History of AHIKS

The AVALON HILL INTERCONTINENTAL KRIEGSPIEL SOCIETY was founded March 14, 1966, by Fred Webster, Henry Bodenstedt, Ken Norris, and Chris Wagner. Its initial purpose was (1) to provide a forum within which an internationally useable play by mail system could be utilized, (2) to encourage the spread of wargaming outside the USA, and (3) to provide members with mature opponents who would complete games promptly and fairly. In later years the “I” in AHIKS was changed from “Intercontinental” to “International”.

The first objective was achieved by the utilization of the International Combat Resolution Key (ICRK) which by its nature was distributed by a central third party (promptly dubbed the “ICRK-Meister,” more recently renamed the Match Coordinator Officer or (“MC”).

Chris Wagner, who played a major part in spreading the word about AHIKS in Asia, along with Ken Norris, whose efforts helped AHIKS grow in Great Britain, effected the second objective.

The third was the most difficult challenge. How to separate the most reliable applicants from those who might blow hot one day but lose interest the next? Experience provided no perfect method, but it was learned that the more youthful applicants were less likely to retain their interest. As a result, AHIKS has followed a policy of restricting membership to those 21 years of age or older, although exceptions are made for military service personnel, wargamers of national stature, and those referred by other members. This restriction was modified to 18 years of age due to the change of national law.

As AHIKS grew, additional officers were needed to carry the load: the founding president, Fred Webster, and Judge Henry Bodenstedt, were joined by the very active Richard Holcomb, who started as Treasurer in 1967, but found himself virtually running the Society by the end of the year. This was due to the press of the other obligations on the other officers. Although AHIKS continued to grow for a time, Henry Bodenstedt, who had provided most of the energy behind the operations of the Society, had to take a less active role after founding his own hobby business.

Richard Holcombe, with the assistance of his wife and his brother Ted, did the best he could to keep things running. He soon determined that either AHIKS must restrict membership or find a better, more viable method of distributing the responsibility. During the fall of 1968, the regionalization was approved by the Society membership, with (eventually) two regions in the US, and one in Europe.

September 1968 to 1972: New officers arrived on the horizon even before regionalization took place.
Omar DeWitt, beginning his “career” in AHIKS, provided an excellent Judge; and in Bob Johnson, AHIKS
found an Editor who could get its then-quarterly magazine The Kommandeur out on time. Soon after his election as President in 1969, Richard Holcombe, because of personal reasons, had to reduce his participation in AHIKS.

Bob Johnson, then First Vice President stepped into the void and carried us ably to the spring of 1972. He did this while also holding the office of Editor and getting out The Kommandeur. Leslie (Les) Deck accepted the position of MC in 1969. During this same two-year period, Don Turnbull, as Regional Director in Great Britain, was multiplying his region’s membership into a true European Region. From the middle of 1971, Harry Tucker and Tony Jones took over from Don and carried on the work. The end of 1971 brought elections and a proposal to change the constitution, which was inconclusively abandoned after a tie vote.

In 1972, Omar DeWitt became President, with Tom Oleson replacing him as the Judge, and Gene Gardener appearing as the new ICRK Meister. At that time, with the Society membership barely breaching the 100 mark, it is amazing to recall how the club functioned in those early years. The membership “voted in” each new game that it would accept for PBM play, in a time when new titles appeared only sporadically. Each individual ICRK sheet was hand written and each die roll result on the sheet was rolled for and recorded by an AHIKS officer before it was sent out to players.

The year 1972 also saw the start of a powerful growth curve for AHIKS, largely through the efforts of President Omar DeWitt, whose management more than tripled the size of the Society. Then Gene Gardner founded the New Membership Program, which formed a pool of veteran members with whom new members could be matched for their first AHIKS PBM games.

In 1974, a continuing rapid growth (Society membership passed the 200 mark this year) necessitated the creation of the Match Coordinator position, essentially a splitting of the duties of the ICRK Meister; Bob Johnson was the first appointee to the new post. Richard Berg set new standards of high quality as Editor of The Kommandeur, although regular publication still eluded the successors to Bob Johnson.

