Battle of the magazines?

But not as we know it!

I have been very busy painting, which is unusual for me, hence my lack of writing. I am a very slow painter and am just finishing up my WSS Bavarians and British. More of these shortly. As a bit of a break I have gathered up this months magazines (the usual suspects plus a special guest) and had a read. My comparison of these magazines, as usual, is both partial and random. My chief requirement from them is that they provide some inspiration. At this time of year I am feeling sluggish and tired so I really need some zip. Did I get any? Well, lets see what caught my eye.....

Miniature Warfare with Battlegames (#383, £4.50, 68pp)

Interesting things for me are that WMMS is on in a couple of weeks time so this year I must make an effort to go along. I also see that the MK show is on again in May. It was cancelled last year as it wasn't appropriate for the venue but its back now in the same place. Que?

Nice to see The Great War getting some full scale advertising. Also nice to see the reviews section loosening up and covering books, rules and boardgames. One of the reviews caught my eye. I have mentioned Berserker Games before. I'm interested because they major in solitaire games and I'm on the look out for ideas. Operation Afghanistan, a solitaire Soviet era COIN game, is given a good write up. Nice one. I have therefore invested in Crowning Mercy, an ECW campaign, I'll report back on what I find.

Operation Afghanistan, nice art

The main article of interest to me is Steve Jones' Command Challenge, Paddling in the Piave. This provides scenarios for Napoleonic, AWI and Ancient eras and is an interesting follow-up to his article last month on the 1809 Danube Campaign which I am still pondering.

This month's issue therefore passes the stimulation test.

Wargames Illustrated (#329, £4.50, 114pp)

Well, if you like FoW you'l like this one! Their new painting guide look very good but it looks like they will only be referencing their own paints. Also, the late war British plastics look excellent, however, at nearly £30 for 144, they'll have to be brilliant to be a better proposition than the PSC ones. The one interesting article is a translation from a very old Vae Victis of a Bruce Weigle tutorial on making 6mm terrain. Nice houses is all I can say....some lessons for me for a later date!

So, deep snooze mode, will next month be better?

Wargames Soldiers and Strategy (#77, £4.25, 84pp)

One of my favourites even if it is just for the quality and smell of the paper!

A lot of modelling articles this month and French WW1 stuff. Most interesting item so far is a scenario for the Battle of Jemmingen 1568. This features Spanish tercios and Dutch rebels. 

So, this just reaches the stimulation threshold but I'll deliver a final verdict when I have spent some time with it.

Roll Sixes! (#3, free, 12pp)

Yes, its free. A small e-magazine devoted to very small games. The latest edition is now out and can be found on the Panzer 8 Yahoo Group. The main articles are:

1. Ancient Naval Scenario – The Battle of Alalia
2. Top Down Gaming – 2 page rule sets
3. The Battle of Solferino - 19th century scenario
4. The 2 Page rules Catalogue

This e-zine is put together by SamACW and its an entertaining read. The Solferino scenario is designed for Rifle and Musket which is a two page rules set which contains one pages of rules and one of army lists!. Many things to ponder, especially when added to Steve Jones' Miniature Wargames articles.

I'm looking forward to the next one (Spring) which may well include:

• a very simple tree campaign for the Korean war with the Pz8 aerial rules.
• a Naseby scenario
• a WW1 or Polish-Soviet battle.
• an operational level early 20th century game
• something from the Great northern War 

This passes my stimulation test with ease.

Now, back to those little chaps, time to find a flag or two!