Greetings fellow armchair generals. I know the summer has been great fun, driving to your vacation spot, listening to the kids whine, working in the garden with the wife, watching baseball on TV, and reading all the new catalogs and making your Christmas lists up early. Well, enough of that stuff, let's talk about game clubs.
Our first newbie this issue is the Finger Lakes Area Gamers (FLAG). John Petrella, one of their three coordinators dropped a brief note to encourage new folks in the greater Syracuse area to drop by for a game. They meet to play at Altered States game shop in Syracuse NY on Saturdays and Sundays. The store is (315) 472-GAME.
Dave Durocher of Metro Detroit Gainers sent me a convention booklet for the 26"' annual MICHICON GAMEFEST 2000 this past June 23-25. The price seemed reasonable for nearly 200 possible events, and at least half were historical! My interest was piqued by titles such as "Mad Monks and Relics" and "Bitin' Off Hedz." Call or write Dave for more info.
Mike Askins, informal leader of the Mike's Basement Gang in Minneapolis MN, sent me a nice email last month. He's a retired AF man (me too some day) and gets together on a regular basis with a dozen like-minded grognards to push lead. They play primarily Johnny Reb ACW, but they'll try anything once. If you live in the frosty north, try Mike at (612) 783-1236-1 will if I can ever come up with an excuse to fly my trusty C- 17 to Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Mike O'Brien of the Miniature Wargame Society of Sacramento sent a friendly email telling me about his club. They formed in 1987 Linder the name Sacramento Area Gaming Association but renamed to reflect their primary interest in miniatures. They meet on the 2"" Saturday of each month at the Deterding Park Arden Manor recreation center at 1415 Rushden Dr. in Sacramento. All periods and scales are welcome. I le or Brian Fritz can be reached at contact numbers below.
The Boardgame Players Association is a worldwide group sharing their interests in boardgames. They sponsor tournaments, organize play-by-mail games, and help establish global player ratings for even matchups. Their Worldwide Boardgaming Championship will be held in the Hunt Valley Inn in Baltimore MD August 1-6. Over 100 different games will be covered in tournaments. Their website at www.boardgamers.org offers lots of information and the opportunity to join. Cool!
The HMGS Great Lakes newsletter arrived a few days ago. I quickly closeted myself away from distractions and read it cover to cover. Editor Mike Demana has been a busy guy building 6mm scale horse and musket villages, and offering the reader some interesting suggestions for I nice touches" on these little creations. He also continued his summation of the Bretwalda campaign they finished recently, detailing the successes and failures of a few more regions. Their signature convention. Advance the Colors, is coming up Sep 8-10, so everyone is busy painting figures and playtesting their scenarios. Their gameday War Party attracted 50 gamers to a variety of events in Sharonville OH (near Cincinnati). A number of members supported the 17th annual Seven Years War con in South Bend IN. Other cons they attend or support are Capcon in April, Michicon in June, and Origins in July. Dennis Frank continued his excellent series of articles describing the early roots of wargaming with a review of HG Wells "Little Wars" plus some added background. Joe Fox wrote a splendid piece describing how to make your armored columns more detailed and realistic using simple modeling techniques and scraps. Four pages of product reviews, a convention list, game stores to play at and buy stuff at a discount, reenactments to view or join rounded out this fine issue.
The March El Camino Real Post now sports 27 (up 2) wargamers looking for opponents, and offers gaming sites all over the Rio Grande Valley. Web sites, tournament results, and individual listings of all the players and their interests are featured ill Don Wolf'e's monthly effort. Excellent.
Chris Slander, Golden Emperor for Life at HMGS West, sent me the latest couple Battefields to peruse. Ron Vaughn wrote two excellent pieces covering paramilitary forces in the Spanish Civil War, as well as tips on gaming options for the period and figures. Dave Smith regaled readers with his recent escapades involving the Canadian Northwest Rebellion of 1885. The forces sound fun and varied. Stan Kubiak added some additional info on Aerodrome 11. Great stuff.