In 1975, thanks to the efforts of Carl Benton, at the time a volunteer assistant to Gene Gardner, we began computerizing the ICRK: a cheer went up from all the Officers, who had heretofore been creating all those hand-made ICRKS.

The year 1976 was a transition year for communications in the Society, with Pete Menconi switching from Regional Director to Editor and substituting a bimonthly Kommandeur for the regional newsletters which were becoming burdensome for the Regional Directors to produce. Dave Turnansky was appointed the new Match Coordinator and thus became the father of the AHIKS rating system for those members who desired to participate. The Eastern Region split in two, giving the Society a total of four regions: European, West, East, and Northeast.

Virgil Mugler started up the PBM methods file. A new Constitution, primarily a product of Omar’s prodding the other officers, was approved, establishing for the first time the Executive Committee to run a Society that had changed greatly from the modest beginnings.

Henry Radice, formerly a Regional Director in Europe, became the Society’s first non-US President in 1977, showing up both the international nature of AHIKS and the increasing importance of the European Region, by now a quarter of the total membership. The newly created post of Secretary proved an important communications link, while Omar DeWitt became the first officer to occupy the resurrected Vice Presidential position. Judge Bill Farone established the system of “specialists” to handle the myriad of games now becoming available and ensuring the survival of one of AHIKS’ most valued services. The Eastern and Western Regions split in this year, creating the Pacific, Northeast, and North Central Regions. Membership moved above the 400 mark.

The end of year 1978 elections saw Omar DeWitt continue for his twelfth year as an officer, Joe Horne entered his sixth year as Treasurer, and Pete Menconi switched from Editor to President. Largely through
the efforts of Henry Radice, a new Constitution, the third such in the society’s history, was proposed and approved by the membership. Bruce Maston began his fifth year stint as Secretary.

Pete Menconi proved an energetic president, issuing frequent and detailed Presidential Newsletters to the officers. Leslie (Les) Deck began his invaluable contribution to the Society as Match Coordinator in 1969 Although this post is not one of the “glamorous” offices, it is one of the most important. The primary function of AHIKS is to facilitate playing by mail, and Les stayed at his post and did an admirable job while other offices in the Society were not as fortunate. Without Les’ efforts, AHIKS’ reputation would be much diminished. Due to Les Deck’s devotion and excellent performance over the years he was honored by the Society in being voted in as a Lifetime Member.

Over the years the membership voted to bestow lifetime memberships to certain individuals who had performed long service for AHIKS and had gone “above and beyond” in dedicating their time and unselfish effort to making AHIKS a better place. All awarded lifetime memberships were awarded by majority vote of the membership. The members so honored by the society are Fred A. Webster, Thomas W. Gaddis, Joseph M. Hruby, Thomas N. Shaw, Christopher Wagner, Henry H. Bodenstedt, Sid Jolly, Leslie J Deck, and William Lindow.

Alan White late in 1980 began his long incumbency as head of the European Region. At the end of 1980, the membership totaled over 500.

In 1981, Bill Salvatore began his long tenure as Judge. At the end of that year, the officers voted to form a Canadian Region, and Casey Bruyn became the first to hold that office. In 1982 we saw tireless Pete Menconi return to the job as Editor, while John Ratzenberger took over as President. Membership passed the 600 mark. Through the efforts of Carl Benton, AHIKS supplied Avalon Hill with special ICRKs for use in their PBM tournament. Thanks mainly to Pete Menconi’s efforts; an updated Members’ Guide was finally published. The European Region began publishing their newsletter in an upgraded format. In October, Carl Benton stepped down after six years of valuable service, and Don Eisan took over as M&SO.

