Friday 29 April 2011

The Frugal Lerker


If you listen to gaming podcasts such as Heelanhammer, Podhammer, and Bad Dice, you'll probably have heard of a Warhammer based magazine currently on the market called 'Unseen Lerker', after hearing a number of positive reviews I decided to give it a go.  I've not been a fan of gaming magazines in the past, but I decided to give this one a go for a number of reasons:
  • It's had some fantastic reviews
  • It focuses on Warhammer Fantasy
  • It's only published six times a year.
Yeah, my main problem with previous gaming magazines was that I wasn't getting the chance to read them cover to cover before the next issue came out; this was combined with the fact that most magazines covered a wide range of games systems, of which I only played a small number. 

But anyway, Unseen Lerker is much better, even with my super-slow reading rate (I'm not stoopid, I'm just busy, okay?) I manage to read the magazine (and re-read my favourite articles) before the next issue drops through my letterbox.  Oh, and that's another point, and perhaps the greatest attribute of the magazine; it's a proper print and paper magazine, so you can, as they say themselves: 'Read it on the loo, not on the screen'.  It's not one of those horrible pdf magazines or blogs that you can only read while sat in front of a computer.  Erm...

I subscribed a few months ago based on the positive reviews and I've not regretted it, the magazine is a great mix of hobby and gaming articles written by those people who are genuinely involved and excited by gaming. 

Yawn... Frugal who?
Speaking of which, I must admit that the normally high quality of the magazine has dropped considerably in the latest issue; they've included an article on 'Frugal Gaming' by some scruffy bloke called Dave.  That's right, I've got an article in the latest issue of the mag, introducing their readers to the ideas of Frugal Gaming.  Of course, you lot don't need to read about all that stuff, but if you're interested in reading my article from the magazine, the Editor ('Bobo') has sent me a free PDF copy of my work that you can access here.

In addition, Bobo has kindly given me an extra copy of the mag that I'll pop in the post to one lucky reader.  If you'd like to go into the draw for a copy of the magazine simply send me an email, with the title 'Unseen Lerker competition' and I'll draw out one lucky winner.  Get your entries to me by midnight (British summer time) on Wednesday 11th May (that's nearly two weeks from now) and I'll get in contact with the winner within a couple of days.

I hope you like the article, if so give the magazine a try and make sure that you tell them that Frugal Dave sent you.

Happy Gaming!

7 comments:

Marcin Ciszewicz said...

While its most important reader has not given the magazine too much of an endorsement - after all, he has considered it a little boring, yawning so unashamedly - thanks for the heads up. I'm going to have to look into it.

Ruaridh said...

I have listed you for the viral "Stylish Blogger Award", details here:
http://ooh-shiny-complex.blogspot.com/2011/04/stylish-blogger-award.html

pete the pagan-gerbil said...

That was always my gripe with White Dwarf - I stopped playing 40K a long time ago (never got along with 3rd edition) and never played LOTR. So I was only reading a third of the magazine.

I would look into this, but everybody I play Warhammer with has decided to stick with the old edition. No-one plays often enough to be worth learning a new set of rules. Is the magazine heavily focused on 8th edition rules/army books, or is it still relevant for 7th?

Von said...

@Pete - everything in it will be heavily focused on eighth, I'm guessing, and your seventh edition needs will arguably be much better served by digging up something like the General's Compendium or WFB Skirmish.

Dave said...

Weeeeeeell... Yes, it does focus on 8th, but only in that it describes games and army builds that use 8th ed rules. The 'hobby' articles are pretty much non-specific.

I really like that it's not just 1/3rd fantasy (as WD is) and the fantasy content isn't a thinly veiled advert for the latest models. That's not a cheap shot at GW by the way, they're a commercial company and they need people to buy their product! UL is more focused on people who play sharing their enthusiasm for the hobby, rather than focusing on the 'next big release'.

Have a look at the free downloadable section on the UL website and give it a try. :)

Dave said...

@Ruaridh; thanks matey, I'll post about it in the next week or so ;)

pete the pagan-gerbil said...

@Dave Not a cheap shot at all - I think you were very fair, implying that they veiled their adverts at all ;) It even became apparent in battle reports before I stopped reading that they keep playing till the 'new' army wins. That's not an interesting battle report to me.

I'll try out the free section - and 8th does interest some of our group, but more as a 'let's try it out' sort of thing. But everyone's too frugal to be the first to buy the latest rulebook!