Wargames Bloggers Quarterly

This week has seen the launch of a quarterly online magazine (or e-Zine as the youngsters call them nowaways), Wargames Bloggers Quarterly. This came as a very pleasant surprise as I hadn't heard any rumours about its release.

I have thought, for quite a while now, that blogging and online articles could be a serious alternative to hard copy (i.e. real) magazines and, judging by this new download, possibly a serious threat to their future. I no longer subscribe to any magazines, only buying individual issues as and when they have several articles of interest. The beauty of blogging is that you can, in effect, create your own online magazine and follow blogs that can be tailored to suit your own interests. You can be, more or less, certain of regular articles rather than once in a blue moon in a magazine. Wargames Illustrated seem to be aware of this challenge as they release relating articles online that compliment the magazine.

New items, (figures, rules terrain etc.) are often posted on wargaming websites a long time before they are official posted as 'news' which must make the manufacturers wonder if its worth paying for proper advertising. 

Since the demise of Google Reader I've noticed that I often miss blog updates, which probably isn't too surprising since I follow 500 plus blogs. A fair number of these are probably inactive, a feature on Reader allowed you to see this. I'd be curious to know the average 'lifespan' of a blog, probably less than a year I imagine. 

This e-Zine has very good production values. There are a number of blogs that I haven't seen before but also articles by bloggers that I do follow and have missed - which, as the editorial states, is one of the reasons for its existence. 

Wargames Bloggers Quarterly is available to download free (here).