Frank Watson, Virginia

Order of Battle, Addition:

Nov I 95: 1x 1-0-0 Inf II Richard Andrew

Note: 7 lbs, 13 oz, 21". Named him Richard Andrew, or was it Andrew Richard, never can keep them straight. Won't matter though, I'll just call him Cunningham. Initials are RAW, which should please Mark Pitcavage and other Europa traditionalists.

Bill Stratton, Virginia

The planning cycle for amphibious operations is an area in need of an injection of realism. The current rules allow what are, by any measure, enormous special operations to be launched in rapid succession. Europa players decide, plan and launch multi-division invasions in 2-4 weeks in game terms. This is an incredibly short time span and does not equate to the realities involved in the planning, training and assembly of materials and forces required to execute these types of operations. A simple chart correlating RE-equivalents to planning time is an uncomplicated method to achieve the desired effect. Such a chart is offered below.

Special Operations Planning Chart
REs : Game Turns
1-3 : 1
4-6 : 2
7-12 : 3
13+ : 6

One more suggestion: Apply the air support RE limit before the AA fire step. Right now, as I'm sure you've already heard, players can and do sometimes pile on their entire air force for GS/DAS to insure the maximum amount of allowable support makes it through for a critical battle. Also, I've stumbled upon a small hole in the optional AA chart in Second Front. Using it, one can never shoot down an assaulting airborne force, only turn it back. Flak was an extreme danger to airborne operations, and this should be reflected in the game.

Finally, I want to thank you all for your outstanding efforts producing, maintaining and advancing Europa.

Jim Broshot, Missouri

I received my copy of Clash of Titans today. Truly a herculean effort, my hat's off to Jason for completing this massive project. There's a few nits to pick with the German OB, but, hey-that's one of the nice things about Europa. Congratulations, now I wish that I had time to set it up and mess with it.

For several weekends of light-duty entertainment one might want to lay out the Second Front and Clash of Titans OBs on a large table, using the appropriate maps as a tablecloth. Set the units out in groupings as follows:

Allies. ETO, MTO, and Soviet (by Front). Use SF charts for odd garrisons.

Axis: West, south, southeast, East (by Army Group). Use SF chart for North and garrisons

Evolve the initial forces by bringing on reinforcetnents performing conversions, making transfers between fronts, etc. This is a highly educational project, giving illuminating insight into the balance of power and its shifting over time. You will see the frantic efforts of the which, as Hitler shuttles worn-out divisions from crisis to crisis, and witness Germany literally "re-raise" her army in 1944, all to no avail, of course. The absolutely overwhelming superiority of the Allied air forces is apparent without flying a mission. As one who also lacks the time to actually play this monster, I found this to be a satisfying substitute. --Rick

Gabriele Varanii, via Internet

After a couple of years sabbatical from the Europa community, (only due to my departure from the United States and, believe me, a great cause of pain, since finding Europa games and the magazine is not so easy anymore) being able to join the Association again is just great!

After receiving today the latest 6-7 issues of the magazine and the FWTBT game, I would like to thank you for the work you have done over the last year for this great hobby of ours.

I would also like to thank you for the solicitude with which you dispatched my order. I await the new War in the Desert game and the WWI and Glory series!

The information highway is helping GRD communicate with many Europa fans located in the far-flung outposts of the world. Witness the next letter. --Rick

Elias Nordling, Sweden

Okay, better late than never, I guess. I'm the Swedish student who wrote the "Swedish EXchange, long ago. I got TEM #41 in July, and saw that you were looking for me, but I had no time to respond then. I got TEM #42 yesterday, and finally got your e-mail address. This simplifies things a lot for me. It is great to finally be able to communicate with the Europa community on a regular basis.

I bought FWTBT last week. It's great! Good looking and really fun to play. Some Gobernito counters seem to be mispritited, or the OB book is wrong. Should the light task force be Basque, for example? I'm sure you will be clearing this up.

It's good that you include scenarios for the countries that have OBs, but were not actively engaged in WWII, like the invasion of Spain and Turkish intervention scenarios. No Portuguese scenarios, though. I can understand that. It's really hard to come up with a situation where Portugal gets involved in WWII (how about a Portuguese Torch :-). I have some suggestions for scenarios for Sweden. A Swedish intervention in the Finnish Winter War could very well have occurred. The Swedish government was split over the issue. Also, there were plans for a combined Allied-Swedish invasion of Norway if the German troops there had chosen to resist after the capitulation (there is a book on the subject-I'll check it out). Most importantly, however, I would like to see a linking scenario between Narvik and AWW. There was an intimate connection between the Winter War, the Allied plans for landing at Narvik, and the German invasion of Norway. They all fit together and would make a really good Greater Europa scenario.

