Over the years that I've worked on it, Operations magazine has remained rather stable in both look & feel and editorial policy. So you'll easily notice that I've changed the presentation of the Game Ratings chart. After years of finding ways to squeeze more and more titles onto a single page, I took an informal poll at Origins about readers' opinion of the chart. Everyone who spoke up was happy either to see the chart less frequently (maybe once a year) or see fewer games listed, or both. Though I have changed the list's format, we're still very interested in the game ratings you send in, either on suggested titles or any titles you'd like to rate. We still maintain the entire ratings database; we're merely not spending so much paper on reporting, issue after issue, on static ratings of aged games. Write and let me know what you think of the new format.
I met Udo Grebe at Origins '99 and found that he's a bright, energetic guy. Some of you may know that Udo has had a rough year, and you may even have heard rumors about UGG therefore being -doomed.' Well, don't believe the rumors. Udo is scaling back the UGG production schedule, but he's still committed to a plan and to the longevity of UGG. Read about it on page 4. According to the game ratings we've received, those people who have tried Morsecode --- and Triumph and Fall of the Desert Fox like those games a lot. UGG is instituting a P-500 plan, much like the pre-production order systems being used now by GMT Games and Operational Studies Group. Some interpret such moves as both a symptom and a cause of board wargaming's implosion.
Yeah, right.
On the bright side, such plans mean it is the time to speak up for what you want, with your letters, calls, and especially your orders. It's good when your vote counts.
And while you're voting with your dollars, you can still save some by ordering Aspern-Essling before 1 February 2000. The pre-pub offer in effect in December and January is $36 (Ops subscribers) or $39 (non-subscribers); list price is $45.
The Gamers' web site now has shopping-cart on-line ordering, domestic and international. You can send credit card info over an encrypted link. The technology is Secure Socket Layer (SSL); it's what the big e-commerce sites use and it's dang secure. The site also features keyword searches for products. Kudos to Sandi for a lot of good work getting the shopping cart operational.
If you're expecting an 1999 replacements and variants countersheet, you should find it enclosed. If you don't find one, it could be you haven't ordered anything from The Gamers in a while. All the counter corrections, even the merely cosmetic fixes, are now done. For next year's sheet, Dean is on the lookout for good suggestions. Don't bother asking for organic trucks for Guderian's Blitzkrieg, as those will be in the new edition. Also enclosed with the '99 countersheet is a comprehensive errata listing; hang on to this, because it's the authoritative and up-to-date listing as of now.
Next year at Origins, the seminar formats are changing in response to player comments. We will present two different OCS seminars, one for newbies (basic rules intro) and another devoted to advanced play techniques. Dave Powell will be running an RSS seminar along the same lines (advanced stuff) and starting an on-going game of TTS for those who want to get an introduction to the game and system.
Most of you know that Dean's major project these days is the Age of Rifles series (see the Out Brief in Ops 34). The latest word is that Dean is now making serious progress on AoR. As always, please be sure to provide accurate credit card information if you're charging your order. Sometimes it's easy to forget to update your expiration date or new card, especially if you have signed up for a series subscription.
Back to Table of Contents -- Operations #35
Back to Operations List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines
© Copyright 1999 by The Gamers.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com