The Europa Magazine #08 [PDF]

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The Official magazine of the EurOpa system.

John Astell Shelby Stanton Rick Gayier

Michael K. Parker News from GRID Europafest Report GenCon Report Origins Report Piaytest Kit Info

(S’uwba Catalog of Products The Europa Association for 1989 all You

get the issues of the magazine produced in $ 24.95 and all the free products produced for members in

1989, 1989, and the binder, and discounts on products available to

members.

Game Accessories: $ 9.95

$ 6.95

Kit 1,

Fire in The East

6 printed reductions maps and charts designed to enhance play and reduce paper work.

Kit

3, Narvik

2 printed reductions maps, enlarged combat maps, and

many charts.

$ 6.95

$ 7.95

$ 9.95

Kit 4,

Scorced Earth

Kit 5,

Spain

Kit 6,

Europa By Mail

reductions maps, additional charts, and reduced TEC/CRT. This kit companions Kit 1.

3 printed

2 printed reductions maps covering all of Spain, port charts and more, including John Astell's "Spanish Torch".

Yes, true, people play Europa by mail and we have the accessory kit designed to help make it happen. We also have an air system designed to eliminate the need for a referee. it is

And coming soon, issues 1 through 4 of the original newsletter published by GDW for Europa in 1973 together with issues 1 through 4 of The Europa News/etterin a book titled "Europa, Then & Now". Look for the ad in the magazine.

Order from: GR/D, PO Box 591, Grinnell, IA 50112 Be sure to enclose $1 for handling for each item ordered it you are not a member of the association.

mania (Europa $1” The official magazine of the (Suntan

system

No. 8

July/August 1989 Publisher

CONTENTS

Game Research/Design

PO. Box 591

Grinnell,

50112

IA

Editor

. News from GRID by Winston Hamilton .......................................... 2 .

Inside Europa by John Astell .....................................................

Rick Gayler PO Box 2431 Opelika‘ AL 36801

. German RH Engineers Part

Associate Editor

Facts Behind The Counters

Gary Stagliano

II

..5

by John Astell .........................10

by Shelby Stanton ....................13

Rules Court by Ben Knight ............................................................. 22

Columnists

Shelby Stanton John A516" Michael K. Parker

. . Europatest _ Gencon Pictorial ..................................................26

The Italian 1st, Superga by Michael .

Advertising Info Available from'

K.

Parker .....................30

GRD, PO BOX 591 Grinnell, IA 50112

EXchange ...........................................................................................31

Rule 5; Movement

@utovafest Report by Tom Johnson .................................... 38

you change your address let us know by writing 1° “5 3‘1 GRD, PO Box 591 Grinnell, IA 50112 If

(5511190)”! World In Australia:

Wide

Pacific Europa Players

353 Flinders Lane, Basement Melbourne, Australia. 3000 In

Great Britain:

Europa Association of the UK 62 Earlston Road - Wallasey Merseyside, England L45 SDZ In

Canada:

Europa Association of Canada 2047 34 Ave, SW Calgary, Alberta Canada - T2T 204 In

Spain

Europa Association of Spain Joan Pares Mares Provenca 85, 08029 Barcelona Spain i

So you want to playtest a game? ...........................................40 Credits: Europatest photos by Winston Hamilton, GenCon photos by Tom Johnson. Pictures in the magazine are from the National Archives, Washington,

DC. and GUI Archives, Bonn, West Germany. Graphics by Winston Hamilton on a Mac IICX with a Microtec MSF 300G Scanner. Wehrkreise drawings by Shelby Stanton. Cover inspired by John Greer who gets the credit for improving our look and thanks from the publishertor taking the time to do so. Europa font and symbols designed by Scott Baxter for GR/D and available from the company (ad on page 9). The Europa News is the publication of Game Research Design and is copyright 1989, all rights reserved. Printed at Grinnell Graphix. Europa is the Trademark of Game Designers' Workshop and is used with their kind permission. "Remember, tracers work both ways."

FROM THE EDITOR: RICK GAYLER A Treat And Some Tricks - Europa

at Origins

Gamers from all over the United States and various points around the globe assembled at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton June 29 - July 2, 1989, forthe annual Origins National Gaming Convention. had the pleasure of attending this extravaganza as a representative of GR/D. and while working the GR/D booth Continued on Page 36 I

Page

2

game

(31:01::

