The return of WSS

Not exactly 'new' news but the magazine WS&S (Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy) is scheduled to return shortly.

For those that don't know WS&S was a Spanish wargaming magazine which had an English 'translation', despite it's quirks and various problem's it was an excellent magazine but for various reasons the English version was stopped last year, a sad loss.

But now it has new owners (the people behind the Ancient Warfare magazine) and returns as a true English magazine (for better or worse), from the new Editor's blog:

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THE NEW WS&S?

There has been much deliberation and planning which has gone into the re-launch of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. What sort of magazine should we be? The answer was obvious, the way we had been in the past, with a few improvements. When WS&S first appeared, it was a breath of fresh air to the hobby, fresh and exciting. So much so that other magazines took notice, after all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Some of the zeal of the early magazines had faded slightly with later editions. With my term as editor, I wanted to return to the passion that I read in the earlier issues of WS&S, a true passion for the wargames hobby. However I stopped the magazine after there were issues with paying my contributors and Revistas put WS&S 'on hold'.

The rest you know. Karwansaray have bought WS&S and we have been carefully planning issue 54 for a while. I asked my friends in the hobby what they wanted in a new magazine. One replied, "I want a wargames magazine about wargaming". Never a truer word said.

Now we have a new team in place and it is very refreshing. Issues where I'd wait days or even a week for an answer are either responded to directly or are sorted out via Skype. Much of the original magazine will still be there in the new edition; the contributors will mostly be the same, with a few surprise additions to the team. The Dutch team at Karwansaray probably speak better English than I do, so the quaint 'spanglish' of past editions is now truly history. The dossier format will stay, but will never dominate the magazine as it occasionally did - there will be plenty of content which is 'off the dossier theme' besides. Also expect a new twist on the dossier...

Right, now off to playtest some Blackpowder ideas for a scenario for WSS 54. Bye for now!

Well I don't want to dwell on the past, enough to say I am someone who likes non-english sources and don't mind the 'quaintness' of translations for the expanded insight you get and I have a lot of time and respect for our Spanish wargaming brothers-in-arms. However that IS the past it's now a new magazine and the quote "I want a wargames magazine about wargaming" stands for exactly what I think and is one reason I don't subscribe to a lot of the magazine's. So I look forward to the first issue and hope it lives up to the Editor's expectations, if it does it will I am sure be a success.

BTW Issues 1-11 of the old WSS are available in digital format from the new site. It appears to suggest all the issues will eventually be available which is very welcome, other than that you can get print versions of back copies from Caliver.

BTW2 - Digital Issue 2 is a 'Napoleonic Feature' available for EUR2.25.