Sopwith Sopwith Stats 32
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Well, it's finally back. After a gap of more than a year, the Sopwith Stats sees the light of day once more. More than a few people thought this had disappeared for good, particularly as Dave Tant announced in the previous issue that there would be no longer be an 'official' statistician for the game.

Fairly late in Dave's search for a successor, I took on two games of Sopwith that had started in Up Around the Bend, thus extending my interest in the game. I was already playing a game in Hopscotch, my first, in fact, so I can hardly claim to be a veteran.

When a game has been played for almost twenty years, it seems a shame to just let the records slip away, so I contacted Dave and came to a swift agreement to inherit the card index and continue the job he has done so well. So welcome to what has to be one of the more occasional publications of our hobby.

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

Putting the stats aside for the moment, how is the game of Sopwith doing in its own right? I know of five games that have started since April 1998, when issue 31 was published. Of those, one has finished, and two games from before that time still appear to be going. That makes just six games active at the moment, or at least six that I am aware of. The best sign is that most of the new games have started in the last few months, so the trend would seem to be upwards. It is also an increase on the two games that started in the previous fourteen months.

So what, you may say. Why am I seeing this? (Please remember - this is the text from the paper stats...) One answer may be that you asked for it, but then you'd know that. Another is that you were listed in an issue of Mission from God, which provides me with a tailor made distribution list for the hobby. A more obvious reason is that you receive my main zine, For Whom The Die Rolls, as I'm sending a copy out with every issue. As the cost of the main zine now includes postage, nobody will be paying extra for this.

The aim is to get a wide circulation for this issue, to publicise the fact that the stats are still around, and to let people know where to send information about their games. It may even help to revive interest in a light game that can supplement the more complex games you play.

The next issue will not be so widely circulated. It will go to those who request copies and probably to everyone who gets For Whom The Die Rolls. I will build a circulation list for future copies of the Sopwith Stats to ensure that it goes to those who have a particular interest.

You can also find the text for this on my web site, the address for which is at the top of the first page. If you have web access, you may just want to be notified when the next issue is available on the web. If so, just ask me to perform this service for you.

While I was going through the stats and putting them into a database to make life easier in the future, I was surprised at how many games had been abandoned. Of the 248 game that have been given numbers, 60 have been abandoned, almost one quarter. I suspect that some referees have ignored the NMR rule that causes pilots to fly straight ahead until they leave the playing area. If this is applied, even when all the players have lost interest, a game can technically be brought to a proper conclusion. With this rule in mind, there is also no justification for a GM to declare a game over simply because only one player is still supplying orders. The other pilots should be flown off the map and points scored accordingly.

When a problem lies with the GM or the zine, it can be a little harder to resolve. I will gladly take over the running of any game that gets into such difficulties, but this must be with the agreement of all parties actively involved. You should also remember that John Marsden runs the Orphaned Games Rehousing (OGRe) service, and my offer is not intended to replace the valuable service that he offers. You can contact John at 33 Weston Road, Strood, Kent, ME2 3HA.

WHERE CAN I PLAY?

I believe there are openings in three zines, although this is bound to change as lists fill up and new lists are opened. Hopscotch is usually running a game, but the list has filled recently, so it will be a while before a new list opens up.

	Are You Blind Ref ? - Dave Carter 'Injebreck', Liverpool Road South, Burscough, Lancashire, L40 7SU
	Flights of Fancy - Philip Honeybone 11 Norfolk Square, Ramsgate, Kent, CT12 6PG
	For Whom The Die Rolls - Keith Thomasson 14 Stepnells, Marsworth, Nr Tring, Herts, HP23 4NQ

To keep track of openings, Ryk Downes has a page on his web site where he lists openings for all sorts of games. Visit his web site at Ryk.Downes.Com and follow the Waiting Lists link.

If you want to play rather faster than postal play usually allows, I am offering to run games of Sopwith on my web site. I would expect these games to run at one turn a week with orders via email, but in all other respects would work exactly like a postal game, and that means that they'll count towards the stats. If you're interested, visit the site at http://freespace.virgin.net/keith.thomasson/

AIRBORNE

These games are the ones known to have started since issue 31. If you know of any more, then I would be delighted to have the details so that I can assign game numbers and include them in the statistics.

LOST IN THE CLOUDS

These games have almost certainly finished, one way or another, but can anyone provide information on the result? If nothing is forthcoming by the time the next set of stats is published, they'll have to be declared abandoned.

STOOGING AROUND

These games are known to be active. Not a particularly long list, I must say, mainly consisting of the games that have started since issue 31.

DOWN TO EARTH

KILLS TABLE

This is the place to find out how many kills pilots have made. This includes all kills made in completed or current games, and is limited to pilots who have five or more kills, the 'real life' requirement for Ace status.

ACES HIGH

This is the listing of pilots who are eligible for Ace Status. This is based on completed games and games in progress.

WINNERS

The list shows all those who have won more than one game of Sopwith.

Rob Cullender's win in T229UB puts him ahead of Tom Tweedy with 6½ wins.

In the last issue of the stats, five wins were credited for Dave Lomas and John Miller. Sorry, John, it looks to me as if one of those wins should actually be credited to Ray Miller, but that still gives you four wins out of seven games - very good going.

The results published this time include wins for Dave Tant and Andrew Whiteley, so they join Dave Lomas on five.

Nobody has joined any of the other groups until you get down to two wins. New at this level are Tony Dickinson and James Hardy.

The list for one and a half wins used to contain just Andy Bates, but has now grown to five. This is partly due to new results and partly due to the fact that Brian Dolton and Martyn Ives seem to have been missed last time.

There are seventy one pilots with one win to their name, and I counted fourteen with one shared victory.

As with all the other stats, these figures are based on completed games. Abandoned games are excluded, not that there would be any winners from those anyway.

From the 172 games recorded as complete, there are 182 recorded winners. In other words, ten games produced joint winners. While some of these are due to the last two pilots shooting each other down at the same time, as happened in one of the games I inherited from Up Around the Bend, some are due to games being declared a draw by the GM.

While they have every right to do this (after all, it is their game), I would tend to look on such a result as joint second for the pilots involved rather than a joint win.

One game was listed in the stats as a triple joint win, but the details showed that the pilots retired from the game at different times. To me, that's means individual positions.

AFTERWORD

Well, there you go. This was the thirty second issue of Sopwith Stats, following the tradition started by Richard Morris, picked up by Andy Murby, and then brought to full flower by Dave Tant.

The ability to produce statistics relies on the co-operation of everyone involved in the games. Without feedback from the GMs (and sometimes the players) the information just wouldn't be about.

If you run a game of Sopwith, I would like to know how things are going, in particular details of scoring and kills. In fact, I need this detail to maintain the statistics. There are a number of games where the only details given are who won and how many points/kills the pilots had, which doesn't allow full positions to be given. The best way for me to keep abreast of things is to see every game report, so please consider me for your circulation list. Trade with For Whom The Die Rolls is always an option.

If you're interested in running Sopwith in your zine, you have the rules here to explain the game. You don't really need anything else other than six willing volunteers, but you might like a copy of my playing area graphic to include in the game reports (similar to the one shown on page 10). This includes the necessary graphics for the planes and player numbers, which you can cut and paste over the relevant hexes. If you want a copy, write or send me an email.

That's it, folks, until next time. Thank you.

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© Keith Thomasson March 17th 2002