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HMS NEWS .. 22 Jun 2009 GRD has long used a very old graphics package to layout the counters used in our games. After discussions with technical staff from the printer, we were not entirely certain that this software would still be accepted by the printers. This week the die-cutting firm confirmed that they were able to successfully read and print our graphics format for the Total War counters. They will be able to accept delivery of the complete graphic counter and box art images from HMS the week of June 29th. The firm estimates that they will finish printing the counters in four to six weeks. This should put the finished counters back here in Denver by August 20th. We will have the remaining printing done locally and ready to begin assembling the games for shipment when the counters arrive. We will give updates on the work as we receive information. The best estimate to begin shipping Total War is the week of August 24th. Shipments will be done daily and should be complete by the end of August. We will be using a new software package in future but were reluctant to change to new and unfamiliar software in the middle of the final work on Total War. Counter colors and format will remain consistent with Total War for future games. HMS NEWS .. 09 Apr 2009 A new counter layout plan has allowed us to more economically group the number of counters needed for Total War. It will allow us to include counters appearing in the bonus Soviet 1939-42 OB promised to those who preordered. This bonus OB will be available for purchase later this year for those who did not preorder the game. Given the printer's price brackets, we order the HMS die-cut counter sheets in minimum groups of eight. Total War will now require 13 sheets. This means that we should also be able to include the necessary additional sheets for both the updated A Winter War counters we had hoped for. A number of optional counters which are planned for inclusion in several future TEMs will also be added. More about the optional or "magazine" counters later. AWW counters and those for TEM will need to be submitted at the same time and bundled with the TW sheets and box art. All of the counter images should now be to the die-cutter by late May. The updated AWW OBs will take advantage of the work done on the earlier 1939-40 portion of Soviet bonus OBs. The Finnish OB will be updated as well. A Winter War should be reissued later this summer and will include the new maps of Finland done for Total War as well as the new rules and format included in that game. We will have more information about the AWW refit kit promised to the 1999 subscribers later. HMS NEWS .. 07 Mar 2009 We had hoped to be able to include additional counters in the same print run with those for Total War. The reprint of A Winter War (AWW) was the primary target for additional printing. The ink colors, particularly Soviet golden brown and Finnish blue, are shared by the two games. Printing them together saves money and helps to maintain color consistency which can vary between separate print runs. It now appears that we will be able to add these to the order for Total War in addition to some optional counters we will talk about in The Europa Magazine. We have collected a great deal of new information while doing research on the special bonus 1939-1942 Soviet OBs that will only be included with preorder copies of Total War. This new material has allowed us to completely revise and update A Winter War OBs to the Total War standard and correctly ties the Winter War Soviet forces into the Grand Europa Soviet OB for this period. A completely updated A Winter War will be rereleased later this year. And yes, the long promised AWW refit kit for 1999 subscribers will be sent to those subscribers. More on this after Total War is out the door. HMS NEWS .. 03 Mar 2009 The lease for the new location for HMS has been signed. The move and set up is not quite complete but it is almost there. We think the location will work well for what we need and give us storage, organization and work space at a great monthly rate. We will keep HMS/GRD at 540 S. Forest St. #G, Denver Colorado 80246 as our mailing address for the present. By agreement with the leasing agency, we will not have visitors at the new address. This is due in part to the very limited parking and their existing agreement with other leases in the complex. This move will allow us to begin ordering components from the printers shortly. More good news about that to follow. HMS NEWS .. 01 Feb 2009 Good news! We believe we will secure a new location for HMS on or before March 1st. The location is an odd one (older apartment building used for residential and offices) but has the room we need at the right price. Once the lease is signed and sealed and we know we can get in, we will order the counters and boxes for TW from the die-cutter. This normally takes 2-5 weeks unless someone gets in ahead of us. We would order the other printing locally and it is not anticipated to be a problem. Shipping of the counters by truck takes 3-5 days and after unloading and storage, we can begin to assemble the games for shipping. This will take take some time but games will begin to go out almost every day in lots assembled the previous day or two. We will give updates as steps are completed. HMS NEWS .. 22 Dec 2008 Our move to a new location has encountered a few problems that have delayed things here. The lease on our old place was to expire on the first of November and we had found a larger and less expensive place in a good location. We signed the lease, and were set to move in at the end of October. Both Jason and Arthur were slated to move into the same building, renting living space from HMS and thus further lowering the company's overhead. We then started the move at the end of October only to find that the tenants at the new place hadn't vacated yet. After several weeks of waiting while the landlord negotiated with the tenants and our company material were in temporary storage, we learned that the tenants had decided to evoke the Service Members Emergency Relief Act while the husband was deployed to Iraq. They were refusing to leave after they had given notice and under the Act, they are protected from any further action. Arthur and Jason are in temporary digs in Gar's basement but we have no room to store material that comes from the printer. The company computers and essential files are herein the same basement, allowing us to continue to process orders and to work on company projects. We have begun to seriously look at other properties in the Denver area and do not believe that it will difficult to find what we need. We will keep you up to date as progress is made. This does mean that the remaining pieces of Total War will not be ordered from the printer until we have space to store and assemble the games. Best guess is that we will move into a new location the first half of January.	HMS/GRD returns Europa to its roots and revisits the best selling Europa title Fire in the East. The new game covers the same time period as the older ones (summer of 1941 to the spring of 1942) but uses a completely new Soviet OB, a new map, and the latest rules for the Europa system. Buyer's who preorder Total War will also receive the Red Army from September, 1939 to March, 1942 in preparation for Grand Europa. Total War gives the Axis player the opportunity to see if he can improve on the massive offensive that pocketed and captured millions of Soviet soldiers. Can you take Moscow or Leningrad? Or are you condemned to suffer the Soviet winter short of victory? The Soviet player must build a strategic reserve large enough to stop the advancing Axis forces and throw them out of Russia. The Soviet player is aided by massive reinforcements that allow him to form new defensive lines in an attempt to slow down or stop the Axis armor thrusts. Published counters will be the same high quality counters players expect from HMS/GRD. Total War is a historical game on the German invasion of the Soviet Union, from summer 1941 to spring 1942. It charts the titanic struggle of the largest ground campaign in World War II, from the Axis offensives that brought the Germans to the gates of Moscow to the Soviet winter counteroffensive that hurled them back. Total War is a two-player game. One side controls the forces of Germany and its allies while the other controls the forces of the Soviet Union. The maps cover Eastern Europe and the western USSR from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, from the plains of Poland to the steppes along the Volga River. Ground units represent corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions. Air units represent groups of 40 to 80 aircraft. Naval units represent task forces of warships. Total War is a complete remake and updating of the classic Europa game, Fire in the East. The game"s Soviet order of battle makes extensive use of formerly secret Kremlin information on the Red Army forces that fought the war. The game includes a Soviet order of battle for all of the USSR from 1939 to 1942 and is the most comprehensive game OB ever published on the Red Army in peace and war. The Axis order of battle also is updated, reflecting new research since the publication of Fire in the East. The rules for Total War incorporate the latest rules for the Europa system, with on-demand air power, armor effects, combined arms, and much more, recreating both the German blitzkrieg that captured entire Soviet armies and the Soviet deep operations that nearly splintered the invaders in the depth of the Russian winter. The regular price once the game is available will be $195.
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HMS NEWS .. 22 Jun 2009