Q39i$

Winston Hamilton

Subscriptions,

The Association, and all the rest... There have been some questions about how The Europa Association works: how do you join, what do you get, and how is this magazine related to The Association. We run The Association on an annual

basis. Therefore, a new member who

joins in December 1989 will get all the published materials for calendar year 1989, a 20% discount on 1989 purchases from GR/D, and a binder. However. he will have to re-up for 1990 to continue to get the printed

materials and take discounts during 1990. By the end of 1989, members will have received six issues of The Europa News, John Astell's Europa Almanac, and a 20% discount on our first Europa module, The Urals, and/or anything else purchased from GR/D during the course of the year. The printed materials are not time sensitive or time dated. The keystone to The Association is The Europa News. As such, members will be receiving notice in TEN#9 of their Association renewal and magazine resubscription at the same time. One goes hand in glove with the other. Since the magazine is our way of communicating with the membership and is our direct link with you, it is the loundation of The Association. Members of The Association are receiving a copy of John Astell‘s Europa Almanacfree of charge as promised in prior issues. Additional copies will be sold through GRID for $4.95. Watch the magazine for your resubscription and membership renewal form (one and the same) which will give the details of what is

involved, into in general, and all the

rest.

@uruvaicat Well, if there is a heaven got to see part of it on July 27th. In my travels to I

conventions both as a wargame company owner and as Secretary oi GAMA l have the chance to see how things are done at many shows over the course of a year. The convention put on by Tom Johnson and his crew in Eau Claire, Wisconsin was A+ in every respect. His report appears in this issue along with some photos of the convention, so won't go into great detail here, but it should be known that a terrific time was had by all. The convention brought Europa players together lrom all over the US. It was quite a sight to behold. All the Europa maps assembled on one wall what a vision! I

—

Frank Chadwick and i got to play one and three quarters games ol Narvik and ol course the usual East Front crowd was playing at several tables. i saw John Astell playing War in the

Desert, and Fall of France was being played, as well as Marita-Merkur and several other titles. Frank told me (and here is a guy that attends many, many, many conventions) that the program of speakers, facility, and accommodations were the best he has seen.

GR/D gave out a number of awards at the dinner: to GDW for its continuing commitment to Europa and its work over the past 15+ years on behalf of all of us who play the games; an award to Gary Stagliano, the lounder of Nuts 8. Bolts and long time contributor to the system; an award to Shelby Stanton who shoulders so much of the research and is the person who

keeps the system going by his long term commitment and dedication to Europa; and an award to John Astell who is continuing his work on the system and has received far less credit from the gaming community of professionals and players than he deserves. spoke to the assembled about what GRID has planned for the next two years, recapping what we have announced recently in TEN. I

A.E. Goodwin unveiled the new standard maps for Europa and they had some interesting stuff on them - 4 to 5 levels of ports; two levels of railroads; rivers, lakes, and historical points of interest (named on the maps); terrain fixes for the all-new MM, new maps for Spain as shown in

the game For Whom The Bell Tolls; and The Winter War map showing the display from the Arctic Ocean to three hexes south of Leningrad. (it's olticial now, the title of Gary Stagliano's Russo‘Finnish War game is The Winter War.) Arthur has spent a great deal of time on these maps and they look absolutely great. Dennis Dubberley was

in

attendance

with the eight maps of Soviet Asia. including the home islands of Japan. He also had map 32, which completes the Caspian Sea area of the USSR, and will be ready some time this year or early next year. Map 32 will be

made available as a special oflerfor members of The Association. Watch for it advertised in the magazine. Both Arthur and Dennis gave a seminar on the new mapping situation. Paul Dunigan gave a talk about the

Second Front and Grand Europa

research he has been doing and John Astell spoke about 1,000,000,000,000 words during the

Page convention (which was a four day seminar for him.) figured that if John was paid a penny a word over the course of a year for everything he said or wrote he could retire after one l

year

Several other speakers were present, as reported elsewhere. The crowd was very happy with all that went on. About 70 people showed up in total, which was a larger Europa contingent than was at Origins. The future of this convention looks very bright We have set a tentative second convention for Dallas next year. it will occur at the same time as DALCON and at the same site. Some concern was voiced about having our fest at the same time as another convention. The fest may be at the same place and same time as DALCON, but it will be a separate event, in a separate area, and will be advertised as such. We will be taking advantage of DALCON to provide facilities for us and to offer our members an increased opportunity for buying, playing, and visiting. But the test is a separate operation in every respect and will treated as such. am currently negotiating with the convention organizer, who is a personal friend, and have expressed our needs and desires to him. He has assured me that it will be a co~event in every respect possible. i

In 1991 mark your calendar, buy your tickets, ship the family oif, gather your friends, and get ready. The fest will be held at Origins in Baltimore with some very special happenings at the convention. A slam-dunk tor Europa, with all sorts of things planned and being set up. It‘s too early to go into details at this time, but it but one half of the stuff GDW and GR/D have in mind happens, oh boy!

Finally, i want to extend personal thanks to Tom and his crew for the

tremendous performance they gave. The convention was everything it should have been and more - a fine example of how special this system is

and how much those of us who play it care for it. Tom set the standard by which every future fest will be judged.

