The HAWKs here again in The Gamers' Closet to fill you in on the goings on up north. In this issue, we'll have an update on conventions and such since October and talk about plans for 2003.

The highlight of the past quarter has to be Fall In! where the HAWKS/NOVAG room posted over thirty games including a number of award winners by both clubs. The most commented game had to be Bob and Cleo's "did you see the real water in that fountain." The place was jumping all weekend and on Sunday half the convention's games were run in the Paradise room. Both clubs can be proud of the result.

Fall In! also saw the kick-off of a news HAWKs project -- The Battles for Beginners Contest. In this competition, experienced GMs get a chance to show off their tricks for making good looking games from inexpensive materials. We got a lot of attention from walk through traffic. The goal is to publish an anthology of how-to guides for use by entry level gamers. After we WOW them with the showcase convention games, we show them bow easy it is to get going on the road to being the next Duke Seigfried. The contest will be held at Fall In! 2003 at Timonium, but the entry deadline is the end of Cold Wars. For more information join the Yahoo site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BB - Contest/ or contact me directly at adams - elizabeth@email.msn.com.

Of course, the big event on the horizon is Cold Wars. The HAWKs have 34 games scheduled in the Paradise room. We'll have the traditional Schlegel's Ferry series, a new Space Station Accipiter scenario, Don Smith's 3D U-boat game and more favorites. And we'll have some games using prepublication editions of upcoming rules and a few featuring new additions to the GASLIGHT family. We can't wait for the big weekend to come and chase away the winter bl4hs.

I've seen on the NOVAG Yahoo list that the Cold Wars NOVAG room will be New Holland. That will be good for NOVAG. You'll have a lot more visibility than you did in the Heritage room. For what it's worth, New Holland was the site for the first two HAWKs rooms (CW and Hcon '97). Here's hoping that it brings you as much luck as it brought us.

We have a few possible new activities down the road. One is a HAWKs presence at JohnCon (Johns Hopkins Baltimore campus, Feb 28). Another is a possible demo game at Harper's Ferry on the model of our September Ft. McHenry event. If this materialized the location makes it a natural for a joint project with NOVAG. Both of these are in the talking only stage now. We'll keep you posted.

I'll let you know what happens with these in the next issue. By then I'll have a Cold Wars report, more to say about the Beginners' Battles and of course Historicon planning will be a hot subject.