The DFWIrregulars, who are myself (Clay Smith), Allen Eldridge, Steve Miller, Scott White and Steve Bidwell,
have hosted a little game day each year since 2006. We call it Skirmish. We do this because there isn't a
historical gaming convention in the Dallas/Fort Worth area anymore and this is our little contribution. We make
no money on the deal and just do it for fun. It is a one-day event because a three-day convention is too much work
for us. This is the email trail of an interesting story involving an interesting person named Greg Pitts....

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

First Email from Greg Pitts to Allen, Clay and Steve M. received 9:21 AM
Subject: Skirmish '08

Allen,
Did I say something wrong? I have sent you two emails regarding the game day and have not received a response.
Perhaps your email is down, so I am ccing Clay and Steve on this as well.
I wanted to know that if I wanted to put on an AE2 game, were there any slots open for the 2 PM session.
Regards,
Greg Pitts

Reply All from Clay, 9:24 AM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

I would like to have Greg's game on the schedule. This is the type of game that I would gladly move to 7 PM to accommodate.
Clay

Reply All from Greg, 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

If the schedule is full, it’s full. I don’t want to bump anyone. If 2 PM is not available, let me know what time slots are available and I will see what I can do.
Greg Pitts

Reply All from Allen, 9:55 AM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

Greg,

No idea what happened to other emails, I did not ever see them, oh well! I got your emails from today.
We certainly welcome your game.
It is not so much that 2pm is "full" as far as table space (although I have not laid out the room, I am sure we are OK), it is more a matter of "game slots" vs. "number of
people to plug into game slots". Right now we have:
9am - 7 events - 40 slots
2pm - 8 events - 56 slots
7pm - 7 events - 38 slots
So, as you can see 2pm is already pretty heavy as far as events and slots. (these numbers don't count the 2 tourneys). There is not a whole lot of point in having events with
no players to play them.
If you really need to do 2pm, you can, but I think 9am would be my first choice and 7pm my second choice as far as our needs.
thanks!
Allen

Reply All from Greg, 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

I am confused; or should I say need clarification. When you say that a particular time slot has “X” number of games and “Y” number of slots, does that mean, for example,
that the 2 PM time slot has 8 games scheduled, with room for 56 participants?
Greg Pitts

Reply All from Allen, 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

Your example is correct.

Reply All from Clay, 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

Greg, we will do well to have 75 people. The two tournies may account for 20 players, so the way I see it we are at player capacity at 2 PM. If we get more games that could change

Subject: Are we really so stupid?

My friends and fellow gamers,
This is just a note to say that I for one will not be attending Skirmish ’08. It was brought to my attention that one of our fellow gamers wanted to put on an event at Skirmish ’08,
but was told no, once the organizers found out that the game was a RPG game; specifically called “Occult Wars”. I know nothing about the game itself, so I looked online:
“Occult Wars is a set of rules that allow you to fight battles of good versus evil. You can recreate many of your favourite horror
characters portrayed in books, film and TV. Be they blade wielding day walkers, or Muffy slaying vampires with the aid of her crew. If
you wish, you can even choose to fight on the side of darkness; have your own werewolf clan or vampire coven. Be a warlock or witch.
You choose the legends and background to Occult Wars. If your vampires laugh at crosses and silver then make them that way. If a
silver bullet should send them back to hell then build that in to your background. The choice of what traits and vulnerabilities your
characters have is up to you. These rules are designed for flexibility and will not tie you to one person’s view of what a monster should
be like”.
OK, so I went a bit further and asked some others about the game:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=144357

From the responses, I don’t see a problem.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines “Occult” as:

“Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena.
Beyond the realm of human comprehension; inscrutable.
Available only to the initiate; secret: occult lore. See Synonyms at mysterious.
Hidden from view; concealed
I respect the right of any event organizer to restrict the events that will take place to those they deem are within the scope of the event. These restrictions must however be
disclosed, and the Skirmish ’08 website mentions nothing about any game type restrictions:

http://www.dfwirregulars.com/

The menu of games includes “Sci-Fi”; WWII “Sci-Fi”; and God forbid, “Pulp Fiction: “Dancing girls! Zombies! Nazis! …” …

Dancing girls? Zombies? Nazis?... But no; sorry, nothing that includes the work “Occult”.

