1. This double April/May issue is the result of a 3 week April vacation in England, which prevented me from coming out with the April issue. DBM seems to have won the hearts and minds of the British wargamers... at least, that's my conclusion after a somewhat narrow glimpse into the activities of the one or two clubs I visited. 2. FIRST EMPIRE is a glossy-paged British wargaming magazine devoted to Napoleonics; it was first published in 1991. I picked up copies of the first two years of publication, and of interest to me was the very first... in one article, the author described his weekend at the Wargames Holiday Centre, which was started some time ago by Peter Gilder, and then taken over by a gentleman named Mike Ingham. The author stated that for £80 (this was in 1991), one received a weekend's stay at the local pub, plus meals, plus a chance to play in one or more huge wargames; the author participated in 2-day Napoleonic Battle of Wagram, in which the original Gilder rules IN THE GRAND MANNER (ITGM) were used. I mention this article because I've played ITGM once or twice and have not been particularly impressed with it. It seems to be a successor to Vietmeyer's COLUMN, LINE & SQUARE... both sets of rules provide a fine display on the table, utilizing huge 36-figure battalions, and both cater to the dice throwing crowd in that the players get to toss buckets of 6-sided dice. In FIRST EMPIRE, the author's comment, after an enjoyable weekend at the Centre, was: As for the rules, well having played them many times before, I knew that they stink... (but)... it must be borne in mind that any rules used must cater for a percentage of players who have never used them before, and, to this end, GRAND MANNER are as good as any, provided you like throwing handfuls of dice. The refreshing candor of the writer appeals to me. Perhaps, in the future, when reviewing a set of rules, instead of diplomatically stating: "These rules are somewhat lacking in content...", I shall forthrightedly come directly out with: "These rules stink!" 3. The ORIGINS booklet arrived; this convention is to be held in Philadelphia in mid-July. HMGS is sponsoring several miniatures games, and under the "Special Events" listings was a blurb for the HMGS presentations: This year the HMGS will again be sponsoring a series of miniatures battles in tournament form. This is what is best in life; to crush your enemies and see them driven before you. I thought the "crush your enemies and drive them before you" bit was somewhat overdone. For example, I have no current desire to crush my enemies... what is "best in life" for me is to sleep late on Saturdays and Sundays. Although, on second thought, I wouldn't mind stomping on all those who make nasty remarks about my rules. The ORIGINS registration fee is $34.95 for the four day event. Daily registration is also available at $16.95 per day. Some public relations sales expert must have briefed the ORIGINS staff on the "95 cent" add-on fee, thinking to slip one over on the public. Visitors' passes are available at an even $7.00 per day... why not $6.95? Someone obviously goofed here. 4. HMGS elections are to be held at HISTORICON, in July. Note that I say "HMGS", and not "HMGS East". To my mind, there's only one HMGS, all other latecomers are interlopers. I'm told that one or two "furriners", i.e., non-east coast people, are throwing their hat in the ring and running for the Board of Directors. Why anyone from Chicago, or Kansas, or points west, wants to get on the Board of the east-coast organization still baffles me. What possible interest could someone in the mid-west have in the day-to-day business of HMGS East? In theory, there's a nationwide HMGS organization which will coordinate the activities of the various members. No need, therefore, for the furriners. Pat Condray, HMGS President, called me up and invited me to sit on the vote-counting committee at the HISTORICON election. I accepted and was duly sworn in, pledged to ensure that no taint nor scandal will mar the proceedings. Jerry Lannigan sent in the letter below which deals with his thoughts on setting up an organization for those interested in World War II wargaming. Dear Editor: In the last few months, it has become abundantly clear that there is a large percentage of our fellow hobbyists who are avidly dedicated to gaming in the period of world War II. The recent Cold Wars at Lancaster is a very good case to examine. In this observer's opinion, the premier game of the whole show was Prokorovka - 24' long by 6' wide embracing hundreds of AFV's and thousands of other figures. The landscaping and scenery usage matched the effort the game sponsors had expended in constructing their detailed OH's for both sides. In addition, I was astounded to find not one but three Pegasus Bridge scenarios being fought out, as well as several well done micro-armor games being played. The rules used varied tremendously as well,from Soldat and Battalions in Crisis to Command Decision. Of course, this does not even include the tournament run by the designers of Battalions in Crisis. The intensity of interest displayed there, in our hobby periodicals, in the wealth of literature about the period generally, and apparently in the general population, have led me to offer my services as a clearing house for other wargamers who share my enthusiasms. I propose founding a national organization ala the Seven Year's War Association. The organization has the fundamental purpose of being a forum for those people who have an interest in simulating the period from the Spanish Civil War up to the, Sinai desert campaign of 1956. This twenty year period was chosen because of the similarity of weapons systems throughout the era. This World War II Forum initially will focus its activities in two, hopefully mutually supporting, areas: a semi-annual tournament occurring at Cold Wars and Historicon and a newsletter. The newsletter will examine historical material of direct interest to gamers as well as material directly related to wargaming such as rules variants, game reviews, game scenarios, gossip, etc. With some planning, this might be expanded into an annual mini-con with this period as the focus. I would greatly appreciate your support in helping to get this effort off the ground. Interested readers of your periodical can contact me at the address below. I plan to use their responses as a measure of interest in this effort and will get back to all potentially interested parties in as timely a manner as possible. Back to PW Review April 1995 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com