GRD has long used a very old graphics package to layout the counters used in our games. After discussions with technical staff from the printer, we were not entirely certain that this software would still be accepted by the printers. This week the die-cutting firm confirmed that they were able to successfully read and print our graphics format for the Total War counters. They will be able to accept delivery of the complete graphic counter and box art images from HMS the week of June 29th.

The firm estimates that they will finish printing the counters in four to six weeks. This should put the finished counters back here in Denver by August 20th. We will have the remaining printing done locally and ready to begin assembling the games for shipment when the counters arrive. We will give updates on the work as we receive information. The best estimate to begin shipping Total War is the week of August 24th. Shipments will be done daily and should be complete by the end of August.

We will be using a new software package in future but were reluctant to change to new and unfamiliar software in the middle of the final work on Total War. Counter colors and format will remain consistent with Total War for future games.

HMS NEWS .. 09 Apr 2009

A new counter layout plan has allowed us to more economically group the number of counters needed for Total War. It will allow us to include counters appearing in the bonus Soviet 1939-42 OB promised to those who preordered. This bonus OB will be available for purchase later this year for those who did not preorder the game.
Given the printer's price brackets, we order the HMS die-cut counter sheets in minimum groups of eight. Total War will now require 13 sheets. This means that we should also be able to include the necessary additional sheets for both the updated A Winter War counters we had hoped for. A number of optional counters which are planned for inclusion in several future TEMs will also be added. More about the optional or "magazine" counters later.

AWW counters and those for TEM will need to be submitted at the same time and bundled with the TW sheets and box art. All of the counter images should now be to the die-cutter by late May. The updated AWW OBs will take advantage of the work done on the earlier 1939-40 portion of Soviet bonus OBs. The Finnish OB will be updated as well.

A Winter War should be reissued later this summer and will include the new maps of Finland done for Total War as well as the new rules and format included in that game. We will have more information about the AWW refit kit promised to the 1999 subscribers later.

HMS NEWS .. 07 Mar 2009

We had hoped to be able to include additional counters in the same print run with those for Total War. The reprint of A Winter War (AWW) was the primary target for additional printing. The ink colors, particularly Soviet golden brown and Finnish blue, are shared by the two games. Printing them together saves money and helps to maintain color consistency which can vary between separate print runs. It now appears that we will be able to add these to the order for Total War in addition to some optional counters we will talk about in The Europa Magazine.

