By the time you read this fellow armchair generals, it will be mid summer and all your dutiful soldiers will be sitting patiently on the shelves gathering dust as you pursue your outdoor endeavors. I can't wait. Right now it's raining cats and dogs outside-I'm looking forward to shorts and the big summer conventions. First off, my thanks to Dave Burba at HMGS Midwest. He wrote to correct or delete several listings from the Megalist. I can't tell you how valuable that type information is since I can't possibly keep up on all the changes to the groups around the country, much less the world. I rely on your tips. So Dave-thanks very much. Now how about sending me your newsletter? 9) Tim McNulty of the South Sound Grenadiers has heard enough of my complaining about no historical gamers in Tacoma and invited me to join his group at American Eagles Hobbies in Tacoma, WA on Saturdays. They have about 15 members and play 15 and 25mm using a variety of periods. AWI was last month, WWII is popular, and they are running a Dark Ages campaign. You can read more at southsoundgrenadiers@yahoogroups.com. Rich Hartley wrote in the HMGS Great Lakes Herald about his new organization, the Ohio Valley Hoplites. These hearty ancients players are members ofNASAMW and HMGS-GL who want to increase play of DBA, DBM, and other ancients rules. They sponsor tournaments at regional conventions and hobby stores, including prizes. Contact Rich at rwjmhartleygmsn.com for more information. Dragonflight is a general gaming group centered on the Seattle area with over 300 members. Like most groups, they have a website at www.dragonflight.org, and will hold their annual convention August 24-26 at Seattle University. While a bit shy on the historical end, the group is quite active, with boardgames, RPGs, miniatures, card games and more at local gatherings, web links, or the convention. A little bit for everyone. Contact them at info@dragonflight.org. Bob Rodgers wrote to tell me about the New England Wargaming Kids (NEWK). They are a subgroup formed by the Northern Conspiracy club for their kids to join and play games at their level. The nearly one-year-old club has 20+ members ranging from 10-20 years old, and is usually shepherded by half a dozen NC members, with perhaps a dozen games played on game days. British Colonial, Victorian Sci-Fi, ACW, Ancients, Warharnmer, D&D, and Pirates are most popular, with about half the games played being historicals. They have a website at members. ttlc.net/~brodgers/newk/newk.html with photos, downloadable rules for Lego Wars and Little Wars, and the schedule of events. For those outside the New Hampshire area, you might want to check it out to set up a club for your own kids-gotta fight that "graying of the hobby" you know. Bob can be reached at brodgers@ttlc.net. An update from Charlie Clay of the Riverbluff Irregulars pointed out their new homepage (listed below). On it, you can download an interesting set of Pirate rules for 25mm. They arp also playing Warhammer Ancients, WWII, Three Musketeers, Dark Ages using Pig Wars, and 20mm Vietnam. My old friends at NOVAG held two more of their quarterly Game Days in April and upcoming on August 18. As with Dragonflight, these guys include non-historical games in their gatherings, though the historical edge is closer to 50 % here. Their newsletter included some interesting stuff. Faron Betchley continues his conversion of Warhammer 40K troops to easy Eight Battleground. Jay Moran offers role-playing advice. Tom Bolles offered up a nice set of homebrew rules for WW2 naval that is fast yet captures period flavor. And Charles Wendt gives us a very handy spreadsheet reference for terrain in Napoleon's Battles, complete with rules references, cover, movement effect, combat effect, and effect on changing formation. Excellent! The Citadel of Northwest HMGS contained an excellent article by Bruce Bretthauer on wargaming with chariot armies. Terry Griner thought up some useful new markers for Fire & Fury, which could also be used in other rules. Dave Shueler wrote a nice PT boat scenario for the Solomons in WWII. Advance sign up for Enfilade!, the big annual convention was also being pushed, as the con kicks off 1-3 June in Tacoma (yes, I'll be there). Reports from the Gig Harbor Storm 2001 in February sound positive-13 players fought the DBM tournament with Kevin Donovan taking top honors with Later Pre-Islamic Arabs. The Trumpeter Salute up in Vancouver BC was the best attended ever, and boasted quite a variety of quality events. Bill Harting's HMGS Mid-South Dispatch sported many gems this month. Jeremy H. wrote some truly hilarious "German for Airmen" definitions-very tongue-in-cheek like AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT: Das Grosse Overpaiden Und Under Werken-Whinencomplainer Biggen Schmuck Dat Fliegen Mit Das Big Airlinen. James Schmidt wrote a concise summary and TO&E for the 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and another containing suggestions for wargaming the period and scenarios! Nice. Nashcon goes off this month toohope it goes well. Mark Huml penned a brilliant DBM variant for ancient naval games, including OB's for most period navies. On an historical note, the D-Day museum in New Orleans is highly recommended, and the Norwegian navy discovered the Scharnhorst, sunk in arctic waters almost 60 years ago. The Herald from HMGS Great Lakes features a new typeface putting even more gloss on this very fine publication. How Mike Demana has time to make such a nice effort in the midst of gallivanting off to such weird places as the Mayan Temple of Tikal in Guatemala I don't know. Oh, he also wrote a nice piece about his First Man in Rome campaign. More to follow. Drums Along the Maumee convention kicks off this weekend, and already shows nearly 25 games offered. Scott Jeske wrote a battle report of his Might of Arms battle between Macedonian Successors and Late Romans-a nail biter. Scott Savory wrote a playtest review of the Princeton scenario for Patriots & Loyalists-two thumbs up, although they cite that it is die roll heavy. Paul Westermeyer review Gulf War books, and Dennis Frank continues his roots of wargaming articles-this time, Jack Scruby. Lots more stuff-reviews, clubs, stores-cool. argainTuesday and Saturday continue as gamed days for Historical Gamers of Indianapolis. Squad Leader remains popular, with Brother Vs. Brother, Desperado, Blue Sky WWI planes, Vikings, and Armati filling in too. A number of grognards from the El Camino Real Post hosted a one-day gaming event in Albuquerque in April showcased by an all day Armati tournament, and three large games including a Volley & Bayonet colonial India scenario, a Morocco 1912 game, and Johnny Reb 11. Numerous gaming events throughout the year are also listed, as well as the names and periods/scales of 25 Rio Grande Valley denizens. Good news for Armati players. The Phalanx Veteran announced that there is a new Armati website at home.earthlink.net/-pegasusrjf/armati/index.html. Kevin Reagan wrote a nice piece Back to MWAN #112 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum 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