Mission From God Issue 24

Page CONTENTS Obsidian 19 Ode, Pigbutton 3 Introduction to playing games by post 20 The Premier League, psychozine, Puma 4 Introduction to the current issue 21 Queen s Lane Advertiser, The 2002 Zine Poll Ratadan (new), Ref Serendipity 5 Zine Poll Results 22 Smiffy s Marvellous Web Site Poll 6 Electronic Gamezine, Sopwith Les Pimley Award Stats, Sprouts of Wrath, Sampling some zines Strangitude Subscribing to foreign zines 7 23 Striker, The Tangerine Terror the International Subscription Exchange 24 Thing, Top of the League, To About the editor Win Just Once 8 Start of the Zine Reviews 25 Track Events, Underneath The A League Of Our Own (new), Mango Tree Are You Blind Ref?, Variable Pig, Where Is My Armistice Day 26 Mind 9 Astradyne, Bloodstock 27 The White Cat 10 Blue Nose Special, Borealis, Some Overseas Zines Counter, CounterMoves (new) The Abyssinian Prince 11 The Cunning Plan, Cut & 28 The Canadian Diplomat, Thrust, Dangerous Liaisons Damn The Consequences, Maniac s Paradise Lost (new), Devolution, Dolchstoß, 12 off the shelf Flagship 29 PBM02, Western Front, Zine Flights of Fancy 13 Register 14 For Whom The Die Rolls, For Whom The Web Rocks 30 Hobby Information 15 Games Games Games, Games Hobby web sites Gazette, Gemini, Geneva Conventions 16 Gentle Art of Making 31 That s a wrap! Enemies, Greatest Hits 17 Hopscotch, Jack Duckworth s Alternate Universe, Jumpers for Goalposts (new) 18 Mais N est-ce pas la Gare, Minstrel, 90 Minutes,

2 Mission From God Issue 24 IF YOU ARE NEW TO POSTAL all the players and adjudicates the games. GAMING, READ THIS A game report is then printed in the next issue of the magazine which is then posted to all the subscribers. A deadline is set so that players Hello and welcome to issue 24 of Mission know when they have to send in their next set From God. To those of you who saw a of orders. Players then analyse their position, previous issue or who are already cognisant perhaps communicate with other players, and of the pleasures of playing games by post, then submit some more orders to the GM. most of the stuff in this section will be familiar to you, and I suggest you go straight And so it goes on, with one turn getting to the "Old Lags" section (see page 4). To processed every 5 weeks or so (frequencies those of you, however, who are wondering differ from zine to zine). what postal gaming and this magazine are all about, read on. A GAME TAKES HOW LONG?

Mission From God is a listing of amateur You may have spotted that games can take a magazines (usually called "zines" for short) long time to complete when played by post. that run games by post. The name "Mission It's not unheard of for games of Diplomacy to From God" is a reference to a line from the last two or three years (and for it to seem like film The Blues Brothers; I didn't choose the ten if you have been stuck on one unit since title of the zine but I presume the aim was to turn 6....) The beauty of postal gaming is that convey som e sort of evangelical zeal to you can play several games at once, thereby convert people to the joys of playing games getting a massive gam ing fix each month. by post. Besides which, in a game such as Diplomacy, there is much frantic activity between turns as Classic games like chess and draughts have players write to each other and try and set up been played by post for many years but it is joint ambushes of other players (but beware only since the 1960's, and the advent of a the double cross!) Mind you, not all games game called Diplomacy, that the idea of require the players to work hard between playing multi-player games by post caught turns - there are many enjoyable games where on. Since the sixties the amateur postal the players w ho give 5 minutes thought to gaming hobby has evolved and in some cases their orders do as well as those who put in 5 mutated - on the one hand into professional weeks of effort. Play By Mail games (see the review of Flagship in this magazine) and on the other PROS AND CONS hand into play by e-mail (For Whom The Web Rocks is a good zine to see for a window into One of the main appeals of the hobby is that it this faction of the hobby). Despite the rival is a network of like-minded people. This attractions of these other means of playing enables the hobby to organise conventions games with people who live possibly (called "cons" for short) seven or eight times a thousands of miles away from you, the postal year, where subscribers to postal gaming gaming hobby has survived as a cheap, zines meet up in hotels or university campuses leisurely and above all friendly arena in which and spend the week-end drinking beer, eating to play games. curries - oh, and playing games until the wee small hours. So postal gaming acts as a HERE'S HOW POSTAL GAMING WORKS contact network for face-to-face gaming too. See page 31 for more info available on the web A man or a woman decides to run some about conventions. games by post and starts up a postal gaming magazine. People subscribe to the magazine MORE INFO FOR NEW STARTERS and sign up for one or more of the games on offer. The Postal Gaming Starter Pack consists of Mission From God, some zines from the Zine The players send orders in to the adjudicator Bank and a Frequently Asked Questions (called the "GM", or Games Master), who is (FAQ) docum ent relating to the hobby. usually - but not always - the editor of the magazine. The GM processes the orders from To get the starter pack just send 4 first class

3 Mission From God Issue 24 stamps to me: Allan Stagg

John Harrington If anyone else would like to contribute reviews 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, of any zine they see regularly, they are most Middlesex, EN1 3UW. welcome to. My preference is for reviews on diskette or sent to my e-mail address (see In case you are wondering what the Zine above) but failing that typed or neatly hand- Bank is, it is simply a store of zines from written will do. I can accept most formats but which I choose samples to send to anybody if in doubt, include a text-only version. who requests them. Anyone can get zines If you contribute all I can offer you is a free from the Zine Bank you don t have to be a copy of the zine - and I can't even offer you that newcomer. If you have a particular gaming if you don't put your address on the reviews. interest (e.g. Diplomacy, war games, sport, railway games) let me know when requesting I am happy to include reviews of any magazine samples from the Zine Bank and I'll try and that you think has some relevance to the fix you up. postal gaming hobby, whether it be a Diplomacy zine, a United zine, En Garde! zine Editors are, of course, encouraged to send me or even a chat-zine by a postal-gaming samples of their zines for the Zine Bank; 3 personality. Increasingly I am sneaking in web copies a year should suffice. sites too if I think they are particularly relevant to the postal gaming community. Editors may Some more general information on the not do reviews of their own zines but are Amateur Postal Gaming Hobby can be found encouraged to send me factual details. in the back pages of this magazine. Where possible, try to include information in OLD LAGS, START HERE the Mission From God format, which is:

Welcome to issue 24 of Mission From God, Name of zine plus "also know n as" (aka) under the editorship of: Latest issue number, size/format of zine, JOHN HARRINGTON frequency, typical page count, price (specify Fiendish Board Games whether including or excluding postage) 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 3UW http://www.fbgames.co.uk Games being run (and number of each) e-mail: [email protected] Waiting lists open This is the eighth issue of Mission From God since I took it over som e six years ago and if Waffle waffle incisive comment waffle, etc. much of it looks familiar it is because it is describing your opinion of the zine largely a revision of a rather poor issue 23 that I handed out for free at MidCon. As I joked at the time, the zine was free but still THE 2002 ZINE POLL overpriced; the zine was rushed and also One of the benefits of bringing out a revised lacking in viewpoints other than my ow n. I edition is that it allows me to include the 2002 am glad to say that after a good deal of Zine Poll results. These are printed below, but whining and cajoling a number of people first a quick explanation as to what the Zine subsequently agreed to submit zine reviews Poll is all about. As the name suggests, it is a for this revised edition of Mission From God poll to determine which zine is the best zine and I am now much happier about the out there. Of course people s views on what content. Big thanks, therefore, to my makes a good zine differ wildly, with some generous contributors: marking high for reliability, some favouring a broad variety of games, others valuing good Alex Bardy, Howard Bishop, writing and so on; as such, then, it is perhaps Neil Duncan, Paul Evans, more accurate to say the poll determines what Douglas Kent, John Marsden, is the hobby s favourite zine in any given year.

4 Mission From God Issue 24

Anyway, members of the postal gaming 20 Ref! 20 3 1 hobby are invited to list up to ten zines in order of preference. Points are then allocated 21 Minstrel 19 4 1 to the zines listed on each ballot paper, with the number of points allocated varying 22 Devolution 19 5 0 depending on how many zines the voter 23 Track Events 15 3 0 listed (i.e. the more zines a voter votes for, the higher the points allocation per zine1). Zines 24 Borealis 14 6 0 are then ranked according to how many Pigbutton 14 4 0 points they have received. The scoring 25 system favours high circulation zines but as a ... Mais n'est-ce pas 13 3 0 high circulation is an indication of a zine's la gare? popularity I think this is fair enough. On to 26= the results then. The Premier 13 3 0 League

Rank Zine Points Votes First Places 28 Astradyne 11 2 1

29 A League Of Our 11 3 0 Own

30 Jumpers For 9 2 0 1 Ode 168 32 8 Goalposts

2 For Whom The Die 152 21 10 31 Counter 9 1 0 Rolls 32 The White Cat 8 3 0 3 Sprouts of Wrath 144 27 12 33 In The Net 7 1 0 4 Armistice Day 144 29 3 Disoriented 6 1 0 Express 5 The Cunning Plan 135 21 7 34= 6 Hopscotch 93 19 3 Striker 6 1 0

7 Greatest Hits 92 17 0 36 Ninety Minutes 5 2 1

8 Bloodstock 87 15 1 37 Puma 5 2 0

9 Cut & Thrust 85 17 4 Thing 5 1 0 38= 10 The Tangerine 84 14 2 Jack Duckworth s 5 1 0 Terror Alternate Universe

11 Obsidian 69 14 2 40 Astro 4 1 0

12 Variable Pig 67 10 4 41 Are You Blind Ref? 2 1 0

13 The Blue Nose 53 10 3 42 Gemini 1 1 0 Special

14 Where Is My Mind? 48 10 1 In total there were 68 voters. Votes were also received for Underneath The Mango Tree (14 15 Flights of Fancy 48 12 0 points) and Dolchstoß (24 points), but these 16 Strangitude 32 9 0 zines were ineligible as they did not publish at least 4 issues in 2002; I have doubts as to 17 Serendipity 27 4 1 whether The White Cat published 4 issues either but could not prove it one way or the 18 Gentle Art of 27 12 0 Making Enemies other so I left it in. I am also unsure whether Disoriented Express is a British zine but 19 To Win Just Once 21 4 2 without knowing for sure I decided to leave it in.

You will notice that some zines had the same 1Roughly speaking

5 Mission From God Issue 24 number of votes but are ranked differently; 13 SMEG/ Variable Pig 5 the tie-break I used was to favour the zine (fp.sholing.f9.co.uk/) that had the higher percentage of first places and if that did not separate them then to The Armistice Day Newsletter (www.armisticeday.com) favour the zine that had more votes. 15 The Stabbed 4 So congratulations to John Marsden, whose (www14.brinkster.com/stabbed) zine Ode wins the Zine Poll for the second 16 Underneath The Mango Tree 3 time (if memory serves me correctly). Lots of (www.,mangozine.com) zines have won the Zine Poll more than once but not many of them have had an interval of Blackwater Station (www.18xx.co.uk/) 15 years or more between victories. 18 Ode (www.ode-online.net) 2 Commiserations to Keith Thomasson, whose zine For Whom The Die Rolls was leading all Diplomacy Archive the way up until the last week. (www.diplomacy-archive.com/) Michael Parnaby THE PBM WEB SITE POLL (homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.parnab Sadly only 17 voters for this poll which seeks y/) to determine the favourite PBM-related web site. Despite the small num ber of voters it ManorCon (devel.diplom.org/manorcon/) was still keenly contested.

