Steven Bucey - 10:26pm Jun 28, 2003 PST (#777 of 778) Have you ever seen 10,000 Squirrels burying nuts on a hillside? Well, I'm not quite on site (I'm home now), but I can give a short report. It seems both Good and Bad. Good -- attendance seemed good overall, there was a good group of board gamers, and the "War Room" seemed to be drawing a crowd. Lots of different games being played, large and small, simple and complex, old and new. The Lock and Load event this evening drew a modest crowd, and did seemed to be selling well - lots of copies in folks hands. There was a game of Guderian's Blitzkrieg going on all weekend (same game, same players...). Several playtest in progress. There was a couple of play-test games of the Gamers upcoming offering on Shiloh for instance, and several other really big games. The new Russian Campaign was laid out for folks to see. The Columbia Games area seemed busy most of the time. Lots of GMT games were getting played, particularly the Card Driven ones. And about a dozen folks were playing ASL most of the weekend also. Bad -- vendor chatter said that sells were way down overall this year. Also, somehow Eagle Games Civilization won as the Best Historical Boardgame. Now, I understand folks really like it, but come on -- "Historical Boardgame"??? I doubt I'll submit nominations next year. Gary Christiansen - 11:23pm Jun 28, 2003 PST (#778 of 778) "People don't quit playing because they grow old. They grow old because they quit playing." - Oliver Wendell Holmes I've been too busy actually gaming in the War Room to wander the con much so I don't know how much the hucksters room is doing in business. Some hilights... the War Room is being well attended, with very visible representation from several Vendors (GMT, L2, DG, Columbia Games, Shrapnel Games, Battleline to name only a few). Many games were raffled off (including a pristine copy of Streets of Stalingrad). George (Bud) was thrown in Klingon Jail along with the chainmail girl from one of the vendors. I know I missed several demos going on, but I specifically was looking at Wacht Am Rhein II Joe Youst brought, and the offerings from L2, Russian Campaign 4th edition and Delux Bitter Woods. Paul Glowacki - 01:04pm Jun 29, 2003 PST (#781 of 823) Recent: Reds! (Solo), Shifting Sands (playtest), Puerto Rico (group), Pirate's Cove (group). Kasserine (solo), Twilight Struggle (playtest), Breakout: Normandy (Cyberboard), Turf Master (at Origins), Semper Fi (Solo TCS v. 4.0 test) I am back from a day (Saturday only) at Origins. For what it's worth, here are my observations: I did not attend last year, but I did go the several years before that. To me, Saturday attendance seemed way down. The auction was a complete disappointment. Wargames only had an alotted time on the schedule of 1 hour and 45 minutes on Friday afternoon. When I popped my head in the aution area on Saturday morning, they were selling cards and there could not have been 2 dozen people in there. Perhaps it was the on again, off again nature of this event, but it just didn't seem like the Origins auction. The Exhibitor area was its usual busy place. It was nice to see the GMT, Decision, Columbia, Critical Hit, CoA and Avalanche booths, but it was frankly a disappointment that MMP was not present. One nice touch was the demo area in the Avalanche booth. The usual Wizards, Whiz Kids, military video, fantasy garb and retailers were in full force and provide a certain amount of entertainment in and of themselves. The War Room was nice. CABS did a great job in organizing and running the area. Another nice thing was the raffle they had. Several companies donated merchandise and we bought tickets for 50 cents each or some such for a chance to win specific items. It was obviously fixed since I didn't win anything, but it provided a nice distraction from the other fun we were having. It seems to me that even with the War Room, there was less table space dedicated to historical board gaming this year than in years past. Two years ago, there was a similar sized room in which only GMT and Columbia held demos and playtests and such. I think it is a better idea to have a large room in which all companies can be present, but it would be nice if there were more of us-type-guys there to allow that to happen. I got my first gander at the new Streets of Stainlgrad. While it is not my era, I was very impressed with the presentation of the game and it looks like it is very playable. The artwork for Russian Campaign 4th and Bitter Woods Deluxe were also on display. There were several playtests ongoing. I saw various Europa style games in process with hand drawn maps and homemade counters. It looked like WW2 East Front and several various WW1 games. Dave Powell had a playtest of a Fearful Slaughter running with 3 other guys. This looks like the ONE Regimental Sub-Series game that would be playable by those less dedicated to a full weekend of play. Dave and his mates showed lots of progress throughout the day, as compared to the Gettysburg RSS game in progress on the other side of the room, which was taking a great deal longer. I'd love to know if Heth's Division managed to outflank the Union left flank behind Big Round Top. I spent a delightful half hour listening to Ed Wimble from Clash of Arms talk about his 1777 game, including the double sized map and counters. There is talk of a 1776/78 expansion set, but when I spoke to Charlie Spiegel about it over at the booth, he mentioned that another La Bataille game would be before that. While again, not my preferred era, I'm sure that news will make lots of GRognards happy. Columbia had a good presence in the