Courier Dispatch

Gleanings: Magazines 1987

by Dick Bryant

Empires, Eagles & Lions (RAFM, 19 Concession St., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada N1R 2G6; $18.00/6 issues): EE&L is puttogether bythe Newlersey Association of Napoleonic Wargamers and published by the RAFM company. I think that thefine people at RAFM deserve a pat on the back for supporting EE&L. It is, of course, devoted to the Napoleonic period and is the BEST Napoleonic publication available! Issue 97 had a great article by Paddy Griffith on stormings of fortresses (rules writers should read this!); another fine article on artillery accuracy and ammo consumption; Cossacks; uniforms and guard of the French Guard infantry; a discussion of cavalry; continuation of the series on naval warfare during this period; a War of 1812 column; a wargames column; painting hints; and rules/figures reviews. I will admit that perhaps75% of the information presented in EE&L is historical in nature, something that at times turns off miniatures gamers. However, the manner in which historical subjects are handled, i.e., discussed, not presented as hard facts, makes them exceedingly valuable to the wargamer and especially the miniatures rules writer. Highly recommended!

Arquebusier (David Scott, Flat 2, 102/104 Stockingstone Rd., Luton, Beds, England; 7.50 English pounds surface/6 issues): This is the publication of the Pike and Shot Society. It isa 24 page magazine, professionally printed, and should be of high interest to those gaming in this period. The first issue 1987 offers articles on the Battle of Crosby Green (1460) which was nicely clone as it consisted of an order of battle, account of the wargame, and rules analysis; Thirty Years'War Flags; Siamese Methods of the Art of War; the First Siege of Bristol (1643); and an ECW biography of Prince Maurice. The Editor announces that they will have the following back volumes available: 77, 78, 79, 84, 85, and 86. Each costs six pounds from England so the cost will be higher (for postage) if you order stateside.

The Caisson (30 Acre Lane, Eccleshill, Bradford, England BD2 2EH; quarterly/10 pounds for US subscribers): This is the publication of the British Association of Empire Players and is devoted to "promoting historical attitudes to wargaming, exchanging ideas and information, and discussing problems with rules and offering suggestions". According to the editors, it has nothing to do with Empire Games, Inc. Issue 2 has articles on leader ratings not listed in Empire III; Russian line infantry regiments (1812-14) modifications; Empire III rule amendments made by a British wargaming club (covers interpenetration of units, tactical initiative, trophy taking, capturing generals, visibility, unknown commanders' ratings, activation of orders to grand batteries, control test, and activation of bombard orders to grand batteries); Cossacks; a questions& answers section; and a membership list. Appears to be a worthwhile publication for those interested in Empire.

Strategist (Scott Orten, 1430 Audubon, Grafton, WI 53024; $9.99/monthly): George Phillies is the editor of this long running publication (Vol. XIV) and has a great deal of experience as regards publishing wargaming publications. The Strategest is an amateur effort encompassing primarily boardgaming although they do pay some attention to the miniatures end of the hobby as well. The April, 1987 issue has an extensive review of wargaming publications; additions for Vicksburg (the boardgame); a variant for Saipan; a scenario for Ironclads; modifications for Bismarck; boarclgame hexes for a Soviet-Axis boardgame for the Fall of Manjukuo; items for sale; and a long listing of conventions. Good value for the money for those primarily interested in boardgaming. I must admit, however, this is only the first copy of The Strategist that I have seen and other/future copies may provide more information on historical miniatures.

Fire and Movement (P.O. Box8399, Long Beach, CA90808; 8 issues/$26.00): Number 52 (March-April, 1987) on hand for review. This is my first look at Fire & Movement which is concerned entirely with boarclgaming. It contains articles on the following boardgames: Napoleon & the Archduke Charles; Balkoski's Breakthrough; Air Cav; Reforger '88; Battalion Commander; Panzer Grenadier; Airland Battle; Air & Armor; and Struggle for Stalingrad. There is an interview with Ed Bever, who is a computer programmer and game designer, concerning what Ed believes is the trend for the future in computer gaming (interesting stuff). There arealso book reviews, players' notes for games; an article on "Gaming in Australia"; a regular column entitled "Armchair General" which is concerned with presenting 'battle problems' for gamers; news of the boardgaming hobby, and more. I don't feel entirely comfortable reviewing non-miniatures magazines as I have virtually no knowledge of boardgaming, however, this certainly seems to be a quality publication and I would assume that boardgamers would find it of great value.