Rank Web site Points So, having been thwarted in the Zine Poll, Keith Thomasson succeeds in winning the Web Site Poll, hotly pursued by Mike Dean s psychozine and Tom Tweedy s Dip2000 site. 1 For Whom The Web Rocks 31 All three are excellent places in which to play (www.fwtwr.com) games.

2 psychozine (www.psychozine.co.uk) 29 THE LES PIMLEY AWARD

3 Dip2000 29 This award is presented every year to the (www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/dip2000/) person deemed to have made a significant contribution to the hobby, either during the 4 The Blue Nose Special (e-mail only) 14 year or over a period of time culminating in the 5 John Shelley s site 9 year just gone. Although there were 4 worthy (www.freespace.virgin.net/four.track/18x candid ates, Richard Sharp was a clear winner x/18xx_front.html) with 56.5% of the votes. When it comes to 6 Minstrel 8 Diplom acy, Richard Sharp has quite literally (http://rob.thomasson.com) written the book. He was instrumental in creating the UK Diplomacy hobby and edited To Win Just Once (www.pevans.co.uk) the award winning Diplomacy zine Dolchstoß Serendipity for more than 250 issues before ill health (www.smartgroups.com/groups/ forced him to fold it. serendipityzine) The other candidates were Mike Dean, Paul 9 King & Cardinal 7 Evans and Derek Wilson. (www.thera.org.uk/engarde.htm) SAMPLING SOME ZINES 10 Mark Stretch s site 6 (www.34dartdrive.freeserve.co.uk) We are almost at the main event, which is the Fiendish Board Games zine reviews. If after reading the reviews you (www.fbgames.co.uk) fancy checking some of the zines out, write off for some sample issues. Most editors are only off-the-shelf (www.olympus.net/personal/ too pleased to send off free issues to potential thowell/o-t-s) new subscribers. It is, however, considered good form to send a stamped addressed

6 Mission From God Issue 24 envelope. It's probably okay to put two ABOUT THE EDITOR second class stamps on, as that should cover Middle aged, tired, slightly pissed off, postage for all but the largest zines. probably in his last year of regular I hope the reviews in this zine give you a employment before he is thrown on the useful guide to a zine's worth. Most reviews scrapheap. Apart from that he is, by and are complimentary but there are two good large, an upbeat sort of a bloke who at the reasons for that: most zines are bloody good moment just happens to be feeling beat-up value for m oney, and no-one likes to slag off a rather than upbeat. person who devotes several hours of their spare time to produce a zine. Nevertheless, DEAD OR ALIVE when subscribing, it is probably best to start off with a small subscription - say £5 - just to Last year I did a year-on-year comparison on get a taste of the zine. If you decide to let the number of zines publishing and it seems your subscription lapse the polite thing to do worthwhile doing so again this year. is to let the editor know. Hardly any editors send turds through the post to lapsed Mission From God 21 subscribers' houses these days. Active UK zines: 67

INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION EXCHANGE Mission From God 22

I have separated the overseas zines from the Active UK zines: 52 British ones this issue. Other countries have Mission From God 23 their own versions of Mission From God and so it seems right that pre-em inence in this Active UK zines: 42 British publication should be given to British zines. I have also cut back on the number of overseas zines featured, concentrating - I ve got a feeling that this year I excluded funnily enough - on those which provided me generalist zines such as Counter, Games with details for inclusion in this issue. Gazette plus some web zines from the count, but even so that is a fairly alarm ing drop-off. Do not be put off subscribing to an overseas Next year will see the disappearance of zine by the thought of having to draw up a Dolchstoss and Cut & Thrust, two zines foreign currency cheque as the International which have been stalwarts of the hobby for Subscription Exchange offers a way round more than twenty years. The hobby has this. If you live in the UK and fancy subscribing to an overseas zine, you can send become used to not having many new zines the subscription money to me (John starting up but it has also become used to the Harrington) and I'll arrange for the funds to be established zines carrying on forever; in 2003, transferred to the editor of the overseas zine forever does not last as long as it used to. to which you wish to subscribe. Similarly, if you live in North America, Australia or Europe and wish to subscribe to a zine published in John Harrington another country then contact me th ([email protected]); see page 30 for more January 5 , 2003 details.

7 Mission From God Issue 24

THE ZINE REVIEWS START HERE http://www.armisticeday.com Runs: Diplomacy (2), Diplomacy variants: Abstraction (2), Gunboat, Railway Rivals (4) Waiting Diplomacy, Somewhat Lists: Demiurgic Diplomacy, Diadochi IV, Renaissance, BRITISH ZINES Gunboat, Railway Rivals

What s this? Armistice Day, the Railway Rivals zine? Gone are the days when Steve used to run umpteen games of Dip between the pages of his oft A League Of Our Own aka ALOOO resurrected zine. Is this because the demand for postal Diplomacy is in serious decline? Or is he John Harrington, 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, secretly running several games by e-mail that aren t Middlesex, EN1 3UW ([email protected]) featured in the zine? Or has he finally realised that running a heavy duty zine in conjun ction with http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/alooo raising a family and doing a stress-filled job is a young man s game (and the young men of today are Issue 38, 14 pages, 5 weekly, A4 corner-stapled or too sensible to attempt it?) electronic, £5 per season I don t know the answer to the above but I suspect Runs: A League Of Our Own, Steve still harbours ambitions to run lots of Diplomacy Premiership Almanac games in his zine and establish it as the pre-eminent Waiting A League Of Our Own, postal/e-mail Diplomacy zine; the real test will come Lists: Premiership Almanac when a number of games come up for rehousing when a major Dip zine folds. Will Steve step It is somewhat embarrassing to note that in issue 23 forward and volunteer to rehouse them or will he of Mission From God I forgot to list my own zine. settle for organic growth. It s a modest affair running a fantasy football game featuring monthly auctions, team changes, transfers Either way, Steve s enthusiasm for the game of between teams and club finances. The zine also Diplomacy remains strong, with the usual selection features some chat, usually inspired by pathetic of strategy articles from the archives each issue. The excuses for why the zine is late. games seem to be adjudicated to a high standard and the turnaround, whilst it may not approach the (John Harrington, December 2002) metronomic - some would say obsessively so - reliability of Cut & Thrust - is pretty decent for this Are You Blind Ref ? aka Rubber day and age.

Dave Carter, "Injebreck",13 Liverpool Road South, There is not a lot of original material in the zine but Burscough, Lancashire, L40 7SU. (Tel: 01704 the little that there is rings lots of bells with the 896418; E-mail: [email protected]) baby-boom generation. Like me, Steve seems to be buying up all the stuff he could not afford as a Folded. teenager which means his house is probably full of Mott the Hoople albums, Ben Sherman shirts, Armistice Day 2000AD annuals and 412 Diplomacy sets.

Stephen Agar of 47 Preston Drove, Brighton, BN1 As alluded to above, you are as likely to find a game 6LA (Tel: 01273 562430; fax 0870-1641533; e- of Railway Rivals within its pages as a game of mail: [email protected] ) Diplomacy these days, thanks to the resurfacing of another hobby dinosaur, Rip Gooch, creator of many Issue 18, A5 PDF file off the web, 24 pages, 5- Railway Rivals maps, who edits the subzine weekly, 80p Diversions. Rip is now based in North America and

8 Mission From God Issue 24 also contributes to the US zine The Abyssinian only (slightly) adverse observation is that Stephen is Prince, where he can occasionally be found so much more casual than in days of yore; no more commenting on the differences between Britain and of the savage broadsides against hobby folk. I guess North America, whereas in Armistice Day he can that parenthood has mellowed the fellow. occasionally be found commenting on the differences between North America and Britain.... (Neil Duncan, December 2002)

(John Harrington, November 2002) Astradyne

A tight (almost Teutonic) and deeply D ippy zin e. If Ian Lee, 13 Isis Drive, Upminster, Essex, RM14 1LJ. you want to play Diplomacy by post, this is 01708 640145. probably the best place to do it. Each issue is also sprinkled with Dip articles and plenty of historical Issue 206, 18 pages, 6 weekly, £10 per season. material as well. The letter page is expansive but has thinned a little in recent issues. There are plenty Runs: Soccerleague of plugs for other zines (cheers Stephen) and Waiting Soccerleague despite his efforts to ring the death knell for the Lists: hobb y, he promotes it and cares for it deeply. There's even a Railway Rivals subzine to keep the Well, I know it is still going because someone has non-D ippers happy. voted for it in the Zine Poll, but can I get anyone to review it? Can I heck as like. (Howard Bishop, November 2002) (John Harrington, November 2002) Stephen Agar's zine for Diplomacy purists, produced to his usual high standard, and published Bloodstock with his usual efficiency. There is a lot to admire in the zine, and the inclusion of Rip Gooch's subzine Mick Haytack, 43 Swanmore Road, Littleover, has brought Railway Rivals games to expand the Derby, D E23 7SD (E-mail: [email protected]). choice of games on offer. Armistice Day is a worthy zine, well- produced, but I do have concerns Issue 154, A5 booklet, 6 weekly, 28 pages, 60p that the potential audience for this including postage Diplomacy-oriented zine has dwindled over the years. Runs: Connections, Alphabet Auction, Sporting Superstars, (Allan Stagg, December 2002) Spread Betting, Acquire (5), Outpost (4), Railway Rivals , Only semi-postal, since most copies are distributed Intimate Diplomacy by e-mail and often the games seem to have had (Diplomacy variant) (3), intervening e-mail seasons (which is most Lancashire Railways, United, frustrating for the statistician trying to keep track!) Fantasy Football Despite a busy life Stephen remains fascinated by Waiting Spread Betting, Outpost, the hobby and its past, and this is the place to read Lists: Daily Star Soccer Super articles dredged from the archives, and e-mails from League, Sporting Superstars, people who were leading figures twenty years ago United, Acquire and more! Always a good read, but the games have more than their share of dropouts. This zine seems impervious to the apparent decline of the postal hobby. If anything it is ru nning slightly (John Marsden, November 2002) more games than it was this time last year. Allied to Mick having a bit more time to include some chat Definitely me numbers tw o(s) (titter), this zine is these days the zine is achieving the unlikely feat of pretty typical of the high quality and good still improving after 15 0 issues. The zine h as always reliability Stephen has applied to all the many run a wide variety of games but without having any incarnations of his various zines. Loads of ed s evidence to back this up I get the sense it is veering stuff, letters and articles to get your teeth into. The more towards running quiz and prediction games

9 Mission From God Issue 24

these days rather than conversions of existing board (Neil Duncan, December 2002) games. Counter (John Harrington, November 2002) Alan How, 3 Lynsted Close, Bromley, Kent, BR1 Blue Nose Special (The) aka TBNS 3UE ([email protected]).