Two bylaws were added to the constitution in1983: the “Under-21 Bylaw” spelled out the age requirements, and the “European Region Bylaw” gave the European Region more autonomy. John Ratzenberger was forced by personal reasons to resign as president, and VP Omar DeWitt juggled the hot potato briefly before passing off to Bill Watkins, who took over as president early in 1984. Also in ’84, Bruce Maston retired after many years of faithful service, with Bill Lindow becoming Secretary. The membership total reached 700. After devoting over ten years to the Society as Treasurer (and, if there were such a post, as Conscience), Harold “Joe” Horne passed the Society checkbook and financial coffers to Sid Jolly. The Society is very grateful for the many, many hours Joe gave his job. John Burtt, who had taken the Editor’s post in 1984 (after Pete Menconi had published his 30th Kommandeur), replaced Bill toward the end of 1985. Chester Hendrix then became Editor, bringing a touch of professionalism to the office.

Volume 21 issue 1 of The Kommandeur printed in January 1985 shows John Burtt – President, Omar DeWitt – VP, Chester Hendrix – Editor, Bill Lindow – Judge, Sid Jolly – Treasurer, Les Deck – Match Coordinator, Bill Salvatore – Secretary, and Don Eisan – Match Services Officer. AHIKS was divided into six regions, Northeast, West, North Central, South East, Pacific, and Canada, each with its own Regional Director. AHIKS Europe was essentially a sister organization with their own treasury and officers.
The European Region Representative was Allen White and The European Region Editor was Dave Stead. AHIKS also provided other services to its members including a Multiplayer Coordinator – Roy Hendricks, An PBM IDEA Coordinator – Harvey Grove and an Archivist – Bill Perry. The organization continued to grow. The Kommandeur newsletter was averaging 12 pages and membership numbers had reached 1,115.

Unfortunately, no records are available to this writer for the period between early 1985 and mid 1989. Volume 24 Issue 2 for August 1989 shows some changes in the AHIKS Officer Corps. Kevin McCarthy is the newly elected President. Chester Hendrix – Editor, Sid Jolly – Treasurer, Art Dempsey – VP, Randy Heller – Judge, Les Deck – MC, Bruce White – Secretary. Only Three issues of The Kommandeur were printed for Volume 24 during 1989. AHIKS issued ID Number 1277 in October 1989. Computers were just starting to come into fashion, and AHIKS was discussing how to best use the new technology The computerization of the mailing list for The Kommandeur was AHIKS’ first step in that direction.

Between 1989 and June of 1993 the AHIKS Officer Corps saw Robert Chenoweth take over the Judge’s position from Randy Heller. Robert turned the position over to Joey Sabin in 1992. Steve Ball became Secretary. The MSO position which had been vacant for some time was split between two people. Ken Nied became MSO-Roster and Tom Hammer took the MSO – Ratings job.

1991 saw AHIKS celebrate its 25th Anniversary! Chester Hendrix published First Blood- The Guadalcanal Campaign game which all members at the time received as Volume 26 Issue 6 of The Kommandeur. Chester later sold the rights to the game, and it was published commercially. The unit counter pool was also established in the same year with able assistance of Randy Heller. 1991 also saw the beginning of the downturn for the wargaming industry. Wargamers were discussing both Play by Mail and board gaming “burnout.” AHIKS membership renewals were down, and game companies were also beginning to feel the pinch as new and old gamers alike were turning to a new brand of gaming – The computer! The gaming convention Origins was combined with Dragon Con and 10,000 people were expected to attend that year yet barely 5,000 actually attended. Through it all our Officer Corps continued to serve with distinction and with the fullest interest of the Society at heart.

The Presidency changed in 1993. Mark Palmer became President with Bryan Eshleman as his VP. The other officers continued to serve in their respective positions. Jim Denier – Editor continued to do an excellent job producing The Kommandeur with each issue averaging about 12 pages in length. AHIKS issued member number 1432 in October 1993. Membership retention was a big issue at this point in time.

In early 1994 Ken Nied replaced Jim Denier as editor. Jim had open-heart surgery and could not continue as Editor. Also in 1994 Andy Johnson took over as MSO-Ratings.

