Nice one... Henry.

Recieved my copy of MW362 the other day- the second issue under new mangagement and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised. Especially after the patchiness of the previous issue. There is actually stuff to read in it. Indeed from a personal point of view there was more in this issue than all the BGs I have put together. To be sure the layout is a bit annoying with the Front cover in white looking a bit like an Essex slappers high heels and the strapline at the top of each page with its little red highlight label to remind you you are reading a feature or a column- as if to imply that you can't tell by reading the actual article..... However that being said the articles were useful and interesting - A nice ECW campaign a couple of useful think pieces the Whose History one being particulary interesting- though I'm not sure the analogy bewteen modern historical art and Game design holds water the basic premise does in that Game designers are far more abstract and need to give much more info...show your working lad- as my maths teacher would have said. Mind you I did giggle- there is a picture of 10 rulesets- all Napoleonic or ACW. I own 2 of them - niether of which are my favouites- the rest I've never seen or only marginally heard of..certainly never played. Perhaps I'm just not as obcessed with rules as some of the blikes out there. Hate reading 'em can't see the point of many of 'em - other than to earn a few bob for the writer. However i used to tinker- much more than I do now and would dispute that a game designer knows more automatically about a given period than I do . Now don't get me wrong I know bog all about Ancient Chinese Warfareand precious little about several other periods. The author opines that gamers hate debates about accuracy and that all they want is (here it comes thinks I ) FUN(yep there is that dread word again) Debate of course can also be FUN discussion is what greases the whells - at least I hope so. The other think piece was equally thought provoking- though as someone who has used the "holistic" appraoch since before the term was coined there wasn't that much new there- except for the 12 points at the end- not so much the points themselves but the way they were stated. My argument would be - well I simply don't get into a period that way Rules first perish the thought.

So just for the recoerd here is how I usually get into a period.

First its a matter of inspiration- this most usually is a good book or sometimes one of those now despised "taster articles" in one of the glossies- rare now these.. I might be a range of figures or even a game. What it won't be is a set of bloody rules. The Ilkley lads game at Triples may make me dig out my Landknects. A book called "Target Basra certainly started off my Modern armies last July . Peter Young and HCB Rogers and a few years reenactinf did the ECW for me. and so on and so forth . I ALWAYS do both sides one army is as much use as 1 beer- how do you get a proer taste? However the point about overcrowded tables is well made I've seen it time and time again likewise nice painting and crap basing. I've always thought that the so called "Holistic" approach is the only way to go but nevertheless the piece was well put together and too the point.

There was also a nice piece on paintin MASSES of Swis pikemen. In 15mm yetand without black undercoat. There is life out there... and hopefully not to sound patronising by a female writer well done Miss Piper. - Bloody good painjobs too - me I'd have packed it in after abnout 50 .

All in all a good mag.