Federation Armory is officially Chapter 7 (along with me!). ;p
I began the company back in 1994, and learned a great deal about the difficulties of being a successful retail business owner. I made far too many mistakes for the business to ever be a big success, became permanently disabled due to my full-time day job, and lost both livelyhoods as a result. I also had a wonderful time running events at local conventions, developing new and exciting warmachines for STARGUARD! and the historical line from Reviresco, and making a number of wild and crazy friends in the process.
All of this while ignoring the nay-sayers, the "mainstream" company elitists who publicly sneered at my efforts promoting the STARGUARD! product line, childish personal insults from self-proclaimed industry "leaders" who were probably old enough to know better(!), and the innumerable logistical challenges of being a one-person business. It has been quite a ride! And in 20-20 hindsight, while there are a number of things I would do differently, I still wouldn't have given it up for the world! ;)
For those who are interested, all STARGUARD! and Reviresco historical products remain available to the gaming community direct from John McEwan/Reviresco. I urge all of my loyal customers who have not yet gotten the word of my untimely demise to take their business to John. He has brought us all a very fine old game with STARGUARD! and deserves our continued support!
That aside, I am still an author/game designer at large, and have no intention of giving up on the hobby I have known and loved for the past 23 years! I will be making myself available in the next few months with a new business, an online specialty model builder and figure painter. I will be doing what I have always done best, focusing on original one-of-a-kind spacecraft and ground vehicles for the game table and collector.
I continue to write for the hobby, despite the loss of ICE to an apparently unnecessary Chapter 7. Should anyone come to their senses and bring Silent Death: The Next Millenium back into print, I will make myself available to them at once. As it is, I am sitting on a considerable volume of officially sanctioned, unpublished material, including what was to have been the new start-up product for SD:TNM, namely DRAGON RISING: The Tokugawa-Luches War.
On other fronts, I am currently involved in the development of a dedicated rules set for the old Superior Miniatures line of spacecraft models, as well as planning to submit a proposal for another set of rules designed specifically for Valiant's STARDATE 3000 starship line. Sounds like a conflict of interest? Not at all! ;)
The Superior Miniatures ships are a distinctly different technology base/world view from the STARDATE 3000 series. The rules for each are reflecting these differences in technological assumtions and backgrounds. In both cases I am drawing inspiration from a number of classic sources, as well as actual physics.
My goal is to create two distinct sets of rules for two very different (and VERY NICE!) lines of starship models.
I have every confidence that I will succeed in these endeavours. Please note that NOTHING is written in stone here, that both of these projects are in their draft stages (thus far, the proposals are only verbal!). I expect to be submitting written first drafts to both companies by the end of next week.
I will also be a guest speaker/panelist at the BayCon 2001 science fiction & fantasy convention in San Jose, CA during the Memorial Day Weekend. I will be covering a range of subjects, as well as playtesting one or both of the rules sets I have mentioned in this update. Despite the loss of ICE and the wonderful creative outlet they provided me with Silent Death: The Next Millenium, I am continuing to forge ahead as a writer.
I also continue to write historical rules and articles, but that is another story of madness and derring-do altogether! | 
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.