~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Fine Games for Players & Collectors | | now located at: 2078 Madrona St., North Bend, OR 97459-2143 USA | ~~~~~~~~ 541-756-4711 866-690-7879 M.Dean@FineGames.com ~~~~ Update 1996 #9 6 June 1996 WELCOME again to another Fine Games electronic newsletter.These updates contain news and other info of interest to active board gamers and collectors. They also explain how you can download copies of the many Fine Games' online catalogs at your convenience. C O N T E N T S Fine Games NEWS .......... What's going on at Fine Games - FTP Site Updated 6/6 - Requesting Email Update NEW Games ................ Newly released games Pending Releases - The New World in Flames Story 35% Off Pre-Order Special INDUSTRY NEWS ............ GAMERS Go Direct Mail ONLY ! ONLINE CATALOG ACCESS .... Downloading Files via EMail Using a WWW Browser to Access FTP Q & A Your SUGGESTIONS ......... Suggestions Always Welcomed F I N E G A M E S N E W S MY ONLINE CATALOGS were updated today (Thurs., 6/6). These are now up to the minute. These incorporate several large, unique purchases. In particular, you'll find the prices of many later issues of S&T and most WWW issues to be very attractive. Plus, there is more to come shortly! YOUR SUBSCRIPTION to this newsletter assumes that I have your correct email address. If you change your address for any reason, please send me an update including your name and your new email address. This is especially important for those having fled GEnie's rate increase. USING EMAIL TO REQUEST CATALOGS is easy! You can use this to easily & painlessly monitor what's available on my FTP (or any other) site, and to actually download files. As with everything on the Internet, it will work well for many yet be problematic for others. It is very simple so try it to see if it works for you. See below for basic instructions & my FTP site for more complete instructions. N E W G A M E S Late spring is the calm before the summer flood in the game industry. Only a few items were released in May and the first week of June--hey, but what releases! Look for many more releases in the next 3 months. Cash Publsr Game Title & Edition Box Wght# Price Rels Date ------ ------------------------------ --- ---- ------- --------- AH HANNIBAL BC 3.0 $28.00 Nice game of the 2nd Punic War using the We the People system. Simpler system with many strategy elements, fast playing with excellent replay value. Initially reports are very positive. AH KAMPFGRUPPE PEIPER II FB 1.8 $28.00 2nd half of the kit providing historical scenarios & campaign rules during the Bulge. One of the biggest releases of '96. And about time for all those ASL'rs needing a fix. AH WE THE PEOPLE: EXPANSION CARD n 0.2 $3.50 SET Adds 16 new cards to WtP. '96 These ARE now avail but in limited supply. COFA COMMAND AT SEA SCENARIO n $3.50 GENERATOR Component for Rising Sun, now sold separately. CRI ASL: JATKOSOTA: FINLAND'S n $8.40 CONTINUATN WAR Kit providing 8 scenarios depiciting the nature of combat at various regions & times of Finland's experience in WW2. Adds a few new vehicle types. '96 MAYFR LINIE 1 BC 2.8 $42.00 Simpler multiplayer gm where players build track connecting trolly stations, then race their trollies around their track. Similar to Dampfoss. German import produced by Mayfair. '96 MEDALL ECHELONS OF FURY: PACIFIC SB $6.65 CAMP DECK A colorful card game focused on weaponry and small unit combat in the WW2 era, ala Up Front. Sister game to Echelons of Fire. '95 ONE EDSON'S RIDGE GUADALCANAL '42 n $4.90 #10 Tac lvl gm of early, overly enthusiastic Japanese attack on Marines defending Henderson Field, Spt'42. '96 XENO WORLD AT WAR 1939-45: PIECES SB $21.00 ONLY SET 2 Pieces for World @ War variant in new colors, XTRCMD MUKDEN CAMPAIGN / MOSCOW n $24.50 OPTION #37 Dbl game issue: Mukden covers the decisive btl of Russo-Japanese War (on land) at div level w/ emphasis on Russian logistics. Moscow Option: Guderian's Gambit is a what-if that assumes Germans