We have had an incredible amount of difficulty with titles in the last few months. By now, most subscribers should be aware that the Paper Soldier was retitled (at the very last moment) the Grenadier. We had used the working title for some months, and several people here developed a growing discontent with the name. One major problem always accompanies such an occurrence: the offending title cannot be discarded, but must be replaced with something better. Until the replacement name is developed, production must continue under the old title.

So, at the very last minute, the suggestion was made to change the title of the magazine to the Grenadier. Several other game titles really fit into the same situation. Star Duel was a working title which everyone disliked (including myself, and I wrote it), but no one could come up with a suitable replacement.

When it came down to the wire (we had to put a title on the map), everyone sat around the art department and we brainstormed for about 2 hours making suggestions - like Acceleration Warning! Space Duel, or Ah-Oooga! and rejecting them.

The key to the problem was to look at some of the other components. First, the game is obviously a tie-in with Traveller, and second, the cover illustration shows a small starship with the name Beow (short for Beowulf, named on the Traveller box). So, we pulled out the Traveller box and latched onto the distress message theme. The result was the final name for Star Duel, Mayday. By now, Mayday has been published.

Tacforce is our title for a really detailed set of modern miniatures rules for GHQ Micro-Armour. It was originally titled Tacfire, but that presented potential trademark problems. (Honeywell holds the trademark on Tacfire, its artillery fire control system.) Trademark problems are best avoided by anyone, prompting the title change.

The first wargame which Conflict Game Company produced was Verdun, which we have been planning to reprint for over a year. In the course of preparing the reprint, the game itself has been revised quite extensively. In fact we have changed the scale, completely redrawn the map, changed the unit level from battalions to regiments, and researched a new order of battle.

At this point - you guessed it - we had to consider the question of titling: do we call it Verdun, or some variant of the title, such as The Battle of Verdun? Remember, the simpler title would be an asset in marketing, which is a fact of life in any business.

With that in mind, we arrived at the following rule of thumb - "You can use an old title on a new game, but you can't put a new title on an old game." It really amounts to a bit of consumer protection. If we did not revise Verdun, but simply retitled it, many people would buy it thinking they were getting a new game, and be disappointed, irate, etc. If we did not retitle, but revised the insides, perhaps fewer people would buy the game, and many who already own the old Verdun would think twice before putting down $12 for a game which might be much like what they already have.

Works in Progress

There seems to be a veritable mountain of work in progress at GDW at the moment. The following list indicates who is doing what, to the best of my knowledge:

Frank Chadwick:

The Road to the Ruhr, and the Lorraine Campaign, both Series 120 games set in Western Europe. These games are mateable to each other. In addition, we are entertaining the thought of an expansion kit, consisting of additional rules and counters to add less than divisional units and to extend the time period covered.

Crusader is a monster game of the British offensive in North Africa in 1941.

Tacforce, as previously described.

Zulu covers the Zulu War (1879) and the invasion of Zululand by the British.

Mercenary, a supplemental booklet for Traveller, covers the lives and times of mercenary characters.

Marc Miller:

Twilight, a sequel to Imperium, deals with the civil war that tears the Empire asunder. The map and counters would mate to Imperium, allowing play of either game with a larger area.

Chaco is still in revision.

Indian Ocean Adventure (anyone got a better title?) deals with the Japanese attack on Ceylon in April, 1942. Essentially a continued evolution of the Coral Sea/Midway system.

Marathon, 490 BC simulated the first of the greatest battles in the history of the world. This game will be another Series 120 title.

Missile Patrol Boat does not languish abandoned on the shores of some dismal sea. It just seems to take a long time for it to get into print. The game is progressing nicely.

Isandhlwana, 1879 simulates the Zulu massacre of the British in the Zulu War. This game will be another Series 120 title, and should nicely complement Zulu.

John Harshman:

Bloodtree Rebellion is a guerrilla warfare game set on a far-off planet. In many ways, the game uses the science fiction presentation to abstract insights into guerrilla activity without bogging down in the timespans usually required. John is developing the game for publication; we have already reached a publishing agreement with designer Lynn Willis. Mr. Willis, as some of you may realize, also designed Godsfire for Metagaming Concepts.

Russo-Polish War (subtitled Cossacks and Cassocks) is also scheduled for publication later this year. This game is designed by Dave Williams.

Rich Banner:

All of Rich's design time is currently occupied with future Europa titles. Marita- Merkur is uppermost on his priority list.

Just Published:

The following games were recently published by GDW. Since I have to write this column ahead of time, these are necessarily predictions with a certain amount of slack in them. Nonetheless, this does indicate the latest GDW releases.

The Battle of the Alma and The Battle of Agincourt, both published 22 February, 1978. Each is from our new Series 120 line, and sells for $5.00. Mayday, also a Series 120 game, was published 1 April, 1978. $5.00.

Verdun and The Iliad are both boxed Conflict Games, with hard mounted maps and compartmented boxes. Each is $11.98. These games are scheduled for publication 15 April 1978.

Upcoming titles not close eneough to give a release date include Tacforce, Fire & Steel (Napoleonic miniatures rules), and The Brotherhood (organized crime).