"Has B&N Dropped Wargames:Soldiers & Strategy?" Topic

…Or maybe it's just mine? Last time I visited Barnes & Noble, I didn't see it. Not unusual, since they loved to move it around all over the racks. I asked, and the lady said that it wasn't in their system, and was likely purged a couple of weeks prior. I don't know why, it has sold relatively well; I always take note, because I have always been paranoid (I wonder why).

Did anyone else catch the latest issue at their B&N?

You could ask them.

Mine never carried it in the first place. The only wargaming mag I ever saw there was White Dwarf and that was only one time. Havent seen it there since.

You could ask them.

"Not in the system". Blank look. Patiently waiting for you to leave.

Back in my day …

I found one at a B+N exactly one year ago,,havent seen it since.Of course,I havent looked very hard,as the closest branch is 40 miles away.

The B&N near me had the last issue, I know for sure because I bought it there, but I have not seen the latest issue yet. They do carry other magazines by the same publishers (Ancient Warfare and Medieval Warfare), and both of these magazines came in just a couple of days ago.

Not sure if it's changed since I last worked at a B&N, but they used to have considerable control over what mags they got on a store-by-store basis, rather than having everything dictated by corporate HQ. You still couldn't order things the company as a whole didn't carry, but there's a much larger pool of mags than any one store is likely to get, and the local manager in charge of the section could pick-and-choose which ones to stock.

I think it is gone as well – haven't seen it for a while.

Last I saw the magazine in our local B&N was october 2012. An employee told me the magazine was in their system but we couldn't find it on the shelf. After four months of checking and not seeing it I asked wargames via their facebook page. Was told they would contact their north america rep who deals with B&N and find out what was going on.

Chains such as B&N can and often do change their orders from issue to issue. In the case of WSS, they have decreased their print order over this year, while Books-a-Million has been increasing theirs. It's still in their overall chain however, so the stores should be able to get it if you ask for it.

I picked up #67 last month. I expect to see #68 in the beginning of Oct. here in NY.

They get it at my local B&N but it's always 6 – 8 weeks after the issue date. They only get about 4 copies, so lucky for me my wife works there and sort of keeps an eye out for it. I really liked when they carried Wargames Illustrated, sorry to see that one not carried anymore.

I don't believe mine has ever carried it. Then again it's not a magazine that I look for nor buy.

They do carry all versions of the Strategy & Tactics magazines, which I do buy.

I've never checked my B&N; my local Books and Co. carries it.

I was always Johnny on the spot when it came in, and always bought one of (I'm pretty certain) six issues. By the time the next one came, there were two or three left. So no, no one's making money hand over fist, but they were selling some.

Looking at some of the outlandish niche titles on their stand, two and three copies at a time, I can't imagine WSS was selling particularly bad by comparison.

Of course, as B+N shrinks their books kept in store, they have expanded all non book stuff- which includes a lot of games- some quite good. But there are so many reasons they drop magazines, one being it doesn't sell, another being they have an issue with the publisher (or vice versa),

Generally there is one or two people per store that are in charge of the magazines. But if you talk to anyone that knows what they are doing (asst manager, etc.) they have a ton of info on mags in their system.

If you REALLY like a magazine, you really should SUBSCRIBE to it. This way the magazine actually gets some more money and can afford to keep going. Some companies put their mags in a store and make no money off it just to get word out there so people can subscribe and make it worth their while. Not enough sales (really, not enough subs) means the mag will close, or worse yet be sold to some major company that waters down the content, and starts putting in ads for gold coins, hearing aids, and boner pills.

Based on the last two issues ( which hit my local B&N in early June and August) i too expect the next issue early October…

Here in buffalo they dropped. MINIATURE Wargames a year ago and started getting WSS. Last one was samurai on the cover in early August. Checking tomorrow as its always been very late but this is the latest so I expect the worst…

Correct that…it was WI not MW.

I have been able to get them at mine. However, the most recent issue has yet to be out os I am wondering if they stopped get WSS.

That's most likely a matter of timing. WSS 68 came out on August 25th. It generally takes easily a month to ship it to North America.

You could always order it from your FLGS, or, if you don't have one in your area, from On Military Matters. We carry all the major miniature magazines -- single issue and subscriptions.