hallway outside the War Room with their new Libery the main course. I am not a block game fan, but this one looked like it would be a good starter game into the square wooden realm. I picked up my Blue vs. Gray Update Kit at the GMT booth, along with the playtest kit for Twilight Struggle, a card driven game on the Cold War. I used an Avalanche credit I had out there to pick up 1898 which is back in print. The Avalanvhe booth guys were very nice and allowed three of us to combine our purchase and get the buy 2 get one free deal. It seemed to me that the Panzer Grenadier stuff was pretty much flying off the table over there. I got my daughter some Z-Cards and my sone a bunch of gently (and some roughtly) used Mechwarrior-clix for less than $1 each. Titan Games was having a 50% off the Booth sale due to some trouble they had with their truck. Mt pals picked up some old GDW games in shrinkwrap for $3.50 each. All in all, it was a good time, although I left feeling a bit underwhelemd. Perhaps my expectations were too high going in. I think also, this experience makes me even more want to attend one of the Wargame-Only cons like Homercan or WBC or MonsterCon. Perhaps next year. Mark Novara - 11:45am Jun 30, 2003 PST (#804 of 823) Proud President of the Northcoast Gamers Alliance (Greater Cleveland, Ohio) A few quick comments This was my third Origins (2001 and 2002 were the others). In those prior years, I had a fine time playing games in the Cavernous Great Hall and had some doubts about the War Room. I must say now that it far exceeded my expectations. From my viewpoint it was a great success. If it can be maintained at this level, I'll be a happy man. Not being a person who requires "closure", I had a great time playing Mike G.'s GameMastered "This Hallowed Ground" (and my compliments to Dave Powell). To me, the fun is in the playing, and we had plenty of that. Regarding Heth's diversion: General Mike G. Meade just laughed and ignored it, figuring Buford's remnants could hold him off. Meanwhile, we reached a conclusion of sorts as Rodes Division stormed across Cemetery Hill from the north while Hood's Texans stormed up and over the western slope with none other than Longstreet himself leading that final assault. We considered it a Confederate win, but the memoirs of the Union officers may try to contest this. And, yes, I used the $5 GMT coupon to great effect. I finally saw the movie "We Were Soldiers" and was thus motivated to pick up "Silver Bayonet" FOR $5. Mark N. John R. Teixeira - 11:05am Jul 1, 2003 PST (#825 of 833) War Without Mercy, GWiNE,Fortress America,Reds! As soon as I heard about the War Room, I decided to drive the 8 1/2 hour drive to Columbus w/ my buddy from VA. The experience was well worth the time and effort. This year's wargaming experience was much better than when I went a few years ago. It was well organized, the people and location were pleasant and the wargame companies that attended were first rate(especially Columbia Games) I playtested Liberty, the new AWI block game from Columbia, and they definately have another winner on their hands. I also played Battlecards, which is a lot of fun and easy to play. I watched several monster games being played and was curious about them. The CABS boys did a first rate job...how did they ever arrange for the parade as well ?:-) Seriously, keep that location. There were a minimum of vampires and gaming geeks wandering through. I also thought that the "chinese auction" was a lot of fun despite bitching about not winning (anything although my buddy did win Streets of Stalingrad...) Once again, Origins screwed up the times for the auctions and was petulant about explaining them to me. I got some great buys in the dealer hall, which had a much bigger wargame company presence than when I last went. All in all, a good time ! Operational Studies Group News July 1st, 2003 P ORIGINS REPORT The War Room, organized and run by the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS) was a major improvement in the accommodation of wargaming at Origins over previous years. The area set-aside was all the way at the end of the Convention Center in wing E, at a comfortable remove from the hustle and bustle. In wing D the War College seminars were presented, organized by Pete Panzeri and Russ Lockwood (of Magweb). Mr. Zucker's two seminars were attended by groups of 15 each. The first seminar on the Austerlitz campaign presented an outline of the campaign from Ulm to Austerlitz in a series of overhead map slides. The Austerlitz campaign began with the French pursuit of Kutuzov's Russian army at the end of October. This Russian Army had just reached the Inn River having marched through the area of the Austerlitz game map before reaching the Bavarian border. The troops were too late in arriving, partly because no one recognized that the Russian and Austrian staffs were speaking of different calendars separated by 12 days. The first part of the campaign for Kutuzov's Army involved a long unbroken retreat, and they did not turn at bay on their pursuers until they crossed the Danube at Durrenstein, where they were able to inflict serious losses on the isolated division of Gazan. They continued the retreat toward Brunn when they heard that the brige at Vienna had been captured. In order to avoid being cut off, Kutusov sent Bagration to protect his flank at Hollabrunn, and this maneuver was crowned with success by Murat's granting a 24-hour truce. This blunder galvanized Napoleon into action and he quickly joined Murat, with the two Corps and cavalry at Znaim, pursuing the retreating Russians into and through Brunn. He halted the