After almost six years in operation, The Arena of Muskegon, MI, closed its doors April 21. Many regulars attended this ceremonial last day. There were a few Collectible Card Game and Mage Knight players in attendance, as well as a Guadalcanal sea action hosted by myself. Turnout for the sea action was good. The Japanese had to storm a line of U.S. cruisers and destroyers to gain entry into Ironbottom Sound. The Japanese lost several of their cruisers and the U.S. lost one cruiser and a couple of destroyers. The IJN fought valiantly and died with the valor an honor befitting them.

There were many reasons for the Arena's passing, including increasing rent, poor location and dwindling turnout. The Arena had always been run as a second job and it was perhaps inevitable to see this end. Still, the store always had a group of regulars that showed up to play CCGs, Mage Knight and Games Workshop games, as well as historicals. There were many fond and good memories of the Arena and the games played there. It was sad to see the tables being folded up and being removed. It was also sad to see another venue for our hobby passing into history.

Well...not quite completely. While it is true that the Arena gaming store is dead as a brick and mortar facility, it will continue to exist as an online store. The new home of the Arena is: http://www.thearenaonline.com. Russ and Doug will also continue to host games and demo events, once a month, at Northway Lanes. The first was held May 4 and was well attended. During the morning, Harvey Hams (my compatriot and fellow conspirator) and I, played two Battleground World War II events. Both were autumn 1944 battles pitting U.S. Shermans against Wehrmacht PZ IVs. The battle was all the more desperate due to a lack of fuel on the American side. In all, we had a very good time and everyone enjoyed themselves greatly.

It was a promising start to a new phase in the history of the Arena. Both Russ and Doug have expressed an interest in reopening in a few months time. For right now, they are happy to run Games Days at Northway Lanes and I am proud and happy to support them. The next one will be June 1. I plan on running the Night action at Savo Island and we will probably also be doing some more bocage busting in the fields of France in 1944. For more information, contact Russ at RUSS1976@aol.com or Doug at dragonrelm@msn.com, or check out the website listed above. Thanks again, guys, for all of the fun.