December 2001 Armchair General's Revue Our esteemed President

This is a special issue, as all of us in IAAPA are saying farewell to an individual who has shaped the evolution of our Association over the last 5 years...Ricky Fitzgerald a.k.a. ToddVomit.

Rick started out in government back in 1997 as the Minister of War / Games Coordinator (this was a critical function at that time - it was Rick who handled the assignment of all game numbers so before you could play a game, both players would have to send Rick an email requesting a game number - how far we have come). In February of 1998 he was promoted to the position of Vice President and following the stepping down of Vampire999, became President in June of 1998, a position he has held until today. His presidency has been challenged once in his term, and he successfully defended his position against a strong candidate in Tom (AxisSpec), who has now passed away.

He has overseen the Association through the standardization of GMless play, the major changes in moving to our own web site, a complete overhaul of the rankings system, creation of local chapters, and implementation of dues. His leadership and reliability have been an inspiration to all in government, and it has been my pleasure to have worked with him over the last 5 years. I am sure everyone in the Association shares my sentiments in wishing Rick all the best in his future endeavours, and hope you will still play games now and then in IAAPA when you have time.

Have a nice retirement (from IAAPA Administration duties),

Micwil (the perenially overwhelmed Prime Minister)

Comfy ChairFrom the President's Desk:

This issue goes out to all those who came before me, served, and moved on......your efforts are not forgotten, and have made my efforts worthwhile.......especially those of LordPez, LASteam, Vagrunt, and DesertFox69.....my mentors and heroes....

I only hope that I have served well enough to be one day remembered by those I tried to inspire..........especially JohnPin569, Micwil, haldorg and Spud..........all heroes travel the road to battle, never knowing if those they meet will be met again in battle or valhalla.......

5 years......has it been so long?.......I grow so numb and weary from the journey. I still remember when I was new to the internet.... I wondered what was out there in that vast cyber realm for me.....I was an A&A player from years gone by, and typed into the search box "axis and allies" not really expecting anything to come up.......and to my delight, a small club of players on AOL appeared, and I contacted them........27 of them to be exact.......and we talked, and wrote at length about the virtues and foolishness of each other's strategies.......and played the game we all loved........and life was again good.......we always got together on Wednesday Nights for a round of beers at the A&A Bar & Grill, talking trash, and flirting with the sensational LASteam......those were the happy days........

As time passed word of our loose band of players spread, and we gathered players until we reached nearly 100. Our tournaments were the talk of the net.......even chess players were seen to dismiss our ability as "true strategists"......the stage was set for an explosion of A&A Players to rally to the newfound home of A&A.......afterall most of us had lost contact with our usual bands of face to face opponents over the years.....and now the best in the world were gathering to play in our Tournaments.....who would be the Best?........how could we keep up with the overwhelming volume of players and games each day?......How would the non AOLers join and participate as easily as the AOLers?........it was a troubling time, and a joyous time.

At that time we had a very strained relationship with AOL, Vagrunt our then president was very heavy handed, and banged heads with AOL's on line gaming forum hosts often.....creating a hostile relationship, but one that provided a superb playing environment on AOL.......until the change.......fortunately around that time I was feeling so good about the club that I volunteered to help in any way that I could.......and was given the impossible job of Minister of War.....that drove me to bring things where they are today.......for better or worse.......with Vagrunt's almost insane feud with Capt Rick resulting in the formation of the AAMC, and it's subsequent defections.........tensions were high, Vagrunt retired, Vampire999 replaced him, and I found myself as Vice President and Minister of War.....I was overwhelmed, I simply couldn't keep up with the workload, and with the next round of elections found help in Desertfox69 as Minister of War, JohnPin569 as Minister of Law, and Micwil as minister of the internet............this was the turning point of IAAPA. We would no longer be the AOL A&A Club, but rather extend our presence in cyberspace and become a truely borderless community.......the IAAPA.

