Hello friends. Welcome to another round of wargame club fun. My mail is a bit thin because some of your newsletters are not being forwarded to my new address. PLEASE update me in your database ... Thank you.
Our first item is not a group, but an institution--the Smithsonian. That's right that hallowed organization in Washington DC that has all the fantastic museums. In the September issue of their magazine they featured Douglas Mudd, the curator of the National Numismatics Collection in the Museum of American History. Why you ask" Because he is an avid wargamer, attends Historicon, and plays and paints little figures as we do. The article is a nice portrayal of our hobby, how one gets interested, joins in, his motivations, etc., and included some pretty pictures of his figures. Take a look.
Matt Davidson of HMGS Great Lakes reports keeps members abreast of national events. Toward that end, he reports that the HMGS National was dissolved at the last Historicon board meeting. They are replaced by a National Coordinating Council, with Hilton Mcmanus continuing as its chairman, Complete duties and responsibilities are vet to be determined. However, there will be no treasury, so regional HMGS organizations will no longer pay dues of $1/member. In a similar vein, HMGS-Gamers International was denied fail membership as it has yet to incorporate in a state (required).
HMGS Great Lakes themselves are doing well. They put on a first rate convention- Advance the Colors, with attendance and menibm, hip both up. Huzzzh! They added 27 new members pushing their total over 250. Nice going. A member club COGA held their October game day at The Soldiery in Columbus OH, with 12 different games played throughout the day covering ACW, ECW, WWII, colonials, wild west, and many others. David Doty recounts an interesting refight of Zomdorf played at Origins where the passive Prussians were trounced by the aggressive Russians. Ray Garber offered up a nice Sikh ways suvwnio for the Battle of Moodkov, 1845. And Mike Demana recounts, a refight of the naval battle at Camperlown between the 1-hitch and British, including excellent diagrams and pictures of major historical figures. There's lots more 14 bobby shops supporting them, 14 clubs as members. and 15 scheduled events on their calendar - --wow!!!
Big Muddy Historical Gaming Alliance Command Con was their big one in St Louis at Jefferson Barracks--no word yet on how it went. Shari Rudavsky- makes a plea to help keep the WWII carrier USS Cabot from the scrap heap. Interested folks should see the Ecostat website at www.divemiami.coni/museum/sponsor_pledge.him.
Wow, Bob and Cleo Liebl, the new dynamic duo of editing HMGS East's newsletter, are a strong first impression. Bob kicked off with a pitch for campaigns rather than one-off battles (some very good points, too, and not just on his head!). He followed that with part of a 3- part story concerning an 1801 century campaign he participated in starting the usual European adversaries. After drowning us in puns, Bob sprinkles in little sage tidbits of advice for the new gamer, or even the grognard who needs some reminders. Victor Schmidt gave us a design for the perfect wargamer's house, including floorplan, work schedule, and options. Wilbur Grray added a nice review of Mareengo and Hohenlinden.- Napoleon's Rise to Power. Then Bob polished off with three more articles covering Stonewall Jackson, Y2K and miniatures, and Civil War food and he and Cleo's experience cooking and eating it. Whew! Nice effort-maybe he needs more articles from you gamers out there?!?!?
I enjoyed thumbing through the last couple of Bill Harting's Dispatches for HMGS Mid- South. Dr. Jim Birdseye started things off with a neat solo scenario tor WWII armor--Rommel's 1940 dash to the Channel, inventive. Bob Duncan then had me rolling on the floor laughing about his experience with expanding foam, a castle, and masonite. Jonathan Coulter provided a useful Mein Panzer Junior to get newbees or youngsters into armor gaming. Buoko de Groot wrote an interesting article concerning the Egyptian armies., and how little we really know about them (e.g. the DBA/DBM lists are fantasy). Lots of humor in here, too.
Tornado Alley HMGS is on a recruiting drive. As of July 1999 their active membership was down to 30 t members. However, they remain active, sponsoring Castle Con I in August and Fort Worth Wars; in November. President Orval Darrow is working hard to get the organization moving again.
John Pernandes began the latest Citadel from HMGS Northwest describing the advent of armored warfare in the Suviet Union--quite fascinating and filled with many facts I didn't know (yeah. I know, more than that isn't tough). Then Bill Stewart treated us to an interview with noted author and garner Charles Sharp, who has inspired many of us. Finally, these folks held their Breakthrough convention in mid-November in Marysville WA. I'm sorry I missed it-but I should be home for the next one.
Don Wolff's Camino Real Post lists three events per month in the greater New Mexico region and nearly 30 avid gamers to book up with for a little lead pushing.
NASAMW's Spearpoint was fun to read, as usual Ed Texeira offers us a glimpse into his new set of rules that revolve around a variety of dice checks, using more or less dice to pass based on morale class and situation. Next. Phil Viverito penned a scenario and OOB for the Battle of Tunes, 255 BC, between Rome and Carthage. Morgan Conrad wrote an interesting essay covering the intricacies of the Albigensian Crusade. Proposed DBM 2.2 amendments are offered for players and critique. And of course, Scott Holder and others provided the ubiquitous tournament results giving the winners their 15 minutes of glory.
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© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
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