I'm delighted to announce that Battlegames is in the process of being acquired by Atlantic Publishers, and will therefore become a stable-mate to Miniature Wargames. Deals of this kind obviously take time, but negotiations are proceeding extremely well, and we are aiming to complete the handover by early December.
After six years of hard work to establish Battlegames in a highly competitive market, I am delighted that the magazine will now have the backing of Atlantic's highly professional and experienced team to help ensure that it has a bright future.
Battlegames will remain a stand-alone, bi-monthly publication, and I shall continue to edit, design and occasionally write for the magazine. I am particularly pleased that Atlantic have asked me to keep the content, look and 'feel' of Battlegames virtually unchanged, maintaining its distinct niche in the hobby.
Atlantic have promised to honor all existing subscriptions, and readers will be pleased to hear that I am setting to work immediately on issue 27, which we hope to publish over the Christmas/New Year holiday.
As you can imagine, there are a number of technical issues to solve concerning the handover of subscription administration and so forth, but we are working to resolve these as soon as possible. In the meantime, it will be possible to subscribe via the Battlegames website again by next Monday, 21st November. Single issue and digital purchases will be transferred to Atlantic after the official handover date, which will be announced at the appropriate time.
The sheer volume of supportive emails and calls that I have received over the last couple of weeks has been phenomenal, and I want to thank everyone who has been in touch. This includes the editors of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy, Wargames Illustrated and Dadi e Piombo, who all expressed their personal support and I truly appreciate their having done so.
I'd like to take this opportunity to send a special thank you to Andrew Hubback of Miniature Wargames, with whom I have always had cordial relations and who has been a fantastic supporter of my Combat Stress Appeal, which has now raised more than £10,000.00 GBP. It was Andrew's intervention which initiated the contact with Atlantic that has led to such a fruitful outcome for all concerned and I shall, of course, always be grateful to him for that.
I'm sure that many of you will have questions, but once again, in order to prevent another tidal wave of emails, I shall be mostly communicating via the email newsletter and press releases such as this to reach the maximum audience as quickly as possible. But the most important facts are:
- Battlegames has a secure, long-term future
- Issues will appear more regularly than ever before
- I will remain the primary contact point for all Editorial matters
- The style and content of the magazine will remain independent and virtually unchanged
- All subscriptions will be honored so nobody will lose any money paid
- After the official handover date, all financial transactions will be transferred to Atlantic Editions Limited
Further updates will follow in due course. Once again, thank you all for the extraordinary support you have given me during this difficult time.