As you might imagine, things got very weird.........my database became the basis for our web based games routines.......micwil made our web site into a tool to serve the members, not simply a billboard to attract members.....and JohnPin569 forged a universal set of playing guidelines for all methods of play.......I became President during the transition.......everyone hated the transition, and me for backing it......but we pushed onward......and became able to sustain thousands of games at once, with hundreds of members.......we lost some of our sense of community, and grew a hundred fold.......but were able to accomodate all player's desires to play, have their games rated, and have opponents easily found.......

I suffered through all the constant criticism, when the rankings system didn't work right........or when someone got expelled for cheating, or lost an appeal.......to the point of considering stepping down several times.......but I kept thinking back to that first game I played and how thankfull I was that those first few volunteers had spent time organizing a club that made it all possible......and I perservered.....but my time as leader has ended......there are many out there with the same enthusiasm I once had, but feel that I am doing a good job...........I am tired......and don't have the zeal I once had......it's time for another to step up and take IAAPA to even greater times. I bid everyone good tidings ahead......and hope that those enthusiastic members, will step forward and take the lead role, continuing what all of us before have worked so hard to build, for everyone's enjoyment........and that the members will understand that great things don't just exist, that they are built of the dreams and sufferage of the few, for the benefit of the many.....

Now onto the reports of your hardworking volunteers who keep things going in their particular areas......


Senate Reports

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER - Michael (micwil) - webmaster@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Some events worthy of mentioning this month include...

The upcoming elections will be run differently than they have in the past. The Legislative Elections will be conducted and organized by the Minister of Members. I have however agreed to act as the organizer of the Presidential election whose campaign will begin on January 1st, with the election itself occurring on March 1st. I hope that (for ease of administration) the Legislative elections will be held concurrently.

I would also like to thank all our members who have renewed, and proven that my faith in IAAPA (and our philosophy) was not without merit. As of the time of this Revue, we have over 130 active members, with many renewals still en route. I would also like to thank the donations we received this year (above and beyond dues) from Shenfung (Philip), RoseandMike (Michael) and Raist (Eric) - they have been added to our Thank You Members page and I want to voice my appreciation to these members for going above and beyond the call of duty.

It appears that we are viable and our survival is not in jeopardy, and we should be able to achieve our goal of a two year 'buffer' in savings within another year. As always, I am always open to any comments from the membership on improving our sense of community.

Michael

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATION - Gil (Tusk) - who@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Business as usual for the IAAPA Communications Dept. All e~mails gone through without trouble.

For all those who are concerned; I (Tusk) am not running for the soon to be vacated presidency of the IAAPA. I would though like to thank Rick (ToddVomit) for the superhuman efforts he has made during his tenure as Commander in Chief. I am glad he will still remain in the club and I hope he will finally be able to enjoy the game. Perhaps after 5 years; I'll finally get to war vs him. ;)

Through forthcoming Revues; I am going to be adding "Tusk's Tips" to the IAAPA.

Here is the Tusk's first tip:

Have you or do you intend change your e~mail address?

Here is how you do it;

Go to the IAAPA Member Services.

Then click on update member profile. There, you will be able to type in your new e~mail address in e~mail field. Finally, click "update member." That's it.

Happy Holidays to all and to all, Good Dice (except vs me ;)

Tusk

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF INTERNET OPERATIONS - Michael (Micwil) - webmaster@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Not too much has been happening on the web site lately...we have undertaken tests to ensure that there will be no problems when we hit Game #10000, and all the scripts have passed with flying colors. In addition, the theatre of war field has been increased to 80 characters to accomodate non-standard OOL for the attacker and other special orders. The server space is steadily increasing, but not by any huge amount and as such the server cost will likely not increase significantly in 2002.

Michael

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF LAW - John (JohnPin569) - law@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

From the Law Office...

Scales of Justice Greetings Fellow Warriors,

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and that everyone will have a good time over the Holidays.

