If one of the principles of "the art of war" is the concentration of force at the decisive point, then I spent a September weekend in Homer with close to fifty military artists.

At right, playing in the warehouse.

For 1995 The Gamers' retreat drew its biggest crowd yet, and the wargaming really was wall to wall and elbow to elbow. People from as near as Homer (you know who) and as far as the UK (Gordon Dainty) came together for some serious fun. I saw lots of regulars like Dave Powell and Bob Stettler, got to know some of the guys with familiar names, like Joe Sylvester and Dan Cicero, and met a bunch of new faces like Matt Fenlon and John Koontz.

Zack Waltz showed up two days in a row wearing two different GMT shirts. But nobody took him out back to beat him up. Boyd Schorzman (at right) did venture out back for a sample of Homer, Illinois' main product: not wargames, corn.

As if to prove that the retreat is not a Gamers-brand-only event, Dean Essig, Rod Miller, and Dave Friedrichs tangled in dogfights using miniature aircraft and J. D. Webster's Fighting Wings rules (from Clash of Arms). The three-dimensional effect of model planes on height-adjustable stands moving across an oversized hex grid made the contests interesting and easily intelligible for spectators. These games were a glad sight for me because Dean was playing strictly for fun, rather than sweating to analyze the implications of yet another playtest session. A little fun must help keep him sane as he works to finish this year's seven-game publishing schedule.

Some playtesting did go on. Wig Graves brought GD'42 with him and supplied running commentary from the Grossdeutchland's war diary as several TCS enthusiasts, including Lee Forester, Perry Andrus, and (I think) Greg Ulrich gave it a test drive.

There was another very interesting TCS game in progress, but I won't let slip what it is. Dave Friedrichs had Hube's Pocket, which he, Boyd Schorzman, Dave Powell, and Greg Ulrich put through its paces.

If you count the playtest of the revised Stalingrad Pocket, all of the SCS games made it onto the table. Afrika and Yom Kippur were the most popular titles, with Joe Sylvester, Zack Waltz, Matt Fenlon, Gordon Dainty gaming the North African campaign while Robert Thorne, John Koontz, and Dan Cicero (among others) fought over the Suez Canal.

In contrast, some fairly old titles were popular: two games each of Barren Victory and Omaha. I have long thought that the unpredictable situation in Barren Victory makes it one of the best CWB games.

The contests I witnessed bolstered this opinion.

Gerry Palmer and Dan Cicero (at right) fought a nail-biter down to a tie on the last turn. At the other table, Dan Bartlett got himself into a scary- looking situation, "Hood's Pocket," with Bob Stealer's Union forces ringing him on three sides in a horseshoeshaped line. The Rebels eventually prevailed, with the heavily contested pocket being the key to victory.

Regarding the other 1991 "classic" in play (at right), the Omaha players, including (from left to right) Zack Waltz, Dan Derby, John Reed, and Joe Sylvester, came up with lots of commentary; Dave Powell is already mulling over how to adapt Omaha to the TCS 3.1 rules. Other TCS spectacles were a Krasni Bor street-fight, as Perry Andrus and Greg Ulrich slugged it out in Scenario 4 of Black Wednesday, and the struggle for Stonne between Bob Thorne and Bill Garman in GD'40.

I counted no fewer than five games of Tunisia in progress during the retreat. People diving into this game included Mark Owens, Gordon Dainty, Ken Spuda, Martin Schaubel, and my OCS opponents from last year, Maurice Buttazoni and Bill Quoss. In one game, two Mans faced off, and one of those Matts played in two of games. Matt Longabaugh airdropped the British I st Para on Sousse, and when Matt Fenlon's Italians couldn't wipe out this one DG step (genuine bad dice), the Axis got squeezed into a tight perimeter around Tunis.

More or less simultaneously, Matt Longabaugh faced Keith Fortner over another Tunisia map. An informant reported the following exchange from that game. Matt: "You must be banking on that flip-flop, bro." Keith: "I'm banking on not having to play any more this afternoon."

Enemy at the Gates took up a couple tables and about a dozen players' attention. I got recruited to Dean and Rod Miller's Axis team to face Powell, Schorzman, and Fortner for the campaign game using the "Forget the Med" option (Tunisia 4.0f). It was fun to have the 334th Infantry shoulder to shoulder with the 3rd Panzer and more fun to clobber Soviets with the Witzig kampfgruppe. In an upcoming Operations, Dean will provide a full account of how this variant plays. 1 will only say that, though we lost by sudden death on Game Turn 25, the Axis were back on the offensive and might have retaken Stalingrad.

Meanwhile, Don Nesbitt, Roy Lane, Rowdy Scarlett, John Newman, Brian Roderick, Keith Plymale, Guy Winton, John Koontz, and Matt Fenlon set up another EatG campaign game, got off to a false start, switched teams around, set up again, and went back at it. Along with the high casualty rate typical of this scenario's early turns, these guys put energy into a lively discussion of the validity of the optional air rules (as printed in OCS 2.Oi and Ops 18) for this campaign.

