Shelby L. Stanton

I know some of the new Europa unit symbols are confusing, but John Astell and I have decided that all boxes should consistently display unit symbols instead of abbreviations. As far as I'm concerned, lettered items should be on informational counters as opposed to troop unit and formation counters. When all the new symbols come into existence, I believe that players will quickly adjust to them.

I have not done another assault gun article because there is a lot of confusion in the original German records on what happened to many late-war units. For the most part, this gets rationalized in the counters, especially for elements existing at battalion level. One of my biggest mistakes was trying to sort out assault guns unit by unit for the Russian front because of inevitable unit identity problems due to conflicting sources and accounts. John Astell has agreed, in retrospect, that the best solution is to depict all the battalions as well as their numerically equivalent brigades -- and let the German player determine what switches he wants to make at a certain rate per month. This is essentially how it worked in the field anyway.

In addition to this reasoning, there are many exciting aspects to the current counters and maps that need better explanations for the gaming audience. I would rather tackle those items first while the simulations are fresh on the market or about to be published. Thus, I would like to wait for a while before returning to the assault gun subject.

R. Roberts

I am curious about GRD plans to get titles which have gone out of print back into availability.

Now I know that this threatens the market value of some people's collections of mint games , but I am one gamer who has recently taken up Europa in the last few years and I've had to buy all my games from out-of-print specialty shops at a premium. [I just decided against adding Narvik because I could only find a "mint" copy quoted to me at $50. Since I play games, not collect them, that's above my price range per game]

I am hoping that it isn't the plan to "improve" each game before reprinting a la Marita-Merkur --> Balkan Front. I was one of those "polite" people who paid for Balkan Front in June ...

Well, there is a plan to reissue the games and we have a dilemma since there is NO pre-existing art work for a majority of them. If we were to reprint them, we would have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, and that would be very, very wasteful of our limited resources. So, rather than do this, and rather than put out old information when we have new and better info, like the great maps that A.E. Goodwin is doing, and the fine, new OB stuff from Charles Sharp, and the others who are doing such great work -- well, in a nutshell the answer to your question is "yes," we are going to improve the games before we re-release them. BUT! As a member you can get old titles (as available) from the Association, and if not currently available, we get them in here and there, so get your name on the list. We do have a Narvik, now set aside for you if you wish, and you need only contact us. The price is $25.00. We also have Spain and Portugal, Case White, and Their Finest Hour on hand at this moment. We may be getting some others soon, but can not promise this. We suggest you let us know what you want and if we can, we will fill your order; if not, we will backorder. I hope that solves the problem for you. -- Winston Hamilton

Steven R. Eschner

I am glad GRD is continuing what is probably the most significant wargaming system devised. After 17 years there are still large numbers of Europa gamers. And GRD's plans to release Second Front next summer should be the wargaming event of the year. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it will really happen.

I eagerly await For Whom the Bell Tolls, the game on the Russo-Finnish War and other scenarios like Kasserine Crisis. I was disappointed to read in #14 that FWBT will be on the back burner for a while.

I'm also looking forward to the "Europafest" at Baltimore Origins '91. I'll be there, armed with my favorite games. If SF is there, however, it will push the others off the gaming tables. Sounds fantastic.

The successful entry of Second Front into the market by July 4, 1991 will positively impact the development of the other Europa projects you mention. -- RG

Lew Fisher

I read in Europa #14 about the counter errata for Balkan Front. It states that for certain missing counters, to use the ones from Western Desert. What if I don't own Western Desert? Does that mean I have to purchase it on the secondary market to play Balkan Front? That's not fair nor should be expected from a buyer.

I agree 100% and am sorry that I gave you such a false impression. There is no provision in the Balkan Front rules or charts for the New Zealander or Australian divisions to breakdown into brigades. This is as John Astell intended, as Balkan Front is primarily a division-level game. The speculation that perhaps these brigades were "missing" was just a misapprehension on my part based upon examination of the BF counter sheets without access to the rules or charts.

