I, like many, have been reading the e-mails about the question if HMGS-PSW should allow sci-fi or fantasy games at our conventions. I also had the chance to talk to some members at ORCON this last weekend about it. When I asked if it was true that we had already told someone that they couldn't bring 40K to the con, one member said sure, that is the rule. I asked why he thought it was and he said because that's how it is and it's the understanding. I had to tell him he is wrong and here is why. Bill Witthans' Gaslight Sci-fi game being enjoyed by a young player. We need more of these recruits (As long as we keep our historical focus.... the editors)! Bring them in anyway we can. Then convert them!! It would be a shame to see everyone getting older and grayer and looking at the eventual demise of our hobby. Back in 1988 when Brian Stokes and several of us where founding HMGS-PSW there was a debate going on whether or not to allow scifi or fantasy at our conventions (it was going on all over HMGS even the mighty EAST was debating it). After all D&D was waning but 40K was on the rise and they were going to cause historical gaming to die out. While I was the convention manger I heard it all the time, so when I became president in November1991 I asked the members to talk about it and put it to a vote. What they voted in was that at HMGS-PSW we were historical first and foremost, but not only. If at any convention we had any open tables anyone could set up anything and play. That means sci-fi, fantasy or board games. So long as there wasn't a historical game being bumped out. Lastly, at no time were there to be more non-historical games going on than historical, even if that meant tables were left open. That is how the members voted in 1992 and that is how it is to this day. Many may not know what is correct and many may have acted differently, but this is how it is. I will add that we have sponsored a 40k tournament at one convention and no one died, historical gaming didn't end and the world continues. We have even had sci-fi at the convention. A game called asteroid smash a few times. Several people enjoyed it and we are still here. We have had a few tournaments of the Civil War board game Battle Cry (the one with the plastic figures) and we are still around. I believe that this debate is something that will always go on. In the issue of The Messenger, Marc Canu wrote a very good article on why we need to still be open-minded like the members were in 1992. Understanding and open-mindedness are just a couple of the ways we will be able to stay around and grow. Back to Table of Contents The Messenger February 2003 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS/PSW. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com