It is the time of year that we usually begin the selection process for next years annual convention. I thoroughly enjoy the face to face convention and haven't missed one yet. Although everyone had a great time this year, it was the lowest turnout that we ever had. I'm not sure why the turnout was so low, perhaps interest in them are waning, it was a bad time, or maybe too expensive. It takes a lot of time and effort to arrange and organize these yearly functions and it makes no sense to do so if attendance is going to be poor. With that in mind, I'm preparing a more detailed survey that will be mass mailed shortly. It will be rather straightforward and to the point and will not take very long to complete. I encourage all of you to participate in this survey so that we can continue to have this time honored tradition.

Let me take a minute to recognize the impending retirement of our president, Todd Vomit. TV has been with this club for quite some time and has devoted endless hours to ensure its success. There are no words that could do justice to thank him for his service and the club would not be where it is today without him. I wish him well and the very best in his gaming and personal endeavors.

Take care.

John

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF STATS AND LOGS - Eric (Raist) - logs@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net - stats@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

1) All logs are current as of 11/24/01. If you have sent in a log prior to that date, resubmit it, as I do not have it. The logs may be more current, but that date is what I am going to guarantee for now. I managed to catch up a little, so now the delay for approval is down to two weeks or less.

2) For those looking for strategy on other players, and not finding logs. Two points: a) If it says that there is supposed to be a game log, but isn't, you can e-mail me at logs@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net and I should be able to supply you with that log. b) If you are looking for bidding patterns of an opponent, look to point a, or if the game number is 8361 or higher, e-mail myself, and I will supply it.

3) Please include both game start and game finish notices in the logs.

4) I had several takers for the reviewing of the stats, and the problems were solved. If you ever need your stats checked, just drop me a line.

5) Just for everyone's interest, since last Revue there have been 184 gamestarts in IAAPA (9225 to date) - a very healthy level of play.

6) For ANY game where you need the stats changed i.e. entered the wrong winner, you want to declare the game a draw, etc., e-mail me at stats@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net, and I will change it for you.

7) Please go through your ranking and make sure everything is entered. For each game played there should be a game number, both players names, winner name, winning side, GM, Has log, and start/end date. Simply go to the ranking database and enter your name. Then make sure all the fields are entered (for all your completed games). If there are any game(s) which are not complete, email me and I will add in the information that is needed.

Eric AKA Raist
Minister of Stats & Logs

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF MEMBERS - David (Starchild) - cutthroat@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings fellow members,

At the present moment the legislature has been quiet with its only business that of approving a new Chancellor of Exchequer (someone to be neutral accountant, a complete description is here http://www.axisandallies.net/public/govt.html). I encourage all club members to email me at cutthroat@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net if they have any concerns, opinions, ideas or simply need someone to talk to about actions within the club. My door is always open and this is what your legislature is for.....YOU. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! I look forward to another year in IAAPA and service to its members.

Thank you

David a.k.a. Starchild, Minister of Members and Cutthroat Overseer

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF RECRUITING - Alan (Spud) - recruiting@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings from the Recruiting Office.

A busy time for the Recruiting Office (me), as our first of hopefully many annual membership renewals is in full swing. Those of you whose dues are up the end of December 2001 should have received many emails reminding you of this fact and explaining how to renew. For those of you who have responded, thank you. For those who haven't, get on it, eh? If you are not sure when your membership expires, feel free to drop me a line at recruiting@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net and I will set you straight.

On the enlistment front, we have had 59 potential recruits pass the hurdle since last count. Welcome our newest members...ElDiablo1, Thorim, doktorkec, SwordPlay, dawson, 00045, Elind, abraham, and wlc. Send a challenge their way guys, I am sure they are eager to learn.

A busy time for recruiting, gotta get back to work.

Spud Minister of Recruiting

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF TOURNAMENTS - Warren (Reddwarf) - tourneys@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings all,

First things first...thanks Rick for all you have done, enjoy your retirement.

I will not be sending any more games to adjudication for the rest of this year those players involved in games which are either due or in the vicinity thereof please take advantage of the reprieve and get your game completed.

Byron's Brigade (Tim) has joined the tournament team and will become a Tournament Master. To start with Tim will be running all aspects of the 2002 Masters Invitational and will have his own Masters Invite email address. Thankyou Tim, i'm sure that you will do well in this position.