During the mid to late 1990s AHIKS new memberships slowed. Revenue declined as postage and mailing costs increased. AHIKS continued to support not only The Kommandeur and its mailings but smaller budgets for the six Regional Directors putting even more of a strain on the Treasury. During 1994, AHIKS had 366 dues-paying members. Yearly dues were $20. AHIKS issued ID number 1475 that year.

March 30, 1995, saw the Bylaws rewritten and updated. One of the effects of the new Bylaws was setting back the election of officer positions whose terms expired in 1995 to 1996. The new Bylaws required that all officer positions would be 4 year terms. The elections would be held in the same year as the American Presidential elections. The entire slate of officer positions on the Executive Committee would be open for re-election during 1996.

During April 1995 Mark Palmer resigned as President. Bryan Eshleman took over as President and Bill Lindow was appointed Vice President. Bruce Monnin becomes AHIKS Play By eMail Coordinator. AHIKS had 37 members playing games on-line during 1995.

March 14, 1996, marked the 30th anniversary of AHIKS. The first election was held under the new Bylaws. The following individuals were elected. Bryan Eshleman – President, Roger Estep – VP, Ken Nied – Editor, Joey Sabin – Judge, Bill Lindow – Treasurer, Les Deck – MC, Steve Ball – Secretary, Ken Nied – MSO -Roster, and Andy Johnson – MSO – Ratings. There were only 5 issues of The Kommandeur printed in Volume 31 for 1996. Member ID numbers reached 1497 in 1996.

In April 1997 Bryan Eshleman resigned as President followed by Roger Estep’s resignation a short time later. In June Ken Nied resigned as editor. Chester Hendrix volunteered and was appointed President by the Executive Committee. Ray Labarbera, stepped up and volunteered to be VP. Joey Sabin resigned as Judge. Mike West volunteered and was appointed Judge. Steve Ball resigned as Secretary. Issues 32-4 and 32-5 of The Kommandeur were combined into one issue and no issue 32-6 was printed in 1997. AHIKS issued member ID number 1505 in October 1997.

1998 saw the following Officers at the helm of AHIKS. President – Chester Hendrix, VP- Ray Labarbera, MC – Leslie Deck, Treasurer – Bill Lindow, Editor – Thomas Pavy, Secretary – Clyde Longest Jr, Judge – Mike West and MSO Ratings Officer – Andy Johnson were all members of the Executive committee. AHIKS published its first PBeM game listing on the web. Clyde Longest also took over as the Unit Counter Pool Officer, and Duncan Rice became Recruiting Officer for AHIKS. Glen Petroski stepped into the new position as Publisher of the newsletter. Our Support Service Officers and General Committee Members included: Hank Burkhalter – PBeM Coordinator, Tom Butcher – Multi-Player Coordinator, Bob Ryan – Chit Holding Officer, William Perry – Archivist Officer, and Leslie Deck – Website Manager.
AHIKS continued to support the six Regional Directors and their operating budgets.

The Avalon Hill Gaming Company was acquired by Hasbro, the toy making company in August. The entire gaming staff of Avalon Hill was let go in the acquisition. Due to a surplus that had accumulated, AHIKS yearly dues were reduced to $10. Membership ID numbers reached 1506 in 1998. Just four issues of Volume 33 of The Kommandeur were published in 1998 with Volume 33-4 carrying a publication date of January 1, 1999. Volume 33 issue 3 carried a roster of all active members of AHIKS at that time. The list contained 240 member’s names.

During 1999 the Executive committee consolidated the MSO – Ratings and MSO – Roster position into one. AHIKS’ first website was up and running on September 11, 1999. The newsletter contained only five issues published for Volume 34 during 1999. There was no issue 1 of volume 34 as it was labeled Volume 33, issue 4. ID numbers reached 1527 during 1999.

Entering the 21st Century, board wargaming was becoming a niche hobby. Many gamers were moving to personal computer gaming, Role Playing Games and card style games such as Majic had become increasingly popular. Hasbro’s board wargaming sales figures were disappointing. Other large and small game companies reported similar drops in sales. AHIKS was working hard to make a place for itself in the emerging world of computer-assisted gaming and was working to improve its website and provide services to dedicated board wargamers who remained in the hobby. Only three issues of Volume 35 of The Kommandeur were published during 2000.

