Notes from Hades

couple of weeks ago, I got the opportunity to go to Lyon, France for a forum with UN/CEFACT. UN/CEFACT is the United Nations Center for Trace Facilitation and Electronic Business. At work, I've been heavily involved over the last few months in trying to put together an XML standard for project management and earned value data transfer, and UN/CEFACT is the organization we as a team decided to use to get our standard adopted. So, I spent a week in Lyon, and since my wedding anniversary took place during the week, I brought Celeste with me. Fortunately, my parents were kind enough to come down and watch the boys while we were away. In any event, Lyon was a wonderful city, and I only wish we could have had more time there. The food was incredible, and we brought back a couple bottles of French wine. The conference went very well and our standard is moving through the process – it should take about a year for it to be adopted.

I received a communication from a Carol Mulholland recently. Carol was soliciting article submissions for a zine called Flagship. I took a look at their website, and it looks like a pretty slick zine. They want articles about happenings in the zine world as well as favorite zine games. They want either 1250 word articles (one page) or 2500 word articles (two pages), and if your article is accepted, you get a free issue. Contact Carol at carol@flagshipmagazine.com if interested.

Dogged, the Silverton game, ends this turn. Congratulations to Dave Partridge on his victory. With the conclusion of that game, we now have room for another. Since Outlaw Dogs and Jackal are not yet full, that means Sled Dog gets the nod.

The next deadline is Tuesday, November 22 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Please do not call or fax orders after 10:00 p.m. Pacific time. My wife and I tend to retire early. Also, if you want to fax in orders, call first. We hang up on unannounced faxes.

Game Openings

Doberman. Industrial Waste. This game will start after Junk Yard Dog ends. Have Eric Brosius, Dave Partridge, Richard Weiss, and Michael Longdin. This game is closed, but Dave and Eric are willing to defer to anyone who is not in Junk Yard Dog.

Outlaw Dogs. Gunslinger. A game of shootouts in the old West. The exact scenario to be determined. Have Chris Geggus, Paul Bolduc, Dave Partridge, Andy Lewis, and Mike Scott, need up to 2 more.

Jackal. New World. A game of colonization in the Americas. Have Dave Partridge, Andy Lewis, Bob Robles, Andy York, and Brendan Whyte, will take up to 1 more.

Sled Dog. Kremlin. Have Chris Geggus, Bill Scharf, Dennis Cain, Bob Robles, Mike Scott, and Michael Longdin. Starts next issue!

Sirius. Merchant of Venus. We will use the Fast Setup, Lost ? Box, Own Species Bonus, Customized Spaceships, and the Agents, Bases, and Second Ships optional rules. Victory will be $4000. Have Chris Geggus, Dave Partridge, Andy Lewis, Dennis Cain, and Bob Robles, will take up to 1 more.

Wish List

Dune. We will use the optional Lansraad, Ixians, and Bene Tleilaxu powers. Have Kevin Wilson and Bob Robles, will take up to 4 more (5 if one player plays the Bene Tleilaxu).

Silverton. We will play the advanced game with the Hiring and Advancement optional rule. Have Dave Partridge, Bill Scharf, and Andy Lewis, will take up to 3 more.

Outpost. Dave Partridge, Bill Scharf, Kevin Wilson, Andy Lewis, Michael Lowrey, Andy York, and Eric Brosius, will take up to 3 more.

History of the World. Have Andy Lewis and Kevin Wilson, will take up to 5 more.

Seafarers of Catan. We will be playing the Oceans scenario. Have Mike Scott, need up to 5 more.

Machiavelli. Rules determined by player vote as usual. Have Kevin Wilson, Lee McConnell, Bob Robles, and Dale Horsley, will take up to 4 more.

Age of Renaissance. This game will start when Dog Chow finishes. Have Michael Longdin and Bob Robles, need up to 4 more.

Kremlin. This game will start when Sled Dog ends. Have Bob Robles, Brendan Whyte, and Pasquale Giovine, need up to 3 more.

In general, game ownership is recommended, but not required.

Note that a subscription to S.O.B. is not required to play in a game run by flier, but that a game fee will be charged to non-subbers.