The Lost Campaigns of 1941: A Review of
Forgotten Legions
by Jim Werbaneth
Your Men are Obsolete: The
Potential Futures of Aging Miniatures
by Jason Guard
First Battle of
the Third Crusade: Latins Versus Saladin in Decision Games’ Acre
by
Jim Werbaneth
Red Storm at Kharkov: Strategy in Moments in History’s
Ring of Fire
by Jim Werbaneth
The Energy Crisis Goes Hot: Looking
Back at Oil War
by Jim Werbaneth
The Closed-Ended Simulation:
Why Tobruk Could Not Go Far Beyond Gazala
by Jim Werbaneth
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by Jim Werbaneth
Yes, at long last, I’m back and so is Line of Departure. It has been a
while, again. Last year was one of major changes. There was opportunity, in a
series of educational con-sulting jobs that lasted for most of 2018. This was
kind of what Bill Clinton used to call a high-class problem; I lacked the time
to work on Line of Departure or design games, both of which I resolved to do,
because I was too busy making more money on a consistent, monthly basis than I
could in several years of wargame-related work. Much as I might regret not
publishing until now, this is the kind of opportunity that amounts to an
intelligence test; if you don’t take ad-vantage of it, you fail.
There
were times too in which it was tough, healthwise. Most of my old problems are
under control, but when my migraines hit, they were crippling. They still are.
The good news is that my neurologist confirms that the medication is working,
they’ve gone from chronic to episodic, down to a handful a month. The bad news
is that when they happen, they’re as bad or worse than ever, truly debilitating.
As it stands now, 2019 looks as though I’ll have a lot more time for gaming,
designing, and above all Line of Departure. One of the biggest reasons
is that as of now, I’m working entirely from home, with no commute to anywhere.
All of my teaching is online, no brick and mortar work, and I probably won’t be
doing any for some time. I’m still at American Public University System, that’s
my full-time job, the one that provides my medical coverage and pays for the
roof over my head, the food in my fridge and the car in the garage. I’m also now
an adjunct instructor of political science at Ashford University, finishing my
new faculty train-ing. I’m at a happy stage in my career too that if I need more
work to make good on any financial shortfalls, I could probably get it. There is
teaching, and the consulting work as a Subject Matter Expert [SME] looks as
though it will be com-ing back this year, albeit most probably without the heavy
time demands of last year. This is a point in which a door might close, but
another probably will open.
This reflects one of the biggest changes for
the magazine, and its erstwhile publisher, since its beginnings in 1991. Back
then I had the occasional part time job and casual gig, but nothing like a
career. Line of Departure was born out of those doldrums. In fits and
starts, things improved, sometimes impeded by health issues, and occasionally
helped by some good timing. All of teaching jobs over the last eleven years have
resulted from being in the right place at the right time as much as anything
else. The lesson from that is that is that fortune does help. Sometimes though
I’ve taken chances that didn’t quite work out; trying to sell insurance, in the
midst of a recession at that, probably had no chance of leading to success.
Still, it was worth a try, and I still maintain my license, and a body of
knowledge that definitely helps with teaching about healthcare policy. So I got
something out of it, though it wasn’t a sufficient pile of cash.
What I
needed now wasn’t necessarily a career boost, as I’m going along at a nice
cruising speed, though not exactly on afterburner. What I found I really needed
was a lot more time. Time is a more rare commodity at this stage of life than a
steady paycheck and even opportunity. It’s not simply that time is money, but
time or the lack of it is at the root of everything else.
Hopefully now,
there will be more time. That includes time to take a nap, time to relax, time
to go to the gym more often. And yes, time for wargaming, and Line of
Departure.
This issue features games from “seldom scene” publishers,
ones whose work has appeared rarely if at all over the years. The lead review is
of Forgotten Legions, the first time that a Compass Games product has
been covered in these pages. With the growing number of the company’s products
in my library, this is way overdue. Games from Moments in History used to be
staples here, but not in some years. They return this issue with an analysis of
Ring of Fire, originally reviewed here when it came out. Decision Games
products have been missing for a while too, though not nearly as long, and
return with an article on the folio game Acre. This is significant for
another reason, as medie-val topics are relative rarities in the magazine. But
the “usual suspects” aren’t forgotten, Issue 82 also looks at the old SPI game
Oil War, and the venerable Avalon Hill groundbreaker, Tobruk.
Now let’s see what I can do to advance the publication of Issue 83.
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