"In praise of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy" Topic

Today is a rare day off work and I sat down to read the latest issue of WSS this morning, before I start I have no affiliation to the magazine or any others.

I have been gaming like many on here for 30 plus years and in that time have seen many Wargames Magazines come and go, those that have been around for years have changed dramatically too over that time.

As I was reading the WSS Mag (Issue 82 Duel in the Desert) I began to realise how much I now enjoy this magazine. Back in the day when tinterwebnet didn't exist I read magazines from cover to cover many times, mostly I suppose because that was the only source of gaming news. Once again with WSS I am doing that again, picking up the mag and reading cover to cover.

The excellent mix of columns from the likes of Rick Priestly & toofatlardies Richard Clarke add to the wonderful figure book and game reviews (with pictures so you can make your own mind up). Painting and Terrain building tutorials plus gaming articles are mixed just right.

The only minor niggle I had was that each individual magazine has its own theme period and if that's not a period you do then there is less to read. But I now find myself reading the whole thing.

In this age of instant information on the Web from the many wargames blog sites (hold my hand up l'm responsible for some of that "stuff") I really glad to be back reading a magazine again !

Henry Hyde is turning Miniature Wargames around, I loved his previous Battlegames publication and he has brought the ethos of that magazine to MR, I have just resubscribed to MR so here's hoping.

As for Wargames Illustrated I gave up when it became a Flames of War fanzine.

Back to the mag and a brew before the Darts begins

Happy New Year

Regards, Ken
yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

Yes I really like WSS also. Get it whenever I can, not many places carry it here in SE Michigan.

Zulu there is a digital version available. Easy to subscribe to

I agree with the original poster. I subscribe to the hard copy and look forward to receiving it in the mail.

Thanks for the kind words guys! Zulupaul, as far as availability and depending on exactly where in SE MI you are, it's available from B&N in Troy, Ann Arbor, Grosse Point, Northville, Troy and if you're really in the south, Toledo OH.

You know, WI is no longer owned by the FOW folks.

I'm not a WW2 guy at all, but they did present the genre beautifully.

Hi Flashman 14th, I just became aware of that last week but it's got a long way to get my confidence back.

However this isn't about WI & FOW it's about how good WSS is !

Cheers Ken
yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

WSS remains widely available in newsagents here, whilst oddly, just recently they all seem to have ditched MW for WI – which used to be easy to find, but then disappeared for a few years; probably related to the change of ownership, I expect.

It seems the rule is that no more than two miniatures wargaming mags can be stocked at any one time.

I subscribe to the digital ancients mag and WSS. I agree they are 1st rate! I will be resubscribing.

thanks,

John

Thanks Ancientwarfare, I live close to Ann Arbor, I didn't know B&N carried it!

Not all of them do, but I just got a fresh listing from the distributor, so it's easy to check. :-)

It's a great all-round magazine. Yes, it sticks to a format but the format is good, so don't go messing around with it (although the graphics and typeface have altered with the latest issue).

OK, I'm going to say this one more time on TMP for anyone who hasn't heard this before….WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED IS NOT A FLAMES OF WAR FANZINE!
1. It's no longer controlled by Battlefront
2. FoW content never exceeded 30% of the entire issue and, yes, I have the stats to prove it
3. WI is a fanzine for EVERY trendy game being published! It loves everything.

OK ubercommando as I said above this was a post about how good WSS is and not about how much of a FOW fanzine WI was and as I haven't looked at it in a while it might still be.

I am however entitled to my own opinion, you can have all the stats you like, I bought WI from Issue 1 and stopped buying it because IMO it became a FOW FANZINE. I tried and tried and tried to stay loyal but just got fed up of the constant FOW barrage, yes there was other articles, yes there were great photos etc but by your stats you were never more than 3 or 4 pages off a FOW article and I bet a lot less of a FOW advert or calendar sponsored by FOW. Nothing wrong with that if you play FOW but I don't and therefore I stopped buying it and started to buy magazines that would introduce me to new games rather than constantly ram the same one down my throat.

If you are having to SHOUT out loud against a mass of people saying the FOW was / is a FOW Fanzine, maybe the mass have a point !

But back on track, ain't WSS brilliant !!

Regards Ken
yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

But back on track, ain't WSS brilliant !!

Depends.

The Mrs got me a subscription for it last year, which I have subsequently let lapse. Simple reason is when the magazine has a theme period that I'm not interested in, I find myself not reading it from cover to cover. In fact, I ended giving issues 78, 79 & 80 to my dad to read.

I'd rather wait now for an issue to come out and if I like it, I'll buy it.

When WSS does cover a period I'm interested in, I find wholly entertaining and worth the money (I really enjoyed issues 74 & 76 for example), just not entertaining enough to justify a subscription any more!

Cheers Norrins,

That's the joy of opinions! I know where you're coming from and it's something I struggled with initially but now I just tend to read it all the way through.

Regards Ken
yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

Yes, you have your opinion about WI being a FoW fanzine. It wasn't. The amount of issues I've reviewed and have in my collection doesn't bear that out. Never more than 30% of the overall content, and that 30% was one single issue over a 3 year period: The Fate of A Nation issue.

Other than that, the amount of FoW articles in your average issue of WI is 2 over that same period. They did a theme issue covering a new FoW release about once every 4 issues.