We have collected a great deal of new information while doing research on the special bonus 1939-1942 Soviet OBs that will only be included with preorder copies of Total War. This new material has allowed us to completely revise and update A Winter War OBs to the Total War standard and correctly ties the Winter War Soviet forces into the Grand Europa Soviet OB for this period. A completely updated A Winter War will be rereleased later this year. And yes, the long promised AWW refit kit for 1999 subscribers will be sent to those subscribers. More on this after Total War is out the door.

HMS NEWS .. 03 Mar 2009

The lease for the new location for HMS has been signed. The move and set up is not quite complete but it is almost there. We think the location will work well for what we need and give us storage, organization and work space at a great monthly rate. We will keep HMS/GRD at 540 S. Forest St. #G, Denver Colorado 80246 as our mailing address for the present. By agreement with the leasing agency, we will not have visitors at the new address. This is due in part to the very limited parking and their existing agreement with other leases in the complex. This move will allow us to begin ordering components from the printers shortly. More good news about that to follow.

HMS NEWS .. 01 Feb 2009

Good news! We believe we will secure a new location for HMS on or before March 1st. The location is an odd one (older apartment building used for residential and offices) but has the room we need at the right price. Once the lease is signed and sealed and we know we can get in, we will order the counters and boxes for TW from the die-cutter. This normally takes 2-5 weeks unless someone gets in ahead of us. We would order the other printing locally and it is not anticipated to be a problem. Shipping of the counters by truck takes 3-5 days and after unloading and storage, we can begin to assemble the games for shipping. This will take take some time but games will begin to go out almost every day in lots assembled the previous day or two. We will give updates as steps are completed.

HMS NEWS .. 22 Dec 2008

Our move to a new location has encountered a few problems that have delayed things here. The lease on our old place was to expire on the first of November and we had found a larger and less expensive place in a good location. We signed the lease, and were set to move in at the end of October. Both Jason and Arthur were slated to move into the same building, renting living space from HMS and thus further lowering the company's overhead.

We then started the move at the end of October only to find that the tenants at the new place hadn't vacated yet. After several weeks of waiting while the landlord negotiated with the tenants and our company material were in temporary storage, we learned that the tenants had decided to evoke the Service Members Emergency Relief Act while the husband was deployed to Iraq. They were refusing to leave after they had given notice and under the Act, they are protected from any further action.

Arthur and Jason are in temporary digs in Gar's basement but we have no room to store material that comes from the printer. The company computers and essential files are herein the same basement, allowing us to continue to process orders and to work on company projects. We have begun to seriously look at other properties in the Denver area and do not believe that it will difficult to find what we need. We will keep you up to date as progress is made. This does mean that the remaining pieces of Total War will not be ordered from the printer until we have space to store and assemble the games. Best guess is that we will move into a new location the first half of January.

HMS/GRD returns Europa to its roots and revisits the best selling Europa title Fire in the East. The new game covers the same time period as the older ones (summer of 1941 to the spring of 1942) but uses a completely new Soviet OB, a new map, and the latest rules for the Europa system.

Buyer's who preorder Total War will also receive the Red Army from September, 1939 to March, 1942 in preparation for Grand Europa.

Total War gives the Axis player the opportunity to see if he can improve on the massive offensive that pocketed and captured millions of Soviet soldiers. Can you take Moscow or Leningrad? Or are you condemned to suffer the Soviet winter short of victory?

The Soviet player must build a strategic reserve large enough to stop the advancing Axis forces and throw them out of Russia. The Soviet player is aided by massive reinforcements that allow him to form new defensive lines in an attempt to slow down or stop the Axis armor thrusts. Published counters will be the same high quality counters players expect from HMS/GRD.

Total War is a historical game on the German invasion of the Soviet Union, from summer 1941 to spring 1942. It charts the titanic struggle of the largest ground campaign in World War II, from the Axis offensives that brought the Germans to the gates of Moscow to the Soviet winter counteroffensive that hurled them back.

Total War is a two-player game. One side controls the forces of Germany and its allies while the other controls the forces of the Soviet Union. The maps cover Eastern Europe and the western USSR from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, from the plains of Poland to the steppes along the Volga River.

Ground units represent corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions. Air units represent groups of 40 to 80 aircraft. Naval units represent task forces of warships.

Total War is a complete remake and updating of the classic Europa game, Fire in the East.

The game"s Soviet order of battle makes extensive use of formerly secret Kremlin information on the Red Army forces that fought the war.

The game includes a Soviet order of battle for all of the USSR from 1939 to 1942 and is the most comprehensive game OB ever published on the Red Army in peace and war.

The Axis order of battle also is updated, reflecting new research since the publication of Fire in the East.

The rules for Total War incorporate the latest rules for the Europa system, with on-demand air power, armor effects, combined arms, and much more, recreating both the German blitzkrieg that captured entire Soviet armies and the Soviet deep operations that nearly splintered the invaders in the depth of the Russian winter.

The regular price once the game is available will be $195.

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