Issue #39 Winter 2015 Wargame Magazines-Do We Still Need Them? When you also had think of what magazines could be regard- like the ed as one of the Dragon and prevailing pillars the Space in our hobby that Gamer, one thing would which alt- have to be gam- hough they ing magazines. were pri- They have exist- marily for ed since the be- sci-fi and ginning of the hobby, from the into the act by having dedicat- fantasy, did have a lot of arti- Don Featherstone War Game ed sections for wargaming! cles that most gamers were Digest and Jack Scruby’s Table Not only that, many of the ads interested in. You have to Top Talk editions when the were geared towards minia- remember that back in this hobby was first starting out, to tures gamers and the uniform era you were excited for any the glossy enterprises that we guides were a pleasant gaming infor- have today. While they were addition to the few Osprey mation! relevant in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and titles that were out back These early even 90s, there seems to be then. magazines more discussion on whether or The Courier then made were the life not they are needed in this day an entrance, taking gaming blood of the and age, particularly with all of magazines up another hobby and the other avenues of information notch. Their year long were bought, that are available. series are still a personal read, and dis- The first magazines were nat- favorite of mine and while cussed inces- urally pretty crude by today’s the pictures weren’t the great- santly until the next issue standards, but they made up for est, the quality of the articles came out. They were also the that with passion and ideas was fantastic and each issue ONLY source for pictures of about the hobby. The next itera- was eagerly awaited. Of painted miniatures, they had tions would be magazines such course at this same time you ads for gaming products that as Battle and Wargamer’s Di- had Strategy & Tactics, which you would never hear of oth- gest, who started to take the had a wargame in each issue. erwise, and served to bind hobby into a more At this time many gamers together professional route. board wargamers in the hobby. Here you had re- also played minia- However, they views, scenarios, tures, so getting a were about to modeling tips, and copy of S&T each take a big leap ads for gaming prod- time it came out where the conse- ucts. Even maga- was just something quences are still zines such as Mili- you did naturally! felt even today. tary Modeling got (cont. on p3) Of course you Inside this issue: Special points of interest: Gaming Operation Sea Lion 4 Gaming Operation Sea Lion AOE: Katzbach 1813 6 AOE, BKC 2, and Ronin battle reports A BKC 2 Game to Forget 12 How to: Creating the Melee Redesign WASATCH FRONT HISTORICAL GAMING SOCIETY SOCIETY GAMING HISTORICAL FRONT WASATCH WMA: Assyrians vs. Successors 16 7th annual WMA Tournament report Engagements-Scenarios for Gamers 20 Several board game reviews and the usual 7th Annual WMA Tournament 22 features. Warning Order Ronin Battle Report 25 (cont. from p2) Two knew where out, and articles about Now there’s nothing wrong with that, magazines came along long lost battles and campaigns. The but why are you paying for it? With the that changed how gam- newer magazines have pages and pages amount of blogs, websites, dealer sites, ers viewed these types of beautiful pictures of figures, arrayed forums, etc., there are enough pictures of of publications. They in all of their glory on terrain boards finely detailed miniatures, scenery, and were Miniature War- that few gamers can even dream of more to last a lifetime. The same needs games and White having. But can’t you just get this stuff to be said for board wargaming maga- Dwarf. You couldn’t on various sites on the Internet? zines such as Mod- get two more diverse ern War, which The answer is yes you can. The titles, with one being grew out of the amount of blogs, web sites, company solely about historical S&T family. Why pages, etc., means that everything you wargaming and the oth- pay $30-50 needed from magazines is now at your er about sci-fi/fantasy (depending upon fingertips. Do you really need another games. What they did issue) for what poorly or average written article on have, however, were usually amounts to how to game Gettysburg when there’s glossy,, slick presenta- underdeveloped 1,000 Google links to better material? tions with dozens of and quickly play- Do you need to know that Company A beautiful images. Sud- tested games that has out a new product or did you al- denly, gamers expected you wind up play- ready see it on their web site weeks or this of their magazines, ing maybe once even months before the ad in the mag- which caused these two before consigning them to the game pile azine reached its readers? to surge to new heights or Ebay. while the established This is the debate that is currently My only answer is that a) gamers have veterans began to fade before us now. On one hand wargame disposable income, b) force of habit, and away. magazines seem to act as a barometer for c) gamers crave games. Add all of these the hobby. When there are numerous These two magazines had an effect up and the result is that there is enough magazines out there filled to the brims that continues today. First, everything money coming in to keep these items with ads and jaw dropping projects pre- from this point on had to have beautiful going. There is also the option of free sented in glossy color it has the effect of images of painted figures. Second, arti- choice and many gamers choose to buy making gamers think that the hobby is on cles became secondary to the eye candy each and every issue that comes out, no a trajectory to the stars. When there are and although they were and are still pre- matter how good or bad that they are. I few or several cease publication it be- sent, they pale in comparison to the al- know several gamers who buy just about comes a warning sign that the hobby most academic versions published in the each and every issue of certain maga- could be in trouble. early gaming magazines. Third, they zines, glance through them once, then could be used to push product However, the truth is throw them on a pile of other magazines! and although this did not hap- probably somewhere in Why? pen for many years, both White between. The hobby, for Well,, that’s a good question and I’m Dwarf and now Wargames all of its outward appear- not sure what the answer is. For now Illustrated have almost become ances, probably isn't big gamers continue to support the few maga- catalogs masquerading as mag- enough to support several zines that are out there, but for how much azines. glossy magazines. There longer? The old guard in gaming is pass- simply aren't enough writ- Miniature Wargames did ing away and if they’re like me who has- ers, clubs, companies, ads, morph into Wargames Illustrat- n’t bought a miniatures gaming magazine etc., to provide enough ed and while others have come in almost five years, these publications material for a quality mag- up to challenge it over the last could be in trouble. However, there must azine. I stress the word decade, it is in a class by itself. be some interest as the rebirth of the old quality as most of the arti- It has also created the aspect of SPI sci-fi magazine cles in hobby magazines you either love it or hate it as with a game in it, are pretty much regurgitat- there doesn’t seem to be much Ares, just came out ed from online resources in between. But at this point we have to and we’ll have to and represent little original thinking. The ask the question, “Are wargames maga- follow its progress days of looking for some originality and zines even needed anymore?” to see if gamers ideas that could be used for your games really want another For a long, long time they were a are pretty much gone. We all need to gaming magazine or source for scenarios, contacts for gamers, face it that you’re getting these maga- not to add to their reviews of products that you never even zines to look at finely presented games. ever growing piles. Page 3 WARNING ORDER Operation Sea Lion: Gaming One of the Great What Ifs Definitely one of the ably they have little to do of the equation. greatest “what ifs” of with the invasion itself. In fact, this is what WW2 must be the ultimately makes this a planned for, but never Seelowe hard game to either love attempted German in- One of the older SPI or figure out if the inva- vasion of England. games and as far as I know sion would have actually Called Seelowe, or the first board wargame on worked. The air system Operation Sea Lion, the topic. Printed in the simply overwhelms eve- this would have radi- standard blue, brown, and rything else that you’re cally changed the course of the war, one grey colors of the early SPI trying to do on both way or the other.