From: Keith H Cumiskey I've been a fan of your designs for quite a while, although, I must admit, not real informed on OSG. As a game designer, you are well known and respected in the industry. But, please allow me to be frank about your pre-pub program, with no malice intended. GMT and The Gamers are known quantities to me, while OSG is not. I've seen them go through their downs and ups, but now feel pretty comfortable that when they say they're going to design/ship a game, they do (given a generous window of time). They've had a pretty good track record in the past three years (longer for The Gamers). I am interested in some of your pre publication titles, but don't feel comfortable at this time committing to a game that might not be released for years, if at all. Yes, I know, you don't charge the cards until the game is ready to ship. But when I see a game only has 68 pre-pub orders, it doesn't give me a great deal of confidence that I'll ever see it. I hope you take my input in the constructive spirit with which it is intended. I don't really know how my perception will be changed, but I hope it does. I know the war game business must be tough, and I really have a lot of respect for you guys that have put your financial well-being on the line. Editor's Note: After the exchange of a few emails, Keith decided to preorder. However, his letter is instructive since it may help explain why the pre-order process is so slow. I hope this letter may stimulate debate, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. From: Todd Adamson Subject: Games for 20 years 1. ASL (a cheat, but I'm a true believer) 2. Gamers Stalingrad Pocket II 3. AH Russian Campaign 4. GMT's East Front Series (Another cheat, but I like the system) 5. DG Totaler Krieg! 6. SPI/DG Napoleon's Last Battles 7. OSG's Napoleon at Bay 3rd Ed. From the list, you can probably tell I'm an East Front junkie. EFS and TK! are probably the most dynamic of my picks as far as errata goes, and I won't even go into the nightmare that is ASL errata and Q&A. Hopefully, MMP can clean it up a bit with the 2nd ed. rules, but they are attempting to do the equivalent of updating the KJV of the Bible. Leaving aside the errata issue, I think the point of this thread is really what games you keep coming back to play. They're not the "punched the counters, set up the campaign scenario, gave up after the 4th turn" games that end up on the top shelf of the spare bedroom closet. From: "Dave and Sharon" I stand behind the plug for your site. It's simple, attractive, easy to navigate, and packed with what Philip Greenspun calls "magnet content." I think it must be working well to attract repeat visitors, people (like me) who appreciate the generous historical notes you're known for providing. Back to OSG News April 2000 Table of Contents Back to OSG News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Operational Studies Group. 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