As the new spring season approaches, it’s time to dust off those armies and check over the new figures that have been painted this winter. I’ve redone my Norman army, painting up dozens of ‘new’ knights, archers and spearmen. Also new are some additions to my Welsh contingents, including archers, loose order long spearmen and Idwal, a new general (he may have fought alongside King Constantine at Brunanburh in 937). Also some new Viking figures, a start on Belisarius’ Byzantine army, a new Ancient Warfare army (Parthians) and bits and pieces of Scots, Saxons and even Galatians! All in all a productive winter painting season.

Since starting SAGA Publishing in January, I’ve noticed an interesting situation. I approached a dozen hobby outlets in respect to having them carry SAGA products. Not only have I not gotten any orders, I have not heard back from any of them. This is not unusual. I’ve been in the music business, both semi-professionally as well as on the retail end of it since 1965. There is a lot of literature floating around and I receive plenty each day, often ignoring it. What does get me to open it and look is when customers express an interest in finding something. If there is a demand for a product, stores will at least attempt to carry it. At any rate, if anyone has a hobby outlet nearby and would like to check out SAGA’s publications before purchasing, talk to the storeowner about carrying our products. I am certainly easy enough to reach if they are interested.

That brings up another point. There have been several favorable reviews re: The Campaign for England - 1066 book. This is great insofar as the exposure is much appreciated. I have been approached about including Piquet orders of battle as well as the present MW/WAB/DBA ones, so this will most likely be included in future publications as well.

Cold Wars is fast approaching and I would like to have this issue ready for then. Only time will tell! At any rate, I will try to get it out in time. As for other matters, our rules group has topped 400+ members. This is a milestone and it is very encouraging. With the proliferation of rules sets appearing, including Warrior, Frank Chadwick’s Ancient Conquests, and Medieval Warfare, the use of a rules group to rapidly correspond with players is an essential part of the future of the hobby. By allowing ourselves the ability to put up rules queries, amendments and clarifications on the web, we can immediately get changes out to the players and get their responses. This is much better than the old mail system where you had a two weeks turn-around between sending out a question and getting an answer.