The second full Officer Corps elections under the new Bylaws were held in 2000. Re-elected were Chester Hendrix – President, Ray Labarbera – VP, Tom Pavy – Editor, Omar DeWitt – Treasurer, Bill Watkins -Secretary, Les Deck – MC, Mike West – Judge, and Andy Johnson – MSO. All of the regional Directors were re-elected and all support services officers are reappointed to their positions. Volume 36 of The Kommandeur had two issues listed as Volume 36 – 2, and it appears only four issues were published in total during 2001. The issues are listed as 36-1, 36-2, 36-2, and 36-4. Cyberboard and Aide De Camp game modules are first mentioned in The Kommandeur as computer gaming aids. AHIKS member ID numbers reach 1546 during 2001.

In retrospect we really owe a great debt of gratitude to all of the Officers and members of AHIKS who stepped up and volunteered their time and effort to keep AHIKS running during those turbulent years. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to try to publish a newsletter six times a year using only snail mail and typewriters. And, all the while these volunteers are trying to balance family, jobs, and other real-life pressures. Everyone of them should be commended for their dedication to AHIKS and to our wargaming hobby.

In June 2002 Tom Pavy resigned as editor of The Kommandeur and Omar DeWitt moved into the editor’s position. Stuart Schoenberger was appointed the new Treasurer. Hasbro sold its floundering Avalon Hill line of games to Wizards of the Coast of Dungeons and Dragons fame. AHIKS issued ID number 1555. Membership now numbered about 250. Volume 37 of The Kommandeur produced 5 issues during 2002.

During 2003, Les Deck, AHIKS MC and one of the individuals responsible for running the AHIKS website announced his retirement because of family issues. Les Deck had been a driving force in AHIKS over the years and his service to AHIKS would be missed. Roger Estep volunteered to take over the MC job, while Tom Thornsen became the new AHIKS website manager. AHIKS began making a digital copy of its bi-monthly newsletter available to members with computers for download. Yearly dues were $15. Volume 39 of The Kommandeur had six issues printed.

2004 saw the following officers elected. Chester Hendrix – President, Ray Labarbera – VP, Roger Eastep – MC, Brian Stretcher – Treasurer, Omar DeWitt – Editor, Bill Watkins – Secretary, Dave Bergmann – Judge, Andy Johnson – MSO. Tom Thornson continued as Web Master, Bob Johnson was Multiplayer Coordinator, Robert Ryan – Chit Holding Officer, Clyde Longest – Unit Counter Pool, William Perry – Archivist. AHIKS membership stood at 125 members. Work continued on the AHIKS website. Yearly dues were set at $6 for the electronic copy of The Kommandeur and $12 for the print copy. Omar DeWitt established a six issue print cycle for The Kommandeur newsletter that has continued through the end of 2014.

During 2005 it was decided to do away with the Regional Director positions. Randy Heller replaced Ray Labarbera as VP and member’s ID numbers reached 1569.

2006 brought about continued work on the AHIKS website. More members were selecting the electronic copy of The Kommandeur newsletter over the paper copy. Dues were $10 for the an electronic subscription and $16 for a snail-mailed print copy. AHIKS issued member ID number 1573 during 2006. Bob Johnson, the Multiplayer Coordinator started AHIKSOL (AHIKS on Line) as a Yahoo group, bringing more AHIKS members onto the computer scene. Brian Laskey was appointed Unit Counter Pool Officer and took over duties from Clyde Longest. And the long awaited update of the AHIKS bylaws was published in the December issue of The Kommandeur newsletter for member review.

2007 brought an offer of free dues for anyone opting to convert from the paper K to the electronic version. 65 members of AHIKS were using Bob Johnson’s AHIKSOL Yahoo group, and the updated bylaws were approved by the membership.