John Colledge, Dunorroch , 24 Brunstane Bank, Issue 18, A5 booklet, 88 pages, quarterly, £12 or $25 Edinburgh, EH15 2NR (E-mail: a year (North American subscribers may pay by [email protected]) dollar cheque through David Kuznick, 38 Lyme Street, Apartment 308, Malden, MA02148, USA) E-mail zine, 5 weekly intervals. 40 subscribers. This is a fat booklet produced by a small editorial Runs: Acquire, Fictionary team and a lot of writers. The strapline is Dictionary, Railway Rivals, Boardgames Reviewed and Discussed and it does Scrabble just what it says on the tin. The magazine was set up Lists: Acquire, By Popular in 1998 by Mike Clifford, Stuart Dagger and Alan Demand, Cluedo, Take Five, How. All three had been involved in Mike Siggins s Pass The Pigs, Railway legendary Sumo and their aim was to continue the Rivals style of that publication. Thus, Counter is stuffed with words in a small typeface without a single A most excellent tartan e-zine with a long and very illustration - except for the occasional advert. chatty letter column, plus a much more trustworthy film review section than any professional film This makes Counter something I don t attempt to review magazine that I've ever seen. John mixes the read in one go. After skimming through for news, it traditional with games of his own invention (the sits in my briefcase for a few weeks while I dip into latest being a tiddlywinks simulation). There's RR it. And there is plenty to dip into. At the heart of the action from the Turbo subzine and the whole thing magazine are reviews of recent games - 22 of them comes unreservedly recommended. in the latest issue. The reviewers are all enthusiastic games players with plenty of experience: British, (Howard Bishop, November 2002) American, European. The same crew - and many others - contribute to the letters page - commenting John Colledge's revered and poll-topping subzine on the reviews and articles and discussing aspects of that has metamorphosed into a successful e-zine. board games. The other articles can be about older The zine is usually 40% chat and letters, 40% games or general games related topics, such as an games and 20% film reviews, with the added bonus analysis of physical mechanisms in games. of Nick Parish's subzine Turbo. The games are interesting, but this is primarily a zine you read for (Paul Evans, writing in Flagship, October 2002) the pleasure of finding out what John - a teenager of uncertain age - has been up to since the last issue. CounterMoves

(Allan Stagg, December 2002) Tom Higgins, counterm [email protected]

Borealis Issue 3, PDF download from the net, 22 pages

Ian Harris, 36 Brecon Place, Perkinsville, Chester- http://countermoves.sourceforge.net/ le-Street, Co. Durham, D H2 1HY. (E-mail: [email protected]) Over here in Europe, in the postal gaming hobby at least, we have been spoiled by the discovery, circa Issue 51, A5, 16 pages, 62p including postage, 1990, of the German board games industry. quarterly) Consequently, we are all playing games which take about half an hour to learn, 90 minutes to play, and Could be a great little zine but way, way, far and which in the main have dice-free mechanics which away too slow to suit any but the most brain dead eschew the tables and dice roll modifiers postal player. characteristic of the American games we generally

10 Mission From God Issue 24 played in the seventies, eighties and nineties. (John Marsden, November 2002)

In some parts of the USA, at least, it is still 1975 Cut & Thrust aka C&T and a game is not a game unless it has cardboard die-cut counters, random result tables and die-roll Derek Wilson, 1 Juniper Road, Horndean, modifiers, and if they are happy playing those sorts Waterlooville, Hants., PO8 0DY. (E-mail: of games then good luck to them. I, myself, hanker [email protected]) occasionally for a real meaty long game in which the purpose is to grind your opponent into the dust Issue 213, A5 booklet, litho, 5 weekly, 32 pages, 80p rather than a friendly German-style exercise where plus postage the result is sometimes inconsequential. If you have a similar hankering then CounterM oves is for Runs: Word Puzzle, Where Is My you. The zine has no relation to the other general Mind?, By Popular Demand, purpose games zine, Counter, but it has been Outpost (3), Battle, Maneater perfectly named, in that it covers the sorts of games (3), Cosmic Encounter, 1862, (war games, collectible card games, miniatures, role 1841, Railway Rivals, Bus play) that Counter typically avoids. Boss, Ironmaster, Horse Racing, En Garde! The zine is a lot better laid out than Counter too Waiting Cosmic Encounter, Pushball, but you get nowhere near as much reading material. Lists: En Garde! Nonetheless it is free, so it is hard to argue with it, unless you are on a metered internet account, in Throughout its history Cut & Thrust has been beset which case the unzipped 9 meg download might by more tragedy than most and yet through it all irritate you. The latest issue contains articles on Derek Wilson has soldiered on providing an Illuminati, Chess, a game design competition and a exceptionally broad range of games within the pages free game, complete with board and bits (which you of a stupendously reliable zine. Even by Cut & will have to print and paste to cardboard). Thrust s standards the last year has been very tough on the editor and this time round Derek has, very (John Harrington, November 2002) understandably, opted to run the zine down to a fold. Throughout its twenty year career Cut & Thrust has (The) Cunning Plan aka TCP never won the Zine Poll which, along with NMR!, must make it the best zine never to do so. Probably only the lack of a substantial chat element has Neil "Speccy" Duncan, 25 Sarum Hill, Basingstoke, prevented the zine from winning the poll but if the Hants., RG21 8SS (E-mail: hobby had a Hall of Fame this zine would be [email protected]) elected to it without too much trouble.

Issue number 109, A4, 6 weekly, 20 pages, £1p Although I would not normally recommend zines including postage running down to a fold there is still life in this zine as some of the current games will take a while to Runs: Diplomacy (6), Gunboat complete and in the meantime openings are still Diplomacy (2), Colonial available for the gam es listed above plus some D avid Diplomacy, Time Warp Watts games. Diplomacy Waiting Diplomacy, Colonial (John Harrington, November 2002) Lists: Diplomacy, United Nations, Pax Britannia, M achiavelli, Dangerous Liaisons Gunboat D iplomacy Jerry Spencer, 51 Elm Vale, Liverpool, L6 8NY (E- mail: [email protected]). A good zine for games, especially with Shaun Derrick and James Hardy as guest GMs, and one I Issue 10 at least, A5, 5 weekly, 12 pages, 80p enjoy playing in. Not as frequent as it could be, and including postage the (often lengthy) letters section is marred by too Runs: En Garde! much from the noxious Alan Frost.

11 Mission From God Issue 24

Waiting En Garde! Folded Lists: I am not sure if this has actually folded yet but if it A free-fo rm E n Garde! set in France in the 1 560 's has not then a fold is certainly imminent, owing to with about 20 subscribers and room for more. As the editor s ill-health. Dolchstoss will be genuinely everyone mentions when reviewing this, it is missed by those who enjoyed highly competitive unusual in that players may portray female games of Diplom acy and R ichard s trenchant right- characters. wing views. You have to admire a man who spent decades carping about the anti-smoking brigade who, (Perhaps they always mention it because I reprint when he learns he has cancer, concedes Perhaps the the same review every year. The web site is no health fascists have a point after all. It is the use of longer there but I think this zine is still going). perhaps which epitomises that peculiarly British combination of understatement and bloody- John Harrington (November 2002) mindedness.

Devolution (John Harrington, November 2002)

Tony Robbins, Lincoln House, Creaton Rd, Flagship Hollowell, Northants, NN6 8RP (Tel. 01604- 740572; E-mail: [email protected]) Flagship,14 The Hollows, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 1QT (Tel: 44 [0]1395 276632) (E -mail: Issue 39, 6 weekly, free by e-mail, one long [email protected]) continuous page ... www.flagship-pbm.co.uk Runs: 18xx (2), Railway Rivals (19), Bus Boss (3) Issue 100, A4 magazine, litho with full colour cover, Waiting Railway Rivals, Bus Boss, 56 pages, bimonthly, £3.95. Send a large SAE for a Lists: 1830 free back-issue of the zine.

In the long and continuous tradition of Railway Runs: Occasional demonstration Rivals flagship zines, from the days of David pro-PBM games Watts own Rostherne Gam es Review, Waiting Nothing presentation has never been a factor, and so it Lists: remains. A plain text zine, mostly distributed by e- mail except to awkward sods like me, there s no This is the only publication that caters for the entire chat but lots and lots of well-run games. Still the PBM community. It has expanded its coverage of best place for fans of David s games. zine games, and now has a regular column, written by one of the most respected figures in the zine (John Marsden, November 2002) hobby (He means me! - JH), dedicated to zine PBM s. It also has other fine articles and reviews, and is well Pops into my Inbox with welcome regularity. It s worth looking at if you are interested in the wider about as low-tech as you can get for an e-mail zine: hobb y. just plain text, with the small chat bit sent as one e- (Allan Stagg, December 2002) mail and the game reports sent as another. This is one of those zines that you have to play in to Has always been thought of as an organ only of appreciate, and given that it is free there is no interest to those who play pay per turn Play By excuse to if you like railway games. Mail games, despite the best efforts of the editor to get the zine-based hobby on board. Recently there (John Harrington, November 2002) have been signs of colonisation within its pages by zine-based PBM luminaries such as, er .... me, Paul Dolchstoß Evans and Allan Stagg. This has coincided with a branching out of the magazine s coverage to include Richard Sharp, Norton House, Whielden Street, table-top games (you know, what we would call Amersham, Bucks, HP7 0HU. (E-mail: board games) and pencil & paper role-play games. [email protected]) Whether this is because the market for PBM is

12 Mission From God Issue 24 dwindling and they therefore need to conquer new printed through a pair of old pants and the font is areas of the gaming market, or whether it is simply Illegible Sans Serif, but it's a full Christmas stocking a case of filling the void left by the apparent demise of treats, with 2 cracking subzines to boot. Very of Games Games Gam es, I don t know. interesting. What I can say (and you ll have to bear in mind that (Howard Bishop, November 2002) I write for the mag and am so I am hardly 2 disinterested ) is that the zine is an excellent read. Recent acquisitions have expanded the zine, yet it The standard of writing is generally equal to that of still seems like a cozy little place to play games. most news-stand magazines but with the added Philip runs an efficient zine, w hich usually seems to advantage of there being a genuine sense of turn up on time, with a bit of chat and, nowadays, community among its readers. Although I don t quite a lot of games. The editorial tends to be in a play any pay per turn style PBM games I do find font that s hard to read when reduced, and some of the reviews and discussions of the games the games I ve never heard of, but it s pretty good, fascinating, but then I am the sort of person who really. enjoys reading reviews of computer games I will probably never play. (John Marsden, November 2002)