I for one, find an inconsistency here.

The event which was not allowed was:

“Allen;

You'll have to excuse the format, as I cannot use Adobe Acrobat on this computer. I hope this format works. Here's the synopsis of the event I'd like to run:

Game Master - Mark Mahan

Session - 2 P. M. (Preferred, if possible. Got a thing for Steve's gladiator games)
Event Name - Something Rotten in Mesquite

Era - Modern Fantasy

Figures - 25mm

No. of Players - 6

Rules - Occult Wars

Event Description -

Something is not quite right in Old Mesquite, TX. Sightings of strange creatures roaming at night are prevalent. Strange happenings at the full moon
have been occuring for months and have ranchers flumoxed. Missing persons reports are on the rise. A cable worker's chance encounter with an agressive dog in
an alley leads to the discovery of a vampire's nest. Too bad for the Undead: the cable guy is a member of an elite vampire-slaying consortium dedicated to
eradicating the Undead and their ilk. The Watchers within the group report the Reborn have been congregating throughout DFW; to what purpose remains
unclear. Under cover of a staged cable outage, the group prepares to assault the compound and methodically eradicate all within. Providing backup are some
-intentioned rednecks from the surrounding area, bent on payback for livestock mutilation, and a few urban thugs whose stables have been thinned by
thirsty Reborn. Will the stalwart vampire hunters complete their mission? Or will the creatures of the night repel the forces of righteousness? Come find out...”

The response that Mark received was;

“Mark,
Thanks for offering to run a game at Skirmish. This event was always intended to be more-or-less historical games only. We have strayed off of this requirement to some
extent (possibly more than we should have). I have discussed your game proposal with the other guys who run the Skirmish show and we don't feel like Occult Wars is a game
system that is appropriate for what we are trying to do.

Also, our 2pm time slot is full; we do not need any more games in that session. If you possibly have another game you might be able to run, 9am would be the best time.

Again, thanks for the effort and we hope you understand our position.
thanks,
Allen Eldridge”

Curious, I enquired about running an AE2 game in the 2PM time slot. After sending two emails to Allen and receiving no response, I sent him a third, copying Clay Smith and
Steve Miller. Amazingly, I received a response: “Greg,
No idea what happened to other emails, I did not ever see them, oh well! I got your emails from today.

We certainly welcome your game.

It is not so much that 2pm is "full" as far as table space (although I have not laid out the room, I am sure we are OK), it is more a matter of "game slots" vs. "number of people to
plug into game slots". Right now we have:

9am - 7 events - 40 slots
2pm - 8 events - 56 slots
7pm - 7 events - 38 slots

So, as you can see 2pm is already pretty heavy as far as events and slots. (these numbers don't count the 2 tourneys). There is not a whole lot of point in having events with no
players to play them.

If you really need to do 2pm, you can, but I think 9am would be my first choice and 7pm my second choice as far as our needs.
thanks!
Allen”

As we can plainly see, the 2PM time slot was/is not full as Mark was told, and it seems that the convention organizers decided to censure his event simply because it was what
they deem a “Role Playing Game”.

In a time where miniature gaming is on the wane, and the simple fact that fantasy games and not historical games attract the most people, I cannot for the life of me understand
anyone holding an event that would preclude a certain audience from the event, particularly when the event site does not specifically state what will and what will not be allowed.

This is the epitome of stupidity, in my opinion.

Good luck guys! Continue to think small!

It appears to me you have a severe case of “Lone Star Historical Miniatures-itus”.

Get your shots.

Regards,

Greg Pitts

Reply All from Allen, 1:56 PM ---- Please understand that Allen HAD NOT RECEIVED the "Are we really so stupid?" email!
Yet somehow Allen reads right through the whole thing....
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

When dealing with Pitts, I try to be polite, but somewhat curt. I made a mistake in giving him too much info, I should have just told him "2pm is full, pick one of the other
times" period. Pitts modus operandi is to play mind games with "feigned hurt feelings", "indignation", and phony attempts to pretend he is your "buddy".

His comment to me about "Did I say something wrong, why aren't you answering my emails" is a load of crap, I don't believe for a minute that he sent me the mentioned
emails. I have no idea what the purpose of this mind game was, but I am sure it was a mind game.

