This is by way of a THANK YOU to everyone who read and commented on my recent blog post about the 'cult of prettiness'.
The range and depth of comments I received was astounding and many of the commenters made points that I had not considered when I wrote my blog post. I came away from this discussion feeling much more positive than I did when I first began to outline my ideas.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that the 'cult of prettiness' represents the attitude of a minority but possibly disproportionally influential sector within the hobby ... and that the majority of wargamers enjoy painting their figures as well as they can and using them on a tabletop as often as the opportunity arises. They want things to look nice, but they also want to have fun. If this is true – and I think that it is – then the hobby will continue to prosper and grow.
I did have a couple of emails asking why I didn't put my money where my mouth is and set up my own wargame magazine. The answer is simple ... I've sort of been doing that since 1980 in the form of THE NUGGET. If I've not been the editor – and I've performed that role twice in the last forty-six years – I've acted as its publisher and distributer.
I appreciate your post on the perceived issue and you had a lot of solid thoughts on playing being very important.
ReplyDeleteThe whole cover issue is less relevant in that you are not competing in a retail location. If you were I would agree you need enough pizazz to have a customer physically pick up your book instead of another.
Personally, I feel your books are full of content which so many glitz books lack. You are the author and publisher, so put out the books you want.
WEK 3,
DeleteThanks very much for your supportive comment.
Looking at the sales figures for the first four compendia, it sells well enough to the sort of wargamer who enjoys Portable Wargames and I see no reason to change the house-style just to please the editor of a mainstream colour wargame magazine.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteYou should now write a post about the role and place of the wargame magazine in 2026. I have not bought a magazine since the late early 1980s. For me the arrival of fantasy wargaming was the final straw. Each month the price seemed to rise and the historical content seemed to decrease. Right from the start I was only ever interested in the articles on Napoleonic wargaming, though I accepted that the magazine had to cover a wide range of periods to appeal to a wider buying public.
In the 1980/90s I would occasionally glance at the cover of a magazine on the shelf of my local WH Smiths. But was never tempted to buy the magazine, and by the late 90s did not even bother to look at the cover.
For me the internet and blogging has completely replaced the wargame magaine. The wider use of YouTube to illustrate wargame conventions/shows and even record wargames was an added bonus. I would be interested to know how many magazines are bought each month, and who buys them. There must still be a market or the publishers would have stopped producing them.
Hi Paul,
DeleteYou make a brilliant point. The blogging community and online forums have completely transformed how we share ideas and battle reports. The instant interaction and niche historical focus you get online are very hard for traditional magazines to match these days!
Cheers, Andy
Thistlebarrow,
DeleteNow there’s idea! It’s something that I’ll consider doing … possibly by ‘reviewing’ the September issues of MW and Wi. I suspect that when I do, I’m going to find that the content is somewhat imbalanced between historical and non-historical topics.
I used to have subscriptions for all three mainstream wargame magazines, but I let them lapse some years ago when I realised that they were just not worth the money I was spending on them.
You are right about the internet, blogs, and YouTube replacing the role performed by wargame magazines. I have seen an estimate that each of the mainstream wargame magazines sells three to five thousand per month. That sounds about what I would expect.
All the best,
Bob
Andrew Bruce (Andy),
DeleteThistlebarrow (Paul) does make an excellent point … as usual! He is one of the wargamers who has lots of experience and whose opinions I truly value.
All the best,
Bob
I think your remark that, "...enjoy painting their figures as well as they can and using them on a tabletop as often as the opportunity arises..." is important here. I feel like many gamers want to do their best and put their best work on the table to show off and be proud of. My boys have really gotten into gaming over the summer and have been playing a game with their friends every week or so. In the meanwhile they have put a lot of work into building new scenery to give expand their opportunities for exciting games and they've gotten really good at it.
ReplyDeleteSo working towards higher goals is great and admiring your progress over time is a benefit of the cult. I'll always admire a beautifully painted mini or nice scenery but it would be nice if more publications gave the up-and-comers a little love.
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteI’m pleased that you agreed with the sentiment of my comment.
It sounds as if you are raising and encouraging the new generation of wargamers. Well done … and more power to your elbow! That said, it would be nice if the magazines had a ‘newcomer to the hobby’ column to bolster your efforts.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the feedback brought a fresh, positive perspective! It’s reassuring to know the majority of the hobby is still focused on actual gaming and camaraderie over perfectionism.
Cheers, Andy
Andrew Bruce (Andy),
DeleteAs long as there are people out there who are painting figures and having fun fighting wargames, the hobby will continue to evolve and prosper.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteGetting something off your chest with a semi-controversial theme certainly generates comments!
I think it illustrates that with the growth of the hobby, it now encompasses lots of related activities, from the painter spending hours on each figure to the gamer using blocks of wood.
One thing not mentioned was the elephant in the room of Games Workshop. When GW started publishing rules, while they came in a box like RPGs they were illustrated with black and white drawings....
The rules themselves harked back to Featherstone with D6 and in effect saving throws. Both Bryan Ansell and Rick Priestley had roots in those 1960s type rules.
As they evolved, the magazine White Dwarf published colour photos of exquisitely painted figures, which then entered the subsequent editions of the rules.....
They even held painting competitions....
Not only did many GW employees play and branch out into the historical side of the hobby, starting commercial companies, many historical wargamers today were influenced by GW, not Featherstone, Bath or Grant. For them, the "GW Hobby" is the norm.
So now we see legions of superbly painted figures on individual bases, playing games using rules derived from those with a fantasy background, which itself owes much to the very earliest days of wargaming. Except, you no longer have to make your own figures or rules or do any research, unless you want to. It's all laid out in the supporting booklets with lots of colour photos that give you ideas on how to paint them....
Note I am not attaching a moral judgement, however it sounds. Each to their own; no-ones hobby is better than anyone else's.
“…so long as a man rides his Hobby-Horse peaceably and quietly along the King's highway, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him,--pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it?”
― Laurence Sterne, 1713-1768, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
Neil
Neil Patterson (Neil),
DeleteThe elephant that is Games Workshop certainly does fill a significant part of the wargaming room!
Funnily enough, I used to use our local Games Workshop branch in Bluewater to buy my paints etc. … and often had chats with the staff, most of whom did both historical and non-historical wargaming. However, they closed it down as the rent they were charged went up and the footfall didn’t. After that, I moved on to other outlets like Hobbycraft for my modelling supplies … but the branch I used to use closed down in late 2025. I now I rely heavily on online retailers.
In my book, Games Workshop is not the great satan of the hobby, although I do find their business model somewhat out of kilter with my own ideas as to how a hobby-serving company should operate … but I am not a shareholder who expects regular dividends!
I think that the quote from ‘Tristan Shandy’ is a great way to draw a line under this debate, especially as it comes from a book that features an early wargame.
All the best,
Bob