Welcome to the slowest time of the year for NOVAG ... at least that's the way it has been traditionally. While you are staying inside more because of the weather it's now the perfect time to get to work on your next project. Personally, I'm going to work on painting up more Civil War figures, add to my terrain, and improve my WWII MicroArmor, troops. But most of all, I've got a big project planned that I have been holding off on for a while building the castle and hill of Chapultapec! This will be for my 25mm Mexican-American War, and it should make an appearance at Cold Wars, or at the very latest HISTORICON.

I still have to do a great amount of research to make sure that I do it right and include the proper details. I plan on making the hill out of Styrofoarn (the "blueboard" type that holds up so well), so I guess I need to have the foam flying soon! I still have to get one of those heated wire gizmos to cut it with. I'll probably end up scratchbuilding the castle, so that should take some time too.

So what's been going on lately in the NOVAG world of gaming you might ask? For those of you who made the trip, HMGS-East's Fall In! was a nice event. It rained almost the entire weekend, but that didn't seem to hurt the enthusiasm or the numbers of participants too much. The site (Gettysburg) was definitely different than Lancaster, and should make for some really great shows in the future. I know that I'll go back, especially since it's much closer than their other two conventions.

Elsewhere in this issue you can see the list of events at our sponsoring stores. Make sure to drop by and play one or two. Fridays nights offer much variety in the Game Parlor's miniature gaming area - just look at what's going on! And although they aren't official NOVAG games, WWII MicroArmor and WWI airplanes are Saturday games that alternate. They aren't "open" games, but the gamemasters will let most respectable folks in for a game or two.

The last thing that I have to say is just to encourage everyone who is a member to send in ideas for our website, events, newsletter, etc. This is your organization, and you can have an influence on it, you just have to make the effort.