Isles of Insanity, friends, and the Midwest Wargamer's Association Newsletter Issue 74 March/April 1995

 So I just got home after spending a whirlwind of a weekend hosting a narrative gaming event (a write up and zine inbound in the next month-ish covering the event) visiting friends across Chicago and Milwaukee, watching knight fights, and being shown the first game store that I have ever seen worth gate-keeping. Touching on the event first- it was such a great time! The build up to it was frenetic and worrisome as I was rushing to finish boards, writing, and minis in the two weeks leading up to the event. Though it didn't go exactly as we had planned, and we had to cut some planned things last second, it still resulted in an afternoon full of laughs, roleplaying, dice rolling, and memories made with new and old friends- which I feel is the true litmus test for determining success.

Afterwards, most of us went out to the worlds LOUDEST FUCKING BAR for some beers, nachos, and disappointingly sparse asparagus- all in all an ace day.

Hightailing it to Milwaukee that evening from Chicago in a post-DMing burnout silence, I went to hang with the Day 1 hobby homie, Tanner, where I the next few days chilling and being shown odd obscure media in true Tanner fashion. Breaking up the mind warping, we hit up Cream City Clash for to watch knights bash each other while we such back beer and pretzels. Whilst all this was fun, the true gem in the crown of this weekend was far and away the hobby store(Shack? Room? Hallway?) where I found a treasure trove of obscure rules and print media- chief amongst them was "Midwest Wargamer's Association Newsletter Issue 74 March/April 1995"

At first blush it seemed like a neat curiosity, but as I flipped through it i saw it was chock full of editorials, custom game scenarios, stand alone rules sets, miniature reviews, mini collection walkthroughs, fan letters, classifieds, game reviews, thought pieces, and hand drawn ads. All of this coming together into this 130 page tour-de-force that left myself, and Tanner as well, basically flipping page to page echoing "Hell Yeahs" and "That Rocks"

Here are a few pages showing some articles and ads and other bits of the booklet!

Up next is my favorite part of this whole booklet- the letters. 

And rounding it out with Wanted Ads and an event calendar

Now just these couple of pages don't do the overall product justice, but I do hope you feel the pull to it that we had! I don't know what it is about this that has fully enamored me. I think it's the utilitarian and bare bones aspect of it, acting as a no frills voice of the community. I also enjoy the longer format of it. Zines and magazine are cool, but I know I always am wanting more after I go through the latest bossfight/portcullis/UTDmag/ etc, which isnt a dig on those publications, as they're fucking great and I support them all, but after coming across MWAN, it made me realize that this is the type of media I wish was out there to consume for our community.

Whilst it's certainly not a novel idea, I think i'm going to start putting pieces in place to produce a similar newsletter/digest type book to provide a very info dense, varied, and personal dive into the community. Multi page articles, tutorials, mini collection tours, manufacturer reviews, ads and classifieds, history lessons, lore lessons, fan stories, art showcases, though pieces, event recaps, event schedules, etc etc- all in a no frills, 9 point typewriter font digest.

If anyone may be interested in helping out, this is something I wish to pursue in earnest as it is the community outlet I want to see, and certainly could likely use some help here and there! So if a bi-monthly digest sounds up your alley, shoot me a DM on discord @Poptart121 or email exobscurisgoods@gmail.com!