I made it!

I might always miss the painting deadlines I set myself but today I hit the deadline for delivering my Wargames Illustrated article about building a late Napoleonic Prussian wargames army. Dan will be pleased (I hope).

It’s been a bit of an up-and-down experience. Some parts just flowed really easily while others were smelly socks that I kept putting off until the end. I’m glad I made a solid outline plan at the start though otherwise the thing had potential to take on a life of its own. The thing I found hardest was to remember that it’s supposed to be an introductory article which brought two challenges. Firstly, I couldn’t assume the reader has familiarity with terms and facts that I take for granted. Secondly, and almost an opposite consideration, I had to resist the temptation of going off into too much detail in any specific area.

So I hope I’ve struck a balance – I’m sure Dan will tell me if he wants any changes plus I’ve asked Peter F. to cast an eye over it so I know I’ll get some useful expert feedback from that direction. All being well, the article is still scheduled to appear in the September 2009 issue.

If that works out, I’m going to try to tempt Dan with an analogous article about the Saxon army.

Putting my keyboard where my mouth is

Last month I devoted a posting to nostagia and speculation concerning the future of Wargames Illustrated. Then I mused about whether the change of ownership would be a new dawn or dying embers.

Since then, things have moved on and the new regime has acted fast to kickstart things. They’ve started to reach out an olive branch to parts of the hobby that have had er… “difficult” relationships with the magazine the past and have shown real signs of a new professionalism towards contributors. So, last week I decided that I would have no right to sit and heckle from the sidelines unless I at least made an attempt to do something positive. I picked up the gauntlet laid down by the call for new contributors and dropped an e-mail to Dan Faulconbridge.

After a couple of e-mails back and forth and a productive telephone conversation, I’m delighted to say that Dan has commissioned me to write an article for the magazine. It seems very much as though a moment of synchronicity has occured. One of the areas I suggested I could write about just happened to dovetail precisely with something Dan wanted an article about. Now I’ve got until the start of July to write an article that will appear in the September 2009 issue. So this is where the hard part begins – I’ve actually got to research, plan and write the darned thing!

The reason for mentioning it here isn’t as some grandiose ego trip (though I can see how you might be mistaken for thinking so). Nope, it’s because I know the topic I’ll be writing about is one dear to the regular BfK readership and this is a great way to do a bit of market research so that I come up with a finished article that hits the spot. The working title is “Building Your Prussian Wargames Force” and the idea is for an article that gives anybody thinking about collecting a late (i.e. 1813-15) Napoloenic Prussian wargames army all the basic details they’d need to know to get started and enjoy the journey.

I’ve already got quite a few ideas for what I’d like to put into the article and I’ve discussed some of these with Dan at WI and I’ve also consulted the oracle at Calpe Towers. But I’m not going to tell you what they are just yet because that would prejudice your opinions. What I’d like to invite you all to do is post your comments here about what your ideal article on this topic would contain.

With luck I’ll be able to satisfy most cravings but I can’t make any promises.

What’s happening with Wargames Illustrated?

It was only last October that I asked this very question about Miniature Wargames magazine. And now that other stalwart of UK wargames magazines is also under new ownership. This morning it was announced that Battlefront Miniatures (New Zealand purveyors of Flames of War) has purchased Wargames Illustrated. It’s a bit of a bolt from the blue and I’m still trying to work out the significance of this news.

Some random thoughts…

How’s a New Zealand based company going to manage this (until now) UK-based magazine?

Is there a risk that WI will become a sort of Flames of War house magazine – a 15mm WW2 White Dwarf, if you will?

Am I sad or glad of the change? And has WI reached the same critical point in it’s history that I speculated Miniature Wargames had back in October 2008? I wonder if, taken together, these two changes of ownership signal the last thrashings of a dying species or a vibrant rebirth.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about WI. On the one hand, it was the magazine (along with some work friends at the time) that rekindled my interest in the hobby back in 1999. I still own a rather dog-eared copy of the April 1999 issue – in fact, by coincidence, it’s here on my desk in the study at BfK HQ as I write this tonight. I purchased that issue specifically because of an article by master Napoleonics painter Mark Wilkin. It was entitled “An Eccentrics Guide to Painting!” and exemplified all that was best (and worst) about WI over the years.

On the plus side (and ten years ago, it was a very big plus side), these articles were truly inspirational. In this particular case, Mark gave a blow by blow account of his techniques for painting 28mm Napoleonic miniatures from prepping the figures right though to basing up the finished results. It was all there – conversions, priming, paint mixing, washes, glazes, varnishing – with no secrets held back. And best of all, there were some eye-popping colour photos.

But even then, the faint whiff of why I eventually fell out of love with WI was loitering in the background. Every one of the four pages of Mark’s excellent article was literally bordered with Foundry edging. And, as the issues went by, this form of advertorial became less and less subtle and less and less relevant to me. So, at some point, I can’t even remember when, I stopped buying issues of WI. Sure, I’d still leaf through them in the newsagent but the excitement had gone and I’ve only actually purchased one issue in the last three years.

And it’s not just me. One of the things I did notice in those recent years of putting issues back on the shelf is that Foundry no longer advertises in WI. I don’t know why but I have my suspicions. Now all magazines need advertising to remain commercially viable but a moth that gets too close to the flame runs the risk of getting burnt.

Still, let’s end on a hopeful note. In its announcement Battlefront says: “We have plans to re-launch the magazine soon with an increased page count, a wider range of articles covering every game, scale and era of the historical hobby combined with broader distribution globally so that getting hold of the foremost historical gaming magazine will be easier than ever.”

White Elephant? White Dwarf? Or Great White Hope? Cross your fingers for the latter.

What’s happening with Miniature Wargames magazine?

During my lunchtime constitutional walk I happened to darken the threshold of the local W H Smith and, picking up a copy of October issue of Miniature Wargames magazine, I was assailed by the photo of a new person at the editorial helm. How long ago did that happen? It’s not a magazine that I regularly read or even buy so it could have happened ages ago but, having examined the evidence in more detail, I realized that this is a recent event.

One of the reason I don’t tend to pay much attention to Miniature Wargames is that I’m not a particular fan of it. And, judging by the slight size of the October issue, I suspect I’m far from alone in that opinion. I further suspect that this is (at least partly) the reason for the editorial change. This, in my mind, is a magazine that seems to have fallen behind the times so it was a surprise to me to see a Web site address printed below the editorial. And I knew that this was the place I’d have to check out to discover more about what’s going on.

Sure enough, the home page currently bears a screaming yellow “Under New Management” box with a link to a press release that provides the basic details of a change of ownership. Iain Dickie and his wife have sold up to a new chap called Andrew Hubback though Iain will continue to be involved as a consultant editor. My suspicion is that this is a critical juncture in the life of this venerable magazine. It’s approaching its 25th anniversary and probably needs an injection of something be it finance, enthusiasm or new ideas.

Iain and his wife have clearly devoted many years of their working lives to the magazine and we should celebrate and praise that effort. I think we should also recognise just how much that level of effort can take out of people. So I wish them all the best for whatever their future plans are and I also wish the new owner, Andrew, the best of luck too. I think he’s going to need it plus a lot of other things to ensure a successful future for Miniature Wargames. There’s fierce competition out there – not just on the newsstands but also online from the various Web sites that offer downloadable digital magazines. I hope Miniature Wargames can carve out a distinctive and interesting niche in this new age.

I’ll be watching how things develop over the coming months with a great deal of interest.