NEW EDITOR FOUND…THE ZOUAVE LIVES ON! From The Current One; It is with great relief that I can announce that we had several applicants for the title of Editor and main dictator for The Zouave. My main concern had been that nobody else would take the task on and our magazine would wither away after only its fifth year. While each of the applicants had strengths, I chose the candidate who had the least "official" publishing experience, but seemed to have the greatest enthusiasm. In addition, my choice for a replacement had been a member of the A.C.W Society longer than his competition. If the selection criteria seems a bit strange, such is a reflection of my philosophy when I formed the ACW Society. Having been a WRG Rules oriented Ancients and Renaissance periods gamer and, having seen the awful political arguments that arose (which led me to give up those periods entirely), I was determined to keep The Zouave away from the "rules lawyers" and other hedonistic politicos I felt that the surest way to destroy a good thing was to allow bickering in the magazine about which rules set was the "best". They are all good in some fashion, and all have flaws. This hobby needs to be fun - hotheads need not apply! While a great deal of good came from my philosophy (nobody got offended), I have to admit to being too laid bark in my approach to our magazine. I never sought out advertisers and, in fact, had an elitist attitude towards everyone who wanted to pay for advertising. This held back revenues that could have been used to make The Zouave even better. Being dogmatic tends to be a family trait which was inherited by me to its fullest extent. This magazine has not been run like a business. It was supposed to be 16 pages long, but there were always so many good articles to print. I simply paid the balance out of my own pocket (something that I can no longer afford to do). In truth, I have let service to our members slip a great deal this past year. Magazines are sent out quite late, it takes me too long to respond to the mail, and orders are frequently delayed past a reasonable time. All of these personal flaws told me that it was time to pass the baton to someone with more time and energy. I did find such a person! Dave Reynolds is your new editor. He has, what I believe to be, my best traits, but also has the time and energy to get things done faster. I feel very comfortable with the choice and am sure that you will enjoy The Zouave even more than in the past. His interest in the Civil War began as a child and has continued on to what I would call his second childhood (that post-thirty age group). Dave's ancestors fought in the war, leading him to a keen desire to pursue research. Dave's Civil War library is quite extensive and should lend much food for thought in the coming issues. You'll really like the guy! I expect to lend Dave a hand in helping him get things going and beg my long time friends who have contributed articles to continue, and to even pick up the pace, so that The Zouave is stronger than ever. Also, please send your 1992 fees in as soon as possible (please note new address, etc. on next page). Those who have pre-paid will have their fees passed by me to Dave with no loss. PLEASE NOTE: Although this magazine has two issues in one cover, you have not been cheated! The Zouave is supposed to be 64 pages a year (4 issues of 16 pages each). In the past we have averaged over 100 pages per year, with the difference in cost coming out of my own pocket. This year I cannot afford to do that. It is my hope that you'll understand and not feel shortchanged. You still end up with over 64 pages for the year's Volume V. I would like to take this opportunity to thank some individuals, without whom this magazine would never have succeeded over the last few years. They are certainly not the only people to help, but they are the ones who stick out in my mind as having helped the most when I was ready to tear my hair out; First and foremost would naturally be Clay Cooper, my Associate Editor and one of my best friends (If you're mad at me for not answering a letter, just think how Clay must feel we hardly ever have a chance to talk anymore and we even live in the same area!). Clay has written a number of articles, made necessary phone calls, smoothed ruffled feathers, done extensive typing, and has kept me together when I was most in need. Second would be Dave Babb from Stone Mountain Miniatures. Dave gave me the encouragement to begin the Society and The Zouave, and always lent Stone Mountain's help without compensation. I thank both Clay and Dave for helping make my ACW dreams a reality! Also to be especially thanked is Ryan Toews of Canada. Ryan has submitted a number of outstanding articles over the years (although none lately... hint) and has been a source of inspiration. With more limited research tools than are normally available to those of us in the States, Ryan really provided some hot material for both garners and historians. Additional support came from Jim McCarron, formerly of Stone Mountain Miniatures, and now, I believe, the President of Musket Miniatures. Jim backed every idea I really wanted to get involved with. Last, but certainly not least, are some of the members who made superb literary contributions to this magazine: Dean West, Rod Thayer, William C. Winter, George Anderson, John Abbott, Wayne Terry, Anthony DeLyall, Dale Bley, Mark Serafln, Robert Newman, Rich Hasenaur, and Terry Webb. There were others who should have made this list, but you are in my heart nonetheless. Please, all of you, remember to support our new editor by sending in articles as quickly as possible. There aren't enough articles to even come close to having the first issue of 1992 be filled. Finally, I wish to apologize to all of those who wrote to me and got no response or had lengthy delays in getting orders that had been paid for. It was for this very reason that I decided to step down and let someone else handle things, knowing that we would return to prompt and friendly service. Dave Reynolds is fresh and ready to respond to your needs and requests. In the meantime, I am already working hard at getting new products out to give ACW gamers a better variety of tools to work with. First among them are two publications, Best Johnney Reb Scenarios From The Zouave: 198 7-1991 and Flag illustrations From The Zouave: 1987-1991. These will be ready for mailing on January 31st. In addition to those items, I have already begun working on support material for Advance The Colors (you'll notice a couple of things geared to it in this issue). Probably due for completion in March, we will be publishing a brand new group of scenarios for that rules set, along with muster rolls and other goodies meant to please those who now play our 1:1 ratio rules. Also, 1992 will see our first publication on flags of the Civil War, a project of immense proportions. Zouave subscribers will have first shot at these publications! Back to The Zouave Vol V No. 3 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 The American Civil War Society 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