A call to arms. As we've seen in the previous issues, Slovenia on the Modern-Up map is hanging in the balance, with me a staunch supporter and Vincent Mous, creator of the Modern variant, a vocal detractor. How will this end? The debate is raging. It's good to see that we can agree on many points, if not on the conclusion. That the opening is not substantially altered, is an important point in which we are in agreement. That actual geography is not the final deciding point is another one. That part of my rhetoric was very tongue-in-cheek, but nonetheless had some ground of truth. Kosovo? Not on the radar. Modern has its starting year set as 1995, when Kosovo was simply considered another problem spot and Bosnia was the center of attention. Yes, it had declared its independence, which was recognized by exactly one country, Albania. Similarly, Montenegro was still firmly attached to Serbia. From a country standpoint they should not be considered. Rather, like Gibraltar and Monaco, they give options to improve gameplay if that is deemed desirable. But with no Balkan power on the map, there's no need for more neutral spaces there to crowd out Macedonia and Albania. My actual justification started with an analysis of stalemate lines, whereas Vincent focuses on the quick stab. This difference may be a matter of different experiences. Modern is a big map. For victory one needs more than 30 centers, meaning that the leaders in the late middle stages and end game are juggling with 20 units or more. This makes huge front lines where little moves (trench warfare) highly likely, and Austria with its central position and multitude of neighbouring territories, is usually the linchpin. Any positive development there facilitating breakthroughs should be welcomed, as they make the end game more dynamic. I haven't experienced any memorable stab on Croatia the way Vincent describes it, but the crafty stabber will surely be able to exploit a likely empty Slovenia in his scenario. Both Venice and Hungary become easy targets with armies in Austria and Slovenia if Italy only left behind a token army as a deterrent to a German stab. Wings are a different ball game. I would like to play a game with them before making any substantial comments. The Ulster games on USTP were meant to provide just that kind of feedback, but they are prohibitively slow to fill up. Once again I appeal to the reader to go and join them. Just to put the dots on the i, let me point out that the Adriatic is still only 2 moves away if one flies through Venice. As Venice is a home center, Italy may leave it sometimes open expecting to build in it. As said, the wing cannot capture the center and may thus be seen as less of a threat. But I will agree that this is inferior to having both centers adjacent to Austria. Moving his wing into Slovenia first under the pretext of preparing an attack on Poland or Ukraine, would bring Germany in the desired position. Which brings me to another pet topic of mine, that a carefully picked undotted space can bring a welcome pocket of air in the midst of a sea of supply centers. The area around Austria is like the Balkans in Standard magnified. It's very hard to bring a decisive blow, because the enemy always seems to be able to retreat into another center. When I want to break down a wall, I first aim for the spaces without supply dots. Places like Macedonia and Slovenia, or Albania in Standard. They are likely not as well defended as the dotted ones, so easier to slip into before bringing up the big guns and start the real attack. That Slovenia can indeed help dislodge a stuck frontline is what I tried to prove with my stalemate analysis. I hope that actual play will bear me out. It may taste differently, but is it another map altogether? What would you say? To which Vincent replied: "If you're so concerned by stalemate lines, then you should play the variant as designed with wing units. I don't have my old playtesting notes, but removing Slovenia improved the game considerably. And an extra space needed for a German wing to reach the southern seas would create more stalemates, not fewer." He was going to say more, but life got in the way. What is clear though is that neither of us is going to budge much. The only way to cater to both is to create two variants, one with and one without the disputed space. Just as Standard has the Milan, Fleet Rome and a myriad more variants, none of which is officially endorsed by Allan Calhamer AFAIK, but rather were created to satisfy the tastes and curiosity of certain players, there's no impediment to creating a Modern variant that is not officially sanctioned by its creator. Enters the Slovenia variant, to be distinguished from the Modern-Up variant by the inclusion of the Slovenia space and any other future modifications that are palatable to me, but not necessarily to Vincent. Now available on USDP, UKDP and any other like-minded judge. Note that Modern-Up, in addition to Ulster and the border changes in the Atlantic, now contains the Central Sahara space, both on the DPjudges and on USTP. Raising the bar of your Modern experience? Come and play. Mario Huys (woelpad@gmail.com) If you wish to e-mail feedback on this article to the author, and clicking on the envelope above does not work for you, feel free to use the "Dear DP..." mail interface.