A Letter to the Industry from
Donald Reents, President of Chessex Distribution
and Daniel Hirsch, President of The Armory

We are pleased to announce that Chessex Distribution and The Armory have agreed to merge. This will result in the formation of a new company, Alliance Distribution.

The opportunities presented by this merger are tremendous for everyone we do business with. The economies created will allow us to upgrade systems, fully integrate the warehouses, and better train our staff. For retailers this will mean better fill rates, fewer packing and invoicing errors, better sales assistance, and enhanced on-line capabilities. For manufacturers it will mean better information sharing, fewer instances of in-print items being "temporarily out of stock", better product marketing, and reduced order processing costs.

We are also merging our two manufacturing companies into a new company which we expect will retain the name of Chessex Manufacturing. Chessex is well known for having innovative, high quality dice, Battlemats, and Magic Wand paints. The Armory has a strong reputation for its full line of hobby tools as well as Armory paints and primers. Both companies also provide a wide array of quality gaming supplies and accessories. We are looking forward to providing you with one stop shopping for all of your favorite gaming accessories.

The merger should be completed by late July. Until then we will continue to operate as separate companies. Upon fiinalization Dan Hirsch will become president of Alliance and Don Reents will become president of Chessex Manufacturing. During the integration period our biggest priority will be to make sure our retail clients experience a smooth flow of business. Also, there will be some operational changes within the companies so we hope you will all stay in touch with your account representatives to keep current on any news. Although we may not be able to answer specific account related questions for a few months, we certainly invite you to call us at any time to discuss your situation. Also, we hope to address most of the issues in our weekly updates (each will have a special section dedicated specifically to merger related news). We are confident that this is a strong move for the industry and we'll be happy to discuss it with anyone who has any questions. Also we have instructed our sales people to list any ideas for making our business better for retailers and manufactures. We look forward to those ideas and your comments.

Heraldic Game Design to release The Outsider Chronicles RPG

Heraldic Game Design, working in conjunction with Propaganda Publishing, announced that they will release the first book in The Outsider Chronicles RPG series in the summer of 1998.

The Outsider Chronicles are a series of adventures involving Project Outsider, a top secret division of the United States Navy that explores alternate realities, and protects the United States from interdimensional threats. Book One of the series finds an Outsider reconnaissance team entangled in the struggles for power and simple survival in the deadly streets of Steeltown.

Steeltown is the post-holocaust name for Pittsburgh in a reality where a winnable nuclear war occurred in the mid 1980's. The result is a grim present and an unknowable future as technology spins out of control with humanity's efforts to survive, ar~d Big Business attempts to make a buck.

Steeltown was originally written under the title Dreams of Steel and was a supplement for the Morpheus RPG. It has been revised by Keith W. Sears and redesigned to work under SOL: The Omniversal Roleplaying System. The setting of the Outsider Chronicles is Sears own creation.

"The project was an exciting challenge," stated Sears. "Dreams of Steel was originally written in 1985, when the Cyperpunk genre was still new to the roleplaying audience. When Phil Reed (of Propaganda Publishing) asked me to update it, I had thought I would just convert it to SOL, and move on to other things. However, the original adventure assumed the players would be dream warriors with wonderful powers dropped into this atomic mess that is Steeltown. I had to find a replacement for that, and Project: Outsider was born. It's a child that has yet to reach its full potential. "

Heraldric Game Design intends to continue the series with Book Two Insider Outsider, which is scheduled for release in Spring of 1999. Further informaiion can be found on the world wide web at http://members.aol.com/heraldic.

Dwarven Tavern Convention II Site Changed

Due to restructuring at Dwarven Tavern Cyberzine, Dwarven Tavern Con II will not be at the Sharonville Convention Center, Greater Cincinnati, Ohio. Instead Dwarven Tavern Cyberzine feels that since we are strictly a cyberzine (online magazine), our convention should be strictly online as well.

Therefore it is our pleasure to announce that Dwarven Tavern Con II will be online, 24 hours a day, across the globe, totally FREE for convention goers, for the dates of October 24, and 25, 1998. Currently we are planning to have links of merchants to visit and order from, more cool graphics of the Dwarven Tavern, more stories, connections to gamers online, and uploads from Dwarven Tavern Cyberzine headquarters as well as gaming sites from around the world, and whatever else we can dream up between now and then.

Merchants wishing to be involved in our online convention will find it one of the best convention deals around. A flat 20 bucks will get your site listed and advertised along with the advertisement of the convention. Those not having sites (using your e-mail address)-- feel free to contact us for more details.

