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Friday 22 May 2020

The Portable Wargame: Two mentions in the latest issue of Miniature Wargames

I gave up subscribing to Miniature Wargames some months ago, but when I was told that the PORTABLE WARGAME got two mentions in the latest issue, I had to buy a copy.


The first reference to the rules is made in Conrad Kinch's column, 'Send three and fourpence'. In it he suggests several way in which wargamers can fight battles at a distance from one another, and he recommends the rules as being one of several that are ideal for this purpose.

This issue also contains a review of THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME written by Arthur Harman. A whole page is devoted to the review, and although not all the purchasing options are covered, I suspect that it has helped to maintain the tempo of sales of the various editions that are available.

Please click on the above image to read the review.

Please note that the photographs featured above are © Miniature Wargames.

10 comments:

  1. G'Day Bob, I agree with your comments about Miniature Wargames, but as they say there is an exception to every rule. The only magazine that I have a standing order for with our Newsagency, is Wargames Soldiers and Strategy. In my opinion they have consistently good standard of articles.The added bonus of being down under is you're also two months behind the latest issue - oh I forget that a negative! Great to see the Portable Wargame go from strength to strength. Cheers Greg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Delta Coy (Greg),

      I don’t now bother to subscribe to any printed mainstream wargame magazines, although I do subscribe to the electronic edition of WSS for the reasons you state in your comment. I’ll buy the odd one-off (as I did in this case), but this is a relatively rare occurrence these days.

      I’m hoping that the review will help book sales, but until Lulu.com finally sorts out the migration to its new website and computer system, I won’t know what impact it has had.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. I also gave up buying magazines some time ago but Lindsay has Readly on her tablet. You pay I think about £8 per month and get hundreds of magazines. She gets it for all the triathlon magazines etc. You can also link in some other people so her mum and the 2 girls can read as well on their tablets. All in all a bargain.

    I am pleased to report that 12 months worth of Miniature Wargames are there. There are some other military history magazines (mostly rubbish unfortunately) but best of all about 50 Commando comics!

    regards,
    Guy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Guy,

      I’ve not yet looked at services like Readly, but it does sound as if it might be a cheap alternative to buying electronic subscriptions ... especially in the Commando magazines are accessible as part of the deal!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Hi Bob,
    Very pleasing that you are receiving such positive reviews for your books.I don't buy a regular Wargames Magazine as such - have not done so for decades. I was a regular reader of 'Wargames Illustrated' from it's inception - I gave it away when the magazine became a great advert for 'Flames of War'- to my mind it had lost it's appeal to a wider gaming audience. Best Wishes. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      Arthur always write good reviews, and sends me a pre-publication copy.

      I also bought MW and WI from their inception ... and actually wrote articles for them. When they were sold to commercial interests, they started to become linked to certain manufacturer’s’ products ... and that is when - like you - I stopped buying them.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. To be fair to WargIll they did a cracking review of mine and Mike Ingram's book on battlefields of Northamptonshire in the latest edition.

      Delete
    3. Trebian,

      I haven’t seen the most recent WI, but I’m pleased that they’ve given your latest book a great review. I sent them a copy of PCW (as I have my previous books) and have not even had the courtesy of an acknowledgement, let alone a review.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. Goos to see your rules getting some mainstream publicity as it were. Sadly WS&S and MW no longer hold any interest for me as a 10mm gamers. I occasionally glance at them when I'm in WH Smith's but nothing of late has presuaded me to part with my Shekels, which go towards books instead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      I suspect that you are not alone in feeling that the mainstream wargame magazines are not actually meeting their needs. Certainly a casual glance at MW and WI would seem to indicate that unless you are interested in 28mm figures (and fantasy/sci-fi to boot), there is not much to interest you.

      Keep buying books (and especially mine, if possible!),

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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