However, for those gamers who have played Western Desert a number of times and are used to seeing New Zealander and Australian brigades departing for action in Greece (as the brigade is the most prevalent unit size in the desert), I suppose if you wanted to give the Allies some extra breakdown flexibility and if you had the counters available from WD, then you could use them as an option. -- RG

Carleton T. Lum, III

I think you all do a great job with GRD. You run it like a business, not like a wargame (which is why most wargame companies go bust).

Steve List

I joined the Europa Association just a few months ago, and have been catching up on the back issues of the magazine. Perhaps you could clarify some things for me.

In the reprint of TEN #1-4, some articles were truncated. In #1, for example, an article dead-ends on page 3, column 3. Is there any way to obtain the missing material?

In #6, a mention was made of an upcoming freebie for members, Shelby Stanton's history of the Europa counters. In #7 there was reference to his "Encyclopedia" of unit symbols. Were these two separate items, were they ever published, or is the material appearing as the series of "History of Unit Counters" articles?

Finally, who was the Ghost in #8? I can find no mention of him in subsequent issues.

Thanks for your assistance.

Dear Eagle-eyed Steve: The #1-4 reprint is indeed missing a few words here and there. Here is what got left out:

In #1, page 3, column 3, the last sentence should read: "Thus, the OB covers only those forces which remained in the MD for a significant amount of time."

In #3, page 5, column 1, section I. should read: "For all practical purposes ignore the existence of Finland."

In #3, page 6, column 3, the last sentence should read: "So if you all agree with everything I've said, then I'll be the Fuhrer!"

No one ever got the right answer to the Ghost in TEN #8. Since we plan to run him again with some additional clues in the near future, I must refrain from telling you the answer. -- RG

Ron Downing

Be sure Second Front is historically accurate AND has the options needed for play balance. Most people want to be sure the game reflects "the way it was," so a monster game must start with historical reality. But then, given the time and place of Second Front, you may need to add "what if" options so the game can be play balanced.

SPI's Wacht am Rhein is a good case in point. Even though it is an "old" game, it is still a good monster game IF you can find someone who wants to play the German side. Very few people want to put the time needed to play a monster game into a "lost cause." This is very important for Second Front to consider, because the German situation in France in June of '44 was almost as desperate as their situation in the Ardennes on 16/Dec/44 (in some ways, even worse!).

If you want Second Front to be played again and again, insuring its longevity, then it must have options for play balance.

Cpt Howard R. Christie

In Europa #14, Marshall Ruhlsmonger asked two questions to which I believe I have found the answers:

• Why is it that 9-10 SS panzer brigades have no cadres, but 4-8 Italian alpine divisions do?

  Answer: When you compare the divisional structure (i.e., maintenance, logistics, supply, and staff) that support a 2 or 3 regiment-size division to a single brigade-size element, you can find a reason for the cadre. Ruhlie's mistake is to look at combat strength and compare an SS unit to an Italian unit solely by firepower and nationality. Remember Italian alpine units were some of the best combat units in the Italian army.

• What happened to the Ba.65s? (Jun I 41, Western Desert Axis conversion)

  Answer: The Ba.65, Breda was a ground attack aircraft employed with the Italian Air Force during WW II. Armament consisted of two 12.7mm and two 7.7mm fixed firing forward machine guns in the wings, plus up to 661 pounds of bombs in the fuselage bomb-bay and up to 441 pounds of bombs on underwing racks. Total production of the Ba.65 was 218 aircraft between 1936 -- July 1939. It served in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Following Italy's entry into World War II in June 1940, Ba.65s were involved in the fighting in North Africa against the British. They had a low serviceability rate in the desert conditions and put up an unimpressive performance. The last serviceable aircraft was lost during the British offensive in Cyrenaica in February 1941. Exports of this aircraft included 25 to Iraq in 1938, 20 to Chile also in 1938, and 10 to Portugal in 1939. When Italy entered World War II, there were 154 in front line use, mostly in North Africa. This was an Italian plane with no connection to the Ju87.