Avalon Hill Sold to Hasbro This message is from the inside at Avalon Hill. It has been announced that Hasbro has acquired the entirety of The Avalon Hill Game Company. All current employees of Avalon Hill have been terminated. This includes: Don Greenwood, Ben Knight, Stuart Tucker, Bill Levay, J.C. Connors, Christopher Lawrence, Rich Kuryk, Mark Glidden, and Steve Holmes. What does this mean for the future of Avalon Hill? There has been no comment from either company at this time. All titles and future titles are now the rights of Hasbro, including the upcoming Galaxy: the Arena, and Runequest: Slayers. Any further information concerning the selling of Avalon I-Ell to Hasbro will be made available as soon as possible. West End Games RIP? As of Thursday, July 2, Scott Daniel Palter, owner of West End Games released all but a few employees and authorized a liquidation sale in hopes of generating enough money to reopen. Any remaining employees at West End Games will be assisting in filling out any orders that come in. Filing for bankruptcy is a distinct possibility. If West End Games reopens it will no longer have the "Men in Black" license The fate of the Hercules & Xena, Star Wars, and DC licenses will depend on negotiations Mr. Palter intends to have with the respective licensers. As of this issue no further press releases have come forth from West End Games, Mr. Palter or any other member of the West End Games company. WoTC New Hire/Promotions Wizards of The Coast has announced new employees and promotions to its company. Vince Caluori is Wizards new chief operating officer. Mr. Caluori was previously a board member for the company. Prior to joining Wizards of The Coast, Hr. Caluori held several senior management positions in aerospace including the Boeing Company. Mr. Caluori has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from St. Louis University. Judy Sorenson recently joined Wizards as vice president of finance. Previously Ms. Sorenson was a corporate controller for AEI Music Network Inc. Ms. Sorenson has an MBA from the University of Washing and a Bachelors degree in accounting from Central Washington University and a Bachelors degree in botany from the University of Washington. Jim Radloff joins Wizards as senior vice president of retail to open and manage the company's new retail stores and game facilities. Mr. Radloff has an Bachelors in Arts degree in communications from Washington State University. Mr. Radloff was previously president of Pagliacci Pizza. Charlotte Skeel has been promoted to vice president of marketing from senior director of marketing. Prior to joining Wizards, Ms. Skeel was director of public relations and promotions for Sony Computer Entertainment. Ms. Skeel graduated from Utah State University with a degree in speech communications and journalism. Forge: Out of Chaos has Arrived! Basement Games has released Forge: Out of ChaosTm. This new fantasy role playing system was showcased at GenCon and received an enthusiastic response. Basement Games was so pleased with the turnout for the release of Forge, that they are announcing their attendance at DragonCon, Spectrum, and ShoreCon. Information on this new fantasy role-playing game can be found at www.basementgames.com. In addition, Basement Games is announcing the release of our first supplement entitled The Vemora. This module will hit retail outlets in October of this year. It is designed for novice players and referees. This scenario contains an intricate story line, new monsters, traps and offers helpful hints and suggestions to stimulate play. Event Horizon Publication Declares RolePaper InterActive now available Event Horizon Publications announced the availability of RolePaper InterActive, the online extension to RolePaper Magazine, the print publication. "RolePaper InterActive can be accessed for free by anyone with the current issue of the magazine." said Brian Wyant. "RolePaper InterActive contains news, reviews and features that expand the contents of RolePaper Magazine, and readers can access the site no matter how they get the magazine whether they buy a copy at the favorite shop, pick up at the latest issue at a convention, or take out a subscription." Editor Judy Hancock added, "As time passes, one goal of RolePaper InterActive is to explore some of the pencil and paper RPG-related products from role-playing publishers who do not always get the spotlight they deserve for their originality and creativity. InterActive readers will also get inside information on upcoming Event Horizon projects including Magic Frontiers Roleplaying Game which is currently under-way." Magweb Reaches 50-magazine Milestone with Out-of-Print Title Russ Lockwood, CEO of MagWeb, the only subscription-based military history web site has announced that subscribers now have access to 50 magazines and over 7,500 articles. The 50th magazine added to MagWeb's archives is Conflict, a prestigious military history magazine that ceased publication in 1874. Out-of-Print magazines that collectors treasure, such as Conflict, Campaign, and others, and a dozen European publications, such as First Empire, Battlefields, and MicroMark Army Lists are among the 50 magazines on MagWeb. Paying an annual print subscription to all 50 magazines would total over $1,000, making MagWeb's annual $59.95 membership fee an online bargain. MagWeb Celebrates Second Anniversary To celebrate its second anniversary, MagWeb is holding several online trivia contests open to members and non-members alike. The first contest runs from August 15 (Napoleon's birthday) through September 7. Entrants who know the answers to questions such as "Who was the Colonel who commanded the Vistula Legion during Napoleon's 1815 campaign?" are eligible to win one of several prizes, including the grand prize: a drueke walnut and maple Napoleonic chess set with hand-cast pieces. The second contest begins December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) and ends on December 31st. This contest will focus on WWII. The free sample articles found on MagWeb contain the answers to both contests. "In just two years of operation, MagWeb has really craved out a niche," said Lockwood. "As a web-based subscription model, we are able to deliver a treasure trove of military history and product information, 24 hours a day, from sources around the world." MagWeb was founded in July of 1996 to provide easy access to a coalition of military history magazines, From magazines like American Revolution Journal and Clash of Empires to Napoleon and the Heliograph, MagWeb is the only web site of its kind to offer unlimited access to an ever expanding archive of more than 7,500 articles for under $5 per month. For more information you can contact them at: www.magweb.com and join online, contact them by email at: magweb@magweb.com or call (609)-397-4265. Crunchy Frog Rejoins the Fray Crunchy Frog Enterprises Publisher Paul Arden Lidberg announced today the release of three new titles. These releases represent the first real product from the company since the release of "Hidden Invasion" back in 1995, under the company's Nightshift Games imprint. "We are very excited about these games" stated Mr. Lidberg. "After all this time, we wanted to show everyone that we are still here, and still king." The three new games are: Big Damn Space Battles massive ship battles in a small corner of space; Big Damn Range Wars massive cowboys & Indian battles; and Madworld a battle game in a weird dimension. All three titles are in the microgame format that Crunchy Frog stated in 5.5"x 8.5" booklets in a baggie. They are priced at $4.95 "Several factors brought us to the decision to release these games. The instability of the market toward big budget production titles, the success of other small press ventures, and our reverent belief that we have something to bring to the table that no one else can." Crunchy Frog Enterprises is a publisher of adventure game materials that was founded in 1987. They have published many titles over the years including the popular Critter Commandos. Champions of The Golden Dragon Bows its Wings In a letter receive by Steven Fletcher, designer, editor and creator of Champions of - The Golden Dragon, "It is with deep regret that I must fold the club". "This decision was not an easy one but it is due to personal reasons." Mr. Fletcher has asked the Unicorn Pegasus Productions honor the subscriptions of the members from Champions and its newsletter "The Hoard". For more information or questions about any subscriptions to The Hoard please contact the editor of White Knight as soon as possible. Back to White Knight #9 Table of Contents Back to White Knight List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Pegasus-Unicorn Productions 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