Still, all in all, probably the "new Clay" is a better choice.

Reply All from Scott, 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

If he is being an asshole (Pitts, that is), Old Clay

Reply All from Clay, 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

I'm guessing you didn't receive his email.

Reply All from Clay, 2:41 PM - "New Clay" is struggling to hold it in, so lets off a little steam by sharing some thoughts with the other DFWIrregulars.
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

Various possible responses:

To Greg: "Please share the email addresses you sent that message to so I can respond."

To Greg: "On second thought, we have no room for you and your two friends to play a game that nobody else cares about."

On the website: Add a banner..."Skirmish '08 - Now guaranteed GREG PITTS FREE!"

To Greg: "When everyone finds out that you don't like us, we're going to need to rent a larger room."

To Greg: "Thanks for notifying us that you will not be attending. It will save us money on Kleenex."

On the LSHM Yahoo group: "Friends and fellow gamers, the Skirmish '08 staff is pleased to announce that our gamesday is now GREG PITTS FREE.
As we believe this will result in an increase in attendance, be sure to register early."

To Greg: "Please resend your message and this time include MY EMAILS to you. Unless of course you 'Didn't receive them'...wink wink.
They are the ones where I volunteered to move my game from 2 PM to 7 PM to accommodate you and showing the math about how we are
FULL on games at 2 PM."

Email from Steve Miller to Greg, Clay and Allen, 3:49 PM - the original "Are we really so stupid?" email is attached, and this is the first time Allen sees it.
Subject: Re: Are we really so stupid?

Greg,

I'm quite disappointed in your reaction. I thought we were way past this sort of stuff as we got older. I was apparently mistaken .

I really think you're knee jerking on this one. As you know, we don't run Skirmish as a "convention" and is strictly a GAMES Day for the DFW area. We definitely reserve the right;
as the folks that pay the bills, to say no to a game that we don't want or feel is inappropriate and have done so in this case.

As for "thinking small", that's really OK by us. If you want to think larger, please feel free to sponsor, organize and fund a multi-day convention in the DFW area. We deliberately chose
not to do so and have told you that on several occasions face to face. We have yet to see any action from you or your gaming group on this issue.

I think the flaming email attempt you sent was quite lame and didn't serve any other purpose other than to try and "p"our group off. Knowing our group as I do, the G.A.S. level
about your message hasn't even gone to 1 and probably won't. As for me, I started chuckling when I read it. It was comedic relief for a really crappy work day today...Thanks...I needed that!

Our Games Day will go on with or without your game and will be a great day for all who choose to be involved. You've got Allen's email address and are welcome (at least from me)
to put on your game if you so choose. If you don't choose to take part, enjoy your Saturday.

This response is my opinion only and should not reflect upon others in the DFWIrregulars. It is also the end of the virtual discussion on my part.

Steve Miller

Reply All from Greg, to Steve, Clay and Allen, 4:23 PM
Subject: Re: Are we really so stupid?

Whatever, Steve.
As you so candidly pointed out, some of us are, “way past this sort of stuff”. Evidently, you are not.
Apparently, you have not changed in some 20+ years, and neither have those you choose to associate with. From my perspective, you still seem satisfied dwelling in your
accepted level of mediocrity and discrimination. If something does not meet your pre-conceived level of acceptance, then it is taboo.
You still choose to be part of the problem and not part of the solution, and that’s just fine by me.
At least I now know where you stand.
Good luck!
Greg Pitts

Here is where I would like to point out (and remind Greg if he's forgotten) that Steve Miller and myself (Clay) had painted a DBA
army pack for Greg - for FREE, out of the kindness of our hearts. To quote Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, "Sometimes, don't you feel cheated?"

Reply All from Allen, to Greg and this time including all of the other DFWIrregulars (Clay, Steve M., Scott and Steve B.) and including the
original "Are you so stupid?" email so now all of us have seen it. 5:45 PM
Subject: Re: Are we really so stupid?