Lisa and Jeff Goins, Dwarven Tavern Cyberzine, Dwarven Tavern Convention http://home.fuse.net/dwarven_tavern.

Rolepaper Magazine Now Available

Event Horizon Publications announced the first issue of RolePaper Magazine is now available. "This is the premiere issue," said Publisher Brian Wyant, "and it looks spectacular. The magazine works with all roleplaying systems. It contains features that work with all genres and regular departments dedicated to specific genres." RolePaper is published in the popular comic book format and is available to gaming stores through distributors. Worldwide subscriptions are also available. Visit www.rolepaper.com or email info@rolepaper.com for more details.

Sailor Moon RPG to be released bv Guardians Of Order

Guardians Of Order, in association with Kodansha Ltd., announced that it will release "The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book" in the summer of 1998.

The "Sailor Moon" animated television series (or anime) is based on the shojo mange (young girls comic) "Bishojo Senshi Sailormoon" from acclaimed Japanese artist and storyteller Naoko Takeuchi. Since its television debut in 1992, "Sailor Moon" had reached millions of anime fans in Japan, North America and around the globe. Although it finished its five-year run in Japan in February 1997, the syndicated series remains very popular among both male and female viewers of all ages. "Sailor Moon" follows the exploits of five young school girls who magically transform into the powerful Sailor Scouts, protecting Tokyo and all of mankind from nasty aliens and evil beings of the Negaverse. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus are assisted in their battles by two faithful cat guardians, Luna and Artemis, and the mysterious Tuxedo Mask. The role-playing game will feature the setting and background from the first two seasons of "Sailor Moon.

"We are very excited to be working on this project," says Guardians Of Order President Mark MacKinnon. "Sailor Moon has a very dedicated fan following in Canada and the United States who have eagerly been awaiting the release of this license. The stories, settings, and especially the characters provide an ideal gaming universe with tremendous role-playing potential. Players can assume the roles of Sailor Scouts or villains from the first two seasons. The book will also offer something to those who do not role-play, but are fans of the show: a comprehensive Sailor Moon resource and reference section will be included, containing information previously unpublished in North America."

"The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book" will be written by Mark MacKinnon and released in the. summer of 1998. The rules and mechanics will be fully compatible with "Big Eyes, Small Mouth" the first multi-genre anime RPG from Guardians Of Order. For more information contact Guardians Of Order at: Guardians Of Order, 176 Janefield Ave., Unit #300, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2LG, Canada e-mail: mark@guardiansorder.on.ca

Guild of Blades Publishing Group
to Represent Guardians Of Order
to all International Markets

We are proud to announce that the Guild has come to an arrangement with Guardians Of Order which allows us to represent their product to all international distributors. Guardians Of Order makes a fine addition to the Guild's growing international team. Guardians Of Order are the publishers of "Big Eyes, Small Mouth", the Japanese anime role-playing game that was recently nominated for the "Origins Award for "Best Role Playing Game of 1997".

All distributors outside the United States and Canada should contact Guild of Blades Publishing Group to place orders for Big Eyes, Small Mouth, Toying With Destruction, or any future products from Guardians Of Order.

Contact Guild of Blades, 9195 Sandison, White Lake, MI 48386 USA e-mail orders to: stinger~@guildofblades.com.

White Wolf Signs Award Winners for Wraith Game Fiction

White Wolf Studios is proud to announce the participation of award-winning and bestselling authors in upcoming books for Wraith: The Oblivion. Beginning with Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth (scheduled for release in July). Wraith titles will henceforth include introductory fiction from some of the brightest stars in horror and fantasy.

Doomslayers features the talents of Lucy Taylor and Matthew J. Costello. Ms. Taylor won the Bram Stoker Award for her novel The Safety of Unknown Cities, and has also published works including The Flesh Artist and the short story collection Unnatural Acts. Her writing has been described as precise, poetic, alluring and at all times, erotic by the Review of Contemporary Fiction. Ms. Taylor's story Enthralled opens the book and chronicles the meeting of a ghostly hunter and her old lover in an unexpected and unwelcomed place.

Matthew J. Costello is perhaps best known for scripting the best-selling CD-ROM games The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour. His novels have achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success. Darkborn was recognized by Science Fiction Chronicle as one of the Best Novels of 1992, Homecoming was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and The Wizard of Tizare was a B. Dalton best-seller. The latest project Costello has worked on is The Masque with best-selling author F. Paul Wilson. Costello's Expedition tells the story of a disastrous trip to an impossible site in the Antarctic, a site that's been abandoned by the living for centuries but never by the dead.

