The Times They Are a-Changin’

I’m a very busy man. In fact, the mystery is figuring out why it is that the older I get, the busier I get. Why did I ever imagine that by the time I hit my mid-50s, I would be starting to take things easy?

I chose the wrong career for that!

Those of you who read Miniature Wargames will know that this year – right about now, in fact – I’m celebrating (is that the right word?) ten years as a magazine editor. For half that time, I was publishing my own magazine, Battlegames; since then, I’ve been producing magazines for others – about four years with Atlantic Publishers, and for the last year, for Warners Group Publications.

Some recent events have given me a sharp reminder that for quite a while now, I have not been in control of my destiny as much as I would like, so I’m doing something about that. I don’t want to give too much away, but I’m going to be resuscitating my own publishing company to release some ideas I’ve had that I hope you will enjoy and find useful. I hope to make the first of these available within the next couple of months, and then at regular intervals thereafter, building into a library of stuff for wargamers that grows over the coming years. All of it will be pitched at sensible prices that I hope you will agree represent great value for money. They will all be released initially in digital format (PDF and ebook); if there is a demand for printed versions, then I’m sure I’ll sort out something via one of the many print-on-demand services available nowadays, or by licensing to other retailers. I shall not be mass-printing or keeping stock – been there, done that, have the scars to prove it!

If you’re following my progress as an author, and are starting to feel twitchy because it’s now nearly three years since The Wargaming Compendium
was published, then fear not: Wargaming Campaigns is plodding along in the background, and I’m trying not to get distracted by calls for me to release my Shot, Steel & Stone rules as a stand-alone publication. That is coming too (I have a contract for it!) but I must get the campaigns book done first to keep the publishers happy. You may be interested to know that the ruleset is already taking on a life of its own, and it seems likely that Ancients, ECW and ACW variants will be hot on the heels of the first release in due course.

But the bottom line is that whilst my duties continue as normal at the helm of Miniature Wargames with Battlegames, I’m excited about the prospect of growing my own business again. Variety is the spice of life, and after a few tumultuous years, it’s time for me to emerge, blinking, from the MWBG bunker and see what else there is for me to do as well.

If you’d like to keep abreast of developments, I’ll be launching a newsletter very soon, which I’ll announce in a separate post. Remember, this is under the banner of Henry Hyde Limited, and completely separate from Miniature Wargames and Warners, though of course I shall naturally refer to the magazine from time to time – it does rather dominate my life!

And just before I go, fans of my imagi-nations campaigns will be pleased to hear that at the end of this month I shall be in Ayton, umpiring more shenanigans in the Wars of the Faltenian Succession as, this time, a clutch of vengeful nations descend on Grenouisse to dish out some of what they have received in recent years. I’ll do a separate post about that shortly.

Meanwhile, as I always end my editorials in the magazine – roll ’em high!

Henry

P.S. I’ve recently been interviewed for Miniature Wargaming: The Movie – that was fun! You can also find their Facebook page with regular updates here.