Philip Honeybone's zine is a small and friendly zine (John Harrington, November 2002) which runs a number of interesting games. The presentation is sometimes questionable, as Philip Flights of Fancy aka FoF persists in using a different font for each game, with varying degrees of legibility. Another feature of the Philip Honeybone, 28 St. Michael's Road, zine is the front cover photo, which, depending on Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7HG (E-mail: the quality of the printing (and the amount of dark to [email protected]) light in the photo) can have the clarity of a Rorschach ink-blot. But the zine's strength lies in its Issue 75, A5 booklet, 5-6 weekly, 28 pages, 60p games and its readership. Subzines have been added including postage recently, which may help to round out the zine. Runs: Railway Rivals, Acquire, (Allan Stagg, December 2002) Dungeonquest, Mystic Wood, Sopwith, Liftoff!, Guillotine, This neat A5 size zine has recently passed the 75 Breaking Away, Scrabble, issue mark, and shows no sign of slowing yet. Philip Carcassone, Adel Verplichtet, Honeybone (editor) compiles a zine with many Eat Me, Wizards Quest, games not found in many of the other zines around, Railway Rivals, Talisman, including Guillotine and Robo Rally, just to name Civilization, Man-Eater, two. The cover always carries a photo for a caption Golden Strider and Hare & competition open to all readers, the prize being a free Tortoise. issue, and the Editorial is always interesting, usually Waiting Some, none or all of the telling of Philip and Jen's exploits on holidays, or at above Lists: a games con, or of their recent house move. The font Philip uses is not to everyone's taste, and can be a I can only describe this as the best zine I get that touch difficult to read - especially after a night out I'm not actually playing in. Dunno why I haven t with the lads - but after reader commen ts he's got involved with any games yet, because there's increased the font size a little which does help. loads of great stuff in there. He's given the PBM treatment to loads of board and card games that you The Letters page is usually well filled, and the games don't see elsewhere (Guillotine, Dungeonquest, are many and varied, especially as Flight of Fancy etc.). Sometimes it looks like it's been screen- curren tly carries two subzines - 'Meet the Enemy' from Conrad von Metkze, carrying Railway Rivals and 'Elephants Never Forget' from Kevin Lee which contains Talisman, Civilisation and Man-Eater. 2For those of you unaware of the difference, disinterested means impartial and uninterested means not interested Whatever your gaming tastes, there will be a game in

13 Mission From God Issue 24

Flights of Fancy that you would enjoy, so drop painstakingly converted most of them to some form Philip a line (or e-mail) for more information. You of computer moderation to assist him in the smooth won't be sorry you did. running of same, and the polished look and feel of this zine cannot be underestimated it's slick, tidy, (Bruce Edwards, December 2002) and very very big (regularly 90+ pages every month) and worth every penn y. For Whom The Die Rolls Somewhat at odds with most other zines, Keith Keith Thomasson, 14 Stepnells, Marsworth, Nr charges a standard game-fee of £1 for each game you Tring, H erts., HP23 4N Q. (E-mail: start, and this money is used to subsidise the cost of [email protected]) producing/publishing the zine itself. Alas, Keith has probably never put a value on his computer Issue 90, A5 booklet, monthly, 88 - 96 pages, £1.50 programming feats, and when all is said and done the including postage to anywhere fact that you get a darn sight more than you pay for remains unquestionable. http://www.fwtwr.com This is the best of its kind, and a model for many. As Runs: 18xx (14, Acquire (5), long as you are interested in the games on offer, I Battle!, Bus Boss (6), don't think you'll find a more efficient place to play Carcassonne, Diplomacy (2), them, to be frank. Dungeonquest, Golden Strider, Lancashire Railways, (Alex Bardy, December 2002) Mainline, McMulti, Mystic Wood (2), New England State of the art zine from Keith Thomasson, running Railways (2), Outpost (4), loads of games to a very regular deadline. The zine is Railway Rivals (9), Sopwith not quite so dominated by railway games as it used (3), Source of the N ile to be, and has been running some Diplomacy games. Waiting 1830, 1856, 1870, 1899, 6 Usually two or three games start each issue, which Lists: Nimmt!, Acquire (Standard & suggests that players are happy to pay the game fee special powers), Battle!, involved. This can be attributed to Keith's efficient Breaking Away, service and the quality of the zine. Dungeonquest, Jotto, Lancashire Railways, (Allan Stagg, December 2002) McMulti, New England Railways, Outpost, Rail Monster zine, stuffed full of game reports on a huge Baron, Railway Rivals variety of gam es. The sign of success is the length of time games have to wait for space in the zine, The best amateur games zine on the market. No after the waiting list has filled. The efficiency and contest. There's a bit of something for everyone commitment are huge, and for that there can only be here, but the financial and transport games praise. predominate. The cover price is the highest I've seen, but the zine is 90-odd pages long, so it (John Marsden, November 2002) probably barely covers the production costs (let alone the blood, sweat, toil, paper cuts and toner For Whom The Web Rocks stains). If I was being Mr Quibble, I would say that it's a bit dry, verging on the anhydrous, but I say Keith Thomasson, 14 Stepnells, Marsworth, Nr boo to you Mr Quibble. If you want chat, buy Tring, H erts., HP23 4N Q. (E-mail: Hello! magazine. [email protected])

(Howard Bishop, November 2002) Web zine, daily updates, £1 a game,

Arguably the mother of all zines FWTDR is http://www.fwtwr.com pretty much considered the defacto standard-bearer for the postal gaming hobby and runs a huge variety of postal games to clockwork deadlines. Keith has

14 Mission From God Issue 24

Runs: Acquire (5), Carcassonne (6), generally make boring reading, but the rest of the Durch die Wuste (2), Euphrat zine performs the invaluable function of keeping me & Tigris (4), Puerto Rico (6), apprised of developments in gaming areas in which I Ra (3), Samurai (3), Sopwith have only a peripheral interest. (2), Torres (3) Waiting Acquire, Carcassonne, Durch (John Harrington, November 2002) Lists: die Wuste, Euphrat & Tigris, Puerto R ico, Ra, Samurai, Gemini Sopwith, Torres Tony Wilcock, 74a College Rd., Colliers Wood, The web complement to Keith s zine, offering a London, SW19 2BS. similar range of games but played to swifter deadlines. [Season 10, therefore about issue 100], 7 A4 pages, 5 weekly, £6 per season including postage. (John Harrington, January 2003) Runs: A football game Games Games Gam es aka G3 Waiting As above Lists: http://www.sfcp.co.uk I believe this one is still going. The football Missing, presumed dead. Strong rumours at campaign has an unusual set of rules and the MidCon that it would be reappearing in reduced production method - a typewriter and parchm ent - is form under the editorial guidance of A ndy Merritt. not so much a throw -back as a throw-up, but only a former zine editor would get so high and mighty Gam es Gazette about such a thing. I am allowed to be snide because Tony Wilcock resigned from my zine 17 years ago Chris Baylis, 67 Mynchens, Basildon, Essex, SS15 when we published a scathing pre-election attack on 5EG (E-mail: [email protected]) the Labour party (and a similarly scathing attack on the Tories). Tony does not com e across as the card Issue 128, A5 booklet, bi-monthly, 48 pages, carrying Trotskyite so maybe it was a different Tony £12.00 (inc. postage) for six issues Wilcock.

http://gamesgazette.topcities.com/ (John Harrington, 1 November 2001)

Last issue Chris wrote me a threatening letter after I Geneva wrote of his determination to use every font in his collection . The threat was that he has a shed-load Stuart Eves, 24 Birch Road, Burghfield Common, of fonts in reserve that he has not used yet, and sure Reading, Berkshire, RG7 3LT enough in the last year he has continued with his policy of using a different font on almost every Runs: Diplomacy page, even if the font used in the body text remains Waiting Nothing much the same. Somehow the melange of fonts Lists: works because it is in keeping with the rest of the zine which is a stew of reviews of different styles of An RSPCA home for stray Diplomacy games. Stuart games - board games, role-playing games, computer does a great job by picking up games from folded games, table-top miniatures, collectible card games. zines that would otherwise just have ended up like Sometimes it takes me until the second paragraph to another Latics visit to Selhurst Park, i.e. full of work out whether I am reading about a computer promise, but ultimately empty-handed. game or table-top game, and this could be easily remedied by Chris putting such information in the (Howard Bishop, November 2002) review heading, but perhaps this interferes with the stream of consciousness style of the zine. This 'subzine without a zine' is run by Stuart Eves, and currently has one game of Diplomacy, which My other quibble with the zine is the reprint of was rescued from PiMS. If Stuart was interested in press releases from the games companies as these running more games and expanding the readership

15 Mission From God Issue 24 this could become quite a respectable little zine. Runs: Nothing Waiting Diplom acy, E-mail (Allan Stagg, December 2002) Lists: Diplomacy

Gentle Art of Making Enemies aka GAME Now once again game free and it is not entirely clear whether Pete is interested in running games within Nic Chilton, 21 Nowell Street, Harehills, Leeds, its pages as the future of the zine is in doubt. LS9 6HS (E-mail: [email protected]) Personally I suspect I ll be writing a similar sentence in the 2010 issue of Mission From God, for the http://www.gamezine.co.uk need to communicate rem ains strong within Pete. The major problem with the zine seems to be that Issue 53, A5 booklet, 5 - 6 weekly, 20 pages, 65p since Pete got a job that involves sitting in front of a plus postage computer and writing all day long, the last thing he fancies doing when he gets home is sitting in front of Runs: Diplomacy, Gunboat, League a PC and writing all night long. of Gentle Managers, Acquire, Primary C olours, Pole If he does end up in front of a screen at home it is Position, Breaking Away most likely to be so he can play poker online and Waiting All of the above occasionally when he tears himself away from this Lists: he writes Poker strategy articles. These seem to have usurped his cooking articles - from chips to poker Deserves more subscribers and m ore players (hint, chips - hah! hint), being a pleasant zine with a few pages of chat and some well-run games, and waiting lists that As everyone correctly observes, this is one of the take for ever to fill. Give it a try. most literate zines in the hobby and when he is on (John Marsden, November 2002) song Pete generates strong feedback in the letter column. My gut feeling, however, is that he is not Nic Chilton's zine continues to notch up the issues generating as much heat in the letter column as he in its modest way. Nic runs a variety of games, and used to when his life was a wreck and he was the zine is well-produced. drinking steadily. Yes, I know it is selfish of me to (Allan Stagg, December 2002) want Pete to sacrifice his liver for the sake of my reading enjoyment, but what are friends for? A flyer enclosed with another zine I subscribe to led me to contact Nic Chilton about a sub to this A5 The jewels in the crown of Greatest Hits are the zine. Nic's recent editorial covered his recent canal hobby history articles in which Pete raids his files to boating holiday, and there is also a letters page. The do a highly detailed, well researched history of a zine games carried are mostly Diplomacy or Gunboat from long ago. These are fascinating and not just Diplomacy (where the players use pseudonyms) but because of what they tell us about the hobby 20 or 30 the other main game is the League of Gentle years ago; the real fascinating stuff is the ephemera Managers - which is a United game, but with extra and throwaway comments from real life of 20 or 30 bits. I've just taken over a team at the end of the years ago. Just as Bill Gates allegedly once said season and they haven't won a game in the Cup 640k memory ought to be enou gh for anyone so it competition yet, so the task is to try and get a get at is conceivable that people once thought Right Said least a point from the remaining games... but after Fred would become the biggest band of the nineties. that, there's another season to look forward to, and I've got a team to work on. (John Harrington, November 2002) (Bruce Edwards, December 2002) Settle yourself in an armchair in a comfy but rather Greatest H its aka GH seedy pub, and listen to an aging bachelor rabbit on Pete Birks, Top Flat, 4 Lewisham Hill, London, for ages about his life, the books he has read and SE13 7EJ (Tel: 020 8852 2593; E-mail: music he s listened to, the events of his youth, and [email protected]) discuss the e-mails he s received from his old friends. That s how GH feels to me, which is fine if Issue 260, A4, bi-monthly, 28 pages, £1 including you re comfy with it. Not much to do with playing postage games in the 21st century, though.

