A couple of short comments on George Phillies and his "The Difference Between English and American Wargaming": The Avalon Hill GENERAL has not, I am certain, always printed 17,000 copies. In talking with Thomas Shaw, Marketing Director of that firm, he informed me that roughly one-third of a print went to subscribers, another third was used for advertising and sales promotion, and the remainder were sold as back issues. Board games certainly do not dominate the American scene, but they currently hold a more exposed position, simply because most wargamers here are introduced to the hobby through them and through the pages of the GENERAL, an organ designed to sell boardgames. Unlike the U.K., we do not have a publication aimed at miniaturists only, so communications between the advocates of the latter form of wargaming are almost non-existant. Only the conventions and gradual shift to more miniatures coverage in the club 'zines here has brought a channel for any communication at all, speaking for the bulk of miniaturists here. Most gatherings feature miniatures events, so to say that boardgames dominate is not true. Mr. Phillies comments regarding the painting of vehicles being anethma among the members of his group are interesting. Could it be that they fear being accused of "playing with toy soldiers"? From my observations it is the young wargamer, trying kard to be regarded as a mature adult, that fears being classed as a child because of indulging in miniature warfare. A boardgame can be cloaked-with the dignity of chess, but miniature figures are more difficult to explain. George, by the way, is a most respected boardgamer, and certainly one of the most knowledgable writers and players, in my opinion. STALINGRAD happens to be one of my favourite boardgames, one that I play well, but I fear that I would meet with speedy defeat as either the Russian or the German commander against him. Finally, there can be no doubt that there are far more boardgame players here than there are miniaturists. However, many are merely occassional wargamers, and most have no idea of the existence of wargaming as an organized hobby. When the two aspects of the hobby are considered, we must then consider only those who are actually active enthusiasts. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 114 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