Have any of you been wondering whether the 1968 Eastern Regional Wargame convention actually occurred? Well, as you can see from the above protest demonstration, photographed by Bob Mellilo, skilled combat photographer, it not only took place, but brought out the usual riff- raff.

Sponsored by the M.F.C.A. (a notorious military clique) and masterminded by Mssrs. M.E. Miller and R. Wall (responsible for several previous miniature massacres) the convention occurred, as scheduled on October 12, 1968.

Where was the Armchair General Staff while all this was going on? Well I and Dave Geisz (returned briefly from the wilds of West Virginia where he is usually held incommunicado) we were, naturally enough, lost in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pa. when the thing got started. We did get there-we always do. If you didn't, it was your own fault, we mentioned it in Volume I No. 2. I know, because that's where I looked up the address.

One novel feature in this convention was the Challenge Tournament. Most of us were convinced that, with a set piece battlefield and diceless highly stylized rules the tournament would be swept clean by Philadelphians who had been practicing all summer. Using our magazine functions as a cowardly excuse, Dave Geisz and I discreetly (i.e., cowardly) avoided the match.

When the smoke cleared, however, not a Philadelphian was in sight! Veteran outsiders Johann Johannsen of Baltimore and Charles Sweet of Bristol Connecticut dueled down to the wire, the decision going to Johannsen by 1 point!

How could we have gone wrong? The answers to this question are sufficiently complicated, and, as the question comes up all too frequently it hardly seems worthwhile to go into it in depth. Due to a loss of our records in the aforesaid wilds of West Virginia (you've heard that before, haven't you) it was necessary for your acting editor to go to Ed Miller, wargame organizer extraordinaire, for the following details:

Air Wargame (helicopter gunships no less) - - George Petronis
Naval Wargame, circa 1812 .......Larry Albert
Graveyard-St. Privat ............Bodenstedt & Company
British Colonial (Sudan, circa 1880) Doug Johnson
Thirty Years War ................Pat Condray assisted by A. Kowalewski

The Military Figure Collector's of America made the following Awards:

Best Cavalry Unit . . Bob Wall's Imperial Guard Horse Artillery
Best Infantry Unit Mike Gerguson's 54mm Colonial Highlanders (see cover of Volume I Number 5 if you don't believe it)
....................................Best Collector's Figure Pvt. Andy Chernak's Indian Army Officer
Best Armies -- Bob Beattie's British Colonial Army (late 19th Century) Charles Sweet's Roman Legions P. Condray's 30 Years War Army (it is my conclusion that the M.F.C.A.'s judges admire my persistence.)

Best of show went to Larry Albert's Pacifists--no doubt in an effort to win them over to the wargame establishment's viewpoint.

The Armchair General (a publication so secretive that it's editor must sometimes spend months finding out in what print shop it is hiding) also gave out some awards:

Best Cavalry Unit--Bob Wall's Guard Horse Artillery (monotonous isn't it)
Best Infantry Unit--Jerry Hedges (7 Years War Prussians)
Best Army--Bob Beattie's boys (honest, we judged independently)

Why didn't we tell you about all this sooner? You have your choice of the following reasons:

A.We held off so you wouldn't forget by time for the next convention.
B.We were so busy getting photographs and selling magazines that we didn't know what was going on (that applies to Dave, I was selling magazines.)
C.Our records have disappeared into the wilds of you know where.

In any case, be mindful of the next Eastern Regional Wargame Convention, which Ed Miller assures me will be held: Precise date and location are not yet known, but will be forwarded as soon as we got the word. See you there.