by Jim Werbaneth
It's time for a new Line of Departure. I'll be honest, it's more than
time. So far, 2009 has been one of the busiest years of my life, with three jobs
usually humming along at any one time: Teaching political science and history at
La Roche College and
Community College of Allegheny County part
time, and then online teaching at
American Military University. On top of that there's some teaching advanced
placement history to high school students for La Roche on occasion, and the
usual game development and writing.
Then there was a change in July. I went from being a part time adjunct faculty
member at AMU to a full time position, with double the course load. At least I
am not about to complain about work, or lack thereof, anymore; besides being the
busiest year in many, it is also the most rewarding, in every sense of the word.
Plus, there was good news directed toward Line of Departure: The magazine
won the Charles S. Roberts Award as the best amateur wargaming magazine, for the
third year and a row. Thank you once more to the readers and others who voted
for it.
My plans are to get at least one more issue out the door by the end of the year.
That would make two issues in quick succession, but I think it is doable; I have
a number of good articles in strategic reserve, some of which have been there
awaiting a place on the publication schedule for four years or more. This seems
like a good time to go to the well. Plus, I have some newer games that are good
candidates for review, so it is quite possible to so combine the current and the
classic with a view toward timely scheduling.
As for this issue, I was planning for some time to do a theme issue in 2009, as
I had not published one since the Game Review Issue, in Issue 51 (Spring 2005).
It just feels like longer than four and a half years.
The theme this time around is Second World War: First Contact. I did publish a
World War II theme edition with Issue 27 (Summer 1998), but this is a little
different. The focus isn't just history's greatest conflict, but early
campaigns, and indeed preliminary conflicts, the Spanish Civil War and Japan's
invasion of China. The Solomons Campaign represents the start of the
Allied counteroffensive through the South Pacific, commencing at Guadalcanal,
and Kasserine Pass marked the first time that Americans met Germans on a World
War II battlefield. Finally, The Royal Navy ― an old favorite of mine and
a staple of Line of Departure from its earliest days ― covers both World
Wars, but pays special attention to the first two or three years of World War
II, with scenarios covering the Graf Spee, Bismarck, and Britain's
battles against the Italians in the Mediterranean.
I don't know if it will be another four and a half years before the next theme
magazine. We'll just have to see how things work out.