King Of The Hill                BLANKETYBLANK                   Turn One

  GAME GETS OFF THE GROUND AND          N O R T H
  MANY CONFLICTS VERY NARROWLY             A/\1
AVOIDED IN DULL HEADLINE SHOCKER           /XX\
					 B/\XX/\2               XX IMPASSABLE
Sorry about the delay, folks,            /XX\/XX\               XX   SQUARE
but here we are, and things            C/\XX/\XX/\3
have already started to get            /nw\/XX\/ne\             ~~ ROCKY POOL
somewhat messy. This could           D/\06/\XX/\01/\4           ~~   SQUARE
be an interesting turn two.          /nw\/nw\/ne\/ne\
				   E/\05/\12%V07/\02/\5         HH   TARGET
			  north    /  \/  \%  V/ne\/ne\   north HH   SQUARE
			  west   F/\  /\  %\  /V08/\03/\6  east
				 /  \/nw\%nw\/  V/  \/ne\
In ASKTHEFAMILY, if memory     G/\  /\04%\11/\  /V  /\04/\7
serves, turn one was much      /nw\/nw\%nw\/  \/neV/  \/ne\
less exciting than this.     H/\02/\03%\10/\  ::09/V  /\05/\8
I guess this makes you       /nw\/  \%nw\/  \:~~:/neV/  \/ne\
better players than        I/\01/\  %\09::  /:~~:\10/V  /\06/\9
that game's ones...?       /XX\/nw\%nw\:~~:/HH::  \/neV/  \/XX\
			 J/\XX/\07%\08/:~~:\HH/\  /\11/V  /\XX/\10
	       W E S T   /XX\/XX\%sw\/  ::HH\/HH\/  \/neV/XX\/XX\  E A S T
			 \XX/\XX/V01/\  /\HH/\HH::  /\12%\XX/\XX/
The central 4x4 has      1\/XX\/swV/sw\/  \/HH\:~~:/se\%se\/XX\/A
not yet been breached      \XX/\07/V02/\  ::HH/:~~:\05%\06/\XX/
but all four players are   2\/  \/swV/  \:~~:/  ::se\%  \/se\/B
in positions suitable to     \  /\08/V  /:~~:\  /\04%\  /\12/
do so next turn. There       3\/  \/swV/  ::  \/se\%  \/se\/C
could well be conflict.        \  /\03/V  /\  /\03%\  /\11/
Isn't this exciting?           4\/sw\/swV/sw\/se\%se\/se\/D
				 \09/\04/V05/\02%\09/\10/
			  south  5\/sw\/swV/  \%se\/  \/E  south
			  west     \10/\11/V  %\08/\  /     east
				   6\/sw\/swV%se\/  \/F
Thanks for your orders,              \12/\06/\01/\  /                       
everyone; I've now got a set         7\/  \/XX\/se\/G                       
of which piece is which and so         \  /\XX/\07/                         
things can keep going at full speed.   8\/XX\/XX\/H                         
If you four all submit orders in time    \XX/\XX/
for OMR 17 then I'll adjudicate a        9\/XX\/I                          
second turn then. If not, then I'll        \XX/                             
wait for you all to get turns in.         10\/J                                 
NMRs early in the game would suck.      S O U T H                          

No rule queries this time - if anyone needs any clarifications, though,
then just let me know, and I'll be pleased to sort anything out...?

NE: Des Langford, 8 Hornbeam Lane, Barnehurst, Kent DA7 6HH
NE: Phone 01322 348905
NW: Mark Sheiham, Flat 1, Balcombe House, Taunton Place, London NW1 6HA
NW: Phone 01628 473256 - that's what Mark wrote. Why the change, Mark?
SW: Simon Hornby, 41 Larkin Close, Cambridge CB4 2ER
SW: *PHONE NUMBER REQUIRED* (please?) E-mail simon.hornby@elmail.co.uk
SE: Martin Bates, Somerville College, Oxford OX2 6HD
SE: *PHONE NUMBER REQUIRED* (if you have one...?) some0148@sable.ox.ac.uk

Spacefiller: test yourself. Have you been having a good Christmas? In each
case, fill in the blank with the appropriate answer. ((c) Aaron Solomon)
1. MERRY _______                        a) Christmas    b) Queen of Scots
2. HAPPY NEW ______                     a) Foundland    b) Year
3. AULD LANG ______                     a) Secant       b) Syne
4. CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN ______ a) Fire         b) Sore
5. EBENEEZER ______                     a) Scrooge      b) Hey, Macarena
6. HARK THE HERALD ANGELS ___   a) Choke on their own vomit like Jimi Hendrix