Tim is not the first Tourney Master that I have appointed to run an IAAPA event, GroeFaz (Jochen) sucessfully took the reins of the IAAPA/DAAK interclub tourney, Rivals on the Rhine.

** MANY THANKS **

To all of the guys who were involved in the tourney Dept during 2001

Micwil (Michael), Internet uploads & a host of other miscellaneous deeds
Boromir (Pete), Indispensible Chancellor of Adjudication
Sephorin (Brian), Chief of the ITSL
Spud (Alan), ITSL adviser and commitee member
GroeFaZ (Jochen), Tourney Master
JohnPin (John), Law

Thank you to all of the adjudication Judges that I cannot name who tirelessly pored over maps and game summaries throughout 2001.

Merry christmas all,

rgds,
RedDwarf (MoT)

REPORT FROM THE MINISTER OF THE ITSL - Brian (Sephorin) - league@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings, fellow members!

I'm happy to report that sign-up for the second season of ITSL is going strong. I have two slots left in Division C, and if there's sufficient interest we'll be able to open a fourth division. So get those applications into me. Second season League play will begin on March 15th, 2002. Please note that if you are a returning team, you must reenlist by March 1st, 2002 to maintain your seniority. Returning teams that enlist after this date will not have their 2001 season performance taken into account but will instead be placed as a completely new team.

We are currently in the process of developing medals for the ITSL awards. You can check out the graphics by going to the Player Stats page and following the Medals Page link. Thanks to Richard for designing these!

I also want to send out a big thank you to all those folks who have donated their time and effort making the ITSL truly exceptional, and also to the players who have made the League possible. Happy Holidays!

~Sephorin, Minister of Team Play

REPORT FROM THE CHANCELLOR OF ADJUDICATION - Peter (Boromir) - adjudication@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings:

Pretty slow on the adjudication scene the last while. Almost everyone has managed to complete their games, or allow a player to advance uncontested. These are usually better options, as no hard feelings are generated, whether at me, or the other player, or my adjudicators.

Sometime soon we will be modifying the adjudication guidelines such that the "full turn" requirement is removed. Games will then be adjudicated on the most recent turn completed prior to adjudication deadline. We A&A players are all well used to examining and rating the position and progress of games at any turn through the normal course of play. Thus, it can be expected that the adjudicators will be able to assess games similarly, without bias partial turns.

Seasons Greetings to all

Pete (Boromir)
Chancellor of Adjudication

REPORT FROM THE CHANCELLOR OF MENTORSHIP - Eric (Raist) - mentors@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

The mentorship program is still going strong. Since last Revue, 4 new trial games have started (63 total), with 8 new recruits taking advantage of the game. Some new recruits have chosen to pass on the trial game and just jump into the fray.

For anyone wishing to join up as a mentor, or as an opponent, feel free to contact me at mentors@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net.

Eric AKA Raist
Mentorship Coordinator

REPORT FROM THE SQUIRE - Olyn (Sohoa) - squire@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

From the desk of
"THE SQUIRE"

Well a new year is upon us, along with those despised dues. I for one am glad that it is over. The new year brings us further from the events that we all had to suffer through. I do of course mean the WTC terror attack and all of the other evils man does to man. We at IAAPA, kind of do the same thing but at least we use a board in the land of make-believe.

I also need to thank all of the guys who make this club work. It has become a great place to play A&A. Having the opportunity to meet great people, who also happen to be great players is just wonderful. So to all of you great people ( and I know that you know, who you are) have a most glorious holiday season and may all of your gifts be as great as you deserve. I must also say to all of you who played a game against me, thanks for putting up with my lapses of memory.

Now we at "Havoc" also have some great new players ourselves.

The new Editor who goes by the name of Buzz along with his Buzzettes ; Omar and Phil, will be putting out the Dec. issue once again. Look for it at your favorite news stand. Remember it will just make you feel good reading "Havoc" .

The December issue with its super surprises will actually change forever the way you look at the game !!!! Do not miss this issue !!!!

