A Vicious Cycle

"Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute."
--- Anonymous

The Europa magazine is published on a bimonthly basis, for a total of six issues per year. Barring some misfortune, this issue should reach your mailbox or hobby store in the latter part of June. Here's a brief rundown of the typical publication cycle for TEM, using the upcoming July/ August edition as an example.

The deadline for article submission is the first day of the two month cycle, or July 1, 1990. As editor, I select the articles TEM will publish and procure the regular columns from our colum nists. Some projects and articles are passed on to Deen Wood, the assistant editor, for development. Manuscripts are sent to Jason Long, our text manager, for keying. In practice this is a continuous process as we build a "library" of articles from which to draw for future issues.

This supply of edited material cuts down on last minute hassles and is instrumental in gaining consistency in deadline management. Meanwhile, Winston and I are in frequent touch, discussing details and settling on the cover, graphics, pictures, and so forth. To the extent possible, computer file transfers are used to pass all this information around.

By the last week of July, all articles, tables, and ad text for #14 should be in final form and ready to transmit from my computer in Opelika, Alabama to Winston's computer in Grinnell, Iowa. Once he receives these files, Winston begins the arduous task of laying out the magazine. This process has its own demons - sometimes articles won't quite fit, or run longer than anticipated, meaning we have to push something back to the next issue!

It is during this stage that headings, cut lines, and last minute text modifications are made.

After the layout is complete, Winston prints the magazine in draft form and sends me a copy by overnight mail. I make a final review and note any corrections needed. These corrections are communicated to Winston over the phone: he literally sits at the computer and makes the needed changes as I describe them.

Following this final pass, the magazine is turned over to the printer. It should now be the first week of August. Printing of the magazine consumes about three days. Upon completion, the pages are passed on to a local business, where the collating, stapling, and folding is done. These folks also stuff and address the envelopes for our direct mail readers. By the third week of August the magazine should be on its way to you. If the postal service does its job (and if we have done ours!), your copy should arrive during the latter two weeks of August.

Pretty simple process, huh? Well, maybe, but there can always be a .. monkey in the wrench." The most serious problems can arise during the critical week that articles are transmitted for layout. If we fall behind here, we start jeopardizing schedules we have established with the printer and collator. In the past, this has curtailed the final review process. As we get better at adhering to our schedule, we can remove this potential for trouble.

Approaching Eutopia?

The format of the magazine, both in appearance and content, is approaching the level we hope to maintain. Although there is still ample opportunity for improvements, we feel we have attained an article mix and presentation acceptable to the majority of our readers. Thus, it seems an appropriate occasion to solicit opinions from the readership on this subject. We'd appreciate any encouragement, advice, or constructive criticism you might offer.

We are particularly pleased with this issue's Kasserine Crisis (KC) scenario; special thanks to Deen and Michael, as well as the other people involved in the project. By the way, during the course of testing KC I had occasion to create, through cutting and pasting, an independent Torch rules set. This involved removing all the sections, paragraphs, sentences, and even phrases from the "War in the Desert" rules not needed for play of Torch as a separate game. By further cutting and pasting, I then created an independent Kasserine Crisis rules set.

Rules Gossip

A lot of possible modifications to the Europa system are being entertained concurrently with the playtest of Second Front. The latest news is that in addition to its other characteristics, a mountain hex may gain a -2 die roll modifier. Given the massive air power of the Allies, the German defense of Italy is proving difficult, if not impossible, using current mountain hex characteristics. This proposed change should be just the ticket. Furthermore, a fortress will be similarly enhanced, acquiring a -1 die modifier to go along with its other attributes. I tend to concur with those who feel the defender is often shortchanged in Europa, and so applaud these suggested modifications.

The Beat Goes On

The second edition of the For Whom the Bell Tolls playtest kit went out last month. This effort continues to impress. Jeff Millefoglie in particular has invested extraordinary energy and time in developing the project. If the creek don't rise, I hope to actually participate in this playtest over the next few months.

John Astell has issued the first Second Front newsletter, covering a number of rules questions and addressing problems with the playtest components. A large number of SIF kits (over 110) were distributed and at least 50 groups are said to be submitting meaningful feedback. (As I recall, only some 60 Scorched Earth playtest kits were sent out and about 25 of those groups returned worthwhile responses.) One can easily imagine how demanding John Astell's task is; just keeping up with reports from this number of test groups would seem a daunting challenge.

In addition to other Europa duties, John is also immersed in the final design stage of the revised Marita-Merkur game, Balkan Front. Many gamers have been compelled to pull out their copies of M-M lately, in anticipation of this first release of the Collector Series. Mark Pitcavage's strategy article on the game should prove most timely in this regard.

Because of his heavy commitments on the above projects, John was unable to contribute an "Inside Europa" column for this issue. This is unfortunate, as "Inside Europa" is always a highlight of each issue, but after all, its absence is for the best of reasons. We will all look forward to seeing "Inside Europa" reappear in the next issue.

A Slick Trick

Mark Pitcavage maintained in his "Hexagon War" article from TEM #12, that "it is unlikely that 'Slick and Sick Tricks' would ever expound upon an item of Game Strategy." Being ornery by nature, I took this as a challenge and so present a strategic slick trick, which I dub "The Arctic Runaway." I wish to acknowledge Rob Ramey, a local Europa gamer, for introducing me to the "Runaway Defense" in general and this aspect in particular.

Think back on your last game of Scorched Earth. How many units did the Soviets commit to the defense of the Arctic and Petrozavodsk? How many of these did they lose? How many times did they dig into their reserves and send additional forces and resource points to Petrozavodsk, Kandalaksha, or Murmansk even when they could ill afford to do so? If your last game resembled mine, the answer to all these questions is "a bunch."

This need not be so. Instead, the Soviets can execute a strategic gambit known as "The Arctic Runaway" ("TAR"). For a small price, elite units are freed for redeployment to more critical fronts, and the drain on Soviet reserves that a spirited defense of the Arctic often entails can be avoided.

The object of "TAR" is to abandon all terrain between the SovietFinnish border and the Finnish stop line as quickly and with as few casualties as possible. The initial set-up should be made with immediate flight in mind. Where possible, units should be placed on transportation lines in order to rail or admin move back to the stopline. Only the barest minimum of rear guards should be exposed during the exodus. If you reach the stop line having lost less than 10 strength points, you have done an adequate job. Once the stop line is reached it can be initially maintained by NKVD border guards, 3-6 rifle divisions, and militia formations, eventually to be relieved by 4-6 rifle divisions. Hex 6A:3918 should be strongly held to prevent an Axis attack from the Arctic, turning the flank of the stop line (see "Rules Court" in TEN #8).

Surrendering Murmansk gives the Axis a victory point and causes the loss of some lend-lease assets during snow turns. In 1941 and 1942, the critical timeframe for the Kremlin, these losses would amount to 10 armor RPs, 3 resource points, and 6 fighter units. Comparing the loss of forces and expenditure of resource points necessary to hold Murmansk, and considering the fine winterized divisions and artillery brigades released to the defense of Leningrad, Moskva, and Rostovna-Donu by "TAR," this would seem to be a strategic ploy worth considering.

"In a recent game of chess my opponent got up and walked away, saying disgustedly, 'Knights jumping over castles? This sucker must not have been playtested!"' --- Marshal Ruhlsmonger

Corrections to TEM #12

Page 21: 5th Gds Cav XX was formed from 3rd Cav XX

Page 23: The 65th and 66th Gds Tank X's were formed 11.44.

Corrected in MagWeb.com archive--RL