This section is designed to give some last thoughts on gaming and to direct your attention to the future.

Let's get one thing straight. Something all of you players out there know, but some people just can't get on the same wavelength about. Wargamers do not need to be harassed about anything -- this is a hobby. People have hobbies for one reason -- to have a little fun with their free time. Face it, this hobby cannot die if at least one of you is still in his garage late at night playing some old game.

Maybe it would shrink so far as to not support a manufacturer -- distributor -- retail system, but there would still be the small mail order game house to supply you with games. If no new games are being produced which are good enough to support a game company, then tough. Improve or die. Wargame companies are not, and should not, be exempt from basic laws of business.

My point isn't very deep or philosophical, only that gamers are in this to have fun. We do not need lectures about recruiting, style of game to like, or that we should support game companies, irrespective of their bad products o track record. I got my fill of recruiting lectures in the military (recruit or die...it will show up on your OER...mandatory "this officer support recruitment" remarks) and I need none in my hobby. Sure, we can always use more gainers, but not so much that we should scare away those already playing.

What's with this one man campaign to bring on games about Low Intensity Conflict, anyway? I can see interest in Alternative History (unpalatable, but honest) easier. I've got a news flash, LIC is boring -- no matter how modern or "in" it might be. Such games really need a hidden movement or blind system (or the guerrilla leader will find his clock getting cleaned much of the time) and these systems fail miserably solitaire. And, another flash, I play solitaire most of the time, too. So lay off, and put this effort into something productive.

Those are my thoughts, anyway. Before I close this column, I wanted to encourage you to start designing. We can put out up to 6 games a year, but will only do that if we have good ones to release. With just Dave and I designing, I don't feel safe with trying on more than 4. If that's is all you need and you are happy with the range of topics we are hitting, ok.

If you have any complaint, the easiest way to fix it is to design a game which hits your favorite topic. The SCS system will be good for that because it is not scale or time period dependent. It could even be used for an Ancients game... Anyway, the point is that Dave and I are limited in our expertise, and will not be designing games outside of that realm -- simply because they wouldn't be good enough. If you want something radically different from what we've been doing, you'll need to get to work!

I hope you have enjoyed this first issue of Operations. It was short a section because it was the first issue -- Letters to the Editor. Be sure to write up your opinions for next time. We will make every effort to print up your letters promptly with only a small amount of good taste editing. Send or call in your rules questions. That column burns through a lot of questions in each issue and we will always need more. Send in your articles or ideas for articles.