Greetings.

Confederations of Friends, Indiana. 208 E. Poplar St., Owenville, IN 47665.

13th Regt. Play regularly at Dave's Train and Hobby Shop in Princeton, IN. 610 S. Race St., Princeton, IN 47670

The third new group is HMGS Gamers International. This sub-group of HMGS is not really a stand alone but a catch all to keep military members in touch with HMGS events and wargaming when physically separated from the US and other HMGS's. Army Captain Pete Panzeri is the head honcho for this organization and has already recruited members. I intend to write as soon as this column is finished. He is also recruiting contributors.

HMGS Mid-South is still alive and kicking. They have the second largest HMGS and wargaming group---behind HMGS East for membership. They have 34 game groups allibated with them. plus numerous individuals. It's a first class way to get introduced to a local club if you live south of the Mason-Dixon line and east of the Mississippi. They put out an annual listing of members for ease of contacts and the May issue of the Dispatch included those with e-mail addresses. Nice job, Bill. In the June issue, there was a series of "You know you're an old histoncal wargamer if.." My tavonte was, 'You have more toys than your children!' Yeah! That issue also included Tank rules by Bill Hogan for kids or kids to play armor. The July Dispatch included an interesting Vietnam scenario and rules again by Bill Hogan and Harold Maudry. Very interesting. It's a great source of information each month. Just $10 for one year of fine camaraderie. Excellent games. and of course. the pithy maunderings of Major Bill Harting majorbill@united.net.

Once again, the courteous folks at Tornado Alley HMGS dropped me a line. Scott Saylors, editor of the newsletter Tornado Alert, was the author. As he mentioned. however, it looks Iess like a semi-pro newsletter with each issue and more like a professional magazine. nice layout, historical articles, the works. The May-June issue included articles on naval air wing doctrine, the Sudan, WWII air game rules, and a Wild West type newspaper page or four. Steve Miller has gotten the University Interscholastic League in Texas to approve the addition of historical miniature wargaming in their list of interscholastic competitions. Other events include tennis, track, debate, literature, theater, etc. This is a major coup. It may be the single biggest contribution to our hobby this year--recruiting young players to the hobby. Tornado Alley HMGS is footing their membership fees, too! Congratulations guys. Miller works at Townview Magnet School in Dallas. Other items of interest included an army list for the Braveheart Army (movie), classifieds, calendar, game clubs, and much more. If you live in the Oklahoma-Texas area, contact Scott with at Tornado Alley HMGS, PO Box 20863 Oklahoma City OK 73156.

Nice to hear from the Northern Virginia Camers Wargaming Club (NOVAG) again. John McConnell leads a diverse group of gainers. They put on two conventions, GAMECON and NOVAGCON in August and November respectively. They also game every Friday night from 1900- 0100 al the Game Parlor in Chantilly VA. Recent games included Koenig Krieg (SYW), Fir and Fury, Napoleon's Battles, Necromunda, MicroArmor, DBA, and Wild West. Other nonI NOVAG groups meet the Eagle and Empire Game Shop in Alexandria VA, Fantasy Forum in Arlington VA, and The Gaming Realm in Frederick MD. Their latest newsletter included seven very unusual but histoncal Napoleanic scenarios. If you live in the DC or Northern VA area, these guys would love to have you over. P.O. Box 7158, Reston, VA 22091.

Carl Overshiner and his folks at Historical Games of Indianapolis continue their non- stop gaming. The August lineup included Tuesday night boardgames, lohnny Rcb. Napoleon's Battles, Brother Vs. Brother ACW, and Hordes of Things. Fridays included more board and card games, Saturdays--DBA, Shako, and more boardgames, and much more. The August newsletter included some interesting internet listings: Command Decision at www.primenet com/~bgeipel/cdmailer, DBM at http://tetrad.stanford.edu/DBM, Brit wargamers at http://clever.net/grognard, HMGS homepage at http://www.erinet.com/bp/hmgs, miniatures at http://biochem.dental.upenn.edu/mosaic/bill/tmp, armor warfare at http://www.webspace.com/~tanker, and Nafziger collections at http://www.infinet.com:80/~nafziger. If you live in the Indianapolis vicinity, these guys are probably the best in town. Contact them at Nineteen Plus One at 2060 E. 54th St., Village Commons, Suite 4. Indianapolis IN, (317) 726-1384. Or you can contact Carl Overshiner directly at 2118 N. Fisher Ave, Speedway IN 46224.

The Communique, excellent newsletter of the Heart of America HMGS starts off with an interesting article describing the Brit raid on Rommel's HQ during the siege of Tobruk. Other items included a middle western Imperial Roman army list for WRG, some options for fighting Luctacn in 1631, Mike Galbraith's tree creation lessons, and a lineup of events for their upcoming Border Wars in October. Of course the usual calendar of events, want ads, and club notes were included. One last item of note. They included a flyer for the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor which has had its govemment funding cut. They are looking for donations to save the life-size Patton statue and keep the museum open. It's located at Ft Knox, KY. Send donations to Patton Museum, PO Box 25, Ft. Knox KY 40121. If you live in or near Kansas City, these are the gamers to join. Contact them at 2550 W. 47t St., Kansas City KS 66103 or call (913) 384-2519. Only $10.00/year.

HMGS East, purveyors of such finc conventions as llistoricon and Cold Wars, continue their excellent tradition of service. In tact, membership is at an all time high with 1200+!!!! That's amazing. On top of that, they arc adding a new fall convention 1997, FALL IN! It will not be at the usual PA location, but somewhere north of DC and north VA. Also, editor of the newsletter LtC Wilbur Gray attended a convention held at Maxwell AFB AL to represent miniature wargaming at the Air Force Wargame Conference. Boardgame, computer, and historical gaming were all represented. Reports that miniature wargaming, although smaller than other areas, has the most scholarly adherents, as well as best financial shape for its producers. Interesting. For more info. Get a copy of this report directly or read the June newsletter. A calender of events, and lots of HMGS political and administrivia are also presented. If you want to join the biggest wargame group in the world: LTC Wilbur Gray, ltcgray@usa.pipeline.com.