Fellow Soloists! I am very happy to report on the continuing popularity of Lone Warrior for Magweb subscribers. Those of you who visit the magweb site (http://www.magweb.com) know that there are 61 magazines affiliated with Russ Lockwood's stellar gaming magazine service. Each member magazine shares royalties based upon the number of hits experienced each quarter. Lone Warrior continues to be in the top five! Think about it. Hundreds of subscribers each month read Lone Warrior articles. This speaks to a wide interest among wargamers for solo-oriented materials. Certainly it demonstrates an appreciation for our many authors and the Lone Warrior staff. My hat is off to all of you who make Lone Warrior one of the most sought after magazines among wargamers! Having said that, I must also relate that membership in the Solo Wargamers Association (and with it, subscribers to the hard copy of Lone Warrior) have not grown apace. This concerns me insofar that membership fees fuel Lone Warrior. My intent to add pages is based upon growing membership, a growth not yet realized. Increased membership drives down postage (when we can apply for bulk rates) and secures cheaper reproduction rates. How do we get more members? I'm not sure. One way is to help the general wargaming public understand that solo techniques are applicable to group gamers. For example, helping the game master run a game in which the players are all on the same side opposing a force under the game master's control. Certainly all wargamers have a use for ideas on how to run a campaign or how to initialize an encounter. The problem, I think, is letting the gaming world know that Lone Warrior isn't just for soloists anymore. Please don't infer that the content of LW will change; it won't. I am committed to the principle that virtually every article must have a solo focus. But even solo material has wider application. In this regard, let me make two pleas. One is that those of you who have not written for these pages, please consider doing so. In the final analysis, membership grows when members so look forward to their Lone Warrior that they would not dream of letting their membership expire. Start with a letter to the forum letting us know what your solo projects are. The second request is that someone of you volunteers to run publicity for the SWA here in North America. This means getting flyers out at conventions and in the hands of wargaming clubs. The budget is small and certainly we are looking for ideas to get the most bang from our buck. Okay, let's see what we can do together to build up membership and thereby gain an even greater Lone Warrior! For those of you who haven't seen it yet, William Forstchen's seventh book in the Lost Regiment series is out. A Band of Brothers is every bit as good a read as his earlier work. Warfare has moved roughly to the technological level of World War One and both the humans and their alien opponents are coming to grips with gas, aircraft, and (my favorite) tanks. I would love to see a range of figures to support this series! As for me, I am plugging away painting my many Hinton Hunt Napoleonic figures. My youngest sons are into Warhammer and enjoy painting Bretonnians and Lizard guys. I figure it is a short transition to historical figures when the time comes. Till next time, Good Soloing! Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #126 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com