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Overboard
a
Board Wargaming Web Column
by
Andrzej Cierpicki
As
this is the inaugural web column on board wargaming, I thought it would be
appropriate to take stock of the magazines, past and present, that contain a
wargame in each issue. This is not
the first time that I have written such a piece; issue 19 of Despatches
(September 1982) had a review of wargame magazines then being published,
more recently, issue 107 (Spring 1997) had a similar review of three contemporary
magazines.
It is more than 30 years since I took out a subscription to Strategy
& Tactics (S&T) and it’s still going strong.
Other publications have come and gone, but that wargaming icon, Jim
Dunnigan, first published the granddaddy of them all, back in 1968 when I
was just 15 years of age. My
first issue, #34, contained a game with the somewhat foreboding title of
‘Armageddon’ covering several battles from the dawn of civilization.
I was hooked. Whilst,
even then, the cardboard counters were die cut, the map was, shall we say, a
little bland; two colours: black and white.
How things have moved on.
Back
in 1972 S&T had little competition.
Conflict magazine came and went after just 7 issues (1972 –
1974) and it wasn’t until the arrival of Jagdpanther (later Battlefront),
in the mid 70’s, that any real alternative was to be found, although it
too disappeared without trace in 1976 after its 15th issue.
Thus
far all the publications had been produced exclusively in the USA, this was
to change however, as in 1979 an upstart across the Atlantic, one Keith
Poulter, took out a second mortgage on his home to found a wargaming company
called UKW (United Kingdom Wargames) later renamed World Wide Wargames or 3W
for short. Its house organ, The
Wargamer, had a game in each issue, the irony being that after its 62nd
issue it was reborn as S&T, Keith having
bought the rights to that magazine when its publishers got into financial
difficulties. Jim Dunnigan
returned briefly as editor in 1989 before handing the reins over in 1991 to
Joseph Miranda, the current editor, when Keith sold S&T
to its present owner, Christopher Cummins of Decision Games.
Since
then we have had Command magazine which, for a time, seemed to be the
market leader, before going under in late 2000 after issue 54 due, perhaps
in no small part, to its owner’s proclivity for ahistorical subjects, such
as a Napoleonic invasion of England, and, believe it or not, chess variants!
The said gentleman, the irrepressible Ty Bomba, who had departed as
editor of S&T in 1989, returned briefly to the pages of S&T
following the demise of Command
to have his game ‘Back to Iraq?’ published at the end of 2001, a choice that
has subsequently proven to be remarkably prescient!
Game
Fix, later Competitive
Edge, published 13 issues containing so called ‘more playable’
games, meaning small, and though not officially defunct, has not produced an
issue since 1998. Another
magazine apparently in stasis is Counter Attack.
The amazing thing about this periodical is that little over a year
ago I received in the post issue 4 of my 6-issue subscription, a game on a
hypothetical conflict between North and
South Korea
(yawn). So
what’s amazing? Well, it had
taken some 10 years to arrive since its publication in 1993!
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And
so we come to the present. To
prove that the genre is not yet dead (although it’s probably merely a
matter of time) a new publication popped through my letterbox early last
year. Against the Odds is a very professionally produced magazine, the first issue game being ‘Hegemon’,
focussing on the wars between the Greek states prior to the rise of Macedonia. So what’s
different about this publication? The
hint is in the title; each issue will focus on a conflict where one side
fought outnumbered or in an apparently disadvantageous position.
Not a formula for balanced games one would think, but we shall see.
So
far I have focussed on publications written in English, so before I get
accused of chauvinism, its time to look at what’s available in other
tongues. By my count, you can
get similar magazines in 5 languages other than English: French, Italian,
Spanish, Polish and Japanese.
By
far the most colourful and eclectic overseas publication is the French
bi-monthly Vae Victis,
covering all aspects of the hobby, including miniatures and computer
wargaming. Since its inaugural
issue in February 1995, it has produced consistently high quality glossy
magazines in full colour containing a game in each issue.
Unlike its American counterparts however, the counters, whilst
superbly executed, are not die cut and are on thin card, thus requiring
mounting. The games cover a
variety of periods from ancient to 20th century conflicts and
English translations of the rules can be readily obtained from Web Grognards:
http://grognard.com/vaevict.html.
Moving
south to sunnier climes, the Spanish entry in the field, Alea is published to
an irregular schedule by Ludo Press, with games on a variety of subjects,
mostly with a Spanish theme. Two
series of games using system rules, ‘Shadow of the Eagle’ (Napoleonic)
and ‘No Pasaran!’ (Spanish Civil War) are frequent visitors to the pages
of Alea, the most recent issue
(number 27) being no exception, with the featured games being ‘Balaguer
1938’ and ‘Galmonal 1808’. As
with Vae Victis, the counters need
to be mounted and those of you who, like me, don’t have a command of
Spanish can download English translations of the game rules from their
web page (click on the cover below).
Eastward
across the
Mediterranean
we have a magazine with a similar title, Alea Iacta Est (“the die is cast”)
the Italian contribution to the genre. The
five issues so far published all include fairly simple games on Italian
themes. The most recent, ‘Pavia
1525’ covers the renaissance battle between French and
Imperial forces in a park outside the city that gives the game its name.
The maps are colourful, as are the counters which, as with the other
European publications, need to be mounted.
English translations of the rules can be obtained from their
web site (click on the
cover above).
It
is not at all surprising that the remaining European publication should
emanate from a country that has seen more than its fair share of war than
most; Poland. Taktyka
i Strategia (“Tactics & Strategy”)
is a historical magazine with a game in each issue.
The sixteen issues published since 2000 have been on a variety of
subjects, many games using the
“Bitwy II Wojny Swiatowej” (“Battles of WWII”) rules, also known as
the ‘B-35N’ system, sold separately by its publishers Heksagon.
The maps are all uniformly splendid and the unmounted counter sheets
are similar in quality to those produced by Vae
Victis. What is interesting
is that the maps of 3 of the issues link together to form a very large
rendition of the Normandy
peninsula in 1944. Prior
to being published in its current guise, several issues were published in a
similar format under the title of Dragon
Hobby. Heksagon also
publishes board games on other subjects, most notably several on the battles
in Poland
in 1939 using a generic system called ‘W-39’.
The company has also published a number of games on pre 20th
century subjects, although many are now out of print.
Until recently, the rules were only available in Polish, however,
several now have English translations enclosed, and it is hoped that in time
most of their output will be translated into English. Click on the
cover below to see their current range.
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And
so we come to the last player on the stage, Six Angles, published to an
infrequent schedule; the latest issue, number 7, went to press in
mid 2001, although another issue is rumoured to be in the pipeline.
While the magazine is in Japanese the maps, die-cut counters and
rules are in English and can be obtained from http://www.bouldergames.com/,
as can most of the in print magazines reviewed above.
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