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Partly out of a desire to put my design degree to good use and partly out of a desire to have something to do over the course of the upcoming winter, I've decided to try my hand at putting together a wargaming magazine.

In order to make it something more than a mere vanity project I've decided to engage in a little market research, so I'm asking the following question: Which of the following would you, as a wargaming magazine reader, like to see more of:

Painting guides?
How-to guides for making terrain?
Interviews with rule-writers modelmakers?
scenario concepts?
Battle/campaign reports?
'mini porn'?
product/model reviews?
Historical studies/thumbnails?
Convention/show reviews?

or any other things you could suggest? Oh the flipside, which of these would you like to see LESS of?

More mini porn, less battle reports.

SurfPenguin wrote:Partly out of a desire to put my design degree to good use and partly out of a desire to have something to do over the course of the upcoming winter, I've decided to try my hand at putting together a wargaming magazine.

In order to make it something more than a mere vanity project I've decided to engage in a little market research, so I'm asking the following question: Which of the following would you, as a wargaming magazine reader, like to see more of:

Painting guides?
How-to guides for making terrain?
Interviews with rule-writers modelmakers?
scenario concepts?
Battle/campaign reports?
'mini porn'?
product/model reviews?
Historical studies/thumbnails?
Convention/show reviews?

or any other things you could suggest? Oh the flipside, which of these would you like to see LESS of?

I would be mostly interested in painting/modeling guides.

Battle reports between two competent armies and generals, and playing an actual tournament scenario. Not all the time, but once every few issues would be good. I'm sick of picking up WD and knowing who's going to win the battle when I look at the armies used.

Mookie

More along the lines of PP's no quarter, i've only recently got into warmachine but the no quarter magazine is a brilliant. It is a proper hobby magazine.

Some things that i would like to see:

Painting acticles
Maybe get a photo of some ones work from their inbox and have a double spread of them, would be fiddly with ownership of the images though i imagine
Battle reports that aren't one sided or only when something new comes out(which will win, because it's newer)
Scenarios/ custom missions/ campaigns
Q+A's with writers/scupltors - would be a handy insight if done ok, and not "i love the baneblade, you should all buy one"
Maybe post any FAQ updates, instead of ninja updating

That's all really, pretty much turn it into a magazine, not a brochure.

in no particular order:

Painting and modelling guides
Interviews with designers
Product and game reviews (this could include a battle report)

Scenario and campaign ideas might be interesting, but should probably be limited to popular games. I'm sure no one is going to be interested in your new scenario for some old defunct game that no one's even heard of.

Battle reports that truely display the capabilities of the armies being used.

Pretty pictures, first and foremost.

It's what got me into this hobby.

SurfPenguin wrote:
Painting guides?
How-to guides for making terrain?
Interviews with rule-writers modelmakers?
scenario concepts?
Battle/campaign reports?
'mini porn'?
product/model reviews?
Historical studies/thumbnails?
Convention/show reviews?

I'd love to see painting guides, guides for making terrain, and scenarios (so long as they're for the most popular games).

I'd enjoy reviews of models and possibly battle reports depending on how they go.

I'd dubious that you'd get interviews with GWS rule-writers or modelmakers, as they shun publicity, and if you did, they wouldn't say anything critical of GWS; in short this would be content you could already get in WD.

Terrain modeling articles that teach good terrain that is easy to make.

Also... Detailed real battle reports from tourney games played by experienced tables. It would be nice to have really detailed reports presented well so people can learn and it is fun to see tourney results.

3D centerfold babes posing with the editor's choice product of the month.

I don't know what this would fall under, but a long time ago I recall reading an article in WD which discussed using the Lore of Life. It was about 2 pages or so, and talked about how to use it in an effective way, what spells are good for what situations, etc. It was thoughtful and rather well done.

As an aside, I cannot believe how bad WD has become.

Not focused on any one system or company in particular, low advertising costs.

A two-page spread of Lelith Hespirax with a whip, and an innocent little marine.

You can see where this is going.

Proper product reviews. GW's magazine is in-house, they can't review their own product if they tried. Some other wargames magazines seem a bit thin on reviews.

I like to know what the products for the month are, from big and small companies and have some of the latest releases reviewed more thoroughly.

Unless there is a specific technique being discussed I don't need painting guides, certainly not on a monthly basis like GW do them. Some terrain articles are good. Battle reports should be treated with care, they can take up a lot of space and not be all that interesting. Coverage of events, shows and readers models are welcome.

IMO there isn't really a need for a wargaming magazine any more. You can find everythig you need and more online, and thats completely free.

I am guessing this is not a magazine that exclusively caters to a single manufacturer but rather has a broad approach?

I like painting guides with spesific thematic content. Not "how to paint this miniature" but "how to paint eyes", "how to paint different human and alien skintones", "how to paint NMM" etc. Preferably not tied to a single paint line, but rather suggesting equivalents.

Terrain making is, to me, mainly interesting as an inspirational thing, thus not too detailed.

Interviews with rule writers? Perhaps, but the interviewer will have to be sharp and the interviewed must accept critical questions, not regard the interview as a PR opportunity. I think very few will accept that.

Scenario concepts - only for game systems where there isn't ample support for it elsewhere. Spartan's games and Infinity badly need expansion on scenarios.