The most recent Rebel Yell from HMGS South shows Bill Moreno is now editor. His first issue included a very good article covering flood's Tennessee campaign history, as well as OB's and suggested gaming setups, both one-off and campaign. Figure reviews of GHQ's new modern infantry packs, a listing of 19 supporting game shops, and previews of their April con RECON events filled the rest of the issue.
HMGS Mid-South's latest Dispatch included an interesting article by a retired Marine Colonel detailing why "It Certainly Wasn't Fun, But...." Bob Duncan added an amusing list of ideas lie would implement were he ever to become an Evil Overlord; i.e. lie would make his ventilation ducts too small to crawl through, and he will not tell his captives his evil plan before shooting them. Cute. Five more pages of humor followed, mostly militarily related.
The 13th Regiment reports that they are constructing two more game tables bringing their total up to 10 4'x8' tables. They plan to finish off a Seven Years War campaign that they've been playing-Prussia, Turkey and Spain look like the winners. Gettysburg will be refought this summer, and 25mm skirmish French & Indian war continues to be popular. Pirates have also shanghaied some new followers. Ancients in 15mm, Cowboys, Dark Ages 25mm, and more are also being played. Duke Robinson would be glad to welcome you to a game.
Bob & Cleo Liebl continue their fine work with the HMGS East newsletter. Bob concluded his Naw-Theng Much campaign rendition, while others added interesting articles. John Liebl (son? brother?) wrote a well-researched historical article covering Colonel Freiherr von Boeslager and his exploits in the German cavalry during WWII-very illuminating. Cleo positively reviewed Patrick O'Brian's Napoleonic naval novels, and added recipe information for such delicacies as "Spotted Dog" [yuck!]. Don Featherstone quipped a short note appreciating his American gaming friends, while a 1980 article by Wally Simon concerning probabilities in gaming was reprinted. Meet them all at the next Historicon or Cold Wars or Fall In!
Tim McNulty will be stepping down as President of Northwest HMGS. We'll see who elections bring forth. Their signature con Enfilade last May went well, with over 50 planned events. Jim Mead wrote a nice piece covering Operation Sealion in WWII, while John Kennedy recounted his group's refight of Waterloo. Finally, Terry Griner teased the imagination with his ideas for fighting a campaign in the Middle East during the Crusades. Nice work.
One of the things I miss about leaving VA is gaming with the NOVAG crowd at Game Parlor in Chantilly. Something new and interesting was always going on in the game area. Tim Filson emailed me with a game announcement for a SYW scenario for 8-10 folks. Dave Luff runs their excellent website announcing upcoming events, message board, game/figure swapping board, chat room, the NOVAG annotated Napoleon's Battles house rules flor download, links, and more. There is always someone (or many someones) to play a game if you bring it in, too. Fun!
The US Military Academy Wargames Committee under Pete Panzeri continues to run numerous excellent opportunities for large group campaign-like participation over a weekend. Not only will they do Gettysburg again this year, the Alexandrian Successors will have a go in August. Go Pete!
The recent Last Dispatches of the Last Square Garners were fun to read. Several conflicting (yes conflicting, both sides and several participants) reports of the Siege of Berwick Castle c. 1319 opened the entertainment. Beautiful photos showed the 32 feet of linear wall in 25mm--awesome! Jim Stuht recounted a game using Bootlegger rules for Prohibition era gaming. Sounds like great fun. These 30+ gamers sound like a great bunch. Madison Wl area folks out to look them up!
Big Muddy Historical Gaming Alliance has gone pure digital-no more bulk in my mailbox (boo hoo). As usual, this hardy bunch has been doing quite a bit of gaming. Their Barracks Battles in April brought in 125 attendees, and Spearhead promises more in August and Command Con in November. Rosella Lorenzi reported that on March 27, 2000 the wind in the western Egyptian desert revealed a host ofbones, weapons, and other fragments that are suspected to be from an ill-fated 50,000 man expedition by Cambysus, son of Cyrus the great, against the oasis of Siwa. It was lost in a great sandstorm in 524BC. This may be it! Fantastic! The copious writer Blake Walker offers some insights into gaming 19"' century European conflicts. Earl Hogden, another regular contributor, writes a thought-provoking discussion of the effects of rout and gaming. Good stuff.
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© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
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