There were, unfortunately, some misprinted counters in the For Whom the Bell Tolls countermix, due primarily to color problems with Gobernito units. Specifically, the nine counters in the upper left-hand corner of Countersheet 83, including the LtTF-1 you mention, are all Basque units.

We plan to publish a comprehensive FWBT errata sheet in TEM #47. --Rick

Walter Hard, via GEnie

It was great seeing you and the other Europa-ists at Origins. I'm disappointed the Aberdeen trip didn't come off, but it was nonetheless a fun convention.

Arthur Goodwin seemed a bit taken aback when Jim Bodine and I commented on the initial difficulties we had getting into For Whom the Bell Tolls. I think perhaps a more accurate way to put it is that FWTBT is not a game that experienced Europa players can dive into in the expectation that their knowledge of other games in the series will carry them through. There are quite a few new and different concepts and subsystems in FWTBT and they require study.

Thanks again for the FWTBT countersheet repros in the magazine. I also got a kick out of the Gotterdammerung counters on the cover. John's article on the air ratings was also great stuff, and I'm looking forward to the same on the Germans and Brits.

John is devoting all his energies to War in the Desert, but his air series will return in 1996. --Rick

Ray Kanarr, Caffornia

I received issue #43/44 and it had the usual good mix:

John's "Air Unit Ratings" article was great as always.

Convention Report: Why was the full-fledged FitE game going as fast as Sudden Storm; was this a function of players, play, divine intervention, what?

Leibstandarte article, 1st paragraph: Although technically correct, it would have been better to call the Leibstandarte 'the only German [or German SS] unit that, today,...' rather than 'only Wehrmacht unit,' as I've met several Germans who consider the Leibstandarte to be a Political, rather than Military, unit.

Grand Europa ... Umpire: While I generally agree, it is apparently for very different reasons. Unlike a tactical game on Midway, where whether SBDs or TBFs arrive first might indeed have a significant effect on the outcome of the game, the same should not be true of a Europa game with 2-week turns, where if anything should have a more significant impact than it does, it should be blind, stinking, doo-dah LUCK! This may be the author's point.

The Aegean Route: Good solid article, but ignores any Commonwealth response, which probably would have taken the form of an increased presence, particularly in submarines, at Cyprus.

Although the system may need some basic analysis, the kind of jerry-built 'modification' espoused in "Europa Reform" (I would think about effective as BUDGET reform) is generally frustrating because the unintended and undesirable effects of such changes don't show up until midway through a game of something like FitE, with several hundred hours of time invested.

Friendly Fire: Another example of Frank's excellent work.

Works-in-Process, Berlin 1945: I have Charles Sharps' response to the draft materials I sent him, and have a difference of opinion with some of it, mostly in terms of how close to TO&E strengths most units would have been. If you go strictly by the number of units that ostensibly took part in the offensive, and just assume that they were all at full strength, then you end up with a LOT more bodies participating than the Soviets themselves state actually did. A playtest of my first draft on the OBs for both sides WAS held on 5/6/95 [further information to come eventually], but there would be few doctrinaire Europa grognards that would have been happy with it.

Columbus, OH on July 4th? Bit warm there then, wot?

Isn't it about time to upgrade the mag's layout? Utilitarian, it is... good-looking, it ain't.

Finally, those readers who can should check out the Internet Europa mailing list. Recent postings include a Swedish tank production OB, a discussion of Second Front VPs, and questions about AECA/ATEC.

Also, really finally, net surfers should check out Bill Stone's Second World War Books web page at: http://www.sonic.net:80/~bstone/books.html It's the best place for WW II books on the net. Peace.

Eric Anderson, South Carolina

Dear GRD, Winston Hamilton, and Rick Gayler:

Issue 43/44 was controversial enough for me to write my first letter in order to counter some of the "chaims and conceptions" that were transgressed on perfectly good paper. First: in response to Rich Velay's EXchange letter stating that no one is better at customer support, I disagree. Supposedly, Association members are to "receive free Europa items." I have never gotten anything free, unless you want to count replacement counters for SF and FtF, which cost me $145 to begin with. Sorry, I call that "good business." And, what about this so-called Inside Report? I didn't get that either. Company Briefing, "Special Report #3"? Since most of you got it and I didn't, maybe Winston could personally fill me in. Also, as far as EuropaFest over 4th of July; Great! Works out for me. Oh, but I forgot that it's "not what we wanted."