The Heliograph (Milton Soong, 6580 Prague Ct., San Jose, CA 95119; $5.00/10 issues): As reported in last issue, The Heliograph has a new editor, Milton Soong, who has taken over from Tony Adams who guided the publication for 40 issues and did a great job. Milton's first attempt (#41), in my opinion, is very well done. if I did not know someone new was doing the publication, I would not have been able to tell by reading it the transition is that smooth. This speaks well for Milton's ability as it would be difficult to step into Tony's editorial shoes without losing a step or two! #41 had articles on TSATF in Sumatra; TSATF rules for auxiliary forces; Chitral, 1895; and the usual items about new figures. Tony's last issue, #40, was a really good one as it was devoted to Duke Siefried's Sudan rules in a very general type of way, that is, the rules were discussed as to the background and concept. An interesting piece and it is mentioned that Duke may well be putting them on the market in the future. I know that Tony made an attempt to expand The Heliograph beyond TSATF rules set into more aspects of Colonial wargaming and seemed to be succeeding. It will be interesting to see what Milton does with it.

Battleplan (Diverse Talents, Inc., Dept. BPS,5374 Village Rd., Long Beach, CA 90808; $15.00/6 issues): This is a brand new publication evidently published by the same folks who put out Fire and Movement, Breakout, and Space Gamer/Fantasy Garner and is a highly professional, attractive publication. It is devoted to boarclgaming (seems as though there are an awful lot of such publications available on the market). It offers scenarios and variants for Squad Leader, Fortree Europa, Carriers at War, A House Divided, the Russian Campaign, Armor at Kursk, Field Marshal, Combat Cards, World in Flames,Third Reich, Operation Konrad, and others. Also included is "Overlord 1943", a complete mega-variant with boardgame counters. If you are into boarclgaming, this would be a valuable publication.

Slingshot (Mark Gilby, 230 Rempstone Rd., Merley, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 ISY, England; no price info/6 issues per year): Slingshot, as most of us know, is the publication of the Society of Ancients. Number 129 had articles on sieges (very good!); the Mongols; Italian Communal Armies; Battle of Side (19013C); a wargame report; a continuing series on Naval battles of the Peloponnesian War; a fine piece on wargames rules; realism in wargaming; and many other features including letters, reviews, short pieces, etc. #130 offers pieces on Tamberlaine, a medieval personality; a non-figures game concerned with catching rabbits in Medieval England(!); a theoretical articleon wargaming the period 1066-1500 by PaddyGriffith, who despite his rejection of wargames figures still has many good ideas; pre-bdttle scouting; the Mediterranean in a World Context; several articles concerned with rules discussions; an enjoyable and enlightening article on the battle to cross the Long Bridges (15AD); and much more. Although I have not followed Slingshot for a long time, I believe there has been some discussion in the past that they lean too much toward the historical aspect, as opposed to wargaming. I do not consider this to be true, based on my experience with the magazine over the last year or so. They recently carried out a survey of their members, of which 25% responded, and I think the results are interesting. Seventeen percent reported they were primarily interested in wargaming; 10% were mainly interested in history; while 73% were interested in both. This seems to be a good balance in favor of the wargamer. Another interesting aspect of the survey was that only 33% considered themselves to be competition wargamers. Give The Slingshot a try. If you are an Ancients wargamer, you will love it; even if you don't wargame this period, you'll probably enjoy it as I do!

The Grenadier (The Grenadier Magazine, P.O. Box 23651, Oakland, CA 94623; $18.00/6 issues): Grenadier is a boarclgaming publication, professionally printed, and of high quality as regards format. Issue 31 features a number of articles on solitaire boardgaming, a subject which I would like to see increasing the historical component in Europa; a companson of three boardgames dealing with the eastern front in WWII (Stalingrad, Russian Campaign, and Russian Front); book and game reviews, and much more. A well- done publication.

Lone Warrior (Bill Farley, 50 King Arthur's Rd., Exeter, Evon, EX4 9BH, England; $19.00 surface/$25.00 airmail for six issues): LW is the journal of the Solo Wargamers Association and seems to be improving with age. Issue 70 had a Napoleonic battle scenario; discussion of automatic fire; a continuation of LW Founder John Bennett's "Gussie" (a long-running campaign concerned with a fictitious continent); continuation of a welldone series fo "wargame basics"; a fine piece on constructing castles from cardboard; as always, a terrific letters section with lots of stimulating thoughts and ideas; reviews of magazines/figures; and a short "Play-ByMail" section. In short, a lively, fascinating publication! As with a number of English "amateur" wargames publications, it is run by a committee and given this fact, I am mildly surprised that they are still going strong!

Breakout (DTI, P.O. Box 8399, Dept. 3, Long Beach, CA 90808; US $12/4 issues): This is a quarterly publication from Australia which appears to deal mostly with boardgaming and fantasy. Number 26 features articles on hobby news; a complete boa rdga me, "Terror Australis"; a role playing scenario, "Skyrealms ofJorune" (I don't know enough about role-playing to have an opinion about it); a philosophical piece concerning "Christianity and Dungeons & Dragons" in which the author attempts to utilize Christianity itself and the Bible to justify D&D (I don't make this stuff up- I just review magazines); report on a Play By Mail (PBM) game, "Cosa Nostra"; Play By Mail News column; a science fiction scenario, "Looking for Astra"; game reviews of Okinawa, Call of Cthulhu, Sirocco, Talisman; an interesting section containing fairly extensive information concerning many new products such as games, magazines, miniatures, computer games, etc.; convention reports and more. Boardgamers and fantasy players would be more interested in Breakout than the miniatures player in my opinion.

