The Loose Association of Wargamers

" like an alcoholic in a brewery".... I know what you mean! But apart from the alcoholism, I have sometimes bought a magazine on a whim, wanting that enjoyment I used to get - and always being disappointed. Ever since BG really.

Ah, but is it like Izvestia?

I do remember the very first few issues of White Dwarf. At the time, we were playing D&D, and it was just a delight, as it was not a company magazine, and it was the first thing we had seen dedicated to RPG.

ochoin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:46 pm

Penda wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:52 am Out of interest, in what ways was BG a 'quality' product? I ask because as a frequent contributor to WI, in all three ownerships, I find some of the comments fellow members have made really quite worrying. If you won't part with £5 or so a month, or every other month for WSS, I do wonder how you afford any figures, terrain and the like.

I don't know WSS at all. You have to realise that newsagents in OZ carry NO wargames' mags & never have (I'm sure someone will pipe in with an exception but as a fairly solid generalisation, it stands: I've never seen one).
And not 5 pounds but 15 in OZ which is the add on P&P. I indicated that I would pay even that now that I'm a bit more financially flush but back then, school fees, mortgage etc. It seemed an indulgence. My budget for the hobby had limitations. This was one. If I don't buy WI now, it's because though I can afford it, I don't see the value.... personal (& no doubt flawed) preference.

So, "quality product". The term I used is inherently indicative again of personal preference. For example, I like Old School. BG was a purveyor of Old School. You may have noticed the other mag I cited as "quality" was Practical Wargamer....I think that should indicate what I want in a mag as the latter surely was influenced far more by the former than any other publication. Our hobby, as I'm sure you know, is far from being monolithic. I acknowledge & respect the differences in everything from painting style, to scope, to preferred periods etc but not everything clicks with me. In BG, more "clicked" than in other magazines. Jeez, I even liked Mike Siggins.

I hope I have not inadvertently insulted you. I admire the fact you've had articles published and I would not demean in any way the magazines you prefer. I probably should seek out a copy of WSS to see what I'm missing.

donald

We used to have all the wargames mags available in Canberra, sometimes spasmodically, but they were there, or you could get them from Dean at Olympian Games. Cost wasn't an issue personally. I would happily recommend WSS as the best of the remaining options.

Jeremy wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:21 pm A rough guide in SA is to double the cost of the item by the time you’ve paid postage and import. And wait 6 weeks for it to arrive.

Yep, we're currently holding a box parcelled up of all the items a SA friend has purchased for his son. Amazon to us, then they get all put in one box and couriered direct to his place on the Wild Coast.

I have a 29l RUB full of figures my mates have ordered being collected today July a courier. A bit more expensive but they know they’ll get their stuff

291 really useful boxes full of lead ? Are you trying to outpace LT ? He’ll take that as a challenge

29 litres? that's a lot of lead. Hope the courier has a trolley. And i am embarrassed by the scale of my RUB addiction. I have found the cheapest place to get them is Rymans, who do great offers and free postage on a regular basis.

goat major wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:22 am 291 really useful boxes full of lead ? Are you trying to outpace LT ? He’ll take that as a challenge

29 litres. It’s mostly Victrix and Perry plastics with some 3D printed tanks.

And a t-shirt and beanie

Well, just for a change I bought my first copy of MW in a long time yesterday. This purchase was heavily influenced by the freebie Halflings on the cover.

Overall, its physically thin at 62 pages. I'll offer my opinion on the main sections.
Conrad Kinch ponders the afterlife of his armies and tries a catalogue app intended to organise his collection for post mortem distribution.

There's a short promotional feature for Wargames Atlantic, pretty much an Ad-itorial.

A few Oathmark based articles. Dave Tuck has done a for feature on distilling bits from Oathmark and other rules to produce a historical rules set for Anglo Saxon & Viking armies that satisfies him, the addition of a fatigue element seems good.

Another Oathmark historical article but it's part 2 so if you haven't got part 1 it's little use.

JT does a quick piece on using Halflings in Oathmark, basically a minor tweak on the Goblin list.

A historical article on gaming the Republic of the Rio Grande. Different but it's part 3 of 4.

A terrain item that looked perfect for Frostgrave but once again it's part 2.

Jon Sutherland did a command decision scenario on a Peninsular War battle, not my thing but at least it was complete.

An ACW article on Big Bethel by Arthur Harman. Very heavy duty stuff and once again it's part 2 of 3.

Overall MW seems to be relying on serialisation of articles to lock readers in. This one was made worthwhile by the Viking Steel rules and the Halflings.

Of on a tangent, the Halflings are nicely done but with some odd options. You get a choice between Roman or HYW style helmets. I'd have preferred to see more than one bare head and a range of expressions.

On a second tangent, I wish I could understand Wargames Atlantic's release strategy. By next month they will have 14 sets out. 3 fantasy, 1 ancients, 1 Dark Ages, 1 Napoleonic, 1 colonial, 1 WWI, 1WWII and 5 Sci Fi.