Greg,
There are a couple of issues I would like to address:
1. Our rejection of the Occult Wars game at Skirmish.
Whether or not this game is appropriate for Skirmish is a matter of opinion, I don't see a whole lot of point in arguing about it, you have your opinion and we have ours. But since it is our show, it is our opinion
that must prevail, notwithstanding definitions of the word Occult from dictionaries and comments from 3 guys on TMP who say "we like the game".
2. Emails and whether the 2pm Skirmish session is "full"
First of all, you imply that I am lying when I say that I did not receive your original two emails. Yes "amazingly" I did not receive those emails, what email address did you send them to, please forward a copy
of them to me showing when and where they were sent.
Whether or not the 2pm session was full had nothing to do with our declining the Occult Wars game, and I told Mark Mahan as much, I explained to him the reason for rejecting the game was because of the
game system, this was in another email I sent to Mark that you may not have seen (I did not realize it was important for you to see personal emails between myself and Mark). If it was a time issue, he could
have run the game at either 9am or 7pm, but that was not the issue.
The only reason that a 2pm slot was open for your game was that Clay was graciously offering to MOVE his game to accomodate YOU! You now try to use this as evidence of our dishonesty.
It seems clear to me (perhaps I am wrong) that you never intended to run a game at Skirmish, but were simply asking about running a game at 2pm to "fish" for information to use in your indignant email to your
fellow gamers.
By the way, you stated that
"'I respect the right of any event organizer to restrict the events that will take place to those they deem are within the scope of the event. These restrictions must however be disclosed, and the Skirmish ’08
website mentions nothing about any game type restrictions".
These restrictions MUST be disclosed??? Where, exactly, would I find the law or statute on this, I would love to see it.
Allen

Reply All from Allen to the DFWIrregulars, 6:00 PM
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

I just copied you on a response to Pitts that should help explain (I am not even sure I understand what is going on)

From what I can tell the sequence of events was:
1. Pitts emails allen, clay, steve m. claiming that I ignored two earlier emails and that he wants to run a skirmish game at 2pm.
2. I answered that I did not get any earlier emails, he is welcome to run a game, but 2pm is pretty much full, he should run his game at 9am or 7pm.
3. Clay replied offering to move his game, opening up a slot for Pitts to do a game at 2pm.
4. Turns out the asshole did not want to run a game, he was just fishing for info to support his venomous email to his "fellow gamers".
5. I was out for a couple hours and when I got back I finally saw his venomous email, not sure who it went to, the only way I even knew it existed
was from Steve M.'s reply to Pitts in which the email was quoted.
6. He's not coming to Skirmish, GOOD, he can GRUCK HIMSELF!! I always tried to be nice to the prick, I see where that got me.

Allen

Reply All from Steve M. to Greg, Clay and Allen, 6:20 PM
Subject: Re: Are we really so stupid?

Greg:
You're a pitiful soul. Are you on hard drugs or just mental? What are you talking about? You don't make any sense whatsoever. As usual, you go off on a tangent, rant like
a 2 year old and whine the tired "poor little ole me" routine. I won't tell you to stay home and don't come to Skirmish. That's what you want. I've seen this in your virtual relationship
with most of the DFW gaming community. You like head games and frankly you're on a head trip. Enjoy playing with yourself Greg. I'm not playing the game with you.
Come to Skirmish, put on a game or not. I really don't care two whits and have wasted more bandwidth on answering your drivel than was necessary.
See ya' there (or not). I'm done.

Reply All from Greg to Steve M., Clay and Allen, 6:40 PM
Subject: Re: Are we really so stupid?

Whatever, Steve.

Greg Pitts

Reply All from Scott to the DFWIrregulars, 6:42 PM
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

Ah.....
Enlightment......
Thank you for including me in your response to the grithead. Now that I have a reasonable idea of what the whole exchange was, I'd like
to change my abstainment to a recommendation of telling him where to shove it, what angle to shove it in at and how far he can shove it.

The arrogant grick.

I understand the need to keep some semblance of peace with the grickhead since he could play a major spoiler as far as convincing people not
to attend (which is unfortunate, but I think this is may be true), but if I never see the lying, conniving S.O.B. again in my lifetime,
I won't consider it a loss.

As far as the response asked for earlier, now I like the:

On the LSHM Yahoo group: "Friends and fellow gamers, the Skirmish '08 staff is pleased to announce that our gamesday is now GREG PITTS FREE.
As we believe this will result in an increase in attendance, be sure to register early."

Reply All from Allen to the DFWIrregulars, 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: Greg Pitts Situation

Pitts told me several weeks ago that he was NOT going to run an event. So today he emails and specifically asks about running a game in the 2pm slot.