Your "fanzine" opinion just isn't borne out by facts and I think it does the magazine a disservice to call it that based on your subjective reading of a few issues some time ago.

The reason I have to shout this out is that, like Chinese Whispers, a claim not supported by evidence starts a negative rumour and rumours have a nasty way of sticking in the minds of those who haven't looked at the facts.

Have to agree with ubercommando re WI on this one.
I too find WSS the best read of all three mags though, partly because of the way the articles are laid out, short background history setting the scene, review of the forces involved with OOB (OOB and the relevant rules played are always a must in my book) , and how the action plays out. Easy to read fonts, well laid out with good pictures which don't dominate for the sake of it. Add in some good columnists who are usually worth reading, and the excellent reviews pages and I usually find myself reading virtually everything from cover to cover. I find sci-fi doesn't float my boat so I'm afraid I gave the Antares article a miss this edition, and the 'how to' articles in all the mags are only relevant to you if you need them to be so I skip those as well. But otherwise it's the best value for money on the shelf I think. I even find myself reading the issues whose theme isn't especially my field of interest (except sci-fi) because the mag draws you in and keeps you interested.

Ubercommando I take it that you either own or contribute to the FOW FANZINE.

This whole thread was a discussion on WSS and twice above I tried to steer the thread back to the actual topic rather than having you don a balaclava and pistol to hijack this thread. There are other topics on this board which discuss WI and you have been quite vocal on those, why take over this as well.

I am entitled to my opinion and you yours however I am not starting a rumour, you clearly haven't read my posts, you say my opinion is based on "subjective reading of a few issues sometime ago". I have already said that I bought WI from Issue 1 and stopped it after it became a FOW FANZINE, so that's what, a lot of years where I have subjective read every single magazine. My opinion is based on that so please get your facts right.

Congratulations on working out the % of FOW in WI it's still too much for me, it has also been too much for a lot of people I know in the gaming community.

Ain't WSS brilliant!

Regards, Ken
yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

I realise what the topic title is, but I must point out that it was YOU who made the initial comparison with Wargames Illustrated and you who made the remark about it being a FoW fanzine. You did that right off the bat, not me so if you're frustrated at what I've said then the blame is down to you for mentioning it in the first place. What I've done is to try and correct a false criticism of WI. If someone is factually wrong and doing a disservice to something, I will correct them.

I resent the slur aimed in my direction about me being some kind of owner or contributor to WI. I review the three main wargames magazines, that's what I do around here. I receive no pay from any of the editors nor have I ever contributed articles to them. You seem to like making false claims, don't you, because it's becoming a habit.

I base it on the content of each issue. Each has their own merits. I am not in favour of articles on battles based around particular rules, more change to suit the rules you prefer. I do think WSS has the upper hand at present as regards presentaion

The W.I & Flames of War connection has come in for similar 'flak' as used to be the case many years ago but with Foundry Miniatures being the target.

In both cases the input from both companies resulted in more pages… and before anyone steps in, they were pages additional to the sponsored content. This latter fact was tactfully pointed out to me at a recent wargame show, and seems something that few people, myself included appreciated, and many preferred to 'jump on the uninformed bandwagon'.

As has already been clearly stated, and again, was confirmed to me recently, there is now no covert financial or otherwise outside support.

My own attitude is that I view Flames of War or any other rule system lead article as primarily another scenario to read and I personally enjoy battle reports whatever the rules, the scale, or the model manufacturer.

Having taken the opportunity to exercise my 'free speech', I'll happily return to the topic, namely WSS.

I think that WSS is a good magazine; potentially a great one.

I wish it were monthly.

I don't like 'themed' issues irrespective of the magazine, because if nothing else it tends to be a 'slap in the face' if as a subscriber, you're not interested in the theme. After all, as a subscriber, you don't have the option of looking at the magazine in a newsagent and deciding not to buy it if the theme isn't of interest. And 'Yes', I known that reading about a new theme might encourage you to try a new or different period.

Personally I always liked the old Miniature Wargames approach which tried to include at least one article each month on the 'main' wargame themes.

As a designer, now retired, I particularly like the presentation and layout of WSS. Its clean and easy to read which is important to me. There's no supposedly clever design tricks which for me somehow gives it more credibility.

So, how to make WSS a GREAT magazine…?

Make it monthly… which of course will mean more contributions required and more work for the Editor and Publisher.

Keep away from themed issues.

Identify and try to include articles on the main wargame interests, albeit with some 'wild cards' thrown in each month.

… And that's 'ALL' there is to it :-)

I'd even accept a price increase per issue if it had more pages of articles… And 'Yes' before anyone asks, I am a subscriber, albeit a digital one, so I get stuck with the unwanted themes issues.

Another two thumbs up from me. I'm a subscriber to it, the Journal and Slingshot. I don't buy other wargaming magazines anymore (being more focused in my hobby spending), although I do occasionally pick up other Karwansaray magazines when they're useful. I haven't tried the 'new' Wargames Illustrated, but will consider it.

Sometimes the themes are not what you'd choose, but there's more to an issue than that and I like reading the regular columnists. At least with a theme, it means there's plenty to get you into a subject, or food for thought if you already play it.

I'd even accept a price increase per issue if it had more pages of articles…

Ditto.