Rediscovering wargame magazines from 1989 / 90

A while ago, I recalled having read an article by Clive Lane in an old wargame magazine, which dealt with the subject of figure gaming using hexes, a novel subject at the time (late eighties). I wanted to dip back into those articles again and so after a little internet research I found two candidates on e-Bay and ordered them.

The magazine in question was of course the rather marvellous ‘Practical Wargamer’, which had editor Stuart Asquith at the helm and was published by Argus Specialist Publications.

We should remind ourselves that in 89 / 90 we were essentially in the pre-internet world as far as the average household and the wargamer were concerned. This fact alone made this magazine a hugely important part of the fabric of the wargaming community.

Anyway, my two magazine issues ( Winter 1989 and September - October 1990) arrived, each with an article on hexes by Clive Lane - all good! 

I have just come across the magazines again today as I sort through boxes of treasure and they are being enjoyed as old friends!

The mags come in at 58 - 60 pages. They are largely presented in black and white text and line drawings, with some pages offering colour photographs and illustrations. 

There isn’t a WWW web link or an e-mail address or FaceBook page reference anywhere in sight. Instead, the adverts carry real estate addresses, telephone numbers and that typical request that the reader ‘sends 75 pence in stamps for a catalogue’ or a ‘Self Stamped Address Envelope for more information’ - which almost feels quite charming or quaint now.

Looking at an inflation calculator, £1 Sterling in 1989 would be valued at around £3.23 in todays money, so the front cover price of a magazine (£1.95) would equate to £6.45 today, so not a big difference on the face of it, but in those days, the average family generally had much less disposable income in their pockets (though that situation is on the rise) once priorities like food, gas, electric and rent / mortgages were paid for, so really by comparison, I imagine the mags were really more expensive …… though of course you didn’t have the ‘necessity’ of a mobile phone, an extra holiday and a car or two to worry about :-).

Browsing both copies I noted that;

The Beatties advert (a good, nay, iconic, UK model shop) had 59 branches.

Minifigs 15mm packs were 80 pence.

The entrance fee to Colours 90 (Wargame show) was £2.

W.E.Hersant Ltd were the big name book sellers for wargamers, rather like Caliver Books are today.

Alec Tiranti Ltd was selling all things to do with hand casting and centricasting.

Hovels buildings had a new Spanish range with a 25mm ‘three storey house and balcony in resin for £5.40 with 15% postage cost.

Don Featherstone has an article looking at the Egyptian army of 1882.

The marvellous Bob Marrion’s original artwork of soldiers in watercolour are given space amongst the few pages of full colour.

Southsea Models, Mili-Art, Britannia Miniatures, Mac’s Models, Skytrex, Hales Models Stonecast, Wargames Foundry, Spirit Games, Chelifer Books, The Drum and Minifigs are amongst the regular advertiser names that dominated ‘our yesterday’.

Overall, I always had an impression that this magazine was written for wargamers by wargamers and I note that sentiment is reinforced by a reader’s letter to the editor in one of the mags, as he complains about the mix of articles being too weighted to certain periods and the editor replies that he can only work with the material that is submitted to the magazine, so it sounds like at that time, we were still some way off from in house writers taking up that slack of insufficient submission from the readership.

The articles are underpinned by a strong sense / presence of history and sections explaining the important stuff of tactics and detailed construction of formations and their roles. There are several references to written orders and the business of wargaming feels like it is being expressed as a serious activity, with a level of exactitude that I sometimes wonder whether that flowed from the pens of those who had actual military experience and wanted things portrayed 'right'. It certainly comes from a time when more gamers were engaged with what was considered the importance of research and so this was all welcomed information.

Even in those days, I was interested in writing and boardgame design, but there was a seeming constraint that the world of publishing was coloured by those with an academic background, who through qualification had the ‘authority to write’ and the gateway to getting published was absolutely controlled by editors and publishing houses and you just had to rub along with that, a little in the shadows.

Fast forward to today and the power of print is at the fingertips of anyone and everyone. Self expression via the internet (this page for example), whether in written form or video, has brought a significant confidence and capability to pretty much anyone to project themselves into a public space - though of course that has not always been for the good. As the saying goes, the best thing about the internet is that everyone has a voice, the worst thing about the internet is that everyone has a voice. 

By contrast todays magazines, which of course have become just one part of what we now know as social media, seem to have a looser approach, with abstraction given due space and even the prospect of fun enters the language. Though editors must increasingly have a frantic job each month, just ensuring that they have enough content to fill the pages and maintaining sustainable circulation numbers. 

‘In house’ writing for magazines has reduced the voice of gamer diversity and I feel a slight hoorah! coming on for those early magazines and their editors who, given the times, gave space to the ordinary wargamer to share their own aspect of the hobby with the rest of us, after all that is how you get an article from the pen of say wargamer Clive Lane, playing on my mind over 35 years after it was written.

On a final note, one of my magazines has a strong smell of damp that is unpleasant and spoils it as an experience of ownership. Please don’t store documents and boardgames in attics and garages etc. Bring them indoors, yes I know space is a premium, but one might simply have to make room by getting rid of something less important, like the bed, dining table or T.V. and even all of the kids toys.    Good Luck :-)