Pitts whole point was to get us to say that the 2pm slot was NOT full.

Before I could answer, Clay volunteered to move his game, and I subsequently told Pitts that 2pm was pretty much full and we would rather he do his game at 9am or 7pm.

Even though Pitts did not get the answer he was fishing for, he just CLAIMED that he did in his hate email. His claim is that we LIED to Mark Mahn
and told Mark that he could not do his Occult Wars game because 2pm was full.

The funny thing is, I NEVER told Mark Mahan that the reason we were declining his game was because 2pm was full, I have no idea why Pitts is fixated on this.
In fact, I told Mark that we were declining his game because of the game system.

So, Pitts initial email to us today was to try to "catch us in a lie" about whether the 2pm slot was full, which is ridiculous because that was irrelevent.

Pitts LIE about sending me two "earlier" emails was simply a "smoke screen"
to make it look like he had not suddenly decided to do a game.

It's funny, before I saw Pitts hate email (and realized what this was all about), I said to you guys (earlier today)
"His comment to me about "Did I say something wrong, why aren't you answering my emails" is a load of crap, I don't believe for a minute that he sent me the mentioned
emails. I have no idea what the purpose of this mind game was, but I am sure it was a mind game."

I had a GUT feeling he was up to something, but did not know what it was.
Allen

Reply All from Greg. to the five DFWIrregulars, 6:49 PM
Subject: Re: Are we really so stupid?

Whatever, Allen.
As you point out, no need to argue about it.
Enjoy your game day.
I wish all of you the success you deserve.
Greg Pitts

Email from Dave Bennett to Allen, 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: Skirmish '08

Gak, that Greg Pitts is a dick with ears isn't he. He pulled a very similar stunt on us at Millennium last year, signing up to run a game, then storming off in a loud huff
complaining on TMP about us over some percieved slight. I don't remember the exact details but it had something to do with him wanting more tables than we were
willing to assign to him as I recall. He didn't hurt our attendance, I doubt he will hurt yours either although he will piss and moan on his yahoogroup and the ancients
groups he lurks on.
See ya next month (see I'm still coming ;-)
Dave

Email from Greg to Allen and the other DFWIrregulars, Friday, June 6th, 2:24 PM
Subject: Skirmish '08

Allen,
Some of my closest friends have stated that I may have been a bit harsh in my criticism of you and the other game day organizers for Skirmish ’08.
Personally, I think I showed a lot of restraint.
Any event organizer has the right to limit the content of their event. It is however, proper etiquette to post a disclaimer on one’s site when you will arbitrarily determine what is and
is not acceptable. When you display an advertisement as you have, meaning the Skirmish ’08 website, you ask for games without any type of qualifying statement for what is, and is not allowed.
Go ahead and get an attorney. You could be sued for this lack of disclosure. I can’t really believe that anyone would sue as there are other issues such as damages to be considered.
However, since your event is a commercial enterprise, I believe you might want to include a disclosure in the future, which totally eliminates the problem.
As for my implying that you lied about game slots being full for the 2PM time slot, let there be no misunderstanding. The simple fact of the matter is that you did lie. Your own words show
that you did, and there is absolutely no reason for you to claim otherwise; it’s black & white and in print.
I actually was considering running a game. Had you responded to either of my emails and simply stated the time slot was full, all would have been well. I emailed you at the email address on
the Skirmish website. If this email address is incorrect, you may wish to speak with your web master.
When you and your other associates started this venture I was one of your biggest supporters. After the immature and name calling emails I received from Steve Miller last night, it becomes
quite apparent to me that for at least some of you, this event is nothing more than an ego trip, and I will have nothing to do with it. While I firmly believe that some of you are well intended,
for others it seems to me to be nothing more than an outlet for their own ego.
I honestly wish you all the success in your venture. My apologies to you and your co-organizers if my actions seem out of line, but facts are facts.
Greg Pitts

Email from Clay to the DFWIrregulars, Friday, June 6th, 3:40 PM
Subject: Skirmish '08

He's still sending emails. Please do me a favor and do not respond. Let him talk to the hand!
There is no point in arguing with this guy. Absolutely, totally ignoring him in all ways possible is the way to take the spotlight off of him.