A Fraction Too Much Glossy Diversity?

 I don't often disagree with Keith Flint, but this time he's wide off the mark. Have a look at his post on the future of the wargame glossies.

Keith argues that the 3 glossies are now all too diverse.

It's time to get back to basics. Every wargamer knows in his heart that playing battles with model soldiers has just three periods - ancients, horse and musket, and modern. [...] Every issue of a wargames magazine should have at least one decent article dedicated to each one of these periods.

But it seems to me the three glossies are not saturating the market, or otherwise they would be specialising (either on periods or modelling/painting etc). Now what might change the dynamic is when there would be a new, specialised glossy. It might not be as big as the other three, but it would cater to a more clearly defined demographic, with potentially similar profitability.

Wargames magazines vs blogs

Let me draw your attention to a very good post by Keith Flint on wargames magazines. I think Keith is entirely correct when he writes

"there are far too many trivial posts and comments out there that contribute very little to our hobby, and which fail to communicate very much in terms of ideas or inspiration. Indeed, some forum posters seem to have quite a lot of trouble spelling words properly and grasping the basics of punctuation, let alone having anything worth saying. Far too many blogs make do with battle reports featuring no maps or scenario outlines, thus giving no idea of what's going on, and support this thin fare with a series of badly lit and/or out of focus photos."

There is a lot of low quality stuff out here (including mine) that is only relevant to a few people that know me well. On the other hand, that's the essence of a blog. It's a trade of between personal and immediate and objective standards of quality. That is also the reason why there will always be room for magazines (in paper or digital form).

On the other hand, it was a long time ago that I was subscribed to one of the glossies and I frankly lost interest because of the indifferent quality of the articles. I'm glad that the both revamped Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy and Miniature Wargames seem to be improving on that.

For me Keith's crie de coeur is a good reason to think about what I can do to improve my blog, without it becoming an online magazine.

The front of Keith's own blog

Keith's criticism is not limited to the blogs however. He is also critical of the 'rather bland and forgettable' contributions of 'prominents figure in the hobby' like Rick Priestly and Richard Clarke. And he engages the debate about the quality of painting shown in magazines and

"articles that purport to pass on their 'secret' of producing wonderful figures in record time. [...] Unfortunately, amongst all the tips and wrinkles, one does not have to read between the lines of such articles very much to discover that the real 'secret' is to spend every waking hour painting figures, often with as much shading and general fiddling about as possible."

 Also Keith argues that

"The emphasis on painting creates a distraction from the task in hand, which is of course to get some wargaming in."

 So by all means, read Keith's blog and take up his recommendations to read the magazines involved.