This issue of TEM comes to you under the blue pen of a new name to Europa fans, namely that of David H. Lippman. I took on the job when I heard through the Europa e-mail group that Frank Watson was looking for new talent. So I figuratively raised my hand to volunteer to undertake the task.

Why I did it is mostly because I spent 10 years in the newspaper business, mostly as a copy editor, and seven as a Navy journalist, putting together 60-page newsletters for my unit. I'd been irritated with copy-editing glitches in past issues of Europa (like announcing that Richard Cunningham led the Royal Navy into battle in the Mediterranean) and realized that a critic is like a eunuch at a harem all he can do is complain, not take part. It would be better if I used my fingers to edit copy instead of whine about it.

I've been wargaming off and on since 1971, when I discovered a non-wargame, Avalon Hill's B&O/C&O, which led me to their classics, and to SPI and their army of games. I playtested for them a little while (badly) and then went to university and into journalism. I nearly took a job at West End Games in their design department, but turned them down at the last minute, mostly because a daily newspaper offered me one at the same time. I think I made the right move, because at that paper, I won 10 awards for editorial writing, public service writing, feature writing, and spot news writing. I also copy-edited 57 stories a night. So when the need arose at TEM, I figured the man and the hour had met.

The real cause of the interest was history. My family has provided the British Crown with soldiers and sailors since 1680, so I root for them. It upsets me when people whose sole knowledge of World War II is repeated viewing of the movie "Patton" and "A Bridge Too Far" trash the British war effort.

I respect the forces of other countries in World War II, but have a hearty dislike and contempt for the Nazis in general, the SS in particular. I have always been unnerved by wargamers I have met who only play the German side, and find their nonsense-on-stilts arguments to justify Hitler's cause downright frightening, particularly when they come from a mind that's been through graduate school. My heroes are (in no particular order) Winston Churchill, Bill Slim, Ulysses S. Grant, Harry S. Truman, Thomas A. Edison, Brian Horrocks, and Charles Hazlitt Upham, Victoria Cross and Bar.

I lack any great strategic or tactical skill in wargaming. What intrigues me are the dynamics of situations, the forces involved, the weaponry, tactics, and most importantly, the personalities. Three years in New Zealand has brought me in contact with men who flew P-40 Tomahawks in the Solomons, infantrymen who fought at Crete, and tank crews who battled at Cassino. When I move counters across hexsheets, I'm interested in who and what the counter represents, and why the 20th New Zealand Battalion was in Greece in April of 1941.

What kept me interested in Europa was, quite simply, the detail. I have the stacks of countersheets for SF both old and new on my left, and periodically I sit down with them and thumb through them (I lack space just now to set up the bigger games in my two- bedroom apartment, which is shared with wife, six-month-old daughter, two cats and a dog). I become fascinated with the units. What, for example, is the Fischer SS-Police Mechanized Division? What did the Lovat High Mountain Battalion accomplish? What's the practical difference between a Fleet Air Arm F4F4 and an FM-2? Why is the Spitfire 16 inferior in strength to the Spitfire 149 (1 found out that the 16 is actually an earlier development) And just what in the world is the SSR 1-4 OKW static battalion? And what do you do with it after it shows up in Second Front? Much more fun than the nameless ranks of SPI's War in Europe game, Europa is a history lesson in a box.

The other thing I like about Europa under its present management is that it's a do- it-yourself wargame company, put together pretty much by its players, which is a good thing. It makes for higher morale. It's a labor of love as much as it is a business. When people are doing a project because they enjoy it and not because it's the only way they know to put three squares a day on a plate, the project may not go better (witness new Second Front counters), but it's more fun.

Into the Balkans

This issue of TEM takes us into that famous web of deceit and political chicanery, the Balkans. The world has seen far more than it share of grief and history come from those feuding peoples, and the blood is still pouring in Bosnia and Serbia.

However, inside you won't find the intricacies of modem Balkan politics (thank goodness) but a snappy scenario with several variants for the ill-advised and ill-fated British expedition to the Dodecanese in 1943, which should acquaint players both with Europa rules and a segment of World War II that is not too well-known.

Another battle scenario gives us one of those "what-ifs" that Europa can provide so well, Bulgaria storming into Yugoslavian Macedonia. I intend to play that myself.

History buffs have plenty to choose from. I provided the first part of a twopart article on Yugoslavia in World War II. This portion covers the nation's collapse to German invaders, which was a tale of bizarre politics and Wehrmacht efficiency. David Tinny gives a well-researched article on German light cruisers. Neither are well-known subjects. I found both articles absorbing. Overall, I'm very pleased with the subject matter and quality of this issue.