Just Doing our Job Editor, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the dedication to the Messenger. Since I have been unable to participate in any gaming since last spring. the articles by you and others have been appreciated. You have done a great deal to give us a more enjoyable pastime. Daniel D. Raymour, San Diego, CA Editor Thank you for your efforts in putting together the Messenger. I enjoy reading it even, other month and I'm sure it takes a lot of work. I normally don't respond to magazine articles. but I was very moved bv the author of "Don'ts At Wargaming Conventions.---This is exactly the kind of member vou want and the kind of attitude that attracts high quality individuals to the hobby. He articulated many of the feelings that I have in attending HMGS conventions. Since you know this individual, I hope that you can assure him that his thoughts were very appreciated. Paul Martmkovic Calabasas, CA Quit Whining, and Start Gaming Editor While few of us would disagree that it is better to be rich than poor or healthy than sick, and while acknowledging that many games at conventions are poorly planned and badly executed, my response to the article by anonymous can only be this: QUIT WHINING! My knowledge of wargaming is far from comprehensive, but speaking for the period and rules (DBM) which I am most familiar, neither poverty nor the appearance of nerdiness need to be a great handicap. If one chooses an army consisting of troops of high points value, e.g. Palmyrene or Hundred Year War French, the cost of the lead need not be that high, (approximately $70). As for appearing as a nerd, anonymous should look around him. Few wargamers would qualify for the cover of GQ magazine. As a group wargamers consumption of Oxy 10 is only exceeded by that of teens and the standard of personal hygiene of many gamers is matched only by computer hackers (another nerdy group). Seen in this light, anonymous' nerdiness is positive boon, a feature that identifies him as a member of his peer group. Finally I would like to point out that my own wargames group PIGS (Politically Incorrect Gaming Society) always pre-tests our demo games and to date has not had a fiasco like the one described. Also some of our members have been known to lend spare armies for participation in our tournaments. So feel free to drop around our table next convention. There is. however, one prerequisite: NO WHINING! Ivan Girling, Santa Barbara Hang in There, PSW Steve, I am writing to you about HMGS in general and about PSW's discontentment with the National BoD. Although I'm not a member of PSW (I'm the editor of the HMGS/Great Lakes' Chapter newsletter), I hope that you will consider my thoughts about the matter and pass them along to your BoD. Although it sounds like PSW has had problems in the past, it also sounds like you guys have got it together. Your newsletter is great, iind the impression it gives is that your gameday system and conventions arc equally as good. It has taken about two and half years to get Great Lakes on track with the effort of more people than the National BoD consists of. Considering the geographic location of National's members and their small numbers, I think it will take quite a while for National to find and fulfill its role. I think Nabonal took the Nvrong approach with PSW, but despite themselves they have maintained the union of HMGS. While PSW may not have much to gain from National, it can definitely benefit from PSW (beyond the $1 per member). Because PSW is part of an national organization. it has helped me and our newsletter through "The Messenger." Even though that doesn't do anything for your chapter, it does do something for gaming in general, and that is whN, we are in HMGS. Please PSW. be patient and help sculpt National into a useful creature. Brian O'Leary Great Lakes' Editor Delaware, Ohio A Clarification is in Order Stephen: I assume that you had written your editorial before receiving a reply to your letter. I hope that my letter didn't sound too imperious for certainly that was not my intent. Possibly some more background is in order. When I was the National Director and Treasurer, there was a bimonthly update and treasury report sent to each BOD member. I strongly suggested and campaigned for the treasurer's post to be a permanent position, rather than a rotating one which it had been. I will admit that I also campaigned to become that treasurer. After four deadlocked votes, a third alternate candidate (Rick Nance of the Heart of America chapter) was put forward and selected. Since then we on the board have received nothing but an annual report from Rick at the NBOD meeting. Not that anything untoward is happening, I trust Rick implicitly, but we ail suffer from a lack of information caused by the real world getting in the way of our toys. At any rate. I would expect that if the treasury reaches the 30k level and enough years have passed without some egregious challenge to our hobby having reared its ugly head, we may be in a position to sponsor some more diverse activities. This is my opinion only, but I think the remainder of the BOD is of a similar mindset. The next question then becomes what kind of project is worthy of support? One suggestion has been for a video extolling the virtues of the hobby to be sold to A&E/ Discovery, et.al. An other suggestion was the 'National' newsletter. One idea would bring in new members/players while the other would benefit only the already converted. I'm for the former, not necessarily a video but definitely growth. Most of the other BOD also felt that the newsletter, while not inherently a bad idea, was not where we should put our efforts at this time, particularly since most of the other Regions already do one for their members and a National newsletter would perforce draw information primarily from those local sources. After Rick Nance's year of silence, we initiated a new position of National Director (Clay Smith) to open the lines of communication. Unfortunately the real world (and a new baby and pneumonia) has severely limited Clay's output, and I understand he's about ready to leave the position. realizing that he can not put in the time necessary to do, the job justice. In a way, I have to blame Steve Verdoliva for some of this situation. He, as the current NBOD Chair could have done much more with the office than he did, but instead he decided to bail out. I understand, but to have the reins in hand and then to say that the organization has no direction does not make much sense to me. He was the driver. Granted, the team he had to work with was not the most malleable, but then that is why some leaders have bars on their shoulders and others have stars. 1st rule of Wargaming: It's more fun to bet on a golden B-B than on any plan that makes obvious good sense. Till Next Time HMGS National Board Member Bill Harting Estill Springs Bill Harding wrote this after the Feb issue went out, while it is true I did not wait for his reply before writing my, editorial, because of deadlines, I did not mention his name only as the sole person that was out to get us. The whole BoD reacted negatively towards our proposal to leave the BoD, and while Bill wrote the letter, its content was with the blessings of Clay Smith and the current BoD. I still feel that the BoD overreacted, they still feel they were justified to act the way they did and that's that. As for Bill claiming his original letter was not edited to his liking, when I write an important letter, and send a copy to be augmented by someone else, I want to see the augmentations so I can approve them before the letter is mailed. That's common sense. Editor Back to Table of Contents The Messenger April 1996 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1996 by HMGS/PSW. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com