had focused on Moscow rather than divert to other objectives in Aug'41. Div lvl w/ untried units & fairly simple. R.Bell / T.Bomba'96 XTRCMD SS PANZER: BLOOD BATH AT n $17.50 KURSK #36 Simpler, Co/btln lvl gm of 2nd SS Pnzr Corp's climatic battle at Prokhorovka with 5th Gds Tank Army. J.Desch'96 P E N D I N G R E L E A S E S Many of these titles have been delayed repeatedly. Many could show up without further ado or be delayed for months. Such is the quixotic nature of this industry right now. Cash Publsr Game Title & Edition Box Wght# Price Rels Date ------ ------------------------------ --- ---- ------- --------- GMT SAMURAI BC $31.50 due 5/96 5th in Grt Btls of History series. Covers samurai era & the btls of Sendoku Jidai. GMT SPQR PLAYERS' GUIDE n $10.50 due 5/96 Tactics & strategy of play. MIH TANK COMMANDER, E.FRONT BOX SB $84.00 due 5/96 OF 12 DECKS Collectable carg gm of armored warfare in the East at sqd & vehicle lvl. PACRIM ROAD TO BERLIN FB $52.50 due 5/96 Monster game of the final Soviet drive on Germany at div/corp lvl. This may now be published by Spearhead. J Youst'95 SIMTAC ALEXANDRIA 1801: END OF HC $45.50 due 5/96 EGYPTN DREAM KIT Gorgeous tac lvl Spanish game w/ English rules. French under d'Aragon defeat Spanish attempting to relieve Saguntum, Oct 1811. Uses La Bataille system. '93 SPS GETTYSBURG: THREE DAYS IN JULY LB $28.00 due 5/96 Battle of Gettysburg using limited intel via stand up plastic pieces & casualty chart. '96 ADG WORLD IN FLAMES 6TH BC $42.00 due 6/96 THE finest detailed strat WW2 game. 2 scenarios, 2 1-map & 5 2-map campaign games. Mates w/ Days of Decision to add pre-war politicing & builds. 1986 .Roberts award; 1986 Game of Year & Game of Decade by F&M mag. '91 ADG WORLD IN FLAMES 6TH DELUXE BC $77.00 due 6/96 Latest & greatest, w/ new streamlined & 3-holded rules, plus 4 kits. THE finest detailed strat WW2 game. 2 scenarios, 2 1-map & 5 2-map campaign games. Mates w/ Days of Decision to add pre-war politicing & builds. 1986 .Roberts award; 1986 Game of Year & Game of Decade by F&M mag. '91 ADG WORLD IN FLAMES 6TH UPGRADE n $35.00 due 6/96 KIT Includes rules, maps & counters for WiF, plus rules to 4 add-on kits. CHAOS MYTHOS: LEGENDS OF n $79.65 due 6/96 NECROMANCER BSTRS CCG based on HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos & Chaosium's series. This game is proving to be very popular. COFA ARMY OF THE HEARTLAND BC $33.60 due 6/96 Detailed gm of the ACW in the West. Companion gm to Campaign of RE Lee. COFA CAMP OF RE LEE: GRANT TAKES n $4.90 due 6/96 CMMND #23 Add-on kit to Camp RE Lee or Army of Heartland. '96 COFA HARPOON BOXED SET, 4TH BC $35.00 due 6/96 Latest version of this popular modern era air-sea tac combat system. '96 COFA HOME BEFORE THE LEAVES FALL BC $63.00 due 6/96 Strat lvl gm of the first year of WW1. '96 DECGMS FORGOTTEN WAR, BATTLES OF... BC $28.00 due 6/96 3 btls from Korean War: Naktung, Chosin, Chipyng-ri. Company lvl. DECGMS KRIEG! HC $27.30 due 6/96 Strategic WW2 gm at army/corp level w/ cards. '96 GMT SPQR: ART OF WARFARE IN ROMAN BC $35.00 due 6/96 REP, 3RD Best Pre-20th Cent. Game in '92. 5gm tac gm using Great Btls Alex system. Cannae 216BC, Zama 202BC, Cynoscephalae 197BC (Rome v Greek Phalanx), Beneventum 275BC, Begradas Plains 255BC. Emp leaders, unit purpose, morale. M Herman/R Berg'92 HOB ASL: GOD SAVE THE KING KIT, n $14.00 due 6/96 4TH AddOn kit providing a mini-ASL campaign. '96 MAYFR DIE SIEDLER LB $24.50 due 6/96 No info. MAYFR STREET CARS BC $21.00 due 6/96 Tile gm of trolly car racing thru New Orleans using elements from 18xx series and Dampfoss. SIMTAC SAGUNTO: LA BATTALLA POR BC $69.30 due 6/96 VALENCIA, 2ND Reprint of gorgeous tac lvl Spanish game w/ English rules. French under d'Aragon defeat Spanish attempting to relieve Saguntum, Oct 1811. Uses La Bataille system. '93 AVALAN DEUX MARE [FORMERLY SMS HC $26.60 due 7/96 GOEBEN] Commerce raiding in the Med & Black Sea early in WW1. 