Steve Graham and Thomas Prowell played the prototype of the updated August Fury, with a dramatic collision between the Iron Brigade and the Stonewall Brigade. Also, Chip Pharr and John Newman gave Stalingrad Pocket II a good going over.

The most popular CWB game this year was April's Harvest. No surprise: it's small, fast, and new. It seemed like the last guys to leave each night were the ones playing this game. Vernon Robinson offered a fun variation when he umpired a double-blind April's Harvest for John Newman and Chip Pharr. Chip led the Confederates (of course) and soldiered on despite an attack stoppage roll at the worst moment by Bragg. His troops managed to wound Sherman, but Chip didn't realize it at the time. From what I could see, good umpiring made double-blind play workable, and Vernon gave both players a good whiff of genuine fog of war.

NBS games received some much-deserved attention this year. Vernon Robinson played Katusov to Brian Walton's Napoleon in a game of Austerlitz with the version 2.0 series rules. Vernon devised a "von Schlieffen" plan for a sledgehammer blow with the Allied right along the 01mutz road. Although Brian watched Bernadotte spend half the day mulling over some orders in D4 condition, the game became quite a brawl. Vernon and Brian also shared a game of Marengo, with Brian wearing the Corsican's hat in that contest.

I brought along my just-punched copy of Marengo and got into a rare situation: a face-to-face confrontation in a game I had never tried solitaire. My inexperience showed as Don Nesbitt quickly improved upon the Austrians' historical orders and started gobbling up Victor's corps. By the 12:00 Game Turn, when we knocked off, my situation in Marengo on the Fantanone looked very much like 6th Army's in Stalingrad on the Volga. And when Murat rolled a Loose Cannon result twice--I couldn't help but laugh at my own misfortune.

Still, I had the satisfaction of running a few cavalry charges with 2- Cav, an A-size, A-morale heavy cavalry unit. If other tactical Napoleonic games, maybe even Austerlitz with the NBS 1.0 rules, have seemed too daunting for you, but you still want details like facing, formations, squares, charges, and skirmishers, try Marengo. Even with the optional units, the full battle scenario has very low unit density and frantic action. And if you thought the original NBS rules were not Napoleonic enough despite their many subsystems, you'll appreciate the way version 2.0 manages to combine more historicity with less complexity. (Here endeth the word from our sponsors.)

This year we had no group photo, no en-masse burrito run, and no door prize drawing. The size of the crowd and the intensity of the gaming activity left no opportunity for such fringe events. Dean provided written directions for those who wanted to drive to Champaign and challenge el burrito tan grande como la cabeza. And some did. One diversion was the large stack of old (and not at all old) wargames that Dean was unloading. Game design certainly infringes on one's playing time; Dean owns more unpunched games than I do.

The weather in Homer was sunny, cool, and altogether ideal. So, of course, four dozen hobbyists spent all day crowded indoors, picking up pieces of cardboard and setting them down again. If that idea seems perfectly reasonable to you, then you'll understand when I say I had a blast.

Looking Ahead to '96

(at right, Friday morning Playtest Room B).

Attendance at this year's Retreat pushed the physical capacity at The Gamers to the limit. People had games set up all over the place, and a few times it looked as if someone might not get to play merely for lack of table space.

Dean has therefore decided to put a 50-person cap on the 1996 Retreat. The intention is to maintain the intimate and informal atmosphere that has always characterized the event and to avoid having "HomerCon" grow to an unmanageable size.

Therefore Sara is taking calls and signing up the first 50 registrants for the '96 retreat. If you plan to attend, call early and reserve a place. If your plans change, please call to cancel so someone else can have the available slot.

Sara also has information about special hotel rates. Next year more selection will be available, including special group room rates. These rates will be in effect September 25th- 29th.

So get ready. The Gamers Retreat itself is scheduled for September 27th-29th, 1996. See you there.

Roll Call

Perry Andrus
Tim Armstrong
Dan Bartlett
Maurice Buttazonl
Dan Cicero
Alan Conrad
Gordon Dainty
Dave Demko
Dan Derby
Nadir Elfarra
Dean Essig
Matt Fenlon
Lee Forester
Keith Fortner
Dave Friedrichs
Bill Garman
Steve Graham
Wig Graves
John Koontz
Roy Lane
Matt Longabaugh
Mike Lynn
Rod Miller
Don Nesbitt
John P. Newman
Mark G. Owens
Gerry Palmer
Chip Pharr
Keith Plymale
Dave Powell
Thomas Prowell
Bill Quoss
John Reed
Vernon L. Robinson
Bryan Roderick
Rowdy Scarlett
Martin Schaubel
Dave Schoepke
Boyd Schorzman
Ken Spuda
Bob Stettler
Joe Sylvester
Robert Thorne
Greg Ulrich
Brian Walton
Zack Waltz
Guy Winton
Paul Worthington