16 Mission From God Issue 24

(John Marsden, November 2002) and interesting games. The format of the zine appears to have changed little from the previous Hopscotch century, but this is a zine for gamers. It also hosts a subzine, John Walker's delightful The Walker Alan Parr, 6 Longfield Gardens, Tring, Herts, HP23 Touch. 4DN. Tel: 01442-824173 (E-mail: [email protected]) (Allan Stagg, December 2002)

Issue 198, A5 (reduced), 16 pages plus lots of game Jack Duckworth s Alternate Universe report supplements, 81p plus postage, 8 issues a year Simon Ives, 4 2 Elm lea Road, Kings Stanley, Stonehouse, Glos GL10 3HR Runs: United, Grand National, Tribute (2), Spell Merchants, Season Ten Issue 1, A5 booklet, every 2-3 weeks Plot Counterplot, Middleman, throughout the football season, 20 pages, £8 for a Railway Rivals, Nrich season i.e. about 50p per ish) Central, Run For Gold, By Popular Demand, Bobsleigh Runs: Fantasy Football, Waiting Plot Counterplot, Tribute, Predictions Game, Lists: Middleman, Run For Gold, Quattro League, By Spell Merchants, United, Eat Popular Demand, Me, Powerplay, World Celebrity Big Brother Record, By Popular Demand, Waiting Lists: Sumo, By Popular Bobsleigh Demand variant

Hopscotch continues its steady progress towards Jack and his magic "tear in the space-time the double century, doing its bit for the opticians of continuum" beans continue to flourish. This is a very Britain with its small typeface and cramped lay-out seasonal zine in that 80% of the content is the but doing far more for the games players of Britain flagship Fantasy Footy game, so if you don't get with its cornucopia of mostly original designs. It s involved in August there's less to see. Most of the no accident that some of the country s best games other games Quattro League, The Sack Race, players are to be found within its pages. It s not Predictions Game, etc. are also footy related, so that the games are especially challenging or tough, follow life's natural cycle. It has a bit of a snooze more that they punch above their weight, in that the during the summer (World Cup years excepted), but games are simple but often absorbing in terms of is great stuff for nine months of the year. outguessing one s opponents. (Howard Bishop, 18 October 2001) (John Harrington, November 2002) Jumpers For Goalposts To call this just "the United zine" does it a serious injustice. Now in the 200 issue arena, it's a bit like Gareth Beaty, 11 Sandwon Close, Kirkham, near the product of a very busy ant farm. Loads of Preston, Lancs., P R24 2EE (E-mail: people conspire to put the thing together. Even the [email protected]) paper feels like it's been chewed, regurgitated and reassembled by a hive of insects. It has the lowest Runs: United white space ratio of any zine that I've seen. A Waiting United multiple-division United league is the main feature, List: but there are some cracking games in the various The zine runs just the one game, which is a postal subzines. You want Postal Bobsleighing? You got football simulation based on the United system. It is it. currently halfway through its first season and if the (Howard Bishop, November 2002) demand is there Gareth is looking to open up a second division next season. The game has a number One of the hobb y's hardy peren nials, Alan P arr's of innovations on the basic United system, including Hopscotch continues to offer a number of varied tactical options such as playing for a draw, offside

17 Mission From God Issue 24 trap, flooding the midfield, long ball game and Rolls) as a brother? Still, I am pretty sure Jackie chasing the game, as well as off field elements such Charlton won more league cham pionship medals as club reputation, wages and even a Bosman than brother Bobby, which is not to suggest that Rob ruling. Next season Gareth is considering further edits a Route One style zine; after all, you ll need wrinkles such as referee personalities, and he is more than one route in a zine largely featuring quite keen to elicit suggestions from the players railway games. themselves. It's usually in the early stages of a United campaign that players get to influence the God, that was a laboured pun but never mind. style of the game as by season three it is often Minstrel may not have the high profile accorded unfair to change the ground rules as it might affect other zines but 250 issues under the belt suggests this the long term strategy of the managers, so get in is a very successful zine. I ve not played in it, quick. O ne of the best United players I know, Peter largely because reputation suggests I d get eaten Stanton, recommends this league, which is good alive by the players, all of whom, apparently, are enough for me. As Ron Manager, who popularised very good and highly competitive. the ph rase "ju mpers for goal posts" might say, "Marvelous. Isn't it?". (John Harrington, November 2002)

(John Harrington, October 2002) Ninety Minutes

... Mais n'est-ce pas la gare? Steve Gregory, 29 Charlecote Drive, Wollerton, Nottingham, N G8 2SD (Tel: 0115 919 4855, E-mail: Steve Thomas, 168 Orchard Way, Addlestone, Surrey [email protected]) ([email protected]). Issue 170, £9 a season, m ontly A4 corner-stapled. Runs: Soccer Supremo Runs: 18xx Waiting Soccer Supremo Waiting 18xx Lists: List: Ninety Minutes is a Soccer Supremo game and still Dense and pithy. chugging along merrily. Three divisions of eight and (Rob Thomasson, December 2002) one vacancy currently. My lot are dropping like a stone as we speak - hello again third division! No A fully-subscribed zine devoted to the 18xx series other gam es, no chat generally, but a very solid of games. Great name for a zine. Soccer Supremo game. Game fee is £9 and the zine is monthly. (John Harrington, December 2002) (Dave Carter, December 2002) Minstrel Obsidian

Rob Thomasson, 205 Tolcarne Drive, Pinner, Middlesex Alex Richardson, 9 Bridge Street, Hitchin, Herts. HA5 2DN (E-mail: [email protected]) SG5 2DE Issue 250, A4, monthly, 8 pages, 50p including Issue 117, A5 booklet, 6-7 weekly, 12 pages, 50p postage (including postage) http://rob.thomasson.com Runs: Diplomacy, Middleman, Intimate Diplomacy, Runs: 1829 (3), 1830 (3), 1835, Sorcerer s Cave, 1856 (3), Railway Rivals, Tutankhamun (2), Breaking Outpost (2) Away, The (Not V ery) Waiting 1829, 1830, 1835, 1856, Beautiful Game List: Railway Rivals, Outpost

Jeez, what must it be like being a zine editor and having Keith Thomasson (see For W hom The D ie

18 Mission From God Issue 24

Waiting 18xx, Silverton, Diplomacy, Runs: Diplom acy (6), Gesta Lists: Aberration III, Gunboat Danorum (Dip variant), Diplom acy, Intimate Diplomacy the Gathering Diplomacy, Woolworth II-D, (Dip variant), Bourse, Civilization, Eat Me!, Grand Railway Rivals (5), Railway Slam, Middleman, Postal Rivals Discovery, Bus Boss, Snowball Fighting, Secrets, 18xx (3), Empires of the Sopwith, Tribute Middle Ages (2), South Wales Ironmaster Another zine that I trade with. Well into three Waiting Diplom acy, Mercator (Dip figures and with a nice easygoing style and a good Lists: variant), Seismic Diplomacy range of games. There s an interesting footy game (Dip variant), Railway Rivals, in there that I m hoping to sign up for if Alex offers Railway Rivals Discovery, it again. If your expectations are for a big fat tome Trawling, Bus Boss with bucket-loads of games, then you ll probably be Economic, Acquire disappointed. However, if you don t like too much fibre and being regular isn t important, then you John Marsden's zine has recently undergone a switch could do a lot worse than getting involved with this from A5 to A4 loose-leaf format, and this has one. There are also two fledgling subzines offering definitely helped to freshen things up a bit. A good some interesting games (including Silverton which I source of news and gossip, John isn't backwards in haven t seen elsewhere). coming forwards especially when he has a strong opinion to air. Good on 'im! (Howard Bishop, November 2002) (Alex Bardy, 21 September 2001) Alex Richardson's zine has often seemed to teeter on the edge of stalling, only to cough into life Pretty much unchanged in the ten years or so I have again. The current mood is upbeat, as the last been subbing and trading. Goes through various couple of issues have been good ones, and the zine peaks and troughs, but John has obviously found a has been enlivened by a couple of subzines. Alex is formula to suit his subber base. There is usually an also threatening to get a PC, having already taken ed s bit, sometimes a letter column and occasionally one technological leap in having e-mails sent to his an article or whatever. However, most of the zine is TV. I have subscribed to Obsidian for many years given over to game reports and there are a wide now, and I still look forward to receiving each number of them. They include Diplomacy, various copy. variants, Railway Rivals, 18xx and Empires of the Middle Ages (one of these is Leman , which must (Allan Stagg, December 2002) have been running all the time I have been in the hobby!) Anyway, John is very reliable and I have no Ode hesitation in sticking him in third place in my list of favourite zines. John M arsden, 91 Westwood Avenue, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 9RS (E-mail: (Neil Duncan, December 2002) [email protected]) Pigbutton Issue 240, A4 two-column, 5 weekly, 16 -22 pages, 75p including postage Clive Palmer, 36 Ravensfield, Barstable East, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1UG (E-mail: www.ode-online.net [email protected])

Issue 136, A5 booklet, 5 - 6 weekly, 28 - 32 pages, 50p including postage

19 Mission From God Issue 24

Runs: Acquire, Adel Verpflichtet, Runs: Diplomacy (lots), En Garde!, Breaking A way, Fictionary Psychos(h)occer, Sopwith, Dictionary, Golden Strider, Snowball Fighting Jotto, Maneater, Mare Waiting By Popular Demand, Where Mediterraneum (2), Nehari, List: Is My Mind?, Railway Rivals, Powerplay, Shanghai Trader, Maneater, Sengoku Sumo (Diplomacy variant), Waiting Beat the Boss, Fictionary Breaking Away, Diplomacy, Lists: Dictionary, Fishy, It s a Raid, Gunboat D iplomacy, Maneater, One Lap of the Sopwith, Snowball Fighting, Track, Yellowbeard Swashbuckler, Psychos(h)occer, En Garde!, The above information is at least a year old as Pigbutton remains semi-detached from the hobby. I On his return to running games for other people hear rumours that its former subzine Ratadan is Mike Dean made an attempt to interest the postal now the senior partner, with Pigbutton appearing gaming hobby in a resuscitated version of his 1 980 's as a subzine within its pages.. zine Psychopath but apparently met with (John Harrington, December 2002) indifference. The decision to go to a purely web format has paid handsome dividends, however, as (The) Premier League the web site is thriving and drawing good reviews from - yes, you guessed it, people from the postal Martin Burroughs, 15 New Earth Street, Oldham, games hobby. Is there a moral in there somewhere? Lancs, OL4 5ES. (Tel: 0161 626 1580) (John Harrington, November 2002) Issue 67, A4, 6 weekly, 16 pages, £8 per season (sub fees donated to charity) PUMA Runs: United Pete Burrows, 8 Magnolia Court, Beeston, Waiting United (1 vacancy), Cathedral Nottingham, NG9 3LG (Tel: 07970 878 040 mobile. Lists: E-mail: [email protected]) A three division United epic with slowish www.buzzwackpbm.freeserve.co.uk turnaround, but nicely produced with some games reviews and chat. Martin doesn't charge, but asks Issue 170, A5 part-colour, monthly, 16 pages, £1 subscribers to give the £8 season's fee to charity. He (including postage) with multiple discount schemes lives in Oldham too, which is an excellent available recommendation on its own. (Howard Bishop, November 2002) Runs: United Waiting United Still going strong, perhaps a bit erratic, but still lists: living. It s three divisions of ten and has about one player on the waiting list. No other major games, A United zine which drops in to my Inbox with but has occasional game reviews and is an prodigious reliability. There are 11 turns to a season interesting United variant. with the eleventh dealing with the close season and (Dave Carter, December 2002) play-offs - the latter being a mechanism to ensure that virtually all teams have an interest in promotion psychozine or relegation (and sometimes both!) right up to the final session of the season. Mike Dean, 28 Sunningdale Drive, Bramhall, SK7 2LJ (E-mail: [email protected]) Puma has been designed to ensure that in order to maintain success you must be active in the transfer Web-zine market, so this is not a league for managers seeking a low-maintenance game. The zine still has around one www.psychozine.co.uk third of its original subscribers after 170 issues, which must say something for its reliability and popu larity.

