Here we are with our second issue. To our great relief, subscriptions and over the counter sales indicate that there is indeed room for a new collector's and wargamer's magazine with a little bit different format. A few letters have come in, however, with and without subscriptions, suggesting that we may be one too many, should be supporting existing publications, and are too ambitious (in the sense that Caesar was ambitious.) Perhaps, therefore, we should take this opportunity to mention the market and why we entered it.

Lt. Black's letter appearing on page 36 accurately describes the situation as it seemed towards the latter part of last year. Jack Scruby had reduced, for a time at least, the scope of his publication (Table Top Talk 6 issues per year to Miniature Parade, 3 issues per year) Strategy and Tactics was predominantly about board games, and Miniature Warfare was as yet known to us only by a note from Don Featherstone (Wargamer's Newsletter) to the effect that Tradition had decided not to push a wargame magazine, but that one of the others consulted on the matter was going ahead anyway. Of Don's lively monthly we had no complaint, but we did feel that perhaps our emerging nation should have one of its own.

Some of us had just come from an ambitious effort to establish in connection with a publishing house in New York a magazine dealing with all aspects of military collecting. The firm with which we were dealing pulled out, leaving us with a lot of material and some expensive memories. Another firm, Challenge Publications, had shortly thereafter began to work along the same lines, first with changes in Scale Modeller and lately with Soldier. We have no way of knowing whether or not our abortive effort had any connection with these developments.

Much to our surprise, after starting in the partial vacuum referred to by Lt. Black, we found ourselves, by publication date, in the highly competitive situation described in Louis Bloom's letter. Jack Scruby may be coming out bigger and better than ever with Miniature Parade, Strategy and Tactics has broadened its scope, and Miniature Warfare, the new English publication, has staged a spectacular come on. It remains to be seen whether any of the Challenge Publications will seriously take up wargaming, as suggested by the February Scale Modeller editorial.

So what can we say? We haven't been in business long enough to demand "support for existing publications," and there are too many other publications on the market to demand that you "support the hobby" by subscribing to this magazine. We do want reader articles, suggestions, etc., and we will be more than happy for anyone to subscribe, whatever the reason. But it's your money, and about the only way we have to coax it away from you is to give the most value for the least possible cost.