"Miniature Wargames to merge with Battlegames" Topic

Announcement here:

link

Not the biggest surprise in the world if I'm honest (the 6 issue subscription was a bit of a hint).

I hope that Henry can maintain the best parts of Battlegames in the new combined magazine – at least as far as this announcement suggests it's not going the way of the ill fated "MWAN – Courier" merger.

There's some things in Battlegames that would seem ideal for MW (thinking of the terrain making articles mainly), and there's also a pool of "comment writers" (possibly, whisper it, a few too many ?) but I hope that in the new MW Henry can reserve a page or two that will be, forever, Old School. Surely he realises his Imaginations articles have been the nearest thing to the classic Hyboria articles in modern times ?

On a personal note – Slightly sad that an article Henry accepted some time ago for Battlegames will probably never appear now (maybe in MW? But I've been in MW before ).

Battlegames is much better than MW (IMO), so I look forward to Henry's management and contribution.

MW could never get good photographs.

Just popping along to say that I shall be adding more details as soon as I can here, on WD3, the Battlegames Facebook page and my blog.

All Battlegames subscribers will be receiving a letter very shortly (they were posted out on Monday) and I shall also be sending out an email newsletter to those who have signed up on the Battlegames home page.

This is a very exciting challenge for me and I'm going to be doing my best to make sure we get it right.

Henry
facebook.com/battlegames

Schogun – I agree. I buy Battlegames every issue (well, subscribe) but MW is only occasional these days.

But, since Battlegames is going into MW I presume that MW has the biggest sales – which means that the merged magazine will probably be MW-like with a few touches of Battlegames about it. Who in a merger do you annoy most – the bigger or the smaller readership ? Who can you least afford to lose ? So, anything else would seem like magazine-suicide!

On the plus side – it should work out better overall than a non-gaming merger : when Battle "merged" into Mil' Mod' the modelers were never happy about it, and eventually got their way by gettingn rid of all the gaming side (it moved to Practical Wargamer – which didn't get merged with Mil Mod : learning from history in action).

@20thMaine

Let me be categorical: the magazine will very much bear the hallmark of Battlegames, with the focus on the "gaming" in "wargaming". It will, after all, be me at the tiller, and my instructions from Atlantic Publishing are clear.

I shall be working hard to make the marriage work to the benefit of both sets of readers. As you can imagine, I have a huge task ahead of me, but I shall be doing my best to clarify matters over the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I want to pay tribute to Andrew Hubback who has steered MW through five very difficult years, and he will be saying his farewells in issue 360 which comes out in March.

Henry

Well, I'm guessing that the letter will tell me that the residual of the sub' will transfer to MW – and I'm happy with that. I hope with a monthly mag' you'll still have time to write some of it as well – Henry I genuinly enjoy your articles in Battlegames, often the best thing in the mag'. (If I was on WD3 right now I'd have to post some self-deprecating emoticon before I got accussed of having a "dun nez" !).

Let's see how it goes. I hope it goes well :- I want it to go well. Good Luck !

Sad to see MW go … wishing the new magazine all the best with the future and sincerely hope that WH Smith carries on with stocking the mag .

"Sad to see MW go"

It's not going anywhere. Battlegames is going.

Jaz
6sided.net

I guess that solves the problem of shelf space for me!

I had to give up MW several issues back due to a lack of shelf space, and the digital version didn't really do it for me.

I hope they keep Dark Horizons and The High Ground.

@Pedrobear

"Miniature Wargames will continue to be fiercely independent under Henry's command. The publication will showcase the hobby in all its many and varied aspects, including historical, fantasy, sci-fi and ‘imagi-nations', covering all scales from 3mm to 54mm, suiting all styles from Kriegsspiel counters to the most exquisite miniatures, from ‘old school' to ‘new school', and all age groups "from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty" as H G Wells famously wrote. In short, our intention is to ensure that Miniature Wargames is the flagship of the hobby, equipped to face the next 30 years."

Decisions about specific columns have yet to be taken, but as stated above, the range of subject matter will continue to be as wide as possible. I'm very much a 'broad church' man, and the magazine will reflect that.

Henry

Well, Henry, I trust your judgement – I am one of those who were behind you when BG hit a rough patch a few years back, and I am still 100% behind you. :)

No brainer.

I can't help but feel that MW will at last be getting back to what it once was. If ever a man could steer it to its former glory its Henry.

I haven't cared for the "new" Battlegames, whereas I found myself buying MW more than in years past; I'm not sure I like this news. We'll have to see; the proof is in the pudding. Oooh! Pudding!

New Battlegames ?