20 Mission From God Issue 24

(John Harrington, November 2002) Issue 224, 4 weekly, A4, 12 pages, £1 plus postage

Queen's Lane Advertiser aka QLA Runs: Soccerleagu e, Diplomacy, Nuclear War Jeremy Tullett, 7 Midland Place, Derby, DE1 2RR Waiting Soccerleague, Cricketboss, (E-mail: [email protected]) Lists: Nuclear War

Issue 12, A5 booklet with colour covers, 8 - 12 This is another long-running football-based zine, pages, £1 including postage, appears when the although the rules for Andy's league are significantly editor feels like it, but rarely more than four times a different (and hideously more complex) than the year. more standard United-style games, based as they are on a game called Soccer Supremos (or is it Documents face-to-face Diplomacy tournaments up Soccerboss?) I believe. This league is extremely and down the country and appears at somewhat involved, and demands a lot of your attention sporadic intervals. (scouting and team development, etc.) if you're going to have any hope of keeping up with the rest of your (John Harrington, November 2002) fellow managers. Andy strikes me as an extremely forgiving and Ratadan conscientious GM, but has no hang-ups at all when it Rob M ulholland, 2/5 R oyal Palm Court, Southport, comes to telling his players how crap their decisions were, and neither does he hold back if he can see a Queensland 4215, Australia. Subs are handled via a UK address. (E -mail: [email protected]) manager leading a team down the path of eternal damnation (no prizes for guessing how I know that). Issue 131, A5 booklet, 30 - 36 pages, 50p (UK), Still, if you fancy something somewhat more 75p (Europe), £1.25 elsewhere involved than most conventional postal games and/or other football leagues, this could be the medicine Runs: Yellowbeard II, Fictionary you'll need... Dictionary, Mare Mediterraneum, Maneater, (Alex Bardy, December 2002) Ratadan the G ame, The Tall Poppy, One Lap of the Track, Serendipity Beat the Boss, Fishy, Sumo, Jotto, Adel Verpflichtet. John W ebley, Töpferreihe 4, 38259 Salzgitter, Waiting See above Germany (E-mail: [email protected]) Lists: Issue 126, electronic delivery via mail-list, 10 pages, The former subzine has emerged in Alientastic 6 weekly, free by e-mail fashion from John Hurt's stomach (also known as http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/serendipityzine Pigbutton), only to bugger off to Oz. Rob has confirmed that the zine will continue unabated with Runs: Railway Rivals, Breaking somebody Blightyside doing the printing. The Away, 18xx , Take it Easy, Ratadan game (not dissimilar in concept to En Acquire Garde) will be the main event, with lots of other Waiting Railway Rivals, Acquire, interesting games such as Mare Mediterraneum Lists: 18xx Breaking Away, Circus (trading in the Med) and The Tall Poppy Maximus (racketeering in Hong Kong?). Mike Brian (Shambles In Canra) provides willing and able A zine of significant longevity, produced in support with an amusing editorial of his own and electronic format only. It's mainly RR, 18xx and some brill games to boot. Acquire with a nice editorial and some very good game reviews. John lives in Germany so has his (Howard Bishop, November 2002) finger on the pulse of the games scene there. Perhaps he'll offer some of the German games at some stage. Ref (Howard Bishop, November 2002) Andy Hyams, "Applegarth", Knayton, Thirsk, N.Yorks, YO7 4AS. (Tel: 08145 537407.)

21 Mission From God Issue 24

Smiffy's Marvellous Electronic Gamezine What are the signs? Only 5 issues in a year for a formerly fairly reliable zine. An increase in the aka SMEG number of why do I bother? editorials. The well- known post-milestone depression as the editor Richard Smith, 106 Bracklesham Close, Sholing, suddenly realises it will be another 50 issues until his Southampton SO19 8RX (Tel: 01703-443304; E- next well deserved bout of back-slapping from mail: [email protected] subscribers and peers. Letting something like a massively debilitating back injury get in the way of http://fp.sholing.f9.co.uk producing the zine ... yes, that last one was ironic.

Folded. Richard now runs a relatively clean living If Mark can get through the dreaded fifties (issue subzine in Variable Pig. number not age) then hopefully his enthusiasm for zine editing will return because Sprouts is a truly Sopw ith Stats excellent zine. The games are run efficiently, the editor is entertaining and takes no shit from anyone, Keith Thomasson, 14 Stepnells, Marsworth, Nr the lay-out is innovative, the regular features are Tring, H erts., HP23 4N Q. (E-mail: quirky and entertaining. On the other hand, no one [email protected]) wants Mark to soldier on for our sake; he s a grumpy bugger as it is, and the prospect of several years of Available on http://www.fwtwr.com carping and moaning about his unworthy subscribers is not a pleasant one. Sopwith is a nifty little air combat game which plays better by post than it does face to face. One (John Harrington, November 2002) of the rules concerns pilots achieving ace status as a result of achieving a certain number of kills. I do hope M ark s back problems get resolved before Ace status gives the pilots extra skills so it is too long, because fans of this zine have to wait far actually imp ortant to keep track of player records in too long between issues. A very good zine when it this game, which makes the Sopwith Stats less of a arrives, although the sense of humour often misses duvet stuffing exercise than most stats zines. me, but needs to recover p ast efficiency.

(John Harrington, November 2001 & 2002) (John Marsden, November 2002)

Sprouts of Wrath (The) The zine I look forward to the most, I have to say. I enjoy Mark s style and wit and the cartoons of Mark Wightman, 52 Park Road West, Bedford, course. Like The Cunning Plan, it tends to the Bedfordshire, M K41 7SL (E-mail: following format: editor s bit, letters, games and [email protected]) maybe the odd article (but these are in short supply since Bandy3 hung up his word processor and http://www.btinternet.com/~mr.sprout dagger). Recent turnarounds have been a little slack, but on the whole Mark is an editor to be trusted (but Issue 57, A5 booklet, 32 pages, 6 weekly, £1 (UK), not in a game of Diplomacy, of course!) £1.30 (Europe), £1.50 (rest of world) including postage (50p for unwaged) (Neil Duncan, December 2002)

Runs: Diplomacy (9), Gunboat (2), Strangitude Colonial Diplomacy, 7x7 competition (D iplomacy) (7), Paul Sands, Flat 2, 432 Birmingham Road, Wylde Chase Me Chase Me, Cluedo, Green, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B72 1YL 23 Tunes, 23 Episodes, 23 (E-mail: [email protected]) Things Waiting Diplomacy, Gunboat Issue 33, A4 corner stapled black & white, 16 pages, Lists: Diplomacy, Pax Britannica 7 weekly, 60p including postage

Showing every sign of hurtling towards a fold. Well, OK, not hurtling. Limping, maybe. 3A loquacious hobby personality

22 Mission From God Issue 24

Runs: Railway Rivals (6), Speed (Martyn Hathaway, November 2002) Circuit (2), Strange Quiz, Scrabble, Breaking Away (3), Martin Draper's United zine has been running for an Awful Green Things From awful long time (18th season just starting), and as far Outer Space, Sopwith (3), as I can tell, is done so to extremely strict and regular Diplomacy (5), Aberration, deadlines. Woolworth II-D, WW I Diplomacy (3) Martin has always been extremely helpful, and if Waiting Diplomacy variants: WWI you're genuinely interested in joining and Lists: Diplomacy, Colonial committing yourself to this league, you'll find the Diplomacy, Youngstown, man to be more than happy to send sample issues, The Lords of Host, Sengoku etc. for your perusal.

Other games: Diplomacy, (Alex Bardy, December 2002) Railway Rivals, Speed Circuit, 6 Nimmt!, Sopwith, The Tangerine Terror aka TTT Breaking Away, Awful Green Things From Outer Space Howard Bishop, 43 Guinions Road, High Wycombe, HP13 7NT (Email: [email protected]) It is not the most rapid of zines but it turns up when it is supposed to. There is only a minimal amount Issue 17, A5 booklet, 7 weekly, 32 pages, 75p (50p of chat, usually to do with cricket, but this is to players), supplemented with reprints of Diplomacy articles and some very amusing press clippings of the man Runs: Postal Tennis (2), sets fire to his friend s testicles sort. The range of Battle Of The Bulge, games on offer is broad, but for once this does not Where In The World mean game reports are crammed into as small a Is Kendo Nagasaki, space as possible. All in all this is a responsibly For Sale, Backpacks edited zine from the Flights of Fancy school, & Blisters, Cube which appears to have a long future in front of it Farm, Speedway Challenge, Football (John Harrington, November 2002) games: Striker Survivor/Brag/Fantas y Footsie 20, Pop Martin Draper, 124 Lord Street, Hoddesdon, Herts, Quiz, Zeitgeist EN11 8NP. (Tel: 01992 420786. E-m ail: (Chess variant), [email protected]) Quebec 1759, Go-to-Poly Issue 170, monthly, 18 pages, £9.50 per season. (Monopoly variant) (Cost also includes a close season booklet, and a A5 Waiting Lists: Diamond Dogs manager's handbook of 120 pages!) (baseball managem ent game), Runs: United Going Underground, Waiting United The Far Seas, Lists: Dauntless, Origins of WW2, Extraordinary Striker is a long running and efficiently GM d Adventures Of Baron United league using the rules developed by Ken Munchausen O'Brien and Martyn Hathaway in the now-defunct Tumbling Dice. This means that it uses coaching Just about the youngest zine on the block and a costs which vary according to age and level, fantastic example of what an enthusiastic newcomer injuries and other differences to the traditional to the hobby can produce. Although it struggles to United. There are currently five names on the achieve its intended target of a monthly frequency it waiting list which is a frustration to anyone who compensates by offering a tremendous mixture of would like to join w ith a quick start but equally is unusual published games (e.g. Backpacks & Blisters) testimony to the quality of the league.

