Something for the New Year?

As previously threatened I've read Issue 3 of Tabletop Gaming from cover to cover.

In short I'm going to be picking up a subscription because I think it's worth £20 to see it can achieve.

Despite the obvious difficulties of the format in the increasingly virtual world it's something I'd like to succeed. Like many things it harks back to the Hobby of my youth, White Dwarf and Wargames Illustrated, which I'm sure for many of us is the attraction.

Anyway, before I get too heavily sidetracked;

The Good:
- It's a high quality, professionally laid out and finished product. It's a compliment to say that it doesn't come across as a wargames magazine if you didn't already know.
- It covers all the bases in terms of content: News, New Releases, Editorial, Features, Battle Report, Interview, Events, Reviews, Hobby, Shop and Club Spotlights.
- It's well and intelligently written, pitched at an adult level.
- The reviews tell you what you need to know and have a useful comparison "If you like........" section.
- The full gamut of figure, dice, board and role-playing games are all covered.

The Bad:
- The obligatory FFG Star Wars article read more like a product pamphlet than an article.
- Other than the Introduction to Bushido there wasn't a lot of mechanics in the reviews. The Dropzone Commander battle report had none at all.
- Historical gaming barely got a look in, other than adverts, and board games seemes to dominate the issue as a whole.

My Ugly:
I have to admit to being biased as I've been wanting a decent Wargames magazine for quite sometime. Tabletop Gaming is good but I'm not sure that it's special. This issue was very Sci-Fi / Fantasy and previous issues look to be the same. That's fine but I would prefer that to be openly stated.

These days we're all a lot more savvy and capable of doing our own research so I can forgive a more impressionistic review, in many ways I prefer them, especially when it allows a wider coverage.
I'm still picking up a hard copy subscription because that's who I am. I'm hopeful rather than expectant as these days we can all find this stuff by ourselves but there still something about having it arrive on you doormat.

I'd suggest its well worth a fiver to inform your own opinion ;)

The Sprit of the Season

Yesterday myself and Nigel squeezed in a final day out flying casual down inWoking.

I pulled another respectable 3 and 2 with a vaguely experimental triple Black Sun Ace toting Crack Shot with TLT / Bossk Palob. It was fun to fly but really needed to win the opening engagement. Dropping Palob, who was generally priority target, would give me a pair of feedback Zs to run as blockers but no Palob. First world problems ;(

The event itself was very welcoming and we'll run with tea, coffee, pastries and faction themed cake available :) Prize support was impressive with complementary Xmas target locks from Cog O Two and a couple of prize kits from I Buy Wargames.

During the lunchbreak we dropped into I Buy, mainly as I needed to restock some paints at which point I my my regular impulse purchases of a few more Army Painter brushes and also a copy of Tabletop Gaming.

I can't lie I've wanted, yearned for even, a good toys magazine for many years and endured many substitutes and false false dawns. Even with the rose tints on I can see the difficulties to produce a viable publication in the virtual age but that doesn't stop other hobbies.

First impressions are very good. It's a high quality weighty perfect bind production with a modern, professional look throughout. I'd compare it, favourably, to Edge in that it's clearly aimed for the grown up geek. All the expected bases are covered, though a quick flick reveals the content of this particular issue to be more Fantasy and Sci Fi than Historical.

It's rather inspired me to read every last word and do a proper review, rare indeed! Meanwhile if you see it about I'd suggest it's well worth a fiver to have a look yourself, I'm already tempted to subscribe!

Happy days ;)