pursuit shortly beyond Brunn near the small town of Austerlitz. A short period of phony negotiations ensued, neither side seriously contemplating peace despite the recent fall of Vienna. Then the Russians advanced, feeling strong enough - with the arrival of the Tsar and a second army - to liberate Vienna. Their plans met with heavy defeat on the 2nd of December. The second seminar was entitled The Character of Napoleon, and it began with a hand-out containing a series of quotes by different authorities, and here is a sample ... "He was undoubtedly one of the most complex and gifted humans ever to grace-or bedevil-this planet." "...his growing tendency to believe in his own propaganda's image of himself as semi-divine..." "Wars, then, were inevitable, and it can be as fairly argued that Napoleon was the victim of a war-prone generation as the 'man of blood' responsible for the scale of the holocaust that gripped Europe for so many years." "Napoleon must stand convicted of not playing the diplomatic game with the utmost of tact. This lack of tact-'the golden quality' of statesmanship-was at least partially responsible for the frequency of the wars and certainly was one definite strand in the causation of Napoleon's fall. He could never convert an ex-enemy into a convinced ally, however great his personal charm and magnetic appeal in têtes-a-tête with kings and emperors. Every ally was turned into an unhappy vassal, every defeated foe into a resentful satellite." "The first is thin, abstemious, immensely active, heedless of privation, dismissive of well-being and material pleasures, concerned only with the success of his enterprises, far-sighted, prudent, except when carried away by strong feeling, able to take a chance while avoiding anything that prudence can foresee. "The second is fat and heavy, sensual and concerned with his comfort to the point of making it a major preoccupation, nonchalant and easily tired, blasé about everything, indifferent to everything, believing the truth only when it happened to coincide with his passions, his interests and his whims, proud as Satan and disdainful of men, dismissive of the interests of humanity. his sensitivity had dulled without making him unpleasant, but his goodness was no longer active: it had become quite passive. His mind was just as it had always been-the vastest, deepest and most productive that ever was. Yet there was no more will power, no more resolution, and an instability that resembled weakness. "The Napoleon I have painted first was outstanding until Tilsit: it is the zenith of his greatness and the time of his greatest brilliance. The other succeeded him, and the complement to the aberrations caused by his pride was his marriage to Marie-Louise." "In the last months of the Emperor's captivity, Ali describes an ordinary but deeply moving scene. Napoleon, the unstoppable talker, has long since ceased holding forth. All he needs is the presence of another human being. Bertrand is there, as silent as he. The shutters are closed. The room is quite dark. Ali relates that they stayed like that for hours on end "without a word from either of them." We arranged the chairs in a circle and began a moderated discussion about the question, whether Napoleon remained in the egotistical phase of life and never matured. It was a lively discussion and we didn't reach any conclusions. Aside from Origins, Columbus was putting on a massive Community Festival in a large nearby park with three stages for bands constantly full, food and art vendors, people peacefully enjoying the music and the outdoors. There was also a goofy parade right past the convention center. This was the first Origins since the return of the sponsoring rights to GAMA. The staff of GAMA (special thanks to Mark Simmons) and the CABS organization (special thanks to George Sauer), did a very good job running the show. Other games being shown in the War Room included Going Downtown (the air war over Hanoi) Joe Youst's Wacht am Rhein, and Ed Wimble's 1777. There was also a large contingent of Columbia Block Games next to the glassed-in area facing the I-670 construction. CABS is presenting the Buckeye Game Fest IV, on October 3rd - 5th in Columbus Ohio. To book a $69 room for this event, 614-861-0321. The CABS website is http://home.earthlink.net/~cratex/ John R. Teixeira - 11:05am Jul 1, 2003 PST (#825 of 833) War Without Mercy, GWiNE,Fortress America,Reds! As soon as I heard about the War Room, I decided to drive the 8 1/2 hour drive to Columbus w/ my buddy from VA. The experience was well worth the time and effort. This year's wargaming experience was much better than when I went a few years ago. It was well organized, the people and location were pleasant and the wargame companies that attended were first rate(especially Columbia Games) I playtested Liberty, the new AWI block game from Columbia, and they definately have another winner on their hands. I also played Battlecards, which is a lot of fun and easy to play. I watched several monster games being played and was curious about them. The CABS boys did a first rate job...how did they ever arrange for the parade as well ?:-) Seriously, keep that location. There were a minimum of vampires and gaming geeks wandering through. I also thought that the "chinese auction" was a lot of fun despite bitching about not winning (anything although my buddy did win Streets of Stalingrad...) Once again, Origins screwed up the times for the auctions and was petulant about explaining them to me. I got some great buys in the dealer hall, which had a much bigger wargame company presence than when I last went. All in all, a good time !