Battle reports tend to be fairly boring, to me, unless it is from, say a GenCon Masters final or ETC final round blow-by-blow.

Mini porn is just sad.

Reviews can be interesting, but I think it is a format better suited to internet unboxing vids+pics.

Historical studies are (in the fields I know something about) usually atrocious (to me) because most wargamers and several designers of historical wargames do not keep up with the current state of the research field.

Convention or tourney reviews? Perhaps. If well done.

Tactical tips are interesting, but I think they would have to be a combination of a game review and tactical tips to provide the broad coverage I expect from a wargaming magazine.

Mookie Blaylock wrote:Battle reports between two competent armies and generals, and playing an actual tournament scenario. Not all the time, but once every few issues would be good. I'm sick of picking up WD and knowing who's going to win the battle when I look at the armies used.

Mookie

I think battle reports, properly recorded (in both 'in world' text AND with tactical commentaries by generals) would be lovely, but between balanced, very pretty, interesting armies. This allows the battle report to be an army showcase as well. I wouldn't read a battle report without pretty photos.

While I realise that having two unbalanced armies becomes boring because of the reason listed above, I also would be incredibly bored to read about another confrontation between Competitive Grey Knights and Competitive Space Wolves. The armies should be closely balanced in power level, but not 'standard' tournament armies.

On a different note...

I play 40k. Occasionally other GW games, but mainly 40k. I have no interest in most other wargames. I guess I would be interested to see new models, kit reviews etc, but if there were large sections on Warmahordes or Flames of War, I probably wouldn't buy it. I imagine this is a common problem in the market - relatively few people actually are interested in all games, and nobody wants to spend money on a magazine that is two-thirds irrelevant to them...

40k battle reports, with tons of pictures, finished terrain and army, narratives as well as tactical commentary.

ArbitorIan wrote:I imagine this is a common problem in the market - relatively few people actually are interested in all games, and nobody wants to spend money on a magazine that is two-thirds irrelevant to them...

In fact, the opposite seems to be true:
http://theminiaturespage.com/mags/

I have the impression that the majority of magazines are multisystem magazines, and I think all the commercial ones are apart from WD/NQ/similar property-tied magazines? Even Unseen Lerker (while heavily WHFB-centric) has had articles on Kings of War, WM/H, Malifaux and Shuuro, so far. I mean, they even have me buying an issue now and then, even if I am not a WHFB player. Free .pdf fanzines tend to have fairly short lifespans or erratic publishing routines - even Warseer's effort (Firebase/Firezone?) suffer(ed?) from this. There are hundreds of dead system-exclusive fanzines out there.

It is really hard to compete commercially with property-tied magazines as an exclusive system magazine, I fear.

Nice models on great terrain, with a tutorial on how they painted the models and made the terrain.

Oh and Battle Reports that aren't pre-rigged in favour of whatever army had an update that month

I am in favor of product reviews, hobby how-to guides, gameplay strategy articles, optional rules, scenarios, additional fluff, and 'mini porn.' I am not so much into the interviews with people in the industry, but I would still read them. I have no desire whatsoever to read a battle report. (Although I might still read it if it was there.) I have no desire to read a campaign report, and won't even if it is there. I don't really know what you mean by 'historical studies/thumbnails,' so I can't comment on that.

The problem is the limited focus. I only play 40k. That's why I don't buy White Dwarf. I don't want to spend eight or ten bucks on a magazine only to have half of it be about Lord of the Rings.

Good, informative painting guides, with good photos showing how to do various techniques.

Codex/Army book/Rulebook and System reviews would also be very useful and interesting to read.

And good examples of what you can do with conversions.

The rest is just add ons to that really.

Painting and modelling guides mostly, both for minis and terrain. Models too. Historical studies? Interesting. Why not?
Oh, and I'd like a bit more fluffy literature in it.
Oh yes, strategy guides too! (It's all coming one at a time...)

Less? I don't much care for conventions and shows but I know others do so I don't really mind.

Painting guides - y
How-to guides for making terrain - y
Interviews with rule-writers modelmakers - y
scenario concepts - y
Battle/campaign reports -
'mini porn' - n
product/model reviews - y
Historical studies/thumbnails - y
Convention/show reviews - y

In addition, to your list I'd like to add role-playing material.

The most overwhelmingly large thing I want is to have a narrative story overlaying all those things. What I mean is, there is a reason why said terrain piece was made to go along with the guide to making. There is a background as to how said scenario for the battle report came about, I don't even have a problem with scenarios that make no pretensions or attempts at balanced play even.

The thing I like to see the least is multiple game systems, I don't play LotR and WHFB and frankly don't care about them, yet +/-2/3 of White Dwarf is wasted on them, from my perspective and it reduces the amount of money I would be will to spend on a subscription well bellow what they actually charge. I do have a subscription to No Quarter and I mostly love it.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that an independent hobby magazine would add so much more to the hobby? Not that GW would actually let one exist of course.

They already do exist, and they're pretty terrible.

Oh, I didn't realise, thanks for the heads up. But what about a decent independent hobby magazine?

Please no battle reports as they are so very very boring! In all the years I've got WD I've never ever read a report. What I would like to see is some kind of fiugre/model release section, which would be a round up of all manufacturer's new releases. But God no battle reports!