Very, very belatedly, I have finally managed to get around to reading the latest edition of MINIATURE WARGAMES. It was delivered whilst we were on our recent cruise, and I have been so busy since then, this weekend has been the first time I've had a chance to do anything other than flip through the magazine.
The articles included in this issue are:
The articles included in this issue are:
- Welcome (i.e. the editorial) by John Treadaway
- Forward observer
- Send three and fourpence: Storage: The Hand Maiden of Wargaming by Conrad Kinch
- Hickstown: A Scenario for Dead Mans Hand by David Tuck, with photographs by Malc Johnston
- Rorke’s Drift: Natal Province, 22 – 23 January 1879 by Jon Sutherland, with photographs by Diane Sutherland
- Show Report: Back on Track: The Editor goes to Hammerhead 2019 with text and photographs by John Treadaway
- Darker Horizons
- Fantasy Facts
- Pulling the Strings: We go behind the scenes to talk with Puppetswar about all things miniature by James Winspear, with photographs by Puppetswar
- Into the Void: A History of a Lost Future: Behind every commercial wargame is the story of a company and the people who comprise it. Here, we trace the story of John Robertson and Void by James Winspear, with photographs by John Robertson
- Quick of the draw: Guns and Gunfights in the Old West by Chris Swan, with illustrations by Mike Blake
- (Gender) Balanced Armies: Women in Wargaming: We talk to miniatures sculptor Annie Norman about her journey and her thoughts on female representation in wargaming by James Winspear, with photographs by Bad Squiddo
- Show Report: Cavalier: The Editor makes a trip to the Kent show with text and photographs by John Treadaway
- Recce
- Eggscellent Tee Pee: The continuing tales of a wargames widow with text and photographs by Diane Sutherland
- Club Directory
- Conrad Kinch's article about storage reminded me of the many and varies methods I have used over the years to store my figures, although unlike me, he seems not to have yet reached the IKEA wooden draw unit/Weston Boxes/REALLY USEFUL BOX stage!
- I'm a sucker for anything vaguely Colonial, so I enjoyed reading Jon Sutherland's Rorke’s Drift article.
- (Gender) Balanced Armies: Women in Wargaming made for interesting reading as well, and although we live in more enlightened times today, I was a bit saddened to read that Annie Norman and Bad Squiddo were not as well-received when they started out as I would have hoped and expected.
I do not buy many Wargames magazines and now I know why. I thought this publication was pretty awful and I game the Old West. Diane Sutherland’s article contained terrain that my seven year old Grandson could do a better job on. The lovely Annie Norman does still take some stick at shows from the usually overweight, unwashed, approaching middle aged items with large pack packs who still live with their parents unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteSimon,
DeleteThere was a time when I bought all three mainstream wargame magazines ... but now I don't. I'm sticking with MW for the present, but I am finding the quality of some of the articles leaves something to be desired and the subject content rather variable.
As I know very little about the Old West, I avoided commenting on the quality (or otherwise) of Chris Swan's article.
I did find the article about Annie Norman interesting, as I have come into more and more contact with women within wargaming over the past few years. In fact, the gender balance on KCL's post-grad wargame design course seems to be gradually moving towards more women and fewer men, and certainly at CONNECTIONS UK the number of females is growing year on year.
So professionally, women are coming more and more to the fore ... but within hobby wargaming they are still prone to stupid comments and attitudes from the ' overweight, unwashed, approaching middle aged items with large pack packs who still live with their parents' minority.
All the best,
Bob