"Is Wargame Vault the new MWAN?" Topic

MWAN magazine was known in its day as a prolific source of new rules systems.

Is Wargame Vault essentially performing the same function now? It provides access to a multitude of rulesets, and it seems easy for publishers to get their products listed.

MWAN was so much more than a source of rulesets. There were a lot of rule sets, but there's was a lot of "what I've been painting", "What I bought", "why I like this game", "let's disagree on game theory!!!"

And of course Hal's regular editorials where he proved that he had both bought and painted more than anyone else. And what his favourite paints currently were and….

basically the Internet (or at least the wargaming part) is the new MWAN.

So … what was the old MWAN? Not this?

MWAN is a government agency that regulates and supervises waste management activities in Saudi Arabia.

20th main nailed it! MWAN was a LOT more than just new rules.

etotheipi, you must be a young guy! MWAN= Midwest Wargame Association Newsletter. It was a reader's Digest sized publication chock full of materials dedicated to us fellow HISTORICAL miniature wargamers- VERY much in demand in the 1990s. A 'zine that most read from cover to cover to see what people were doing all around the world (Yes, it had an international following.) Sure do miss it. Hal sold it to someone who has dropped the perpetuation of Hal's legacy and it remains killed off (that "I" know of ) to this day.

Hal sold it to someone who has dropped the perpetuation of Hal's legacy and it remains killed off (that "I" know of ) to this day.

If I recall correctly, Dave Perrin bought it, merged it with The Courier, but couldn't get enough advertising support and closed shop.

That's what happened if I recall correctly. Killed off two excellent US gaming publications.

Jim

No, not even close.

Yeah. Perrin went to considerable lengths to kill off American wargaming magazines. His articles on "simulations" alone would have done it, without running reprint material.

But getting back to the original topic, not even close. I paid Hal a modest amount of money each year and got items of historical or gaming interest and always at least one rule set--often more, and usually quite short. The Vault sits there saying "Yeah, I've got a set for your period, but you'll have to pay up to see whether it will work for what you've got and want." So far, I have resisted the temptation.

You know, if The Vault told me "pay $50 USD a year, and we'll send you a rule set a month***each guaranteed not to exceed four pages***I'd probably pay. But it still wouldn't be MWAN.

Paying for a magazine is one thing. Buying a specific wargame product is another. Before I pay for rules, I want to at least know period, length, level of warfare and enough about basing to see whether or not I can work with it. The Vault wants me to buy based on period and author alone. It's a non-starter.

I sound like I'm down on The Vault. I'm not. It's my go-to site for terrain pdfs, but I can't make it work for rules unless someone else provides more information. Not The Vault's fault. They expect the people who provide the product to provide the necessary information, and rules writers are notoriously bad at this. Probably even worse than novelists.

Wargames Vault….while a great site…is nowhere near what MWAN was.

MWAN was like catching up with your buddies on game night. Besides the rules that were in most issues, there were reviews, battle reports, scenarios, and more. The letters section was always interesting, just hearing what gamers around the world were up to. Nothing so far has replaced it and in my estimation nothing will, primarily in that the commercial publications today are trying to constantly sell you something, so they're not interested in anything even having to do with rules that are less than 5 years old!

Concur with others above

MWAN was and even now with past issues a good friend

Wargames vault has a place – but not in the same ballpark

I like WGV and sell a few rules there from time to time. But yes, the author of the rules needs to make a lot of information available for potential customers

And I loved MWAN and WGV is not the same at all.

The Vault wants me to buy based on period and author alone.

Not even close.

WargameVault lets, and thus requires, individual publishers to describe their products any way the publisher wants. If you can't decide to buy or no based on thiis:

link

That is me, not WGV.

The real problem is that we, as wargamers, don't have standard terminology. Standards not only bring consistency, but also spur thought.

For example, you mentioned bsing. I don't give a cold bucket of farts on a rainy day about basing. I wouldn't think to mention it.

Re-reading that description, the end should say "port to another game system or genre."

On the rare occations I get feedback/questions, I act on them and modify my approach. I may not do what the other person wants, but bringing up the issue does spur critical thought.

The ohter bit is WGV has Pay What You Want. This short one happens to be that. This allows you to download it for free, then on your conscience go back and buy another copy for your valuation. I have customers who buy my paid products, then a ouple months later go back and buy several more copies, ostensibly because they thought it was worth more. The point being, your cost is up to the individual publishers, not WGV.

etotheipi, you must be a young guy!

55, well old enough to have read such a mag in the 80's. I read several in the 70's and 80's.

If you have back issues and care to do so, picking a few "random" issues and scanning for and counting "letters to the editor", articles, battle reports, conventions, etc. from rural Appalachia would be of interest to me. The count from Soviet occupied countries would also be of interest.

If I had money and a grad student (probably economics), a nodal map of locations correlated with other metadata would be a nice semester project. It's good to throw a healty sized scoop of grunt work into a grad student's rucksack. Keeps them somewhat grounded in the real world.

We may not be the new MWAN or Courier but we do have pdf's of the old MWAN and Courier!

link

No, a completely invalid comparison.

Good points, eto. But my problem as a consumer is the lack of information. Whether this is because The Vault failed to provide, or because The Vault failed to insist someone else provide doesn't really matter. Pay What You Want and then paying more later wasn't an option which had occurred to me. Clearly it should have.

Basing. I should have paid closer attention to your TMP information. No, in skirmisher I wouldn't regard it as important either. But in my most frequent miniature wargaming position--taking the place of an 18th or 19th Century general--it's critical. All the ways around involve computers or paperwork. And people peddling rules can be remarkably coy about it.

I am in England, Read it and liked it.

martin

The MWAN was pure gold. As was its author, whom I had the pleasure of meeting and gaming with at Bayou Wars years ago. It remains one of the best gaming experiences of my life.

I used to subscribe to MWAN and loved it. I also love WGV. I have always found the info describing the products to be satisfactory. I have not regretted any purchases I have made based on the descriptions of the product.

I would probably never thought of comparing or equating one to the other.

Tom

Steve,

Glad to know about the PDFs. I'll very likely take advantage of those.

Russ