23 Mission From God Issue 24 and original games. TTT is a bit of a throwback in transfer activity, auctions and training. At the back gaming terms in that it appears to focus more on end of the zine is a whimsical report from around Avalon Hill type games than Hans im Glück games, the grounds which seems to be what Diplomacy so you get war-games and sports simulations as players would call Press . Usually there are also a well as the now obligatory low m aintenan ce all- couple of pasted in cartoon strips and maybe a joke reader games. or press clipping. Not ground breaking by any means but it s hard to think of an iconoclastic footie Aside from a baffling preoccupation with baseball management zine - the players tend to want (are there zine editors in Akron writing about the efficiency and Thing provides it in spades. fortunes of Blackburn Rovers, I wonder?) the chat element is light-hearted and plentiful. If I were still (John Harrington, 28 October 2001) getting enquiries to the Zine Bank (see elsewhere in this issue) then this is the first zine I would be Ditto. shoving in the envelope to new members of the hobb y. (John Harrington, November 2002)

(John Harrington, November 2002) Top of the League TOTL

Howard Bishop's TTT started life as a subzine in Pete Burrows, 8 Magnolia Court, Beeston, The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword (PiMS), Nottingham, NG9 3LG (Tel: 07970 878 040 mobile. and has emerged as one of the best new zines to E-mail: [email protected]) appear in the past couple of years. It runs a variety of games, most of which are unique to the zine. www.buzzwackpbm.freeserve.co.uk Some of these are based on war-games - the B attle of the Bulge is currently reaching its climax, and Issue 176, monthly, 16 pages, A5 part-colour, £1 the opening shots have been fired in Quebec 1759. (including postage) or £1.50 per season for the e- There are also a fair number of sports games, and mail version Howard has been very active in devising and promoting new games. The chat and the humour is Runs: United very good, and there is a lively letters column. This Waiting United zine has the energy and freshness that is often Lists: missing in its more mature rivals. Recommended. In case you are wondering why Pete runs two United (Allan Stagg, December 2002) zines, he used to play in the Top of the League and when the GM decided to jack it in, Pete volunteered Thing to take it over rather than see it die. Such enthusiasm and dedication is being shown by Pete a decade or so Colin Ford, 5 Brookfield Avenue, Runcorn, later. Pete reckons that it is easier to achieve success Cheshire, WA 7 5QZ. (E-mail: in Top of the League than it is in Puma but does not [email protected]) explain why.

Issue 290, A5 booklet, 4-weekly, 12 pages, £3 per (John Harrington, November 2002) year plus postage To Win Just Once Runs: Soccer League Waiting Lists: Soccer League Paul Evans, 180 Aylsham Drive, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB10 8UF, (e-mail: Very regular and reliable Soccerleague zine; I ve [email protected]) had to buy a new accordion file just to accommodate all the issues Colin sends me. A Issue 29, 5 weekly, 32 pages, A5 booklet, £2 typical issue - and virtually all issues are typical - including postage (£2.50 Europe, £3 rest of world) consists of a written report on the league games, classified results (with a few notes detailing www.pevans.co.uk/TWJO.htm l highlights and features of the game), cup match reports, suspensions and injuries, league tables,

24 Mission From God Issue 24

Runs: En Garde! , Star Trader, Runs: Gutter Press, M ish-Mash (2), Railway Rivals, The Bonking Apocalypse, Sopwith (2), Game Breaking A way (4), Waiting En Garde! , Star Trader, Rauschmeisser, Lists: Railway Rivals, Diplomacy Tutankhamun, Sumo (3), Railway Rivals (4), Auction One of the more expensive zines in the hobby but in Brag (2), Perverse comparison with other En Garde campaigns it is by Countdown no means expensive. It has clocked up 11 issues in Waiting Dream Mile, Great White the last year which suggests its advertised Lists: Hunter, Powerplay (Ice frequency of 5 weeks is no idle boast. Hockey), Tutankhamun

It s a very tidy zine, with about 4 pages of chat at This zine is dead; Alex just hasn t got around to the front and some nicely laid out game reports at burying it yet. He s looking for volunteers to take the back. The reports are often augmented by some over the games so write to him at the above address jolly illustrations. if you are interested. The games in question are... Like 98% of the hobby Paul is interested in games, beer and science fiction and that tends to be what he Auction Brag... last published results: turn 2 writes about. He certainly knows his science fiction (relatively easy card-based bidding game) but his reviews occasionally give away too much of Breaking Away... last published results: turn 4 the plot for my liking, although why this bothers me when the chances of me reading the books he Breaking Away (Checkpoint Variant)... last reviews are about 1,000 to 1, I don t know. Then published results: turn 2 (same as the normal game again I am the sort of person who got annoyed at but with riders squares not revealed until the trailers for the second Lord of the Rings film checkpoints passed) featuring a character who died in the first film. Perverse Countdown... last published results: turn 2 What next, trailers on TV for The Usual Suspects (another simplistic bidding/numbers game) explaining the identity of Kaiser Sose? Tutankhamun... last published results: turn 6 (quite (John Harrington, November 2002) clever but simple tile collecting game Railway Rivals (Xanth)... RR - 1725 - XA... last Track Events published results: turn 10 Keith Loveys, 32 Barkston Gardens, Earls Court, Powerplay... only the game-start has been London, SW5 OEN. published for this, so technically not started yet (relatively easy to GM [compared to United] Ice I have absolutely no details on this zine. I think its Hockey Game subscribers are part of a secret society or something. Keith used to be a regular at games With regards to Gutter Press Alex may be conventions, smoking away like Battersea Power persuaded to see this through, but it's very Station in its pomp, but I ve not seen him of late but time-consuming and a 3-monthly (at best) evidently he is still publishing because people voted turnaround time may be enough to put players off... for his zine in the Zine Poll. (John Harrington, December 2002)

(John Harrington, January 2003) (The zine has folded so regard these as obituaries rather than reviews - Ed.) Underneath The Mango Tree One of the brightest of stars in the PBM firmament seems to have gone out. At its zenith Mango was a Alex Bardy, 31 Stephenson Close, Huntington, thoroughbred (games, both traditional and home- York, Y O32 9GG (Email: [email protected]) grown, banter, hobby news, all presented with typical Bardy flamboyance and verve). Recently Folding. though, Alex has found the zine to be a sulky mule (like Eeyore, only not quite so cheerful). Perhaps he http://mangozine.com should aim for something a bit more manageable,

25 Mission From God Issue 24 like a Shetland pony. Failing that, it's amazing what longest arms. In fact it's actually almost two zines in you can do with a broken jar and a burst balloon. one, because when Richard Smith folded his beloved SMEG, he just turned it into one of the best subzines (Howard Bishop, November 2002) around (The Universe Is A Pink Blancmange Much slowed recently, with marriage, house Called Simon). This means that you get the old moving, etc. Hopefully will steady soon, because (Railway Rivals), new (Sound Charades), borrowed this is one of the best general games zines around, (Boggle) and blue (Postal Cottaging). I defy you to with lots of interesting games, as well as well- not find something you like in there. written chat. New subzine from Simon Robertson (Howard Bishop, November 2002) shows great promise. Jim Reader's zine hosts a large number of subzines, (John Marsden, November 2002) and thu s a large variety of games. It is well Dynamic, thrusting young zine editor Alex Bardy produced, but has suffered from variable turnaround gets married, moves north, and his zine Mango recently, as Jim has a busy life. Quite a lot of disappears. Hopefully the absence will not be a long diagrams and pictures in the zine. one, as Mango was always an entertaining read, (Allan Stagg, December 2002) and carried a lot of good games. Where is My Mind? aka WIMM? (Allan Stagg, December 2002) David Oya, 24 Kingsway, Banbury, Oxon, OX16 Variable Pig 9NY. (E-mail: david.oya@ lineone.net) Jim Reader, Wethouder Gerssanlaan 27, 3454BA Issue 45, A5 booklet, hugely variable frequency, 24 De Meern, The Netherlands (e-mail: pages, £1 including postage [email protected]) Runs: Railway Rivals (7), By Popular Demand, Breaking http://fp.sholing.f9.co.uk Away (2), By Popular Opinion, Golden Strider, Issue 84, A5, bi-monthly, 36 - 40 pages, free but Turkey Chase, Matchplay stamp donations are welcomed Golf, Work Rest and Play, 6 Nimm t!, Kendo Nagasaki, Runs: By Popular Opinion, Awful Teadance Green Things from Outer Waiting Railway Rivals (M iddle Earth Space, Boggle, Warlock, Lists map), Eat Me!, Breaking Breaking Away, Bus Boss Away (2), Café International (2), Fair Means Or Foul, Hare and One of the slightly off-kilter zines w ith Tortoise, Mongolfiere (2), (unfortunately) a slightly uncertain future, because of Rail Baron, 6N immt, the effect of "stuff" on David's life. Still plenty to Maneater, S ternenhimm el, It's recommend it though, thanks to 2 cracking subzines A Raid, RoboRally (2), from Allan Stagg and Conrad "Railway Rivals" von Railway Rivals (9), Sound Metzke. Allan knocks out some excellent home- Charades, Scrabble, Turkey grown stuff. Hopefully David's life will come Chase, W orld Record, Bluff, together again and the search for his mind w ill 6Nimmt!, Cosmic Celebrity continue. Cricket, Preposterous Poetry Waiting Elfengold, Shanghai Trader, (Howard Bishop, November 2002) Lists: Snowball Fighting, Breaking Away, Fair Means or Foul, WIMM? is edited by David Oya, but most of the Hare and Tortoise, 6 Nimmt!, chat and games are contributed by its three subzines. Droodles These subzines include Con rad von Metzke's Calafia's Island, winner of the last two subzine I'm a bit of a newcomer to the sty of variability, but polls. Long-time readers of WIMM? may feel that I like what I see already ("The porkers loved you the tone of the zine has changed, as WIMM's editor, Reg". "Thanks Mr P"). There's bucket-loads of David Oya, has increasingly taken a back seat in banter and a range of games as long as some of the recent issues, confining himself to producing the zine

26 Mission From God Issue 24

and contributing his unique editorials. For some this Runs: Diplomacy (5), Modern detracts from WIMM's original idiosyncratic Diplomacy (Diplomacy flavour, although others may welcome the greater variant), N uclear Yuppie Evil variety the subzines offer, and the wide range of Empire Diplomacy games available to players. (I have to declare an (Diplomacy variant) plus interest here - I contribute one of the other subzines many more in the subzines to WIMM?). Waiting Diplomacy, Railway Rivals, Lists: Spy Diplomacy, Breaking (Allan Stagg, December 2002) Away, Office Politics, Colonia (Diplomacy variant), (The) White Cat Aberration Diplomacy (Diplomacy variant), Modern John Wilman, 26 Powrie Place, Hilltown, Dundee, Diplomacy (Diplomacy DD1 2PQ (E-mail: [email protected]) variant)

John Wilman's zine is sadly running down to a fold. The long-time flagship of the North American This is a pity, as John is an entertaining writer, and Diplomacy hobby (admittedly even when Man iac's the zine had some charm, but it is evident that Paradise was still around). Jim is deeply involved John's heart has not been in it, and the zine spends in all things dipdom, from f-t-f events, new and old most of its time on the backburner. zines, or (sadly) hobby news such as the numerous deaths in the hobby this year. There is no other zine (Allan Stagg, December 2002) with so much commentary on eclectic music, sports, movies, and anything else you can think of. Some hobby old timers can only be found here these days. And on top of that TAP has subzines (with games) by people like Michael Low rey, Dave Partridge, Pete SOME OVERSEAS ZINES Sullivan (sometimes). If you receive no other North American zine, Ab Prince is the one you must subscribe to. Oh, and Jim is a nice guy too.

