Welcome to the 90's everybody. We have a slightly new look, a slightly bigger magazine, a slightly different name, and continue to evolve up the ladder.

The Europa News has changed its name to Europa. A minor change to be sure, but it will suit our purposes. Rick Gayler, John Astell, Deen Wood, and myself are getting better equipment, thanks to Mark Van Roekel. John Greer is helpful as ever on magazine design; Jason Long has signed on as text manager (glorified entry grunt), which will help to no end; Tom Johnson (a.k.a. Task Force Johnson) now leads the gritty gang of gamers at the demos; Stephanie resides in the back making sure that things get sent and work gets done; and my wife runs the business end of the business. We are getting bigger; we are getting better!

The Second Front Playtest Kit is out and about. First and second waves have landed in the testers' mailboxes and everyone is busy cutting out about 6,000 counters. I did the entry on the Mac for these counters and they are only playtest versions. The final counters will look great. We did a mock-up on some here in the print shop and they looked good on our equipment. When we get the first draft of the Balkan Front counters done it will be on a 2400 dots per inch machine and should really look super. The playtest kit was a monster to do. I spent much time and effort getting the counters done. Many other souls participated in the preparation of the kits and we all owe them a debt of thanks.

Winston Hamilton Bio

Now I want to discuss a topic that has appeared on GEnie and in the mail to me. Most of you know who John Astell is; what he does is a known fact. The same can't be said for me. I have seen speculation as to who I am and what I do. Well, the short course on me is as follows:

I was born here in Grinnell, Iowa. I enlisted in the U.S. Army when I turned 17 and did a tour in the RVN (camping out with guns). After that I attended college for two years, became involved in VVAW (Vietnam Vets Against the War), became a union organizer, moved back to Grinnell when my father wanted to retire, and took over his business. I have a wife of ten years (Darla) and we are in business in Grinnell.

I own and operate an insurance company in Grinnell (third generation); my wife, Darla, and I own and operate a printing company (Grinnell Graphix); and John Astell and I own and operate Game Research/Design. I am also the Secretary of the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and will be taking over the Executive Directorship of the same this next Origins.

Now, that is one full plate and to break it down it goes as follows: insurance for the money, printing for the interesting work, and GRD - well, as a young boy I always wanted to produce wargames, run a wargame company, and be involved with the industry (which many of us gamers grew up wanting to do, I suspect). I work for GAMA because I want to be heavily involved in the organization of the gaming community and want to have a hand in building this fine association that will benefit all facets of the hobby.

I have had a close association with GDW and knew Frank Chadwick when he was attending college in Rock Island, Illinois in the early 1970's before there was a GDW. I became addicted to Europa (as most of us did) when DNO came out. Since that time I have worked with GDW as a Playtester and was honored to help develop some games with that company. My official title is Chief of the Department of History of GDW which earns me a free parking space at the company HO in Normal, Illinois, and two free copies of each title produced. (I also have a complete collection of unfolded maps of all the titles they have produced. Oh boy!).

And now on to more important stuff.

And the winners are... We are pleased to announce the winners for the Europa magazine "Best Awards." These awards are presented to authors who have produced the best article for the year in one of two categories: Historical Article and Gaming Article. There were many fine articles to choose from and we deeply appreciate all the time our contributors have taken to help us produce this magazine. The awards for 1989 were determined by the staff.

In the last issue of this year's magazine there will be a ballot and we will determine the winners for 1990 based on how you, the readers, vote. But this year's winners are: Jack Radey, "The Battle for Kiev", issue #7 for Historical Article; and Roy Lane, "Russian Tactical Doctrine", issue #7 for Gaming Article. Congratulations. Watch for this year's ballot in issue #16 of Europa.

Ghost Drawing Winner

Well, I went and did a silly thing. I did not announce a deadline for entry for the Ghost of Europa drawing for a free game. Now, the deadline for entry (postmarked) will be as follows: Issue #10 and #11 are combined and the deadline is March 31, 1990. As each Ghost is presented you will be told what the deadline is. Can't really say who the Ghost for #10 is yet, but we will announce in Issue #12 the Ghost for #10 and #11, along with the winners of the two drawings. We are going to offer the winner of each Ghost contest a free game of choice. The list of games available to choose from will be mailed to each winner.

Balkan Front

Get thee ready. BF is getting ready for playtest. Elsewhere in the magazine there is a more detailed ad for the game. We are about to send out the auto-ship order forms to the distributors. My estimation for the release is now May/June of this year. We will want some playtest time to insure that the game works and to double check "things" in the production stream (my responsibility). The box art has been completed (neat) for the Collector Series' box. Say goodbye to the grid. We are doing something that has never been done before to my knowledge and it should prove to be a distinctive box. The black and gold color scheme will get the attention of anyone looking at games, the remainder of the box will be useful and interesting to look at.

We will have our name and address on this box and a UPC label (Uniform Product Code) as well. The game will feature revised OBs for the national armies that took part in the actual campaign, more scenarios, more forces (the Bulgarians), and a few other items, such as the new maps, which should be well received. This will be no small matter to us here at GRD. This is our first real game and we will do a good job of presenting it to you.

The game is designed to appeal to the general market as well as the tried and true old guard of the system. It should stimulate the series, increase exposure of the system, and bring in some new players. Given the state of the wargame market at this time, it should be a shot in the arm.

Media Review and a Plug

I would like to say a few words about the magazine trade in our field of WWII gaming.

There is a current state of unrest in the market as a period of "adjustment" is upon us. In the next issue of our magazine we will be publishing a ballot for your votes on the "best" in a number of categories. This year we did not enter the field of publications for a number of reasons. Next year we are going to be there in several categories. I encourage everyone to vote on the Origins Ballot that will be included in the next issue and strongly urge everyone to vote for us next year for the origins awards. I also believe that our system should be voted into the Hall of Fame as one of the most outstanding and certainly the longest running series of WWII games ever to hit the market.

I would like to start the campaign for putting the series in the "Hall of Fame" right now and ask all of you to vote for Europa next year when the ballot comes out.

That wraps up this edition. G'day mates.