In my opinion a Convention should serve four purposes: a) To gather wargamers together, to meet and discuss their common interest and to perhaps bring life to magazines, by meeting authors of articles. b) To demonstrate and discuss old and new rules and conceptions. c) To make wargamers aware at first hLind of Trade available to them pertaining to the hobby. d) A competitive tournament to bring wargamerg into direct contact with one another. I consider that the tournament should occupy a more minor role than it does at present, because in the past it has proved to provide the source of much resentment and bickering, which has tended to be detrimental to the hobby rather than promote it. The tournament should be run in as genial a manner as possible, using simple rules to enable a quick game, eliminating as far as possible preliminary rounds to enable as many people as possible to attend the actual convention. The rules will also be more comprehensible to newcomers and visitors. More complicated sets of rules will not be used in the tournament but demonstrated separately in another game, where possible with more than just the players concerned with the game present to explain and discuss the rules with interested parties watching the game. (Certain sets of rules may be demonstrated at successive Conventions). The winners of the tournament will receive prizes as in the past, but will receive a Winners Team Trophy, but not the Airfix. It is assumed this trophy will be contested at each Convention, the winner's name and date being inscribed each year. The Airfix Trophy will go to the organisers of the next year's Convention but The Airfix Trophy will go to the organisers of the next year's Convention but this will not necessarily be the dinners of the Tournament Trophy. This is where the real difference in the system lies, to explain the new concept I will take a theoretical example as follows: Club "A" are holding a Convention in year IIXII. Before it takes place they announce that they are prepared to take tenders for next year's Convention. Clubs "B", "C" and "D" send tenders in which they express their opinion of why they should or could arrange a Convention. Club "A" will select who they consider most suitable and explain their reasons to ea c h Club concerned, why they were or were not chosen. No one will be allowed to run m 0 re than one Convention in three or four years, it may be possible to tie this regulation in with the Leap Year cycle. All Clubs who want to be represented in the Tournament or hold Conventions must nominate representatives to sign a covenant embodying a binding constitution regulating systems of organising a Convention and the following one, and the duties of the organisers which will be: a) Arrange venue and announce cost and circumstances. b) Devise the simple rules and arrange schedule of Tournament. c) Organise prizes. d) Take tenders for demonstrations and arrange the timing and accommodation. e) Arrange for Trade stands to be present. f) Arrange next year's venue in advance. Any new Caubs that are not in existence at the time of the signing of the covenant (either at a central site, such as Birmingham or Welwyn Garden City or sent round by post) will be able to join by being voted on by the present Members, so that a record of the Membership can be kept. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 113 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com