E2001

Convention Report
Eau Claire, WI (USA)

by Russ Lockwood


E2001, the four-day festival celebrating the WWII simulation Europa and its offshoot, Master Europa, drew about 20 people to the Ramada in Eau Claire, WI. What it lacked in numbers it certainly made up for in enthusiasm as Col. David Glantz, Charles Sharp, Jason Long, and Walter Dunn detailed the ins and outs of TO&Es, operational actions, and WWII warfare in general. And because E2001 was such an intimate gathering, the time between lectures was filleed with small knots of history buffs discussing the latest research, offering up opinions on strategy and tactics, and just exchanging information in a relaxed forum. Better yet, not only are the fellow attendees a pleasant and very knowledgeable group, but the speakers are easy to approach and talk to as well.

In another room, one game of Europa was set up--a variation called Master Europa created and sold by Tom Johnson, the host and sponsor of the conference. It consisted of the East Front in June 1941, when the Germans launched their invasion of the Soviet Union. They were making pretty good headway into the USSR. Another Europa game covered all of Europe from England to Russia and from Norway to Italy in a grand 1944 scenario staring in June just after D-Day. Like last year, it was not set up or played. This is the same game that Johnson has been running at other conventions, and it is impressive to see a map of Europe laid across a big table and watch the East, West, and South fronts all start to constrict as the Allies drive to Berlin. The multitude of counters, each usually representing a division (sometimes corps, sometimes regiment), just boggles the mind in a way no map in a book can do justice. The sheer magnitude of the WWII European Theater of Operation hits home.

In another section, I helped a fellow set up the counters to the Strategic Air War component of Master Europa, but we did not play and he soon took it down. The space was quickly filled by Europa's Spanish Civil War game, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and a trio of attendees were soon going at it hammer and tongs. I actually contributed my part to the battle, but I'll get to that later.

The cost of the conference was $75--and worth every penny of it--and included one dinner at the local Old Country Buffet. If you think Tom was making a killing on the conference, tally up the costs of bringing in the speakers, putting them up in a hotel, and renting the venue. It's not as much a loss as last year when he brought in six speakers--but a loss is a loss.

With the change at GR/D, there's hope that the rift between Johnson and GR/D can be bridged over, and this specialized conference receive greater support. Much needs to be done, including my suggestion of changing the venue to a larger city to draw more people, but unofficial scuttlebutt from a number of sources seems to indicate a willingness to cooperate.

As for Russ Lockwood's sole contribution to Europa gaming that weekend, I was asked to roll a die on some table. I rolled the bone and came out with the one result that caused the communists to revolt! Needless to say, Franco was quite pleased and his opponents quite perplexed.

I did not attend every lecture--having missed most of Thursday and all of Sunday as travel time. But the lectures on Friday and Saturday were, in a word, superb. Although the following summaries barely scratch the surface of the information offered, like photographs they will provide snapshots of the lectures. Most lectures contained overhead slide projections to illustrate points with numbers or maps.

Lectures

E2000

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