If the sample issue presented to us for review is any guide, most of the articles pertain to historical miniatures. The contents of this issue were:
| Editorial | 1 page |
|---|---|
| Castle Hill, Godshill, And Its Final Downfall | History of an ancient British fort, 1 page |
| The Greek Campaign of 279 B.C. -- The Passes of Oeta, Part 7 | Historical battle description with diagrams, 5 pages |
| Targe Quiz | Trivia quiz, 2 pages |
| The Rear Guard Game: A Solo Mechanism | Using cards to generate a random, hidden scenario, 1 page |
| If At First You Don't Succeed, Pick Up A Card! | Review of the Schiltron medieval miniatures rules, previously published in Lone Warrior, 1 page |
| Play By Mail Column | Short reports on 3 games in progress [ancients and WWII miniatures, and one unknown], 1 page |
| Soldiering in the Green Hell | Campaign report on a miniatures PBM game, British vs. Ashanti, 2 pages |
| Games Service Check | List of PBM moderators, their game, and whether any have vacancies, 1 page |
| Arnhem Lift, Part 2 | Battle report of a skirmish-level WWII game, with map and organizations, 3 pages |
| Feudal Warfare in the Land of the Rising Sun | Progress report by a gamer just getting into this period, 2 pages |
| Ambush For Beginners | Napoleonic solo scenario, 1 page |
| Forum | Letters column, 4 pages |
| Positional Defence 16th Century | Miniatures PBM battle report, with maps and organizations, 4 pages |
| Boardgames and Role-Playing #10 | Regular column, with this issue covering reaction tables for animals, 3 pages |
| Ye Olde Model Shoppe | Member ads, 1 page |
| Targe | Seems to be a column about miniatures and items of interest to miniaturists, 1 page |
| Profile of a Lone Warrior | Member biography, 1 page |
| 20mm WWII Amphibious Warfare Figures | Miniatures review, with sketches, 2 pages |
| 15mm Medieval Welsh | Miniatures review, 1 page |
Speaking of the Games Service Check, at the time of our sample issue it included one role-playing game, four boardgame, and five "map" games (apparently, PBM miniatures games -- Ancient Macedonian, Greek City States Strategic, Dark Age Britain, Napoleonic, and African Colonial).
The articles generally have a high information content, though the writing quality varies. (I had a hard time following the Arnhem article, for instance -- too many "fiction" bits worked into the battle description.) The best articles are the "solo techniques" pieces, which are clearly written and straight to the point.The Letters column functions a lot like the rec.games.miniatures newsgroup -- that is, as a place where readers can ask questions, and get answers either by private mail or future issues of the newsletter. Most items are a single paragraph in length. Members also write in to tell what projects they are starting, to give brief convention reports, to make suggestions to the SWA, and to comment on previous articles.
Graham L. Empson, Secretary of the Solo Wargamers Association, writes:
|
The North American edition has been up and running since LW109 [December 1994]. It is an A4 publication of some 40 pages, and is orientated specifically at the American/Canadian market. The world-wide edition is A5 format and usually contains about 60 pages. Whilst there is obviously an overlap in terms of articles, sections such as forum are specifically NA. Pleased to say that the membership is growing at a nice steady rate as more people become aware of its existence. It now has its own PBM up and running, together with an expanding lending library for members. All NA members do of course enjoy the membership privileges of the SWA with access to the advisors service even the main library here in the UK, probably the biggest of its kind, if they need to. Richard Barbuto (rbarbuto@smartnet.net) is both editor and membership secretary in NA. |
| Last Updates | |
|---|---|
| 26 December 1997 | new North American edition information |
| 20 June 1997 | new subscription rates |
| 14 June 1997 | reorganized |
| 28 August 1996 | reorganized |
| 25 April 1996 | reformatted |
| Comments or corrections? | |