GEN CON 89 will be held on August 10, 114 12 and 13th at the MECCA CIVIC CENTER in Milwaukee., Wisconsin, and is well on it's way to becoming a reality. I now feel that it is time to increase and direct my efforts at recruiting the miniature games which will enhance the show's image and prestige. The abscence of the ORIGIN's'label from this year's title will subtract some of the games put on at only ORIGINS, but leaves us the challenge at proving that GEN CON is not just a fantasy shoat. I am asking for the support of miniatures garners to fill the space available and offer the following to support my request: 1) TSR has once again given us the downstai;sl hall and the old miniature area for use as a strategic game area. With the over 60,000 square feet of combined room apace it is the largest gaming area set for strategic games of any convention in the country. In addition, we will be increasing the nusher of tables in many of the gaming areas leaving more room for big game; without having to Wye tables #n the middle of period&. 2) Judge Request forma went out in December this year. We are over 60 days ahead of last year, but still not over the "US Mail Curse". Due to a blooper on our part in the mailing list program and another lost mail shipment, many of the judges from last year were missed. In addition many of the historical judges were missed on first. pass. By the time you read this, judges who have been missed should have received packets. If you haven't, plate drop-me a line or a post card or call and I'll get them in the mail quickly. 3) TSR has reaffirmed their committment to the hobby field. Many of you have noticed an increase in the presence of TSR at Historical Miniature conventions last year. This year TSR is attending even more conventions. It is part of their program to become more gamer orientated and deal with garners on a one to one basis. Lt us know about any problems you may have. 4) We have a wide group of choices for guests this year. Unfortunately we have not been able to tie down definate plans. We will give more information as it becomes available.  5) In most cases you only need to run two events, by the time you count setup and tear down, to get into the convention free. This equates to two or more six to seven hour events with eight or more people, well within the same range as other conventions. One frequent complaint is about the $2.00 per ticket even charge. This fee was established to help the judges defray their 'coats and help TSR pay for the huge cost of rental of tables, chairs and area. While not enjoyable the fee is necessary. Many of you donated your part of the judge's fee to HMGS-Midwest, for this I and the rest of our organization is grateful. But some of our younger judges could not attend without the extra money. In addition if you are an HMGS member, there is no judging bond or fee. 6) Hotel space has been substantially increased, including more available dorm space. Many of these hotels have prices which are very close to what we are used to paying. Some of the hotels further out are even cheaper. Unfortunately parking is still a problem. 7) Gen Con is one of the few conventions, outside of those dedicated miniature conventions in which we as miniatures players have a voice. HMGS has an especially strong voice now as I would hope it will later. 8) We have storage and lockup facilities to guard your miniatures and help keep travelling back and forth to a minimum. 9) Gen Con has finally been able to reschedule to the second week of August, allowing many of our student players at college level or teachers to attend. There are some negative things to report. The judges fees were not processed in the time frame that we promised. Many of them were not finished until the last week in January. I could give you a long list of valid excuses why they were not done, but among them is not that TSR spent all the money and can't pay. Nor has TSR decided that they no longer have to worry or care what happens to judges now that ORIGINS is over. If I suspected that either of these rumors were true, or had any basis in fact, someone else would be writing this article. I look at this as an opportunity for the Midwest miniature players and judges to put on a show that will compliment Little Wars and other Conventions by bringing in new blood. I also hope that East Coast HMGS judges and non-HMGS judges will put on more of their quality games. As of now (end of January) we have over 25 miniature events of which eight are historical. While more events are coming in daily, I would like to see more historical events. My goal is one hundred historical events, thereby showing the industry that we are a major force, even at 'fantasy' conventions, and forcing notice and new products. Pre-registration deadline for judges, is absolutely no late. than the first week in MARCH. If you don't get in by thiss date tae will be printing it in the second chance registration which will definitely he going out. Deadline for second chance is tentatively set for end of April. Anything after that will be on-site. Please remember that many of our gamers are beginners and plan accordingly. Beginner games on the whole sold out last year, as did many of our fill ins. Also try to remember to try to schedule your games, whenever possible, on 'off' days, Thursday and Sunday. The times worked well Last year and the games were fairly spread out, but we were still almost swamped Friday and Saturday. Back to MWAN # 38 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 Hal Thinglum 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