 Gunship MicroProse Software, Inc. THE CHARLES ROBERTS AWARDS Best Pre-20th Century Game, 1986 Chickamauga West End Games, Inc. Best 20th Century Game, 1986Fortress America Milton Bradley Co. Best Fantasy/Science Fiction Game, 1986 Kings & Things West End Games, Inc. Best Professional Boardgame Magazine, 1986 Wargamer World Wide Wargames, Inc. Best Military/Strategy Gettysburg, Computer Game, 1986 the Turning Point Strategic Simulations Inc. Best Amateur Adventure Gaming Magazine, 1986 Newsletter Hal Thinglum Best Graphic Presentation, 1986 Korean War Victory Games, Inc. Hall of Fame, 1986 Lou Zocchi More Courier Dispatch: News Atlanticon's Origins: A Disappointment in Baltimore Historicon 87 Sets Another Attendance Record News 1987 Wargames Figures News 1987 Gleanings: Magazines 1987 Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VII #6 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1987 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