Have you ever looked over at your bookshelf, spotted a towering stack of vintage wargaming magazines from decades past, and wondered whether you are looking at a precious goldmine of tabletop history or just a massive pile of flammable clutter? I ask because I spent this past weekend staring down several boxes tucked away around my home, each one crammed to the brim with back issues of classic gaming publications that I have collected over the years, a topic I actually dive into with even deeper discussion in my latest video. Sorting through those forgotten pages was a fascinating experience, but it also forced me to confront a dilemma that almost every long-time wargamer eventually faces as the years pile up alongside our miniature collections. We love the nostalgia, the tactile feel of physical paper, and the fascinating snapshot of our hobby’s evolution that those old articles represent, but at a certain point we have to figure out how to manage it all without letting legacy print media completely take over our gaming space.
Looking back on my own journey with gaming print media, my very first issue was a copy of White Dwarf back when my tabletop roleplaying group was busy exploring Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I cannot honestly say I remember the specific articles from that issue, but I vividly remember being completely blown away by the wonderful, evocative artwork that brought those fantasy worlds to life on the page. From about the mid-nineties onward, I started picking up the occasional copy of Miniature Wargames whenever I happened to spot it in the shops as an impulse buy, drawn in by the cover art and military illustrations before getting absorbed in the battle reports and historical background. I remember sitting there daydreaming about convincing my roleplaying group to transition over to historical wargames, though it would actually take me over a decade to finally roll dice for historical battles with a completely different group of friends. As the years rolled on, I eventually subscribed to almost all of the major UK wargames titles at one point or another, settling these days on a steady subscription to Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy where I treat each issue as a delightful monthly treat to dip in and out of for fresh scenarios, favorite columnists, and exciting new release announcements.
The trouble is that those monthly purchases add up far faster than most of us realize, and at one point I found myself storing multiple heavy cardboard boxes of magazines all around the house, from the dark corners of the loft to the back of my wardrobe, before they eventually migrated into cluttering up my main games room. I kept telling myself that I was keeping them all just in case I ever needed a specific scenario or painting guide, but the honest truth was that I almost never went back to dig through those dusty boxes once an issue had been placed inside them. A few years ago I finally had a major realization as I looked at the mountains of paper taking over my living space and asked myself why on earth I was holding onto so many tons of newsprint that I never actually re-read. That moment sparked a massive clear-out, and since then I have made a conscious effort to regularly purge my magazine collection, either by passing copies along to gaming friends who will enjoy them or by donating them in bulk to local charity shops where they might spark the hobby bug in a new reader.
I will be the first to admit that getting rid of old magazines is genuinely hard work emotionally, even when you logically know in your heart that you will likely never pick up those specific physical issues ever again. There is a real sense of comfort in knowing an article exists somewhere in your house, but without a dedicated master index, the mathematical odds of actually finding a particular scenario or uniform guide five, ten, or twenty years down the line are practically next to zero. That tension between preserving our personal nostalgic memories and maintaining a practical, functional gaming room is something so many of us wrestle with on a regular basis, whether we are trying to clear off a painting desk or just make room for a new project. Finding a sensible balance means accepting that the true value of those magazines was the joy and immediate inspiration they gave us when we first read them, rather than the physical paper sitting untouched in a cardboard box under the stairs.
I would love to know how all of you out there manage your own growing stacks of historical wargaming magazines over the years. Have you held onto every single copy you have ever bought since the early days, do you actively purge and donate your back issues to fellow club members, or have you found a clever way to index and store the articles you love the most?
I have saved those magazines in which I have had articles published, in the - possibly vain! - hope that my as yet unborn grandchildren might one day read and enjoy them, and all my copies of Henry Hyde's Battlegames, simply because it was my favourite magazine. Otherwise, I cut out and save a few articles that I know will be useful in future, and put the rest into paper recycling. I volunteer in a local charity shop and know from experience that old magazines hardly ever sell there.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I started to index all my old magazines, see https://snv-ttm.blogspot.com/p/wargames-magazine-database.html
ReplyDeleteAs a result, people started to donate old magazines to me. My long term goal is to build a library that documents the history of our hobby. As a first stage, a proper index is needed.
But indeed, all those magazines take up some significant space!