The Zouave (605 Sadie Ave., Metairie, LA 70003; $12.00/6 issues): The Zouave is billed as "the magazine of the American Civil Wargaming Society" and based upon the initial two issues, fits that bill quite well. It is professionally printed, in an 8 1/2 x 11" format, and each of the first two issues ran 24 pages. Issue one had a fine piece on the fog of war; an historical article on John T. Wilder's Mounted Lightning Brigade; Confederate ordnance of the armies of Northern Virginia and Tennessee; and a figure review. Issue two had an interesting vignette of a Union officer; a battle scenario for Kernstown; the second part of the fog of war article; a piece on painting figures for the ACW; tipson putting together an ACW reference library; a reprint from "Confederate Veterans's Magazine" (1903) of Swett's Battery at Jonesboro; an article by the author of "This Hallowed Ground", an ACW rules set, which details why/how the rules were written which I found interesting, and another figure review. A publication worthy of our support, especially for those gamers interested in the ACW.

The Nugget (Bob Cordery, 84 Eglinton Hill, London SE18 3DY, England; price unknown/6 issues per year): Chris Kemp is the new editor of The Nugget, which is the Journal of Wargame Developments, and it appears as though he is considering expanding the readership and looking for membership feedback as regards this matter. This publication has about 200 members and has the reputation, whether it is true or not is a different matter, of being an esoteric newsletter/magazine concerned primarily with non-figures games. Personally, I have enjoyed many articles in The Nugget though I must admit that the subject matter usually was concerned with miniatures or at least discussions of wargames rules. A real sore point with me is the inclusion of articles pertaining to so-called "Black" wargames such as "Outrage", a piece included in Number 37, which dealt with a rules system for a terrorist game. This is a subject which I firmly believe holds no merit in a wargames publication and can only serve to give the wrong impression of our hobby, and ourselves, to newcomers. If Chris Kemp, and the present Nugget readership, wish to expand readership and I feel the concept holds considerable merit based upon the fact that the wargames community can be well served by a publication critically reviewing what we do and how to do it better, they should concentrate, in my opinion, on articles such as were included in the same issue; rules for the Spanish Civil War for miniatures; more on Paddy Griffith's massive "Guns of August" game which by the way does not include miniatures yet is interesting reading and the miniatures player can gain much from; a fine article by George Jeffrey explaining his "Variable Length Bound" system; an 18th C. naval game, again without miniatues, centering on signaling, etc. I don't feel they have to drop their non-miniatures articles to gain readership, but rather, add more miniatures discussion and please forget the "Black" wargames!!!

Savage and Soldier (23902 S.E. 42nd St., Issaquah, WA 98027; $15.00/ quarterly): S&S is concerned with Colonial subjects and although it leans, in my opinion, toward the historical end, a fair amount of wargaming material is included in each issue. The )an-Mar '87 issue had a feature article on the French wars in West Africa against the Empire of Samori Toure (1881-98); one on the Pulajan Uprisings in the Philippines (1902-11); part two of recreating the Gordon Relief Expedition which described a wargames campaign; Colonial wargaming and the Sikh War; and Lynn Bodin's usual excellent report on new books, magazine articles, and wargaming items available. Highly recommended!

Seven Years War Association Newsletter (Bill Protz, 5690 W. Glenbrook Rd., Brown Deer, Wisconsin 53223; $10.00/5 issues): This publication covers the SYW as well as the French-Indian War periods very well. it is an attTactive publication visually utilizing the same format as the "old" COURIER and is energetically produced by Bill who shows a real love for the period and his publication. The March'87 issue featured articles on a history of Fort Niagara by the Director of the Old Fort Niagara Association; Canadian and American Militia uniforms during the French & Indian War; Canadian and American Militia flags; a battle problem concerning the British expedition to the north coast of France; an interesting piece on realistic terrain penalties; mid-18 C. combat and campaigning; attrition on campaigns and its application to wargaming (very good!); and Bill's usual terrific news section covering new figures/ books/other items of interest. Highly recommended!

PW Review (Walter Simon, 12905 Layhill Rd., Silver Springs, MD 20906; $10/12 issues): This is a 20-page xeroxed publication devoted to historical wargaming with miniatures and specifically concerned with rules discussions. In addition to quality articles, the reader is treated (or subjected) to Editor Simon's sense of humor, a definite advantage (or disadvantage). April'87 issue had articles on a play-by-mail game; report on the February '87 HMGS Convention; the fog of war; and a SYW battle report which utilized two separate tables, each with the same troops and the same commanders! The May issue featured pieces on an ACW encounter; another SYW account; the American Revolution; and an ACW campaign. One of the interesting things about this publication is that each article provides in-depth discussion of how the rules influenced the game, something I personally would like to see in more battle reports.

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