As far as expanding TEM's format to include Glory and The Great War, how will this be possible with everyone "maxed ouf'? Will this mean that I'll still get my TEMs 2 to 4 months late, or will I subscribe for '96 only to get my first issue in '97? I'll take neither. Scenarios? If they hold up my issue, leave them out. If it's ready, print it, but at least have a back-up article/scenario to replace it with.

Quarterly issues? no, absolutely not! If it's that bad, cut back on the pages, get the magazine out on time, and put any savings towards defraying another price increase. In the long run, everyone wins!

Awards? Don't worry about it. I've been wargaming for 22 years and never bought anything based on any award. You know Europa is a winner and so do the players, so don't sweat it. Wasted pages? Rick, bite your tongue for such blasphemy. These pages provide plenty of information for many new readers. Consider a 4.8% increase in pages vs. a 4.8% loss in readership. The newsstand prices of $7/$14 are borderline considering the current prices of games.

Now that the meal is over, for dessert I'll have some naval rules, please; and none of that SF stuff. The individual ships of FoF/TFH day are great, but you say "no way." I say, for all you panzer-pushers out there, you're missing a crucial aspect of WWII. And as a Navy Veteran, I can say that some of you should pick up some history books, as knowledge is the product of information. I hope my views are taken as constructive criticism, and as a final note, I challenge everyone to be a teacher and bring in a new player into Europa, however much a novice he might be.

P.S. Because of the random way in which my TEMs tend to arrive (i.e., two at a time, etc.), I missed out on the Winter War 2nd Edition maps. Are there any still available? Will there be a third print run?

Rich Velay was extremely pleased that he can call up the editor of the Europa magazine any time he wants and get personal responses to his questions, as you yourself have also done... As for the missing Europa freebies, most people by now would probably settle for a Europa frisbee. Sorry there's no more AWW maps to be had. --Rick

Mark Royer, Massachusetts

Over the years I have seen lots of excellent material written, yet I have rarely seen anything regarding the actual physical mechanics of playing Europa. Aside from an occasional jest at using our nine-foot arms, the issue is rarely broached. Well, I lost one of my nine-foot arms last year and my back is a casualty from just SE, forget GE.

I once, many years ago (pre-marriage), cleared my then-large living room of furniture and set up all of the pre-Collector Series maps from Casablanca to the Urals and Narvik to Basra. It was quite a sight; wish I had taken some pictures. The Axis could never lose, since no Allied player could ever reach the heartland of Germany. On the other hand, the German player could never receive reinforcements, since he would not be able to reach his Wehrkreise.

Anyways... I've had an idea for many years now which "Clash of the Titans" brought back to the surface, regarding a two-tiered GE: an operational tier and a strategic tier. The operational tier would be essentially the Europa game we all know and love. The strategic tier would be played on a map of much larger scale (eg., all of Europe and North Africa on a map the size of a game box). As the standard operational maps are superimposed with a hexagonal grid, the strategic map would be overlaid by a rectangular grid, each rectangle representing one operational map.

Army markers (or their equivalents) would be used on the strategic map and the exact units composing an army would be placed into an army holding box in the same manner as the current corps holding boxes (except, of course, there would be many more units in a larger box). Alternately, corps markers could be kept in army holding boxes thus showing how many corps are available to the players in each army's area.

Players would keep track of where the armies were stationed on the strategic map. The operational maps would only be unfolded and set up for active regions. The units and corps markers in the holding boxes of the active regions would be available to the players as at-start forces. Reinforcements would be dictated by synchronous strategic map movement during the operational game. All (or most) naval action might be performed at the strategic level.

I think a two-tiered system such as this would reduce dramatically the physical space and time required to play GE. Not only would inactive areas not be set up, but inactive time periods could be sped through at the strategic level. Assuming a roughly historical game, I think the worst case operational map usage may be during the time frame of "Clash of the Titans," but even this is manageable (although 1942, with a deep penetration into the Soviet Union and an active North Africa, would present quite a landscape). Of course, if there are several separate active areas, they need not all be connected at the operational level and exchanges between theaters could be handled via the strategic map.

This sounds like a good use for those FREE Army counters recently provided for the Axis armies. Having enough room to set up GE is no small problem, and must be addressed unless you live in a gymnasium