Battlegames

I listened recently to the edition of the Meeples and Miniatures podcast in which Henry Hyde explained from his perspective the recent night of the long knives at Atlantic Publishing. One of the things that I was especially pleased to hear was his assurance that subscriptions - including for those like me who subscribe to both titles - would be dealt with properly. They hadn't yet quite worked out what to do, but the best team available were on the case.

Henry Hyde and the Battlegames editorial staff

Being an accountant, I have of course been reassured on points like that many times over the years. I wasn't in the least surprised therefore to receive two things in yesterday's post. Firstly, the last ever edition of Battlegames and, secondly, a letter from the publishers of the same advising me that I had only two issues left on my subscription and inviting me to renew. The future is safe in their hands.

Figure painting

There is an interesting opinion piece in the latest edition of Wargames Soldiers & Strategy about figure painting. The thrust of it is that current standards of painting are actually directed at the requirements of photography rather than of actually gaming. The view that I've always taken is that good enough is, well, good enough. My experience at the games hosted by James Roach shows that is perfectly possible to game very successfully with fantastically painted figures. However, I have substantial experience that gaming with far less well painted figures can be equally good. Some of my fondest gaming memories are of the Mexican Revolution being refought, after a fashion with khaki all-over Airfix WWI standing in for the Federales. I can't for the life of me remember who represented the forces of Pancho Villa; I suspect that it was Airfix Confederates and/or Cowboys, again with one coat of Humbrol.

Happy Days.

Inspiration

Miniature Wargames and Battlegames

Well, your correspondent as ever has his finger on the pulse. Only a week ago - and unnoticed except by the large numbers of people who have commented on it across the blogosphere - it was announced by the owners that Miniature Wargames and Battlegames are to merge. Now wearing my accountant's hat I can understand the logic, but as a reader I am disappointed.

I enjoyed (most of) both of them. In the case of Battlegames this is actually despite the Old School (*) stuff rather than because of it. And Miniature Wargames had improved beyond recognition since being run by Andrew Hubback. They were different from each other - as indeed are WS&S and Wargames Illustrated - but who wants to read the same stuff all the time?

Anyway, that's not the only rhetorical question. Who will get custody of Mike Siggins?

And I feel sorry for Andrew Hubback whom I met once at Recon and seemed a very nice and patient chap. He needed to be to deal with the idiot who was haranguing him about the accuracy or otherwise of the Grenada game that Miniature Wargames had on display, boring everyone silly with his reminiscences of his time spent working on the Spice Isle shortly after the US invasion. Who was that tosser? Ah, yes, it was me. I remember now.

(*) There was an interesting thread on TMP not long ago where Henry Hyde no less drew an intelligent distinction between 'old school' and 'Old School'.