First of all, I am happy to announce that Mitch Abrams has joined the SAGA staff as games/rules reviewer specializing in computer ancients software and other such material which will be of interest to SAGA subscribers. Mitch and I spent a few (?) years in Grad school together before he moved to Boston.

We recently held our local WRG 7th tournament at SIMCON, drawing over twenty gamers who fought it out for four rounds under Scott Holder's able umpire's eye. Scott and I actually got to play a game. He had a 25mm Galatian army and I used Later Romans. After a 3 1/2 hour bout, I finally beat him!

Seriously, though, we had a great time and I can't thank Scott enough for coming up here (at his own expense) and helping us with our tournament these last two years. SAGA subscriber Brim Lewis edged me out in the tiebreaker to win and represent our region, along with Previous qualifiers Jevon Garrett and Sean Patrick at this year's NCT in Harrisburg. We had gamers from Ottowa, Ontario, Albany, Buffalo, California and Virginia this year.

Many of you have by now received Larry Essick's 48 page rules clarification booklet from NASAMW.

In essense, I find nothing wrong with clarifying and giving examples of WRG or any other rules, but Larry has also taken it upon himself to change rules and this is not acceptable. Playing in the SIMCON tournament, references to 'Larry's rules' could be heard, especially when confronting scythed chariot elements. This anomoly is bad enough under the rules as written. You get to buy a murderously effective chariot model with scythes for a grand total of 24 points -- remember the movie Alexander the Great with Richard Burton, Clare Bloom, etc.? In the battle scenes from Arbela, Darius launched these unwieldy weapons across a level plain and you watched them turn over, fall apart and when the survivors finally arrived at their target, the Greeks simply opened their ranks and the 'deadly' chariots harmlessly rolled through the gaps, doing no harm whatsoever.

Normally under WRG AS WRITTEN you get to buy expendables, or these cheap chariots in certain army lists (Galatian, Later Roman, Seleucid). they got to fight on a per model basis: they don't have to be in units as other figures or models do, so don't have to pay command points. If they rout, their own friends don't care, since they don't count as a unit. However, if they charge an enenmy LI/LMI/LHI foot unit, the foot have to take a morale (waver) test. If they contact other troops, these also have to take a waver test. If the chariots don't break through, break or rout the enemy, they are immediately removed from the game... they are used up (the rider bailed out).

Okay, pretty mean stuff here, but Larry must not have saw Alexander the Great. His chariots can simply rally back if they fail to contact! I can just the drivers trying to run down their chariots which they bailed out of, saying "Come back, my horses, the enemy ran away and we can got another shot at him..." Sure.

Anyway, if NASAMW ever gets the message that they ought to leave the rules alone, maybe they won't have so much trouble with angry members. One can only hope.

I need battle reports, with or without photos for a special 'battles' issue of SAGA. Also my stock of historical articles is running low. Rules sets, both for playtesting and otherwise I also need. If you can got something ready, the next deadline will be June 1st. Until then...

DID YOU KNOW?

A formal treaty of peace ending the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage was not signed until 1989? The respective mayors of Rome and Tunis (Carthage) did the honors. (From MHQ Vol. 3, no. 3)