Review – Ravage Gaming Magazine #9

By good fortune, I got my hands on another copy of the Ravage Miniatures Gaming Magazine: Issue #9, after Ravage #5 I read in January and again in a printed version, and not for the iPad.

Time for a review!

This issue is titled August-September 2013, so it isn’t truly up-to-date (and feels more dated as publishers CMON spend a few pages to plug their – then – upcoming Wrath of Kings Kickstarter).

Even so, the ~ 4 pages CMON Kickstarter-ad are also probably the only fault I can find with this. Much less focused on one particular game than the Ravage #5 (Dark Ages), this is a great issue packed with lots of meaty articles.

Not all articles are equally good, coming from a variety of authors, but overall Ravage is fast becoming the Miniatures Gaming Magazine with contents truly worth a few hours of good reading.

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#1 – General Impression

Ravage Magazine comes with 81 glossy, high-quality pages for US$ 6.99 (I don’t think there is a GBP price). Of these, 9 pages are ads, 1 page contents and 1 page editor’s introduction.

Of course, most articles in Ravage Magazine are written by people behind the various games. An article on Infinity is written by the guy from Corvus Belli, an article about Leviathans by a Catalyst Game Labs Developer, etc.. .

Much like White Dwarf being written about GW by GW, Ravage articles themselves are a type of advertisement. Some do it better, providing great insights. Others less so, offering little beyond what you would read on the box of a game. Overall, I felt the majority was well worth reading.

Long story short, you really get a lot of reading for your money with Ravage.

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#2 – Top Articles

One article from the 4 main sections of the magazine I enjoyed.

Writing this blog, I am myself sorta in the business of reviewing GW release once in a while.

This review on the Warhammer High Elves release took me to school on there. A really detailed and in-depth write up that considers the new Games Workshop High Elves in just about every way: From the context of “GW High Elves since the 1980s“, over insights on paper quality or world maps in recent GW Fantasy Army Books, to High Elves army list ideas, this one has everything!

There are new scenarios for a few games in this issue. The best, I thought, was an article about using enormous asteroids in the X Wing Miniatures Game, complete with rules for giant space slugs and cut-out asteroids in the magazine.

I am not sure I’d cut up the magazine itself, and there is no “old-school” cardboard inlet. But I certainly do want to see some T-Fighters gobbled up by a giant space slug at some point!

Ravage is clearly a magazine for the gaming side of things, less so for the painting side of things. Still, the hobby-section is fun. I enjoyed reading both a “Painted Miniatures in 1 Hour” and “Paint at Contest-Levels” (see picture at the top) article by the same person (Stéphane Louis).

Nicely done!

I am simply gonna let the article speak for itself:

Sprawl Gangers is a competitive, skirmish-level miniatures game for 2 players, with everything needed to game right in the box. Players will take on the task of building gangs (Ancients and Halloweeners) [...]

[...] For some of you reading that, you’re going to immediately think “Necromunda”. And that’s not only okay – hopefully you’ll embrace the idea.

I am listening Catalyst Games! Bring. It. On.

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#3 – Verdict

Overall, Ravage #9 is a highly enjoyable magazine, filled to the brim with great articles, even if one or two of them are slightly too “selly” for my taste.

The ad-articles for the latest CMON-Kickstarter is probably the weakest link. I understand that this is a CMON-Magazine and they want to promote their own game. However, precisely because these are their games, I should be easy for CoolMiniOrNot to add a Wrath of Kings (or whatever game they are kickstarting) article – tactics, painting guide, a short piece of fiction – that’s still be worth reading after a Kickstarter has ended (not least for Kickstarter-backers themselves).

Still, if you want a good read on a variety of games and hobby-related things, you’d be hard pressed to find a Miniatures Games Magazine that gives you more quality bang for your buck.

What’s Your Gaming Magazine?

• Are you reading a (paid-for) Miniatures Gaming Magazine?
• Ravage? The White Dwarf? Something else?
• What are you looking for in a Miniatures Gaming Magazine?

Let me know what you think and leave a comment!

Z.