1. Pat Condray and I were in Chicago a couple of weeks ago for the LITTLE WARS convention. What truly struck my fancy, however, was not the goings-on during the convention, but those after the affair. The HMGS-Midwest group, after the doors are finally closed on Sunday night, hosts a pizza party wing-ding at a nearby restaurant, an eat-all-you-want freebee for all attendees. Unfortunately, Pat and I could not take advantage of this buffet; we were heading home, chomping away at a United Airlines dinner at the time the pizza was being distributed. I mention this because, on occasion, I have been approached about the possibility of using PW or HMGS funds for a similar event. I have always shrugged off such suggestions, not even passing them on. Perhaps I'm too conservative by nature, but I've always thought that a big in-house party was not really the proper place in which to sink organizational funds. I can readily understand the argument that the funds come directly from the convention proceeds contributed by the attendees, and that since all attendees are invited, all have an equal chance to participate in the goodies. There is, however, an organizational linkage to those unable to attend the convention. These fellas, via their membership fees, contribute to the group, indeed, it's their funds in the treasury that provide the "seed money" to get the convention off the ground. If the convention makes a profit, then there is that much less seed money required for the next affair. It's My thought, therefore, that if the profit goes into pizza, the non- attending members are getting short shrift. Now that I have unburdened myself of these weighty thoughts, let me assure you that even though I do not advocate pizza blasts for organizations with which I'm affiliated, I am always ready to sign up for yours. Let your membership look out for itself. Ho, Landlord... pass the flagon of pizza!! 2. Mike Pierce, in this issue, has written a defense of the magazine MINIATURES WARGAMING. I've received a wee bit of feedback on my comments concerning that publication, most of it focusing on the fact that my definition of a "useful" article may not be quite in accord with that of the majority of wargamers. In short, I march to the beat of a different drum. Just to show I'm not biased about or against any one particular magazine, however, permit me to hack away at the latest issue of THE COURIER, Volume VII, NO 4. This issue has a total of 64 pages, and as we open the magazine we see: a. An historical article by Ken Bunger on the battle of Fontenoy which falls into my "useless" class. Ken provides uniform information in his piece, and at LITTLE WARS, I thanked him for providing me with such important data as the color of the flask cords of the various units. We were in the motel's bar at the time, and it was rather dark, but I feel certain he blushed. I did not further inquire as to whether he gave the flask cord colors for the summer or the winter uniform. b. Next, Pat Condray, who never blushes, and who seems, of late, to have taken over THE COURIER, devotes 5 pages to the order of battle of the Austrian Army 1859--1866. No flask cord colors given here. Useless? c. Next, editor Dick Bryant saw fit to include a 6 page article on... balloons! Not just balloons, but balloon charts! Hot dawg! I can see one page on balloons ... but six? d. Now we're up to the centerfold. Bless Barry Gray for a set of campaign rules. e. Next comes the Reviewing Stand in which anatomical innaccuracies of the figures reviewed such as the lack of separation between a figure's navel and crotch are glossed over. I would appreciate it if all readers - right now - looked down, checked their navels and crotches (one each), and assured themselves that these two important centers were not co-located at the same point. This is not the case with many of--the figures on the market. f. And next, Condray returns; 4 pages on uniforms of the Austrian-Hungarian forces, 1859-1866. Still no flask cord data. We are now on page 44 of the 64 page issue ... we finally hit a "rules" article. I shall not go on. Editor Dick Bryant will probably froth at the mouth as he reads the above, breathing heavily as he types my termination papers as skirmish editor. Mind you, I can understand Dick's dilemma... he's got to please people other than W. Simon, i.e., flask cord collectors, balloon enthusiasts, distorted figure advocates, etc. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with him. 3. It's getting close to HISTORICON time, the HMGS affair at the Penn-Harris Inn at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ... July 16, 17, 18, 19. For reservations, call the Inn at 717 763 7117 and request the HMGS multi-occupancy rate of $48 per night. Back to PW Review June 1987 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1987 Wally Simon 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