The next book in sequence, Renegades, is highlighted by stories from P.D. Cacek and Tom Deitz. Ms. Cacek has won one Bram Stoker Award and is nominated for another this year. Her writings include the short story collection Leavings, and the just-published vampire novel Night Prayers. CAT, the story that opens Renegades, is the tale of a love for vengeance that's far stronger than reason or death.

Award-winning author Tom Deitz fantasy novels (Windmaster's Bane, The Gryphon King and many others) have focused primarily on interactions between Celtic myth and the modern South: In his story Viking, Deitz follows the title characters across the seas of the dead in search of an unattainable revenge. Deitz explores his favorite themes here, mixing the ancient with the modern, but this time with a macabre twist.

MPG-Net & AT&T WorldNet Service
to Launch AT&T WorldNet GameHub

Multi-Player Games Network (MPG-Net), a leader in online multiplayer entertainment, and AT&T have teamed up to create a new online games area, that will be available at the end of the summer on AT&T WorldNet(R) Service, the largest direct ISP, with 1.1 million subscribers.

GameHub, to be sponsored by MPG-Net, will offer shopping, messaging and chat rooms for GameHub players, and a full roster of industry-leading games, including Unreal, Drakkar II, Total Annihilation, Forsaken, Dragon's Bane and more. GameHub, products will also include family-friendly and community-oriented games, in addition to popular board games most users are already familiar with. There will also be full support for all popular IPX and DirectPlay enabled games.

"Because GameHub is located on the AT&T WorldNet Service backbone, AT&T WorldNet Service subscribers will never have to venture out into the ever-more crowded Internet to access GameHub," said James Hettinger, President and CEO of MPG-Net. "T~his delivers one of the lowest latency, highest performance online games solutions on the market--a Virtual Private Game Network."

"GameHub brings a new level of performance to Internet strategy, action and role-playing games, and provides gaming experience for our members," said Dean Colantino, director of marketing and advertising at AT&T WorldNet Service. "GameHub delivers high-performance network game play where outstanding retail games, such as Unreal and Total Annihilation can be played online."

For game developers, GameHub offers exposure to 1.1 million AT&T WorldNet subscribers and GameHub will also offer developers beginning-to-end complete support with API's, administrative services, co-marketing, and promotion.

GameHub w~ll be powered with MPG-Net's state-of-the-art Internet Content Network System (ICONS). The ICONS infrastructure includes game development, game management, and game launch software, as well as all the back-office functionality required to enter the billion dollar online games industry.

MPG-Net publishes and markets interactive entertainment, gaming systems, and software for the Internet. For more information on MPG-Net, access the Web page online at: http://www.mpgn.com. For those who use snail mail you can contact MPG-Net at: MPG-Net, 801 Eisenhower Drive, Key West, FL 33040.

Sword of Knicht ceases operations

Henderson, KY: Sword of Knight, Inc. has announced that they are ceasing publication of all three of their magazine titles. "Earthdawn Journal, Traveller Chronicle, and Shadowland magazines have published their final issues," stated SOK's owner and president, Kevin Knight. "It saddens me, but I thank everyone for their support over the past years."

Knight identified growing financial problems, and difficulties with certain distributors as the main reason for the shutdown. In regards to each magazine's future, Knight is attempting to find homes for each title. Harold Hale, current editor of Traveller Chronicle stated, "Starjoy Publishing, a recently formed company which I am associated with, is currently in negotiations regarding Traveller Chronicle." "Once those negotiations are brought to a successful conclusion, publication of Traveller Chronicle will resume under the Starjoy banner." "While there will be some changes at Traveller Chronicle because of the passing of ownership from Sword of Knight, but one thing will not change: the commitment to support Traveller in all its forms." "I think that Traveller fans will like what they see in future issues and I am excited about what lays ahead."

Andrew Ragland, editor of Earthdawn Journal stated, "Issue #10 of Earthdawn Journal has not been sent to the printers. Kevin Knight has fowarded his distributor and subscriber list to me. I'm currently putting the numbers together to see if I can afford a bid for Earthdawn Journal. The final decision as to what happens with the magazine belongs to FASA Corp., who has final say on all licensing issues. More on this as the story develops."

Christopher Hussey, Shadowland editor has stated that he is exploring the options available to keeping Shadowland alive as a magazine. "It would be nice to remain a print zine, but web-based magazine is not out of the question. A lot depends on fan support and, of course, money. I am looking into the viability of taking over the magazine as well, and the publishing option there.

Sword of Knight Publications was based in Henderson, Kentucky and has been in existence since 1993.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com