This section used to feature quite a few overseas (Douglas Kent, December 2002) zines but if it has been difficult getting hold of details for U K zines, you can imagine how difficult I love this zine. It crackles with life. The letter it is getting hold of details for the overseas ones. column is full of opinions, banter and insults. Come So, all you get is details on just a handful, but they to think of it, so is The Press in most of the games; are all goodies. not since I was a hobby newcomer have I bothered reading Press as much of it reads like out-takes from a Terry Pratchett novel, but tucked away in the back (The) Abyssinian Prince aka TAP pages of The Abyssinian Prince you find some fairly high quality blackening of other people s Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI character. All good fun when it is not directed at 02908-4327, USA (e-mail: you, and probably still fun even if it is. [email protected]) The subject matter is fairly eclectic. Politics, north Issue 265, 8.5" x 11" corner stapled, 3 weekly, 50 American sport plus a smattering of association pages, $1.50 per issue to US & Canada, $3 per issue football, music and some movie review capsules that elsewhere - including postage are usually on the money. Mix in a fairly serious dose of Diplomacy hobby news, including Jim s http://devel.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/ doom ed attempt to lure back to the hobby everyone who ever participated in it, and you get an excellent read. It s not a bad place to play games either, being just about the swiftest Diplomacy zine around these days. Other games are also offered and are generally run by external GM s, including the likes of Rip Gooch, who was an influential figure in the

27 Mission From God Issue 24

British hobby in the eighties. Arlington, TX 76011, USA (e-mail: [email protected]) (John Harrington, December 2001) Issue 3, open page format (letter sized, corner stapled), 6 pages (but grow ing), monthly, 50 cents in the US, outside the US between 50 cents and a dollar (The) Canadian Diplomat elsewhere, free to players in Orphan games

Cal White (E-mail: [email protected]) http://dipworld.home.netcom.com

Issue 72, letter (free by e-mail) Runs: Diplomacy, Gunboat Waiting Diplomacy Runs: Diplomacy, Gunboat Lists: Diplomacy, Anarchy Waiting Diplomacy, Gunboat (I occasionally allow editors to provide a description Lists: Diplomacy, Anarchy, of their own zine if it is not well know or brand new. Stonehenge, Team Here s Doug s explanation of what his zine is all Diplomacy about - JH)

The original editor of this zine was one of far too Back in the day (circa 1988) I started this zine many hobby personalities who died in 2002 and Cal called Maniac's Paradise. I was a real genius - I White has picked up the reins to complete the figured I could trade it for all the Diplomacy zines I games. wanted to subscribe to, and save money in the process. Not the first time all the chlorine in my (John Harrington, November 2002) gene pool showed itself.

Damn the Consequences Over the years I expanded my Diplomacy em pire to include publishing a number of additional zines Brendan Whyte, Geography Dept, University of (including Diplomacy World), but MP remained Melbourne, V ic 3010 , Australia (E-mail: my flagship. It grew and grew, sometimes reaching [email protected]) over 50 letter sized pages, filled with Diplomacy, variants, other games, letters, subzines, cartoons, and Issue 107, A5 booklet, 6 weekly, 20 - 24 pages, who knows what else? A$1 (A$2.60 to Europe & US) Then in 1998 a series of personal and financial Runs: By Popular Demand, disasters knocked me out of the hobby just as I was Banbury Merton Street, about to claim the title of Grand Poobah of the Bonnie B rae (Banbury International Diplomacy Community. My toadies Merton Street variant), scattered for cover (the likes of Markie Nelson, Jim Britannia, Breaking Away, Burgess, Little Steve Agar, and Conrad von Metzke). Sopwith, Railway Rivals (4), The hobby was struck a catastrophic blow. All hope Bus Boss, RoboRally, seemed lost. Gunboat (Diplomacy variant) Waiting Diplomacy, Caribbean But fear not. Four years later, I have returned like Lists: Diplomacy 3, Maharajah the Phoenix. Maniac's Paradise Lost will grow and Diplomacy, Railway Rivals, grow until I have once again conquered the hobby. Golden Strider, Maharaja, Toadies are welcome, join my minions now before it Wooden Ships & Iron Men, gets crowded. Sopwith (Douglas Kent, December 2002) Comes from a land down under, where women roar and men chunder. off-the-shelf aka ots

Maniac s Paradise Lost Tom Howell, 365 Storm King Road, Port Angeles, Douglas Kent, 1404 East Lamar Blvd #106, WA 98363, USA (E-mail: off-the-

28 Mission From God Issue 24 [email protected]) Serendipity http://ww w.olym pus.net/personal/thowell/o-t-s John W ebley, Töpferreihe 4, 38259 Salzgitter, Germany (E-mail: [email protected]) Volume X, no. 7, booklet, 6 weekly, 24 pages, $1 ($1.50 to non-US subscribers) including postage See entry in British zines section.

Runs: Diplomacy (3), Golden Western Front Strider (2), Fog of War Diplomacy (2), Breaking Brad Martin, 180 Peninsula Rd, Maylands 6051, Away, By Popular Demand, Western Australia. (E-mail: Off The Map [email protected]) Waiting By Popular Demand, Golden Lists: Strider, H ardbop Downfall Issue 54, A4, corner stapled, black & white, 14 (Diplomacy variant) pages, 6 - 8 weeks, A$2.50 or free by e-mail

OTS is a tightly packed, fairly serious zine, of an Runs: Kingm aker, Railway Rivals ideal size for stuffing into your trouser pocket for (3), Diplomacy (4), Colonial the purposes of smuggling it unseen into the loo for Diplomacy a good read. Looking at the simple but effective Waiting Age of Renaissance, web site it looks to be averaging about 7 or 8 issues Lists Britannia, Bus Boss, Colonial a year. Diplom acy, Dark Continent, Gunboat (Diplomacy variant), (John Harrington, November 2002) Diplomacy, Fair Means or Foul, Princes of Florence, Tom Howell's booklet-size zine is always a fun Railway Rivals read. In addition to the games (Dip, variants, By Popular Demand, Golden Strider and Breaking An interesting mix of old and new style games. I Away) T om always put a lot of his personality into recall when this zine first started that I thought it was each issue. There's the "Off the M ap" feature where a bit ambitious but Brad has pulled it off with over Tom asks us to identify an anonymous piece of a 50 issues under his belt. The e-mail version of the map (could be a river, an island, anything). "In My zine is free but subscribing to the postal version is Neighbourhood" catches readers up on Tom 's life easy enough as Brad is the Australian rep of the and all the work he does on his property. And International Subscription Exchange (see elsewhere sometimes he'll throw in some real-world in the zine). commentary as well. Small but very worthwhile and enjoyable, and very dependable (Tom is also a very (John Harrington, November 2002) good GM ). Zine Register (Douglas Kent, December 2002) Phil Reynolds, 2896 Oak St., Sarasota, FL 34237- PBM 02 7344 USA ([email protected])

Lukas Kautzsch, An der Roßweid 18a, 76229 Issue 29, letter, 11 pages, more frequent than Karlsruhe, Germany Mission From God, $2 ($3 overseas)

A5 booklet, yearly, DM.6.00 (including postage), The US version of Mission From God concentrates DM7 (overseas), 104 pages exclusively on North American zines that feature Diplomacy - the only exception to this rule being www.oberfoul.de Mission From God. This means that fewer zines are covered but you do get deeper coverage of each The German version of Mission From God only zine, with more reviewers chipping in with their much better laid out. thoughts.

(John Harrington, November 2002) The zine is very well laid out, using graphics of the

29 Mission From God Issue 24 mastheads of the featured zines, and also features a Harrington. Samples are available free with couple of where we came from, where we re going the Novice Package or on their own for 4 first to type articles. class stamps. International Subscription Exchange (John Harrington, 28 October 2001) Hey, that s me again, John Harrington, I run this. The aim of the service is to make it easier to subscribe to zines on t'other side of the HOBBY INFORMATION Atlantic.

If, say, you are a North American, you send a This is a very brief selection of some of the check to: hobby institutions. UK Diplomacy Zine Archive Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908, USA (e-mail: [email protected]) Stephen Agar of 47 Preston Drove, Brighton, BN1 6LA (e-m ail: and tell him which UK zine or zines you'd like [email protected]) either has a very to subscribe to. He calculates how much this understanding wife or a big house or is in pounds sterling and contacts his UK probably both. Somewhere in his house is a counterpart to tell him to transfer the requisite room piled high with zines, some published amount of money to the relevant zine editor. as long ago as the sixties. Some of these find their way on to Steve's scanner thence into If you are a British subscriber, the thing works his zine Armistice Day. in reverse - i.e. you send a cheque to:

Swedish Postal Zine Archive John Harrington, 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 3UW Not sure why, but Sweden seems to be a hotbed of Diplom atic activity, relatively In 2001 the International Subscription speaking. Leif Bergman has apparently some Exchange expanded its global reach by adding 700 zines in his archive, mainly Swedish, and Dutch and Australian representatives. Doing is looking to foster more communication the biz from Holland is Ronald Camstra between the Swedish postal hobby and the ([email protected]) whilst the Aussie rep is rest of the world. If you'd like to help, contact Brendan Whyte ([email protected]). Leif at the address below: Some hobby web sites Leif Bergman Diplomacy sites Majeldsvägen 8, 174 50 Sunbyberg, Sweden [email protected] www.diplomacy-archive.com/ [email protected] The archive for all things Diplomacy Railway Rivals in Adobe Acrobat format www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/dip2000/ If you are running Railway Rivals and are Diplomacy 2000, a very popular portal for online interested in sending maps in Adobe Acrobat Diplomacy game-starts (PDF) format, contact Paul Mazumdar www.diplom.org/ - Starter Pack & The Zine Bank Official Home Page of the Worldwide Diplomacy Hobby The Postal Gaming Starter Pack is a booklet written to introduce novices to some of the www.diplomacyworld.org concepts of playing games by post. Send 4 Diplomacy World, the Diplomacy articles zine first class stamps to John Harrington, 1 Churchbury Close, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 www.D iplomaticCorps.org 3UW and he'll send you a copy. Sample The Diplomatic Corps is a group formed to prom ote copies of a variety of zines are available from all forms of the board game Diplomacy the Zine Bank, which is also run by John Zines

30 Mission From God Issue 24 www.fbgames.co.uk/words/mfg/mfgtoc.htm Mind Sports Olympiad Mission From God online http://www.geocities.com/ramsdencon/ fp.sholing.f9.co.uk/ RamsdenCon web site for Variable Pig http://www.downbeat.demon.co.uk/baycon.html mangozine.com Baycon Underneath the Mango Tree, plus the excellent Waiting List update MISSION FROM GOD ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/iharris1/ Mission From God ordinarily costs £1 Borealis including postage to anywhere in Europe, £2 http://www.fwtwr.com to anywhere else (also including postage which probably means I am losing m oney). It Keith Thomasson s web sites costs 50p in the shops. Please make cheques payable to John Harrington if you want to www.gamezine.co.uk subscribe in advance to future issues. Gentle Art of Making Enemies With any luck, this issue will also be available www.btinternet.com/~mr.sprout/ on the Fiendish Board Games web page, Sprouts of Wrath which is: http://www.fbgames.co.uk/words/mfg/mfgtoc www.34dartdrive.freeserve.co.uk .htm, but if it isn't then you'll find a back issue Mark Stretch s web site, focussing on Acquire and on there instead (in the section on postal Settlers of Catan gaming). Games Conventions devel.diplom.org/manorcon/ ManorCon John Harrington, http://www.sfcp.co.uk/Events/Midcon/index.htm Fiendish Board Games, 05/01/03 MidCon www.msoworld.com/mindsports.htm l

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