To Westeros with Captain Blood! 14 October, another hill tribesman (p66)

[Captain Blood]

 

Thanks Niels

 

[Argonor]

Thanks Niels

 

Well deserved!

[warburton]

Very nice. 

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi all,
Just a word from the publisher to defend our poor, much maligned editor. ;-)
It's always a hellish job to match text and images. Our designer has the thankless job of trying to balance the two on the page. That's not to say that if the good Captain wrote more, there would be more images, as there are always annoying people, such as me, who want to condense every article to its essentials, so we can cram more other articles in (and if you thought any were tenuous, please DO let us know!). The main problem with any magazine is that it's strictly limited real estate. 84 pages have got to do it. No more, no less. That means making choices. If we are spoilt for choice when it comes to photography, OOBs, maps, etc, we often put the extras on our website, and Richard would be entirely welcome to coordinate that with Guy for this and other articles.

For the Dutch members: magazine distribution here is controlled by two companies, both owned by large publishers who are only interested in the next 'Linda'. Trust me, we've tried. But as others have said, there's digital subs, and very reasonable postage rates in the country. You're also quite welcome to come check out the latest and back issues at our offices in Zutphen and have a (strong) cup of coffee while doing it. In general, I recommend you check out the Dutch Miniature Wargaming Facebook group. There's quite a few of us nutters in this small country...

Jasper

[Captain Blood]

Thanks Jasper, for commenting.

It is, as I said, a thankless task trying to please all the people all the time. I wouldn't want your job or Guy's.
Luckily, those people that felt the pics could have been bigger, can now see bigger pictures of my figures here - so all is well 

I guess there might be an argument to say that - given relatively few modelling / painting articles are included in each issue of WS&S - articles showing modelling and painting in action should perhaps be given a bit more space in terms of pictures, compared with the majority of articles where the eye-candy is purely decorative, not the explicit subject of the article.

But that's your decision as the publisher (and Guy's as editor), of course 

Cheers.

Richard

[Praefectusclassis]

True. The real trick is balancing the text and pictures though - we don't 'do' picture pages. The net is much better for that (other magazines, different policies). So then you have to have more text, but... It's often simply not possible to make the text of an article like yours much longer without padding/repetition/redundant information.

[Elk101]

Oooh, it was me that used the word tenuous wasn't it!

I have felt that a few of the articles have been a bit general or a little bit like filler. It would be unfair to pick particular articles. That sounds unkind as WSS is my favourite gaming mag and indeed now the only one I buy. In the case of the Captain's article it is a very visual article and it would have been nice to see more/bigger images. I don't have the stress of editing a magazine though so I don't know what the ins and outs are.

It did get me thinking though so coincidentally enough I was bugging Guy last week with article ideas and he said he'd need to speak to you (is that a burning bridge I can smell?  )

[Praefectusclassis]

No, do let me know. Don't have to do it in public if you don't want to. PM or email is just as fine, but it's always important to us to hear what readers think. I think Guy and I - through the magic of constant fighting  - have a pretty good angle on what people like, but I will admit that he's not infallible.

Did you have a very novel idea then? That's be always good. I'm sure I'll hear from Guy, but again, feel free to contact me directly.

[Captain Blood]

It's often simply not possible to make the text of an article like yours much longer without padding/repetition/redundant information.

Nobody wants to see that 

[Praefectusclassis]

It's a sad fact of editorial life ;-)

[Doomhippie]

Coming back to the picture I have to say that is one cool miniature. This thread is wonderful and your creative output is absolutely stunning. Keep them coming, I'll be watching! 

[HvM]

He looks awesome! Cant wait to see the next guys
Although in this case i think a darker colour palette would be more suitable. Matter of taste!

The Nightwatch would offers the chance to paint darker miniatures! But i guess you will prove that a Nightwatch guy can also looks good with some red and turquoise tones mixed 

Cheers,
Daniel

[Captain Blood]

Daniel, I think you may have missed a few postings...  My Night's Watch man is on page 14! 

Now how's Bear Island coming along?

 

[Too Bo Coo]

Daniel, I think you may have missed a few postings...  My Night's Watch man is on page 14! 

Now how's Bear Island coming along?

 

And they are EPIC!

[Captain Blood]

Thank you for your support throughout this thread TBC - it's nice to get such enthusiastic feedback. Appreciated.