GR/D will sponsor the first "Europa Real Time Conference" to be held on GEnie in late April or early May. A Real Time Conference (RTC) is an electric meeting place where members can gather to discuss topics of interest. A RTC most closely resembles a telephone "party line" or conference call where as many as 64 participants can communicate or just listen in. Along with Europa magazine readers I expect you will meet many of the Wargamer RoundTable (GEnie: Category 4 Strategy and War Games) members many of whom are Europa fans. The agenda will include an open O&A session with John Astell and Winston Hamilton featuring whatever YOU want to talk about. A firm date and time could not be determined before press time so watch for the announcement in the Games RoundTable "banner" section and under "RoundTable News." The date and time will be posted on GEnie at least two weeks prior to the event for your convenience. See you there!

Other Digital Developments

Roy "Fire" Lane (of ETO FitE/SE play-by-mail fame) and I are about to begin play on the first official (gamemastered) Play-byElectronic-Mail (PBEM) game. We will use the GEnie electronic mail system (a free service to GEnie subscribers) to transfer each turn's data using software developed specifically for this purpose. Team members will meet on GEnie to discuss game progress, strategies, and to exchange turgid comments on one another's game play. The PBEM method of play is quick, economical, and (perhaps most important) meets the needs of those with hectic schedules. I am of the opinion that once Grand Europa is a reality, PBEM will be the most feasible mode of play.

GE is ideally suited for PBEM: it will require numerous players and an abundance of time. I will make available the software necessary for this style of play when it has been fully tested (critique and revision).

Work has been started on a multimedia presentation of the Europa game system to debut at Origins this year. It will profile individual Europa games with animated sequences of game-play interspersed with 3-D graphics, laser disc images, and full stereo sound. Should be fun, look for the Macintosh in the GR/D booth at Origins.

Tibor Vari has written a basic program to calculate the initial surprise attack air phase for Fire in the East (no more coffee cups!). The program interface is easy to use and perfectly accurate. The program is #1876 in the Europa library and requires an IBM PC or compatible platform and should run with just about any basic, language on the market. I recommend it highly!

The Last Pitch

I encourage all those who can gain access to a PC to join the growing number of Europa players on GEnie. The Europa Category has expanded to include hundreds of messages on 12 unique topics which include the following:

News from GR/D Europa GEnie
Computer Europa
The Europa Magazine
Customer Service from GR/D
Library Data Files on GEnie from GR/D
Grand Europa
Winter War - Project Europa
Questions Asked & Answered
The New Marita Merkur
Computer Assisted Europa
Armor Rules and Developments

You can respond to the comments in these topics or start your own topic! This is also a terrific place to meet Europa players in your area or start a PBEIVI game. If you have any questions or comments concerning computers and Europa please write c/o GR/D and I will be most happy to respond.

Talk to you on-line.