"Magazine Columns, do you Enjoy Them?" Topic

We are lucky to have three glossy magazines at the moment, all of which feature regular columns. Do you enjoy these, or would you prefer to see more scenario, or practical articles on painting or terrain?

Fewer columns. Often it seems as if the is little point to be made, simply "I need to write something for my column."

Last year there was one column which pose a question, answered it, and then concluded that there was little point in posing the question in the first place.

They get stale quickly, which isn't a surprise I guess.

Never much liked the Neil Shuck one as he had a very narrow viewpoint a donkey seemed to know games by one company. On the other hand I did like Mike Siggins. I wonder if he still Wargames?

What I do like is the irregular column in WSS.

Depends on the column. But in general, I prefer more practical articles.

I like the columns. I enjoy getting the perspective of other hobbyists and professionals on issues that are both core and peripheral to the hobby. In my opinion, both MW/BG and WSS have struck a good balance between the columns and other features. They only take up a few pages, which would be replaced with what . . . another scenario idea or painting guide for which I already have better resources, or worse yet, is for a period I don't even game? Or perhaps yet another tutorial on drybrushing stonework? Even when the other articles in a particular issue are only of marginal interest, I often find that the few pages of insights offered by the columnists make it worth reading.

Many columns are naval gazing, and you can read the strain as the author trues to hit the word count minimum. Still, doesn't keep me from buying the host magazine.

Many columns are naval gazing

I think naval warfare deserves to be scrutinised as much as any other genre….

DBDD

I like good writing, be it in columns or articles.

I don't really look at them that much. The Mike Siggins one was nice and varied. Good stuff. The other columns often promote one point of view again and again. WSS is probably the best of the current mags in my opinion as it is fresh each issue and publishes balanced reviews of figure ranges. WSS usually goes out and finds all the relevant ranges for the period rather than just finding a personal favourite.
Wargames illustrated is a good mag too but needs more submissions to help give width.

They are the two good ones

martin

I like to read the editorial comments in WSS.

Prefer columns to most articles. These days they seem to be long on pictures and short on info.

+1 Jericho Smith

I don't buy magazines any more. I'm still trying to shift the hundreds I already have. They take up an awful lot of space. I'll probably dump them when I need more space.

I don't need to read them for the adverts, I can get all that online at no cost whatsoever. I spend the money saved on more figures, more buildings, more paint.

I don't need to read the articles anymore as anything of real interest to me is probably on someones blog somewhere. I still have an extensive library and add a few books each year so I'm not short of information.

I go to 9 or 10 shows a year so I catch up with all the up-to-date hobby gossip.

So, no more magazines.

I wrote a couple of long-running regular columns over the years. Sometimes I felt inspired, and thought I'd done a decent job. At other times I couldn't come up with much more than, "This is what I'm up to this week." It felt -- laboured.

When I started working for miniatures companies on a regular basis it got even harder, as I didn't want to simply write an 'advertorial' for the company, and obviously that was what I was up to at the time.

I am not keen, I would prefer the mags to keep a single column, with a different guest writer rotated in, so that each columnist is only having to write something say every 3 to 6 months or so. I feel that would substantially increase the relevance of the column.

I don't buy magazines any more. I'm still trying to shift the hundreds I already have. They take up an awful lot of space. I'll probably dump them when I need more space.

Jim,

Would you consider donating them to my effort of making a large wargaming magazine index?

link

Crisis in November? ;-)

Great idea Phil.

Let me check what I have against your declared list.

If it is just a few magazines then I may be able to bring them over. I am flying into Brussels, hand luggage only.

If it is more than a few then we'll look for a plan B.

Jim

Phil

Send me your email address:

jimduncan779 AT btinternet DOT com

I have Wargames Illustrated number 111.

I also have a large number of Miniature Wargames from 149 to 280, not complete.

Jim

The columns in WSS are the first things I read in the magazine.

Rick

Mike Siggins Yes, Deffo ! Neil Shuck & many others ramble around too much without getting to the point.

I do read them – and they are often interesting, not always. There do seems to be a lot of them at the moment.

I think all the magazines probably have one regular column each too many.

I like them. On occasion, they can give some very useful insight. I have enjoyed the Richard Clarke column quite a lot, but they have all had their points. I remember once feeling quite moved by a Mike Siggins column, in which he confessed that "the bottom had dropped out of his hobby" in the middle of one Partizan show (it would be interesting to hear the full story of that one day)! I have also been quite interested in the comparison between the different "wargamer's notebook" writers over the years (Mike Siggins, Neil Shuck and Ray Lucas) as they all tackle the typical hobby problem in different ways – with limited time, money, skill and space, how do we navigate a hobby which offers so much variety?

Never much liked the Neil Shuck one as he had a very narrow viewpoint a donkey seemed to know games by one company. On the other hand I did like Mike Siggins. I wonder if he still Wargames?

That's interesting, because at the time one of the accusations against Mike Siggins was that he was too much of an unabashed Foundry then Perry fanboy. It wasn't true, but it was more true of him than Neil Shuck.

I very much prefer scenarios over Columns in my magazines. Scenarios enhance my enjoyment of the hobby! I have felt recently that MW has become nothing but a collection of columns.

I think a column mixes things up and gives a break from just scenarios and historical articles. WSS has 3 per issue, MW has 4 but one of those is a review column and WI is ad hoc with them. It comes down to the quality of the writing, as always. I like to read a well argued point in an article a lot more than an article that's just an AAR or a half-completed set of scenario ideas without any flesh on the bones.

I always enjoyed that occasional column that appeared in WI accompanied by a drawing of a gentleman in a smoking jacket, for the life of me I can't remember what it was called, someone will no doubt.WSS has had some very readable columns over the past 12 months or so, it's only this current issue where I thought they were finally beginning to run out of steam and subject matter, which is a shame. Hopefully it's only a minor blip, but there must surely be a finite amount of things you can ponder over and write engagingly about regarding this hobby?

Only if they are entertaining and funny. Other than that they are mere naval gazing interspersed with pontification. They are only slightly better than the rehashed, rebashed, and rewritten general history from a book somewhere. The only thing that impresses me is content- real content. That is game ideas, game design, how this rule system works, analytical battle reports, and critiques of games and rules.