There has been word lately that the WRG 7th rules will be the final edition; albeit they will continue to be updated and amended, but we will not have an 8th edition to look forward to. Instead, Phil Barker has turned his energies toward developing his new DBM rules (DBA big battle) due for release in 1993. This is good news in many ways. The DBM system will probably appeal to many of those gamers who play ancients/aedievals as a sideline interest and also will be of interest to most of us hard-core players who are looking for a different game. I wish WR6 well with their new endeavor and look forward to seeing the final product (that's right, Phil, I'm hitting you up for a review copy!)

So far as my own endeavors go, I will be expanding the business side of SAGA this year as a means to offer more products to the ancients/medieval gamer/historian. SAGA is now the exclusive U.S. distributor for Michael Young's highly regarded SHIELDBEARER rules. Those of you who read MINIATURE WARGAMER, SLINGSHOT or WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED will be familiar with Mr. Young. His articles and essays on battlefield tactics prompted me to take a look at his rules, which I'm happy to say I have finally done. I'm honored that Mr. Young has agreed to allow me to represent him in the U.S. Those of you who have not yet seen the SHIELDBEARER rules can get a set of them by sending me a check for $10.00, postpaid. The success of this venture will dictate SAGA's future endeavors along the lines of providing publications unavailable to most of us on this side of the Atlantic. On a similar note, I would like to announce that I will also be carrying selected Pallas Armata publications for sale. The first publication which will be available is the two-volume set BOHEMOND I PRINCE OF ANTIOCH 1058-1111 by Ralph Bailey Yewdale. The set will sell for $12.00, postpaid (145 pages).

This issue will include three new army lists, two of which were sent to me by Mark Stone, revised Book III list coordinator for NASAMW. The third is my latest installment on the Italo-Norman armies. Anyone wishing to submit an army list for consideration by either WRG or NASAMW might wish to publish it first in SAGA.

Finally, I'm getting psyched to go to HISTORICON in a couple of weeks. I'm sure Scott can't wait for the hordes of MRS garners to descend on him! The big question this year (besides which brand of beer to bring) is whether I join Greg Hauser in playing in BOTH the open tournament as well as the Dark Ages one or just the latter. I don't know, six WRG games in four days isn't too much, is it? No way! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you again this year. Until then...