Now that my life seems to be returning to some degree of stability after the recent upheavals due to the renovation of our main bedroom and my hospital treatment, I think that it’s time that I gave some thought to putting together the next Portable Wargame Compendium.
As those of my regular blog reader who follow the Portable Wargame Facebook page will already know, the Fourth Portable Wargame Compendium was reviewed in the August issue of MINIATURE WARGAMES magazine ... some nine months after it was published! This review – which I thought was very balanced and honest – was accompanied by an aside from John Treadaway, the magazine’s editor. A screenshot of this is shown below:
I must admit that when I first read it, this comment rather annoyed me. I thought that is was sarcastic and represented an attitude to wargaming that considers pretty – and sometimes rather tedious and unimaginative wargames that emphasis style over content – as being somehow superior to the PORTABLE WARGAME and similar wargames (e.g. The DOMINION OF ... rules and Neil Thomas's ONE-HOUR WARGAMES).
Well, I can assure my regular blog readers and purchasers of the previous compendia that I will be ignoring the 'advice' that the next issue should have a picture on the cover and sticking to the existing house-style.
The covers of the first four Portable Wargame Compendia. A 'scholarly tome'? I don't know about that ... but to date, they have sold quite well, even though the cover don't have any pretty pictures on them.
I have no idea what is going to be in the next compendium ... but I'll certainly be writing regular progress reports as it comes together.
Bravo Bob! Stick to the established PW style. If John T had actually read the book, he would have seen plenty of colour illustrations and several articles that are equal to anything published in MW these days. You can count on me for proofreading &c. and I hope to put together one or more articles for you too. Any idea for publication date?
ReplyDeleteGlad to read your operation went well and the wargames room is back to normal! Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteIn actual fact, JT’s comment has spurred me to write a blog post about what I term the ‘cult of prettiness’ and ts insidious influence upon the hobby. I hope to publish it tomorrow, once I’ve given it a final Polish.
Thanks for your kind offer to help turn the text of the next compendium into ‘a scholarly tome’. I’m sure that it will sell as well as its predecessors.
I’m still suffering some discomfort, but nowhere near as much as I did a week ago. With luck, it should clear up by this time next week.
Please give our regards to all the cats and kittens,
Bob
Who is this mysterious Pole of whom you write?
DeleteArthur1815,
DeleteIt has to be that great Polish writer, Joseph Conrad!
All the best,
Bob
Surely the real question you should be considering, in terms of the cover of your next Compendium, is -- like the question being contemplated by the passengers from the 'B Ark' towards the end of the Hitch-hikers' Guide to the Galaxy, about the wheel they'd just invented -- WHAT COLOUR SHOULD IT BE?
ReplyDeleteToby E,
DeleteAh! Now that something I have yet to think about. I was considering khaki, desert yellow, or feldgrau … or I may just go with black and white!
All the best,
Bob
Bob, you also need to consider the colour of the cover text and the contrast with the background : the white text used on PWC4 would not, I think, work well on desert yellow.
DeleteBest wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteA well-made point! I’m sure that I can find a suitable colour for the cover text.
All the best,
Bob
I had assumed you would keep the white text used on the covers of previous volumes.
DeleteArthur1815,
DeleteI’ll certainly try to.
All the best,
Bob
Keep in mind your target audience. By number five everyone who has copies of the first four knows what to expect... Content, not glitz. A certain mega corporation based in the UK makes a three hundred plus page tomb. It's rules content is likely under thirty pages, the rest is fluf and glitz. Personally, I would rather have rules and a few pictures for flavor, but I grew up in the hobby in the era of Charge, The Wargame, WRG and Battle Magazine.
ReplyDeleteSince you are fo
WEK 3,
DeleteThanks very much for sharing your opinion … which I totally agree with.
Years ago, we had a plenary game at COW (the Conference of Wargamers) where we were split up into teams and given the task of developing a wargame about the Battle of Tanga. One group took Warhammer as its model, and came back with plans for a range of rule books, a Tanga Codex, a special range of Tanga figures, Tanga T-shirts etc. We had a great laugh about it … but truth be told, it seems to have become a commercial model for many wargames these days.
My old fashioned view is that wargaming should be as ‘open source’ as possible. If people want to base their rules on something that I’ve written, I’m happy, just as long as they acknowledge their starting point.
All the best,
Bob
Excellent news! I'm looking forward to seeing what's on the menu for this edition. For the cover color, what about purple? Perhaps you can appease a certain editor by putting a border on the cover? 😁
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteI’m hoping that some of the previous contributors will be be submitting an article or two!
All the best,
Bob
I would be happy to do so, if you are interested.
DeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteI’m always interested in your ideas!
All the best,
Bob
In addition to my second Wargame in a tin and my Dominion 3x3 tweaks I'm thinking of Leipzig as a mini campaign for 3x3 and Dominion of Napoleon Bonaparte and Spanish battles ( without the English) in the Peninsula War, something that doesn't get the attention it deserves. If you're interested in these things I will send them along to you for consideration.
DeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteI am VERY interested!
I am aiming to get the compendium published well in time for Christmas.
All the best,
Bob
Maybe I'll paint some custom Risk armies for the Peninsula. 😁
DeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteNow that would be interesting, especially as there were so many different uniforms worn by the units of the various nations involved in the fighting. Black-coated Brunswickers, white-coated Bourbon infantry, and green-coated Irlandais to name but a few.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, feel free to include any Dominion material that may be submitted. I am old enough to know that I am not the font of all knowledge!
ReplyDeleteSteve
Steve,
DeleteThanks for agreeing to this … and if there’s something that you’d like to submit, please do!
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering whether there would be a Fifth Compendium. I owe some thanks to you or Arthur Harman for tidying up my Tables, (and the Fly-Points nomenclature!)
I seem to recall a while back thinking about what I might contribute towards it. The 'Hunt for Sextus Pompey' is still in my thoughts (a sequel to the 'Roman Civil War' that ended early last year, this one also featuring sea and land battles), and possibly a 10x10 Portable 1000AD/CE (Byzantine versus adversaries, some ideas of which I also blogged about last year).
Would they be of interest, do you think?
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteThey are very much of interest to me … and I suspect, to others as well%!
All the best,
Bob
I'm very pleased to read this as it means you are clearly feeling a great deal stronger. Looking forward to your progress reports on PWC5.
ReplyDeleteI confess that these days I can manage to read books that don't have lots of pretty pictures so please don't change the style Bob.
Maudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteI am hoping that I might be able to persuade you to contribute to the next compendium, possibly about the way you run your cooperative campaigns.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteExcellent news that a fifth Compendium is on the horizon! Content over glitz is what keeps people coming back to The Portable Wargame, and the established layout works brilliantly as a clean, functional reference. Glad to hear you're on the mend after your hospital treatment, too.
Cheers, Andy
Andrew Bruce (Andy),
DeleteNow that I am getting better, I need a project like this to get the old brain working again!
I can reassure you that I have no intentions of changing the house style of the compendium, with content being more important than pretty pictures … although some do have a place within its pages!
All the best,
Bob
Interesting, considering I invited a tirade from him when I criticised the way Miniature Wargames was going. Stick to your guns, Bob, it’s a great product and clearly popular with its intended audience.
ReplyDeleteJeffers,
DeleteThanks for your kind comment.
I stopped buying the mainstream wargame magazines when they started seeming to be more about product placement and advertising and less about historical wargaming. I can spend that money on a coffee from Costa … and probably get more fun and enjoyment - and for longer - than looking at pages and pages of adverts and articles about how to paint pretty toy soldier using this or that brand of expensive paints. (Rant over!)
All the best,
Bob