Karwansaray expands!
Category: WS&S news
Published on Tuesday, 01 April 2014 01:00
Written by Christy Beall
Zutphen, April 2014. Having established themselves as publishers of the
premier,
fiercely independent, simply most fun historical wargaming magazine, Karwansaray Publishers has now merged with
Warlord Games.
Managing
director Jasper Oorthuys said: “There were a host of reasons to join
with this thriving company. First of all, we’ll save substantially on
the expense of Rick Priestley’s column in
WS&S. Second, we
love the games Warlord has developed, although we’ll be making some
changes of course. For instance, the editors of
Ancient Warfare and
Medieval Warfare have indicated that
Hail Caesar– a great match for these magazines by the way – should be changed to a
D100 system to make it properly historical. We expect the second
edition to be launched at Salute in 2015.”
Warlord Publishers (as it will from now on be known) plans to expand
its publications significantly to support the newly acquired gaming
systems. There will be a “Warfare” magazine for
Pike&Shotte and
Black Powder, and in January the new
Bolt Action Weekly will launch together with an as yet unnamed new monthly magazine focusing on the best-painted armies for
Hail Caesar, Pike & Shotte and
Black Powder.
Further development and expansion of the existing systems are also on
the horizon. Oorthuys: “We plan on releasing a comprehensive range of
Batavian cavalry and infantry for
Hail Caesar, swimming models
included, as well as some new rules to accompany these models.
Competitive players will love them, we predict…” Other planned
expansions are Dike Bombing rules for Bolt Action as well as an entirely
new naval warfare system to accompany
Black Powder and Pike & Shotte. Tentatively called “
Medway”,
it will feature a fully developed range of Age of Sail models as well
as a tournament-ready rules system. Oorthuys again: “I cannot reveal
much, but it will include heroes such as De Ruyter, Tromp and Piet Heyn.
Can’t think of any others at the moment. There will be a few special
rules, such as ‘Sweep the Sea’ in which players with a broom attached to
their main masts – note: this is a WYSIWYG game – are allowed to select
up to three enemy ships which will then automatically sink. A points
system will also be included. That is still in its infancy, but it is
already clear that French and Spanish players will be getting 30%
cheaper ships.”
Finally,
Warlord, Soldiers & Strategy won’t change much.
Besides the obvious adjustment to the name, the slogan will be tweaked
to fit better with the company’s new market position. It will become:
“It’s time to pay for history.”
