OOPS!

Last issue we ran out of space and Shelby Stanton was gracious enough to allow us to delay his regular column one issue, for which we are very grateful. Running out of space is sometimes a good thing, sometimes not a good thing. In any event we thank Shelby for allowing us to reschedule his column, which appears herein.

OUR MARKET PLACE AND PLAN

As our dear friend from Space Balls, Yogurt, sez: "Marketing, marketing, marketing." That's what 1990 will see us doing in a very aggressive way.

We are publishing a mini-mag/ catalog that will be distributed to retailers in the United States. It will have the specs on what our system is, what it represents, and how it fits into the market. To create maximum exposure it will be handed out free through retail hobby stores. This promotional piece will run about twelve to twenty pages and have a hard cover, like the magazine.

The title for this work is: "What is Europa?". We think it's important to discuss the general nature of our system and show the gaming public (and potential gaming public) that Europa is a series of parts that link together; a series that you can build on, not one that you have to buy all at once; a system where you can learn the basic rules in one of the games and apply that knowledge to the other games in the system without having to reinvent the wheel with each game.

Many of you have written to thank us for rebuilding Europa and paying attention to long-time players of the series. We certainly want to continue to do that. We also want to build the market for WWII games and bring in new Europa players.

That being said, you will see the mini-mag/catalog appearing at your local hobby store sometime later this year. We will expend every effort to promote the hobby in general and Europa in particlar.

THE CAMPAIGN BEGINS

As was stated in the previous magazine, our system should be voted into the Hall of Fame at Origins '91 to be held in Baltimore that year. This means that our campaign to get that done must start soon. In the next issue of the magazine more details will be given on just how we can accomplish this.

Remember, before there was an Origins, Europa was in print and being played. It is the most lasting historical game/ system/product that has been out there being played by the public. Let's get behind the effort to have it become the first game voted into the Hall of Fame.

AND THE WINNER IS. . .

The combined winners for issues #10 and 11 are Richard W. Hammerle for the Ghost contest in #10, who correctly identified Lord Haw-Haw (an American living in England who went to Germany to broadcast against the Jews and met his fate in 1946 at the wrong end of a firing squad); and Cyril M. Lagvanec, who correctly identified the tank as the Australian AC 1, Sentinel, built to offset the shortage of armor in that country during the early part of WWII. Each winner will receive a certificate entitling him to one free product of his choice from GR/D.

We want to thank all of you who participated in the contests (over 70 entrants) and hope that this next little contest will generate as much interest. The next guy ain't so easy, but I will tell you he set the stage for a movement using a forum that has generated a great deal of controversy and money over the years. He was unique in his approach, was a crook beyond doubt, and backed the wrong side of the political movements of the day.