2008 was the next elections year for AHIKS Officers. Chester Hendrix and Randy Heller had both announced they were not going to run for re-election. Bill Watkins stepped down from the Secretary’s position early in the year for personal reasons to be replaced by Bob Best. AHIKS had 184 members with member ID numbers reaching 1580. The Chit Holding Service was discontinued as it was seldom used.

2009 ushered in a new slate of officers for AHIKS. Charles Marshall was elected President, Bert Schneider – VP, Paul Qualtieri – Match Coordinator, Brian Stretcher was re-elected Treasurer. Bob Best – Secretary, Dave Bergmann – Judge, and Andy Johnson – Match Services Officer. Omar DeWitt continued as Editor. Tom Thornson continued to serve as the Web Manager, Robert Johnson – Multiplayer Coordinator, William Perry – Archivist, and Brian Laskey – Unit Counter Pool Officer. AHIKS Europe which had become a separate entity in the 1990s formally dissolved in March 2009 due to a lack of members willing to fill vacant officer positions.

Over the next four years, the new Administration conducted several member surveys to determine what AHIKS’ direction should be and what role AHIKS should serve for the members in our hobby. It was proposed that AHIKS should move to an electronic format and expand its website. An on-line dice roller along with a forum where members could play games and meet other members was proposed. A “Members Only” section would house the dice roller, along with an archive of past newsletters and the bylaws of the society. An automated new member application form was also proposed where new members could apply for AHIKS membership on-line. Work was started on the new system.

2009 also saw a trial period of no dues for members who either received their newsletter by email or who downloaded the newsletter from the website. The trial worked well and it was decided to drop the printed and snail-mailed subscriptions. The only exception was for original AHIKS members who had no computers. They continued to receive a print copy of The Kommandeur. All other members would have their newsletter subscriptions converted to an electronic format. The member could download it from the website or he could receive an email copy. Omar DeWitt, our Editor, was able to expand the content of The Kommandeur from the 12-page black and white printed issue to a full color issue containing between 24 and 30 pages. All volumes of The Kommandeur newsletter have contained the full six issues since Omar DeWitt took over as Editor.

Through the hard work of Charles Marshall and the other AHIKS Executive Committee members, all of the newly proposed ideas were implemented into the current AHIKS website. Late in 2010 a social networking forum was proposed by Bert Schneider – VP. The system was implemented into the website also, but after a trial period it was decided to move the social network portion of the forum to Facebook. AHIKS now maintains a Facebook page where AHIKS members who are also Facebook members can meet and follow AHIKS activities.

2011 brought change to the AHIKS Officer Corps Executive Committee. Paul Qualtieri – MC, Andy Johnson -MSO, and Bert Schneider – VP, along with Tom Thornson – Web Master, stepped down. Duncan Rice took over the MC position and Ken Oates took over MSO Ratings. Charles Marshall picked up the reins as the Web Master while continuing as President.

The 2012 elections brought further change. Charles Marshall decided not to run for re-election and took over the Web Master position. Ken Oates was elected President, He asked Charles Marshall to serve as his VP, which Charles accepted along with the Web Master duties. Dave Bergmann was elected to the MSO ratings position while Duncan Rice was elected Match Coordinator. Bob Best was re-elected Secretary, along with Brian Stretcher – Treasurer, and Omar DeWitt Editor. Lee Massey was appointed to the Judge position a few months later as no one ran for that position. Brian Laskey continued to serve as the Unit Counter Pool Officer, and Mike Kettmann took over as Multiplayer coordinator. William Perry continued as Archivist.

2014 saw Lee Massey resign the Judge’s position. Brian Laskey replaced him. Brian continues to manage the Unit Counter Pool as well as perform the duties of the Judge.

In the five years since 2009, membership in AHIKS has increased from 125 to 413. Membership ID numbers stand at 1790 as of July 2014. Dues are free and AHIKS is moving into its 50th year of printing The Kommandeur. A year- long celebration is being planned as no other gaming group has reached the 50 year mark! We are looking forward to continued the growth of AHIKS.