40 scenarios. '96 COLUMG DIXIE: GETTYSBURG CARD GAME SB 0.3 $7.00 due 7/96 "Tradable, collectable" card game of the Am Civil War, this edition the btl of Gettysburg. Battles played w/ colorful & historically accurate cards in 30-60 minutes. Each deck contains 60 of the 200 possible cards representing all units present. '95 COLUMG DIXIE: GETTYSBURG CARD GAME SB $42.00 due 7/96 COMPLETE SET Complete set of all 300 cards. "Tradable, collectable" card game of the Am Civil War, this edition the btl of Gettysburg. Battles played w/ colorful & historically accurate cards in 30-60 minutes. Each deck contains 60 of the 200 possible cards representing all units present. '95 COLUMG SAM GRANT BC $35.00 due 7/96 Brother game to Bobby Lee, uses Columbia's block system and a beautiful map to cover the Western campaigns along the Mississippi, 1962-4. Simpler game, fun. DECS_T FIRST BLOOD: GUADALCANAL n $11.90 due 7/96 CAMPGN,2ND #178 Sml gm of the land campaign for Guadalcanal, Spt'42-Jan'43 in Weekly turns. S.Llewellyn'96 GMT THREE DAYS OF GETTYSBURG n $4.90 due 7/96 ERRATA KIT Kit w/ counters & extensive errata correcting the rushed development of 3Days. '96 MIH FIELDS OF GLORY BC $30.80 due 7/96 2nd in Gread Btls of History series. Covers Oudenarde (July 1708) and Malplaquet (Spt 1709) at btln/rgt lvl. R.Berg'96 XTRCMD GREAT WAR IN THE NEAR EAST #38 n $17.50 due 7/96 Well received corp level gm of all of WW1 in Europe. AH AIR BARON BC $21.00 due 7/96 ? Modest complexity family-style gm of building a sml airline by securing access to airports, buying better planes, building hubs, etc. '96 _SFTWR OVER THE REICH CD-ROM DOS/MAC HC $49.00 due 7/96 ? 3D strategy gm of managing a front line fighter squadron during the last half of WW2. Allocate planes, pilots, weapons, & fuel. '96 _SFTWR WOODEN SHIPS & IRON MEN HC $49.00 due 7/96 ? CD-ROM DOS CD-ROM only. 1, 2 & PBEM adaptations of the wondeful boardgame. Historical ship-ship & fleet battles, campaigns, & design your owns. '96 AH RENAISSANCE CIVILIZATION BC $35.00 due 8/96 Civilization system applied to the Renaissance era. COFA COMMAND AT SEA: NO SAILOR BUT n $17.50 due 8/96 A FOOL KIT Adds rules for shore engagements & commando raids to the Command at Sea system. '96 GRD DESERT, WAR IN THE... FB $57.40 due 8/96 Revised & updated Europa system game encompassing earlier Desert War & Torch games & Near East kit. '96 Delayed, & delayed again. KEN MONTY PYTHON & HOLY GRAIL SB $2.45 due 8/96 CARD GAME BSTR KEN MONTY PYTHON & HOLY GRAIL SB $7.70 due 8/96 CARD GAME DECK AH STONEWALL'S LAST BATTLE BC $24.50 due 9/96 Rgt/div lvl gm of btl of Chancellorsville. 5th in ACW series. 4 scenarios plus Brandy Station. '96 DECGMS BRITISH EMPIRE HC $24.50 due 9/96 Britain defends its empire in 3 gms: Zulu War, River War, and March to Peking. DECGMS DESERT FOX DELUXE HC $24.50 due 9/96 Reprint of Acclaimed Btln lvl gm of N Africa, '41-43. Integrated w/ Trail of Fox. R Berg, '81,'95 _SFTWR BLACKBEARD [PC] HC $42.00 due 9/96 PC version of the solitaire game of the same name. Priacy around the world. CHAOS MYTHOS: INVESTIGATER BSTRS n $79.65 due ?/96 CCG based on HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos & Chaosium's series. WINSOM TRACKS TO TITICACA Tb $35.00 due ?/96 Rails into the high Andes mountains between 1870 & 1930. Includes bribary, technology & engineers. WINSOM US RAILS ? $10.50 due ?/96 Railroading during the era of the automobile & interstate hiway. EXCAL KING ARTHUR & THE KNIGHTS OF BC $26.25 due 12/96 ROUND TABLE Strat lvl gm of the mythological period of England. J.Musgrave'96 EXCAL MERLIN: MAGIC & POWER IN BC $24.15 due 12/96 ARTHURN ENGLAND Strat lvl gm of the mythological period of England. J.Musgrave'96 EXCAL RICHARD THE LIONHEARTED BC $26.25 due 12/96 Tac lvl combat between the Crusaders & Sarecens. A.Pally'96 XTRCMD CHATTANOOGA n $24.50 due 12/96 PACRCA TO STALINGRAD & BEYOND #5 n $11.20 due 12/99 ! "In preparation..." Right. The World in Flames 6th Pre-Order special is now good thru the end of June. This offer allows you 35% off the list on ANY of the various product