Miniature BattleGames & Puddings monthly – now there's a thought :)

Poop! Just last week, I finally got around to getting a Battlegames subscription through On Military Matters because I couldn't get it through my local store. Now with this change, if I decide to continue to get the new Miniatures Wargames, I will be able to get it from my store again, so dont need the subscription.

& to throw my input in the pudding mix, I don't buy Miniatures Wargames, but have missed getting Battlegames greatly. So having the new magazine more like BG than MW would please me greatly.

I really like BG due to it being about the gaming of wargaming instead of the war part. I just cancelled my subscription to Wargames Illustrated because it's become more of a military history magazine & not so much a warGAMING magazine.

Good luck Henry & I look forward to the synergy of both magazines joining.

Battlegames is much better than MW (IMO),

I agree. I have ALL the Battlegames issues, but pick and choose the MW mags according to content.

My local WH Smiths always stocked MW but doesn't always have Battlegames in, here's hoping the new mag is still available!

I trust Henry; and I will have the Manchester tart please, with custard.

@Unrepentant

Yes -- as far as WH Smith are concerned, nothing will have changed, so MW will continue to be available in all the usual places.

@Ben

I thought you were on a diet? ;)

Henry

Henry,

Firstly, congratulations on your appointment as editor of the combined magazine. I'm sure you will do a fantastic job of combining the best bits of both to produce the premier wargaming mag.

Secondly, what will happen to those of us who currently subscribe to both? I would guess that the easiest solution is to add x/y/z issues to our existing subscriptions.

To everyone else – pudding? You want pudding? Not me – I want bacon!

@TamsinP

Thanks. Your question about subscriptions there is a good one. No idea, I'll get back to you.

Henry

"Miniature Battle Wargames"? :)

Battlegames holds the advantage for me over the other mags in that it generally gives a cover to cover read, but I do not want to see MW die and simply be replaced by BG – a true merger / marriage would be good.

My fave mag of all time was Practical Wargamer, I feel that BG has probably come closest in stsyle to that mag but perhaps and hopefully the merger will result in something that is even closer.

Anyway, there is an importance in keeping the mag on the magazine stands (WH SMITHS here) so that there remains a public presence. Whenever I go into Smiths, I drag one of the mags out into a more prominant position, hoping it catches the eye of an unsuspecting new recruit!

Always loved Battlegames. like Norm Smith says, it is interesting all the way through. I hope that MW will continue in this style. Something for everyone. I'm sure Henry will find a way to make that happen.

simply,
good luck Henry

I agree with Normsmith. I'm hoping the merger will bring MW closer to the outstanding Practical Wargamer. Battlegames was as close a successor to PW as I have seen so this should be an ideal merger.
Henry, will there be a new binder to take account of this merger or will the standard MW binder continue?

Gerard
Barely legal wargamers

@Gerard

Asking about binders, you're well ahead of the curve! :-D. I'm sure we'll devise a suitable home for your magazines. Details will be in the magazine in due course.

Henry

P.S. I have the complete collection of Practical Wargamers too. That, and Battle, are what inspired me to create Battlegames.

I'll ask then: What happens to Andrew Hubback?

Congrats, Henry. As I've mentioned before I believe Battlegames, in some ways, was the intellectual heir to MWAN. Although I stopped buying MW several years ago, I will certainly give it another look now.

Battlegames is far superior to PW. Don't get me wrong, PW was good, but it was very old school in every respect, especially the people who contributed to it. Battlegames combines the best of PW whilst being contemporary and relevant today. My hope is that Henry will drag MW up to the same standard. WI is turning into a joke.

I wish Henry well and will be happy to see my subscription to BG gobble up my fairly regular newsstand purchase of MW. Like Pedrobear, I feel sorry for Andrew Hubback, who I have thought (through the pages) is a thoroughly decent guy, confirmed when I chatted to him at the Reading show in 2011 on one of my infrequent visits to the UK. MW was lifting, I thought, under his editorship, but financial realities etc are what they are.

@Pedrobear

I don't know precisely – I've been fully engaged in dealing with my surprise 'promotion' – so you'll have to ask Andrew himself. But he's a highly professional and talented man who I'm sure will be moving on to something consummate with his skills. It may be that he pops up in another role at Atlantic, at least in part, since he has a wide journalistic background and Atlantic delivers a range of hobby titles. But that will, of course, be a private matter between Andrew and Atlantic.

I have many reasons to be grateful to Andrew personally and I shall certainly be doing what I can to ensure the transition is as painless as possible.

Henry

Miniature BattleGames & Puddings monthly – now there's a thought :)

And pies, We like pies.

