YOU WRITE TO US "With reference to M.B.Pollard's letter in the Newsletter, June '72; I feel he is being rather unfair to Modernist wargamers, some of whom must wish that he could hive of sometimes with his l9thC wargames. Considering three important factors I think that I can prove he was unjustified in submitting it. The first is that the Newsletter is a magazine for those who fight battles with model soldiers. The era of the soldiers is unspecified and so each period must have a right to some space in the magazine. Secondly, if Mr. Pollard counts the proportion of articles in the Newsletter over the past four years he will find the following result: Before 1000 AD - 6%; 1000-1500 - 2.5%; 1500-1700 - 3.7%; 1700-1800 - 14.8%; 1800-1815 - 24%; 1815-1900 - 29%; 1900-1970 - 20% This shows that Pollard's favourite period is well covered, being the highest %. Even over the last 12 months, Modern has only risen to 23% while Napoleonic and 19thC have stayed at 24% and 29% respe ctively. If anyone has the right to scream it is those interested in 18thC since coverage of this period has dropped by over half to 7% in 4 years. However, after saying all this I must add my third point, that Don as the editor can only use articles sent to him and so much of the content is dictated by the magazine's readers which I would consider as democratic as is possible. So personally I feel that the magazine serves its main function - to serve its readers the best it can. To close I must say that although many of the articles are written by the readers, to edit them all must become a tiresome job sometimes and with such little reward. In other words the malcontents should either keep quiet or perhaps try starting a magazine of their own and see how well they get on." --A. Dalton of Lancashire "I have been reading the various articles over the last few years re boardgaming being American rather than British. I feel it really is a red-herring. I have several simulation games and have adapted one for use with figures. In so doing one banishes arguments about range, how far the wood extends, etc., etc. All of which tend to make a game drag. As to your comments on Strategy and Tactics, new policy, I find all conflicts of interest -- I suspect the new boardgame on the Presidential election is more what S. & T. have in mind than a university riot game. Your objections would apply I feel to not using Nazi German armies as they were involved with Gestapo murders, or not using Assyrian armies for their unsavoury habits with prisoners. I suspect political games (as well as business games) will remain on boardgames as no one will want to paint senators, Presidents, sides, etc., for a political game with figures. These games tend to be rather more removed from the actual conflict. So I find it quite easy to play "Grunt" in which the Viet-Cong player uses peasants as cover and the American thinks nothing about Napalming whole villages, shelling wide areas unseen, and various other dirty tricks. In conclusion I find with S. & T: one takes the rough with the smooth, each issue has excellent quantative details but is usually weak on qualitive judgements, especially with its anti-British bias." Charles Vasey of Guisborough "I always feel that the Newsletter keeps its finger on the pulse of wargaming -- its democratic format making the subscriber feel that he is a part of the magazine, unlike other magazines whose space is fairly well monopolised by a few regular contributors. So all power to the Newsletter -- may it remain healthy for many summers to come." J.S.Pox of Belfast. "I always marvel at the amount of information contained in each issue. I particularly enjoyed the article on the Danish Army in the May issue. Hopefully in the coming year we will be treated to some additional writings in a similar fashion on other armies of various periods. I wish you could entice Mr. Houghton to write some additional essays to carry on the theme from his "At the Colonel's Table". I have re-read them many times. Is it possible to include the outside dimensions of the tables in the various battle reports? It would be very helpful in trying my own versions. I have been a little dismayed at the differences in 25mm/20mm wargame size figures. Could you write an article on comparing the sizes of the various figure manufacturers in England. It would be a big help to us here in the United States and elsewhere in the world in selecting figures. At the present time I have to resort to getting some samples and seeing how they fit in with "Der Kriegspielers" and Airfix figures." --Joseph F. Seliga of New Jersey, U.S.A. "Just recently with exams and the like work has been too pressing for me to spend any time painting with the result that my small Napoleonic force has not grown at all recently. The only way I can indulge myself is by reading the Newsletter. This Summer I hope to be able to fight a couple of games. There are a group of us here in S.Wales each of whom is collecting a Napoleonic army. None of us has been collecting Napoleonics long so at the moment our plans for large scale battles using different allied forces are very much in embryo. Still whilst we might not have time to paint we read with the result that when we come to fight we shall feel that much more equipped. I think it is a factor that is often forgotten in wargames, particularly when one approaches a new period. Especially if that period is popular with other wargamers there is a danger that one suffers from "received doctrine", and that one feels knowledgeable when one has only a cursory knowledge. We have all found this to be the case. We have plans to write something Napoleonic but at the present time is short and when we meet we are too busy catching up with other business to sit down and put words on paper. Still you never know something may come out soon. I may be wrong but people just do not seem to be contributing the way they used to. There is too much bickering and back biting, not enough thought about actual wargames. --Ian Scott of Cardiff. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 126 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1972 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com