Those of you who have been following are development can see numerous plans and projects in the works now which change the way we operate by adding to the things we can sell and by spreading the developmental load in order to bring out more of the games languishing in development.

All of this was created in reaction to our "soft" year last year (rather than tempting a "too little, too late" problem later on). I wanted to increase our output, meet new players, and spread our sales requirements into products we have not carried.

The Honcho program began to assist in getting nearly finished games into my hands each year such that I could (technically, assuming all made the cut) release one game in each of the main series each year (the RSS held out as something different for the time being). Additionally, the Honchos have been tasked with providing support for their series (such as rules questions, discussion boards on the net, and OPS support articles) and seeding new game designs. Contact them if you can offer help.

Another set of initiatives (some assigned to the Honchos and others to myself) is the idea of MiniGames. These would be small, inexpensive, quickly played games that add additional depth to the release schedule. The first of these will be released this Fall and others to follow as they are available.

Next, we were able to expand our Consortium and general product offerings to handle a great number of products we've never been able to sell before. The Consortium expanded with the addition of Clash of Arms and the Australian Design Group. They have added a great number of games to those we are able to sell.

Larger than the Consortium expansion, was the opening of our On-Line Discount Shop. At our web site, you'll be able to pick up many of the games available today at around a 30% discount. Beyond the usual wargames, we also carry family games, miniatures, paints and so on. Sales have been brisk, check it out.

We've added the whole line of books and atlases privately produced by David Glantz (widely known to War in the East aficionados). That's good, but what is even better is that is that Dave Friedrichs has been working to convert these outstanding sources into a CDROM format. Depending on the success of the first few offerings, these will be expanded to cover multiple hardto-find sources. The best is yet to come in this exciting expansion.

My "Dean's World Tour" to various game cons begins with Euro-Homer Con in early June and extends through Michicon, Origins, WBC, and TennCon. I looked at the possibility of going to ConQuest in California, but neither the timing or resources came together to allow that trip as well (maybe next year). Come to the cons you can and I hope to see you there.

While doing all of this, I've been unable to spend additional time on the foundation of new series (starting with Age of Rifles), but that is coming for me as the rest of this is established.

What you see here is a plan to broaden our base, bring in new people, expand into sales we've never had before, and grease the rails for new game production. The goal here is simple: long term survival, positive growth, and no more "soft" years.

How can you help? If you choose, you can offer help to the Honcho(s) of the series you like, place orders for stuff you would have gotten anyway with the OnLine Store, tell your friends, and convince your gaming friends to get OPS subs. Anyone can be active and involved in this concern, and all will be appreciated.

My motto for all of this is:

More rather than less. Sooner rather than later.

I hope you'll be able to participate.

Remember: Good Planets are Hard to Find...Please Recycle!