This issue will be the biggest ever for SAGA. For a change, I have a large number of articles that I will include to make up for the shorter issue of last time. My friend Mark Garcia, editor of Spearpoint, wrote in his latest editorial that SAGA had a higher content of historical articles than Spearpoint. I attribute that to the fact that many contributors are historians first and wargamers second. These are not mutually exclusive labels. In fact, my love of history led to my gaming, as I am sure can be said for virtually all of us. Historical writing, when done well, I mean not in the dry tomes of the professional journals, can be exciting and uplifting. How many of us have run out and purchased a new army just because we read an article or book that got our imaginations fired up?

This issue features two fine authors whose articles are gracing the pages of SAGA for the first time. First is Glen Crack, whose excellent article on the Battle of Hastings is first rate. The other is Kevin Brook, whose new book on the Khazars (reviewed in this issue by Dennis Leventhal) is an intriguing item, one I am sure to buy. It is always gratifying to have authors of such talent allow me to include their contributions.

I am in the process of divesting myself of my 15mm armies. I haven't gamed with them for over a year and since I can't see well enough to paint them anymore (even with bifocals), it's time to find them good homes. I am going to include (if I can remember) a listing of these armies and their prices. All are painted to wargames standards, some better than others. I have been moving to 25mm for the last several years and now have substantial armies of Republican Romans, Carthaginians, Medieval Scots, Sicilian Normans, Anglo-Irish, Vikings, Later Hungarians and Teutonic knights to field. Assyrians are next, thanks to the new Foundry figures coming out.

Medieval Warfare has been slowly getting edited. We hope to have copies of the Foundry edition available at HISTORICON. In any event, they will be out by Fall In. This is a very time consuming process, as my playtesters can attest to. Each and every amended change has to be tested out and I rely on the playtesters for historical precedence as well as gaming situations to determine if a rule needs to be modified or not. I really do not want to go through a series of yearly editions of these rules. The published set should be able to stand on its own…hence the diligence and care we are putting into the finished product. Remember, we have been playing these rules since 1996. They have been extensively tested under grueling battle conditions (by that I mean several cons, HISTORICON, Fall In, Havoc, Cold Wars, Siege of Augusta, etc.) When they are duly published, they will be done right.

Well, I've decided to deal with my mid-life crisis by getting together another rock band. Straight '60's party rock. I will be once again cavorting on stage. That's a frightening thought. It should be a lot of fun though. Hey Hal Thinglum, didn't you used to play? Chris Parker is still active, playing bass as well as running his plethora of Day of Battle games at all the cons. Beats therapy. But music is its own therapy. Just like wargaming. Thanks to those of you who wrote to me with kind words and advice. I have managed to lose 25 pounds due to an extensive change in eating habits, so look for that 'slim-looking (!)' guy at HISTORICON.

My Medieval Scots are just about ready to go. I painted up a stand of Mirliton's Braveheart command, and it looks great (see review in this issue). It'll be nice to be fighting somebody other than Bruce's Burgundians with them. I'm mighty tired of those longbows shooting my poor Scots into oblivion. I have managed to develop a couple of tactics to deal with this type of enemy, much as my counterparts had to do seven centuries ago. The problem with an army of slow-moving close order foot is that they are so vulnerable as they attempt to close. Some of you have suggested that a shieldwall formation was harder to disrupt with archer fire (see discussion of this in the rules portion of this issue and Glenn's article). So after discussion, we have opted to amend the missile fire rules with an addition of this modifier. Even so, if you elect to use shieldwall, you are relegated to moving at only 1/2 speed. Like I said in the designer's notes, decisions have to be made and you will develop your tactics in the field.

We have fourteen players signed up for the 25mm MW tournament in Lancaster. I anticipated a total of six last July when I asked Scott Holder about including us. If all goes well, next year we may opt to try both a 25mm as well as a 15mm tournament. See you at HISTORICON!

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