configurations you'd like. Current anticipated release date is just after the Origin's convention on the 4th of July weekend. I N D U S T R Y N E W S The Gamers announced that they are shifting to exclusive direct, mail order only. They will no longer distribute their games thru the traditional hobby network. Thus, I regret to say that Fine Games will no longer be able to offer some of the best games on the market after current distributor stock is exhausted. Get it here while you can. Their motivations are easy to understand. They make MORE money selling FEWER games direct. And they've had cash flow problems (too). At least in the short term, this is to their advantage. I'm confident that they will service the experienced gamers among you quite well. D O W N L O A D I N G F I L E S B Y E M A I L A little-known facility of the internet allows you to send a simple script of commands via email, and receive a response--including files-- back by email. This may be useful to you so that you can monitor what's available on my FTP site, or to download one or more of my catalog files. You MUST address your email request to special server addresses. I suggest either of the following: ftpmail@census.gov ftpmail@webster.dartmouth.edu In the body of the email, you enter a sequence of valid commands for the system being accessed (Unix in the case of my FTP site). In general, you OPEN the site desired, CHANGE DIRECTORY to the desired location, then execute whatever file operations are desired. Finally, you QUIT the operation. So, to retreive my _readme.txt file that details the current content of my catalog file, enter the following script: open ftp.FineGames.com chdir pub/vendors/finegms get _readme.txt dir quit The DIR command will provide a directory listing (in lovely Unix format) of the files in my main directory. LS will provide an abreviated listing. Remember that ZIPped files are binary and will arrive as one (or more) uuencoded emails which must be decoded (and possibly combined). Whether this causes you problems depends on your mailer program and your experience with the utilities necessary to process encoded files. Remember also that, while the straight TXT format catalogs are also available, these make for HUGE emails that may take a while to upload into your email reader. F T P S I T E I N F O An ever wider variety of catalogs is available to you online at my FTP site. Look for the "_readme.txt" file at the following address: ftp.FineGames.com/pub/vendors/finegms/ You may use a WWW browser to view TXT files and download any file using the LOAD TO DISK option. Just enter the URL: ftp://ftp.FineGames.com/pub/vendors/finegms/ In particular, you may wish to download the "all_cats.zip" file (450k) which contains a copy of ALL unique catalogs. F T P Q U E S T I O N S & A N S W E R S I'm happy to attempt to solve FTP-related problems. But keep these points in mind especially when using any text-based FTP tools: * If your FTP program looses its connection prematurely, try setting your program's time-out threshold to at least 60 seconds. Or try contacting the site at times OTHER THAN evening hours PST. * My FTP site, like most, is CASE SENSITIVE. Use lower case letters unless a directory listing shows the use of upper case letters. * Most FTP sites use a FORWARD slash ("/") rather than the backslash ("\") that DOS users are familiar with in path statements. * Signon via Anonymous FTP. That is, signon with an account name of "anonymous" and a password which is your actual, complete email address. * Use a BINARY TRANSFER mode when copying ZIPped files of any sort. You can use BINARY or ASCII transfers with TXT (text) files. * You must use the current version of PKZIP to UNZIP compressed files. The current version is 2.04g. Earlier versions probably won't work. Y O U R S U G G E S T I O N S YOUR SUGGESTIONS that help me improve the service I provide to you via this Update or in any other way are greatly appreciated. Michael Dean Fine Games for Players & Collectors