1. My WRG Ancients 15mm Pontic army, newly arrived from England, received a setback on its first outing. We went up against a Roman army ... Jeff Wiltrout's neatly painted boys ... whose legionnaires proved to be rocksteady.
In the WRG scheme of things, units are initially given both a mode of operation and a speed of advance. Thus one can assign a unit to SKIRMISH and move QUICKLY, or one can ATTACK and move WARILY.
Not knowing any better, the entire Pontic offense was based on an ATTACK moving QUICKLY forward. The Romans, who appeared to be HOLDING and moving WARILY, stopped laughing only long enough to fend off everything thrown at them.
In the center of my force, my front line consisted of a long row of archers. Just in back of them was my chariot corps, sharpened axles gleaming in the sun. The archers were contentedly potting away at long range at the opposing cohorts, when the Roman artillery plunked a boulder or two right in the middle of the chariots. This caused the chariot corps to test its reaction, the result being that the bloodthirsty yokels went into an IMPETUOUS advance.
Spurring forward, they were so impetuous that they rolled right over the archers ... this is not good, sez I. A turn or so later, the chariots made contact with the Roman ranks to the front of them, lost the melee and fled. You guessed it... they routed back by rolling over the archers again, who had just recovered from their first bout with the chariots. Bad form, sez I.
I had the chariot commander impaled on a sharpened 2x4. I would have used a 2x8 but it wouldn't fit. Perhaps my Pontic troops learned something from the disaster ... we'll see. In the meantime, the Pontic flag flies at half mast.
2. We're still looking for input for our special issue, the "biggie", which, if we can accumulate a sufficient number of articles, we hope to publish this year. The response - in a word - has been lousy thus far. What has happened to all the tellers of tales, the singers of songs, the weavers of myths, the epic poets ... ? ... c'mon, you guys!
3. Don't forget the PW Seven Years War 30mm figures are for sale. They are in two poses, marching and attacking, and detached heads that must be epoxied on. The price is 50 cents per figure plus postage of $1.00 per 12 figures ($1 minimum).
4. A year or so ago, Doug Ziprick of Walla Walla, Washington, mailed us, cross country, a ton of lead figures for our PW fund raiser which contributed mightily to our treasure chest. Doug has done it again ... another large box of figures has arrived, which we'll put up for sale at our fall PW auction. If Doug would only move to the east coast, he could attend our meetings, pick up his REVIEW in person, and save one helluvalotta postage. Thank you again, sir.
5. Our RULES-On-The-Back-Of-A-Postcard contest has been dormant for some months. The judge and Most-High-Arbiter, Robin Peck, just moved from London to a little town called Horsford in Norfolk, and will take some time to get back into shape.
Due to the imposed brevity of the rules (there's only so much that can be written on a postcard) and Robin's isolation (he's an ocean away), we suggested that all entrants accompany their postcards with a couple of paragraphs of explanation of just what their rules were supposed to be doing. To my shame, I must admit that even I have not yet submitted my explanatory notes ... but that's no excuse for the rest of you guys ...
6. The latest issue of THE COURIER contains NACH PARIS, a Franco- Prussian set of rules by Paul Koch. NACH PARIS originally appeared, some time ago, in the REVIEW, and indeed, its content is essentially contained in Paul's entry in our Rules-On-A-Postcard contest.
NACH PARIS, in the main, is enjoyable and fast playing, and my only negative comment concerns the movement system which Paul is attempting to foist on an unsuspecting public.
After dicing for A and B, Side A pushes its troops around while Side B times A's movement with a stop watch. Then it becomes B's turn, and while B is allowed a minimum of one minute to move his units, he can take no more time than A took in his half of the sequence.
Tom Elsworth and I, in our infancy, tried timed sequences with no good results. He who was endowed with fumble-fingers invariably came out second best as he tried to beat the clock. Not to mention all the bent bayonets, crunched flags, and the like. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me card sequences or give me death.
7. The HMGS March convention, Condray Caper #3, was another success. Best guess is that over 500 attended and all enjoyed themselves immensely.
Over 50 events were scheduled, approximately half of them tournaments, the rest demonstrations. I had listed, in my computer, some 140 pre-registrants who signed up for events in advance. Those who did not pre-register, but paid at the door, took pot luck in participating in the game(s) of their choice ... I heard no complaints that anyone had been squeezed out of a particular game.
8. The HMGS had its usual "free form" meeting ... little formality, no specific agenda, advice and comments flying through the air.
Bob Coggins reported that he had around 60 events signed up for ORIGINS 85 and was still seeking more.
My primary concern is the tax status of HMGS. We've not yet applied for non-profit status, and funds are accumulating in our coffers at a rate greater than anticipated.
9. HELP! Can anyone out there help me contact Capt Rich Losey? Rich subscribed to the REVIEW over a year ago. He handed me 8 dollars, gave me his address, and, honest fellow that he is, expected to receive the REVIEW in the mail.
I promptly placed the 8 dollars in the PW account, and just as promptly, lost his address. Rich finally caught up with me at the recent HMGS convention, at which time I turned over to him a year's supply of the REVIEW, took his address and told him that, due to my negligence, I'd send him yet another year of the REVIEW gratis.
Now, fellas, I meant well, but somehow, I ... er ... well ... uh ... seem to have lost his address again. HELP!
10. We, that is, HMGS/PW, recently put on a demonstration for the Smithsonian Associate Program. Pat Condray got in on this one, something about cowboys and Indians, I don't know how Pat did it, but he wangled a contract with Dr. Gordon, the Smithsonian honcho, and HMGS was paid for the event. If there's any organization that doesn't need money, it's HMGS...
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© Copyright 1985 Wally Simon
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