I think I last followed the game regularly when the slipped back to Britain after the Irish caper; are there only 3 regular players at current?

There are only three players, yes. Stéphane (who played JB and Hamid) left the group because the campaign direction didn't suit him; Martin (who played Zhang) moved to France, and not surprisingly wasn't up to gaming via Skype from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. in his TZ; and my good friend Mike (who played Vinnie) passed away last April.