Hello
Well, real life has a way of intruding on my hobby projects. Between work, family and other random things my wife…erm, I mean "life in general" throws my way to impose real responsibilities on my time the magazine reviews have really taken a back seat over the Summer and early Autumn.
But I'm armed with the latest output from the Big Three of Wargames magazines and I will resume the reviews but first off…now that I've had a sabbatical and can see the overall pattern of how each title has fared over 12-18 months, what has been my overall impressions of all three during my first phase of reviewing?
WARGAMES SOLDIERS & STRATEGY.
Summary: Predictable, but in a good way. The solid format of bite sized battle, Priestley, scenario, theme, figure check, guest writer, reviews, modelling, Clarke, sign off works, especially when the theme chimes with your own area of interest. Instead of restricting the magazine, it gives plenty of scope within the framework.
Star Writer: Richard Clarke is a favourite and I really enjoy his column.
Best Bit: Funnily enough, the smaller scenarios are great for club nights and I get a lot of use from them.
Room for Improvement: More 15mm and 20mm product reviews, please.
MINIATURE WARGAMES (with BATTLEGAMES).
Summary: Unpredictable, but in a good way. Considering the format and Henry's length of tenure are the newest of the three, this has more of an old-school, traditional feel about it. The writers are all long standing veterans; you can tell by the prose, and you feel like you're in the company of battle hardened experts. It can be mercurial and scattergun in what it covers, you never know what you'll get next (even the preview of next month's issue doesn't reveal that much) or what tone each issue will be like.
Star Writer: I'm not going for the regular columnists, I'm going to plump for Andrew Rolph. This guy knows how to write a scenario or campaign! Everyone else, take note. He doesn't just give you background, map, OOBs and some special rules…he gives you an entire kit, minus the figures and terrain pieces.
Best Bits: It's a very practical magazine with most articles being useful for your club or weekend games. The scenarios are consistently good. But if there's one thing it's really good at, it's finding interesting articles about the history of wargaming or how it's done in other countries.
Room For Improvement: Whilst having opinions is good, and hearing different takes on the hobby is valuable, there's a certain….shall we say, didactic approach to some of the columnists when it comes to opinion pieces. It's one thing to read about how someone has discovered a better way of doing things, it's another to slam all other ways of doing them, or liking different kinds of games. Guys, dial it down, don't set up targets to knock down or start arguments.
WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED.
Summary: Unpredictable, but not always in a good way. When it's good it's very, very good but when it's not…well, not exactly horrid, but frustrating to read nonetheless. I've hit the highs and lows with this title. Highs: Taking the High Ground and Amphibious Assault themes. Lows: Franco-Prussian War and "What If…" themes. I know people moan about it being a corporate house magazine with too much emphasis on the new, shiny and mainly Nottingham based set but that doesn't bother me in the slightest. This is not the magazine for the old-school, who love to seek out obscure reference tomes and even more obscure figure ranges, this is the magazine for those who are perhaps newer to the hobby or who aren't as well versed in the ways of obscure points. Presentation is generally very high all round, which is another plus. However, the text and content is very variable.
Star Writer: Barry Hilton can be very good; if he remembers to include scenario stats for his battles. However, one name stood out for me over the last year and a bit: Andy Hoare. His Savage Wars of Peace series was a consistently high spot even when the rest of the issues were a bit so-so.
Best Bits: The photography is fantastic but I'd say I really like the Flames of War scenarios which crossover into battle reports as well. Something that can be applied across to other games and eras.
Room For Improvement: Practical content. I appreciate the occasional article about a Ron Ringrose megagame or a particularly attractive game or convention report, but most of a wargames magazine content has to have something the reader can pick up and play or else use during their club and weekend games. Too many "scenarios" are mostly slabs of historical text interspersed with pretty pictures or else self-indulgent battle reports. Recently there have been a lot of pages devoted to either re-enactments or dioramas…both military history, but not wargames.
builds a pond for his campaign.