I would also like to take a moment to say good-bye to all those we lost.
They will be missed.
This of course does not include TV. He cannot go anywhere for more than a week.

Sohoa
"THE SQUIRE"


Legislative Reports


REPORT FROM THE IAAPA TV ANCHORMAN - Peter (Boromir) - squire@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings all:

Disappointing start for me on this job. A couple of potential games were being monitored for IAAPA TV, but nothing came of either. If anyone has a game they would like to volunteer to be scrutinized for IAAPA TV, I would be happy to hear of it. Preferences would include tournament final type games, games between high rank/rated players, and the more obsequious "unusual game" displaying less common strategies and lines of play.

Happy Holidays

Boromir
IAAPA TV Anchorperson

REPORT FROM THE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER - Robert (Highcmmdr) - strategy@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings,

Work continues on the Germany section. I haven't received many comments on the Russian area which is already posted on the web site; please let me know what you think of it. Without feedback, I am operating in the dark.

Regards,

HighCmmdr
Strategy Development Officer

REPORT FROM THE CUTTHROAT OVERSEER - David (Starchild) - cutthroat@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Hello all members,

Well, we have 2 new CT games going on and both are going very well and everyone is having a GREAT time with it. CT7 is in the later rounds with CT8 just beginning. If any member wishes to give CT a try, then email me at cutthroat@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net It's a great time and enjoyable for all.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

David a.k.a. Starchild, Cutthroat Overseer

REPORT FROM THE HELP DESK COORDINATOR - John (Blackdog) - help@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings from the Help Desk.

First, I would like to apologize to those who have written for assistance, and did not receive it or who received it late. My computer has been having fits of late, and I have been out of communication several times and have also lost files. I may have to get the carrier pigeons back into shape if this continues.

The majority of requests this fall have been for locating the CD version of the game. Lately the requests have been from new members seeking assistance. If you were one who did not hear from me, please write again so that I can help you enjoy playing in the IAAPA.

John

Help Desk Coordinator

REPORT FROM THE NEW MEMBERS COUNSELLOR - Robert (AATorpedo) - newmembers@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Pending inquiry into status.

Robert

REPORT FROM THE DRAFT OFFICER - Jochen (Jochen) - draft@REMOVETHISaxisandallies.net

Greetings,

In the time since the last Armchair Revue I published the first issue of "News from IAAPA" in several newsgroups and message boards. There were some question concerning Axis & Allies that I was able to answer and I referred to IAAPA at these occasions. I also enlisted IAAPA at several search engines on the internet to make sure one finds the way to our homepage. The next issue of "News from IAAPA" will be published soon.

Another topic I am working on is a membership survey. If things pass the Senate you will receive a questionnaire soon. You will be able to express your opinion about various topics and we look forward to your comments.

I would like to remind you of the IAAPA promotion efforts at "The Warp". By clicking on the link at the bottom of the "WWW Link" section on our homepage you will make our banner visible for every person interested in A&A that seeks a club over "The Warp". So keep clicking there once or twice in a month, it only takes you some seconds! Thanks!

Jochen
D
raft Officer

Closing comments:

As of January 1, 2002 I will be a simple IAAPA member. I will play the game I love so much, play in tournaments, ITSL matches, and attend the annual conventions...........just as all IAAPA members should. I will trust in the abilities of those elected volunteers to keep the club I love so much going, and improving it as best they can. But most of all I will thank them, thank them all, for their efforts.............you are my heroes.......

I shall dust off my trusty board, download the logs of my winning games, and prepare to repair my suffering ranking by defeating as many great players as I can. I will see all of you on the battlefield, you will know me by the smoke on the horizon..........Panzers on the Move........Yes I still believe the Axis can win, if properly played......and shall improve my play each and every match until I regain the reputation I once had as the unpredictable Axis player.......no Allied capital shall be safe from attack......and the earth shall tremble when ToddVomit returns to the front lines......

Farewell from the President's desk, and I will see you again on the battlefield.

ToddVomit
President of IAAPA