HMGS-East is very pleased to again welcome Armchair General Magazine (ACG) as a participant in HISTORICON. ACG, the interactive history magazine, is sponsoring five of the speakers for the Military Seminar Series: Col. David Glantz, John Hill, Frank Chadwick, Dana Lombardy, Bob Fulton, and Gerald Swick. These historians will present fourteen talks with fresh insights on topics from the Crimean War, Seven Years War, American Civil War, and World War II (see Events link at left for full details after May 15th). Copies of ACG will be distributed free to attendees of these seminars (supplies are limited!)

And of special interest for many WWII and modern war fans, ACG will also be hosting a panel, with many of its speakers, on The Largest Tank Battle in History? (Sun. 9 AM) – this one should not be missed!

Colonel David M. Glantz – Guest of Honor: Served for over 30 years in various field artillery, intelligence, teaching and research assignments in Europe and Vietnam; taught at the U.S. Military Academy, Combat Studies Institute, and the U.S. Army War College; founded and directed the U.S. Army's Foreign (Soviet) Military Studies Office, and established and currently edits The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. Has written or co-authored 60+ books and self-published studies and atlases, as well as hundreds of articles on Soviet military strategy, intelligence, and deception and the history of the Red (Soviet) Army, Soviet (Russian) military history and WWII. Colonel Glantz will be presenting four seminars at this year's convention, all under the general title of "Operation Blau: The German Advance on Stalingrad, 1942", as follows: Preliminaries to Operation Blau and Blau I and II, 1 Apr.-23 July (Thurs. 3 PM); Operations in the "Great Bend" of the Don River and Between the Don and Volga Rivers, 22 July-2 Sept. (Fri. 9 AM); The Struggle for Stalingrad's Suburbs and Center City, 3 Sept.-5 Oct. (Sat. 4 PM); will be part of a panel on The Largest Tank Battle in History? (Sun. 9 AM); The Struggle for Stalingrad's Factory District, 6 Oct. - 18 Nov. (Sun. 11 AM); see Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.

John Hill – Guest of Honor: In the field of tactical wargame designs, few designers have had as much innovative impact as John Hill. In the 1970s, John started his own company, The Conflict Game Company, to design and publish tactical and operational games that broke from traditional wargame mechanics such as Verdun, Overlord, Kasserine Pass, and Bar-Lev. John decided that he preferred to design wargames rather than run a business, so he sold the company to Game Designers’ Workshop and became a freelance wargame designer. From that point on, John’s designs for Avalon Hill, SPI, SDC and others, became noted benchmarks for their innovative approaches to simulating unique tactical situations. In 1977, John designed Squad Leader for Avalon Hill. Squad Leader broke the mold for how tactical combat was portrayed on the gaming board, and the impact of Squad Leader – which has had more “expansion kits” than any other wargame – is still felt today. Some of John’s awards included being the first freelance wargame designer inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame (1979), along with Charles Roberts and H.G. Wells awards for best tactical wargames (1977, 1983) and the readers of Campaign magazine selected Squad Leader in 1980 as the “Best Wargame of All Time.” To the historical miniature wargamer, John is best known for his Johnny Reb miniature rules for the American Civil War period. After 25 years, Johnny Reb – now into its third edition – remain as popular as ever. In the 1980s, John’s flair for innovative tactical simulation brought him to the attention of the Government’s Defense and Intelligence Communities, and for the next 16 years he worked for the government as a senior military analyst. Following a final four year tour at Los Alamos National Laboratory, John retired from classified government work and is currently working with today’s wargame companies to update and republish many of his older designs and to, once again, explore new directions in tactical simulation. Mr. Hill will be presenting three seminars on the American Civil War: A Fresh Look at Bull Run (Thurs. 4 PM ); The American Civil War in the South West (Fri. 11 AM ); and Ben Butler – The Union’s Most Underrated General (Sat. 1 PM ); and will be part of a panel on The Largest Tank Battle in History? (Sun. 9 AM); see Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.

Frank Chadwick: Founded Game Designers' Workshop in 1972, and was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in 1984. Chadwick has more than sixty published games to his credit, and his Desert Shield Factbook (1991) reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Mr. Chadwick will be presenting three seminars about ‘First Acts’ – the opening campaigns a larger war, at this year’s convention: Turkey’s Remarkable Victory – The Crimean War’s 1853 Danube Campaign (Thurs. 5 PM); Year of Battle – The First Campaign of the Seven Years’ War (Sat. 10 AM); Poland Is Still Free! – Polish Armed Forces in 1939 (Sat. 2 PM ); and will be part of a panel on The Largest Tank Battle in History? (Sun. 9 AM); s ee Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.

Dana Lombardy: Associate Editor for Armchair General Online Best known for his multiple award-winning Streets of Stalingrad board wargame (three separate editions since first released in 1979), and for his nearly twenty television appearances, including multiple episodes of The History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun” series. Lombardy has contributed as an editor, cartographer, graphic artist and designer on many books, games and magazines, and was Publisher of Napoleon Journal from 1996-2000. Mr. Lombardy will be presenting two seminars at this year’s convention: Secret Turning Points of the Napoleonic Wars (Thurs. 2 PM ); and Secret Turning Points of the American Civil War (Sat. 11 AM ); and will be moderating a panel on The Largest Tank Battle in History? (Sun. 9 AM); see Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.

Bob Fulton: A Human Resources professional with more than 25 years of experience who manages his own consulting firm, Bob is a graduate student of history at Northern Illinois University working on his M.A. with plans to continue on for his Ph.D. in history. His many years of study of seventeenth and eighteenth century European history, religion, military affairs and wargaming provides Bob with the expertise to talk on Frederick the Great and his campaigns. As part of his first year attending HISTORICON Bob will present a theme seminar: Frederick the Great…oh Really? (Sat. 1 PM ); see Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.

Gerald D. Swick: Senior Online Editor for www.ArmchairGeneral.com and www.HistoryNet.com, has written for print encyclopedias and Web pages, and edited books on a variety of topics. His articles about history have appeared in Blue Ridge Country, Lincoln Lore, and numerous gaming magazines, and his weekly history column has been entertaining newspaper readers for 10 years. He is here to share his experience and answer your questions – and maybe give you an assignment to write for www.ArmchairGeneral.com! Mr. Swick will be presenting a seminar on How to Write History (without putting people to sleep!) (Thurs. 3 PM ); s ee Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.

Steven J. Zaloga: Steve received his BA in history from Union College and his MA from Columbia University . He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for over two decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think-tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and military history, with an accent on the US Army in World War II as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union . Mr. Zaloga will be p resenting a WWII seminar about New Perspectives on D-Day: German Defenses at Omaha Beach (Fri. 2 PM), using new research materials he found and dozens of photos he took at the site; see Events (PEL) link at left for full details after May 15th.