Welcome to the brief, yet informative, final installment of New Perspectives. Because of the magazine's upgraded look and organization, new miniatures releases will be covered in The EDGE with stunning photography and a minimal amount of text - after all, a picture is worth a thousand words (not that I actually ever got paid at that rate ... ).

I will still be ranting about on these pages on occasion, in a miniatures sort of way - the ranti. ng will just appear in the form of nifty miniatures scenarios, optional rules, play tips, and other generally obnoxious drivel intended to drive you away from miniatures games altogether. The weak will go, but the strong shall survive.

I'm really only tooting in here to announce a winner in the UNIVERSE SHATTERING, REALITY ALTERING, and OTHERWISE REALLY NEAT New Perspectives GIMME contest, in which certain greedy parties (namely you) sent entries for an opportunity to win a box of goodies (namely miniatures) from a great, world renowned philanthropist (namely.. you guessed it... me).

A partial list of the contents of said box (here. after referred to as "the goodies") includes: a nasty Greater Daemon and a couple of Helsing Knights from Harlequin; an assortment of cool Rafm figures (including some Mekton and Jovian Chronicles figures that had to be pried from the bloody, unconscious hands of two SHADIS staffers named Matt); gobs of really neat Ral Partha issues including Vampire, Mage, and Shadowrun figures, plus some great fantasy stuff like Jeff Wilhelm's Red Dragon; superdetailed Shatterzone figures from Simtac; Townsfolk from Thunderbolt Mountain (what else needs to be said?); some nifty fantasy and Magic: the Gathering miniatures from Heartbreaker; incredible Warhammer and Warhammer 40K miniatures from Games Workshop; and the continuing list includes some fantastic figures from Grim Reaper Casting, Grenadier, Lance & Laser, and Reaper Miniatures.

All told, "the goodies" have a retail value of well over $300. Not a bad haul for Mark Goldberg of Las Vegas, Nevada!!!! Mark, by the time you read this, you will already be staring at a box that Arnold Schwartzenegger couldn't lift. Hopefully the postman can....

Thanks to all of the readers who sent entries. Some were brief, some long, some profane, but all of them were addressed properly. Talk about your group of highly intelligent, literate readers! I would like to have responded to each letter, but there were just too many to allow that. Plus, my crayons kept breaking.

Thanks again for all of your support over the years. I will be helping in other areas of SHADIS, so don't stop sending your miniatures related questions and comments. Maybe we'll pull them all together every once in a while and run a miniatures Q&A. Good luck and good gaming.