"Military Miniature Magazine is Shutting Down" Topic

Hi all,
This is a letter to the community, and specifically our subscribers that is a "bad news" sort of situation. We wanted to delay this until after the holidays, as we have enough on our plates as it is. The long and the short of it is this: Military Miniature hasn't been a money maker for us for some time. We've tried everything we can think of to make it a profitable venture, but the main problem for us has been that a lot of you wanted it in paper, which is something we as a company can't afford.

Thus, the November issue was the last issue of the magazine. I know this was disappointing for a lot of people, but the fact was, the financial load was crushing and it was quickly becoming a case of "good money after bad." All current subscribers will be refunded the unused portion of their subscriptions within the next month. We need to individually calculate all the prorated subscriptions. All those that auto renewed on the 11th has already been refunded and should see the refund in the next few days if not already. Email Samantha at samantha@militaryminiature.com for more information on that.

Also, our publishing division will continue to exist and publish the rules and books we're becoming known for. So, if you have a wargaming-related work that you want to get published and think it's ready, send it to me at jason@militaryminiature.com and we'll chat.

So, there you have it. We wish we could have made MM the success it deserved to be, but sometimes in this industry, that just doesn't happen. I want to thank all our subscribers and purchasers of our single issues, as well as our indomitable and amazing staff for making this one hell of a try.

I've often been stopped at conventions praising the magazine. I am sorry it won't continue, but I will enjoy seeing you at conventions to come. I am first and foremost, a wargamer, and I will be there if I can, finding ways to give back to the hobby I love.

Thank you again, for the opportunity.

Sincerely,
Jason Weiser, Editor in Chief

That's a terrible shame. I thoroughly enjoyed
Your magazine. More evidence that if you want to make
a million dollars in wargaming, start with two million dollars.

Sorry to hear this, Jason.

This is happening to just about every magazine out there. People just do not want to pay for the paper issue, when so much material is free on the web (of dubious quality).

It just means that if there is a publication you like, either go and subscribe now, and stop buying it only if an issue has a specific article, or borrowing it from a friend, or it will probably not be around much longer.

Thank you and your staff for trying, Jason. This country needs to have such a magazine but needs to support it. I know many of my peers are just not computer savvy but would have purchased the mag from a Barnes and Noble or such. Guess all it ever takes is money!

I salute your efforts and as a subscriber, extremely sad to see it go. At least you go down in the annals of American Wargaming History with the likes of MWAN and Courier. A very exclusive club!

I subscribed the first year. Good content but couldn't figure out how to download the magazines. I purchased several print publications from them as well.

Thanks for sending pro rated subs back, whatever you can send will be appreciated.

Another nail in the coffin lid of civilization. It is more than just specialty magazines, it is palpable print. My local
is only 8 pages and the size of a dish towel. Thanks for fighting the good fight.

Add them to the pile of bones that are previous attempts at an American wargame magazine. Brits can pull it off but we can't.

We don't really have a sustaining military miniatures industry here in the US, compared to that of the UK.

Or, maybe a new startup magazine needs to present a different perspective than the one we can get from UK magazines.

The problem is a multi-headed hydra and the main issue with this seems to be "US", (the gamers themselves).

Essentially we have "champagne tastes" but only a "beer budget", but even then we are only willing to pay "bottled water prices" for something.

One of the issues that MM was having was the fact that so many people "wanted a print copy" because they didn't like the digital product. Yet when MM's staff let people know how much a print copy would cost, the same people then said "NO! That's too expensive! I won't pay that."

So MM was screwed either way.

The days of getting MWAN and Courier for less than 5 bucks a copy are waaaaay behind us people. Print magazines are expensive. If you want a print magazine, then show your support by willing to pay for a print subscription.

I applaud MM for at least trying to give the US something that we desperately need, and yet seemingly do our damndest NOT to support here.

Thank you MM for your hard work.

Murf, I paid for the subscription, and more to support their effort in response to the email appeal attempting to sustain the effort.

Samantha there was very helpful and responsive – wishing her and the company future success.

PDF magazines are fine with me any day.

"We don't really have a sustaining military miniatures industry here in the US, compared to that of the UK."

Is one of the issues, health care? For a short time, I worked for a domestic game company. One of the issues the employees had was access to health care. The company couldn't afford it without jacking up the price of each game and magazine issue. That isn't a problem in the UK.