Fellow USP&S members: I am writing this letter in support of using Armati at the next National Championship Tournament (NCT) to be held at Historicon in Pennsylvania. There are two major reasons for choosing the Armati rules over WRG 2nd Edition. The first is that many members appear to be frustrated with the WRG rules. The second is that mass appeal of Armati is an excellent chance for our society to gain membership.
In case anyone has not noticed, the appeal of WRG 2nd Edition seems rooted in the West, especially California. This leaves out other regions who may want to play something different, as well as some disgruntled Californians. If the Society wants the NCT to become truly national, then a set of rules which appeals to a broad base of members, such as Armati, should be used.
Secondly, we have been hearing rumblings about our lack of membership and how it has been dwindling for several years now. The use of WRG as the rule set for almost all of the tournaments, including the NCT, has partially contributed to this. Using the Armati rules is an excellent chance to halt the decrease in membership and help the society increase membership. The Society of Ancients saw similar logic when it embraced DBA and DBM instead of doggedly staying with WRG 7th Edition ancient rules.
Many people will claim that they prefer WRG 2nd Edition to Armati because they are better, more realistic rules. I say that does not matter. What matters is that Armati is accepted on a national scale as an excellent set of rules, especially the Renaissance supplement. In fact, 12 people played them in the Armati Renaissance tournament at Historicon. That is as many as showed up for this year's NCT, and more than stuck around for the final rounds. Additionally, there is an Armati National Renaissance Championship set for a Midwestern convention this summer. Armati's appeal overwhelms 2nd Edition.