<<….and I will have the Manchester tart please, with custard.>>

She's just rung to say she doesn't do the custard thing any more (gives her a rash apparently). However, whipped cream is still available (or, if you prefer, creamed whip) at no extra cost.

Bravo, Henry.

Bacon pies…..

… and tarts, nice sticky ones.

I'm looking forward to the new MW, I reckon Henry will do a sterling job.

I'm going to miss that red cover Henry – the MW covers are rather dull and prosaic IMHO.

But otherwise I will judge it on the content – prefer BG to MW, so if BG gets too "lost" then I will not be buying. Simples :-)

But (part 2) early days, so I will not prejudge, and I await the new magazine with interest, especially as my local Smith's stocks MW.

Finally, is the latest BG the last BG?

Good luck to all.

@Marc

One more BG to go, number 34 published 12th March.

I shall also, of course, be sad to see the red cover go, having designed it in the first place; but I can assure you that the new look is equally dramatic.

Henry

Congratulations Henry, quite an adventure for a new year.
L. Locke
Adler Miniatures

Latest MW is out today, just picked it up, a nice issue. Itgives no hint concerning the recent announcement.

@normsmith

That's because it had already gone to press just before any of these decisions had been taken by Atlantic. Issue 360 will carry more details, out on 22nd March or thereabouts with the Salute show guide.

Henry

THANK YOU

As you can imagine, it's been a mad couple of weeks, and I just wanted to drop in and say "thank you" for the huge number of messages of support and encouragement I've received here, on other online forums, blogs and via email and even good, old-fashioned telephone. I can't tell you how much it means to receive so much goodwill – and not for the first time, because many of the voices are the same ones as stood by me when Battlegames went through difficult times.

I also want to thank readers of and contributors to Miniature Wargames who are again, overwhelmingly, apparently giving me the benefit of the doubt and will, at the very least, wait and see what I do rather than pre-judging. I truly appreciate that and I'm sure Battlegames readers also understand how perplexing it must feel to have your favourite magazine apparently boarded by pirates. I can only assure you that, as has been said in the official press releases and my online comments, I'm going to be doing everything in my power to repay your faith in me and create for all of us – and I include myself in that, because I'm a reader too! – the best possible magazine I can for the hobby.

Inevitably, there are some who are not so happy about these developments, and of course it's foolish to imagine that you can please everyone. I especially sympathise with those who feel a strong personal loyalty to Andrew Hubback. These circumstances were not of my making, and I hope I have made it clear that I have a very high regard for Andrew personally, but I have been thrust into this position and must make it work. To those, then, who are genuinely unhappy with the changes, I can only offer my genuine commisserations, but the hobby is a big place and there are still plenty of alternatives if I'm unable to provide what they want.

Thanks, and have a great weekend. I'm off to record a Meeples & Miniatures special with Neil Shuck.

Henry

fantasy, sci-fi and ‘imagi-nations'
----------------------
Actually as much as I not interested in FOW in WI, the above – esp imagi-nations – interest me even less and the fantasy, sci-fi content plus the photos if one reason I stopped buying MW (I know that imagi-nations is not MW) a long time ago but still subscribe to WI.

Well Henry, I hope issue 34 goes out with a bang.

And then I look forward to seeing the "new" MW.

Let's hope it succeeds, as currently there are more magazines to do with cycling than wargaming – how many pictures of bikes does one need :-)

M.W, has been artistically terrible for a decade at
least. The last two editors have been behind the pace.
Battlegames was a brave attempt but still didn't hit the
mark IMHO. A touch dated in it.s look but some good
content but not enough.
Sad to see it go.
Henry comes with much experience and we all learn in
time by our mistakes , I am sure will be a great
improvement. I hope it has a modern and stylish feel as
WSS with high end articles and losses the bits like Imaginations 70s stuff which can give a crusty feel.
Only occasionally please.
Good luck.

Accepting the premise that WSS – which I like – is 'modern and stylish' – a phrase that fills me with dread, since it can usually be translated as 'style rather than substance' – surely there is no point MW/BG aping WSS or WI.
It should – and under Henry's editorship, I believe will – have an individual ethos/style of its own. There are those of us who like ImagiNations and Old School wargaming – why shouldn't just one of the three wargame magazines cater for our interests?

and losses the bits like Imaginations 70s stuff which can give a crusty feel.
------------------
whilst i know some people like ImagiNations, other than in a modern context i would think its a minority interest

Gn – I often fewel my Napoleonics are Imagi-Nations – what with the mix of uniforms and organisations I have in my armies- bicornes, shakos, Polish lancers, Carabinier with bearskins, Young Guard etc etc.