The Winter War The game is nearing playtest stage. It appears it will email one map and three countersheets. We may include some extra counters for some otherthings, but we do not have a real feel for what that may entail at this time. Details on playtesting appear elsewhere in this magazine. Price and release date have not been set at this time.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

3

print run. Well, i am in the printing

business and know better. Reprinting with no changes costs i

less, not more. Some increase is caused by the mere fact that paper and ink costs rise over time, but this does not offset the cost savings of using previously made plates and negatives. The reprint will not cause a price increase - the game goes tor $60 as it was priced the first time. There will be an announcement on the release date forthis one in the near future.

Marita-Merkur This will be a new game - a reissue of the title with the new maps spoke of, I

have the counter mix and charts, and await the rules. This is another item that we will put out for playtesting soon. saw the game set up at Origins and it looked great. As i was rather busy, did not have time to get much response from the Europa gamers at Origins, but met with John Gee and Jeff Millefoglie and they gave me an update on the game and the general plan for components. For Whom The Bell Tolls will be first and foremost a complete and independent game covering The Spanish Civil War. However, itwill also contain a revised edition of GDW's Spain & Portugal module, some additional scenario material covering later war activities, and some extra counters. Target price for the game is $34.95 with members receiving a discounted price. The game should be ready by Origins of next year (saying that should give me plenty of time to get it ready, right?) and will be well advertised so you will have plenty of notice when it hits the streets. I

I

I

I

Fire In the East The reprint of this game is progressing well. Note that this is a reprint, not a reissue, so no changes otherthan an up-to-date errata sheet will be involved. We have been in negotiations with the printer. it seems that they want to charge more for the reprint than they did (or the original

the-art rules, new counters, and updated existing counters. The game will have one and a half maps and three countersheets (or more). Work is progressing on the CBS, OAs and the like. Shelby Stanton is lending his considerable skill by taking care of the Germans, John Gee is working on the Greek side and we have a committee working on the rest. Tentative release for last quarter this year or (more probably) first quarter next year. We will keep you informed. Target price forthe new game will be $39.95 with a discount to members. state-of—

...so

in

1990:

Look for FWBT, the

reissue of

MM,

and Second Front. Three in one year. A record! The magazine will publish issues 11 through 16 (remaining at six issues a year as in 1989.) Cover price of the magazine will go up 50¢. Renewal iorthe magazine subscription and your continued membership in The Association will cost $20 for 1990, New members joining in 1990 will be paying $29.95, and will receive a binder and all the free material we have produced up to the point of joining in addition to the 1990 TENS and other goodies. An important point lfaiied to state earlier.

BIG...

Page

4

The Europa Association continues to grow. We are receiving more interest from overseas and continue to promote the growth of our system there, as well as in the United States. This brings up a point i want to address > how big are we and how do we get in touch with each other. Previously we had a contact service. Unfortunately, it was misused and we dropped it to insure the privacy of our members. Still, the need for contact is there. We are going to try a new approach. We must stay in touch to help the system grow and become better - so ~ you want to know who is in your area so you can get togethef? Send a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) and we will send you the list of members in your zip code area. This should help matters and Iteel that it will meet your needs

as expressed to GRID.

Another point was brought up at Europafest. We had a lively discussion on what the market is for Europa. Well, there have been 10,000 Fire In the East games sold (or more) and so there are some players out there, The question on how to get to them is answered in part by the appearance of the magazine on the hobby store shelves. This means that once the gamer gets through the door of the shop, he or she will see our game system's magazine and get info that way. We advertise in the print media, so other gamers who might not have a hobby store in their area will learn of us, but in this case we are relying on their subscribing to a gaming magazine to get the word to them. What about the gamers that have no store and do not subscribe? That is tough. Even tougher, what about those who have never played Europa or other wargames, the new life blood of the system? That is even tougher. it seems to me that people fall into

three general groups:

Group | gamers are those who have retail outlets available to them that

carry the full line of games and the like.

Group ll gamers are those who don't have shops, but subscribe to wargaming periodicals or know about wargames and how to get them. Group lll is the general public that needs education about the thrill of what we do: freezing above the "A" weather line, slogging through the mud (on paper, of course). the Game Manufacturers Association, has two events a year. One is the trade show that talks to the retailers. The other is the national consumer show, Origins. GAMA is very concerned with making our products reach everyone who might have an interest. As such, GAMA will be taking a much more active role in the promotion of gaming to the non1

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THE EUROPA GAME MAP DISPLAY

31

-

—

The Urals

1989

This display is provided to assist your wanderin gs through Europa. Each map is numbered and the title of the game is on the map. In those instances where one map is used for more than one game, each game is listed on that map

3

. . .

for over 15 years

best

in

a company has given you the

wargame simulations -

c

C'DW Now we are happy to announce a major; award winning game is coming back into print -

"A House Divided" .

Coming in October to a hobby store near you. _