OK, this is an experiment…to review the 3 main British wargaming magazines. I don't know if this will work long term but here goes with a review of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy issue #68.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Napoleonic themed cover, that'll do nicely for me. As an aside, I like the look and feel of WSS' cover: Not lairy and glossy like WI and MW(w/BG) but with this smooth satin sheen.
EDITORIAL: Obligatory Sun Tzu quote, check. Lovely advert for Battlegroup Overlord on the next page; makes me ALMOST want to go and buy it and put it alongside all my other WW2 rules sets.
REVIEWS: Normally I learn about new releases over the internet and by the time they get to the magazines, it's a bit of old news (or else I actually now own the item). I was surprised to learn about Eureka's jazz band and the inter-war Swedish minis. Already my mind is thinking up ways they can be generic fictional armies in pulp games so kudos to WSS for finding the more interesting new releases. Most items are for 28mm…something that I'll come back to.
THIS GAMING LIFE: One of the nice things about WSS is having regular columns from two of the UK's leading games designers. I've joked about Priestley's style (involving in depth examination of die rolling bell curves) in the past but I learned a bit about the health and safety aspects of metal miniatures. Reminds me of the time I lived in Queensland, Australia as a teenager and having the only shop in the state selling miniatures not being able to sell you them direct over the counter but with a "come back in a few days and you can complete your transaction" deal that was due to the laws governing metal miniatures.
INTERVIEW WITH PHIL SMITH: Again, WSS is good at hearing from game designers about their work and these interviews sometimes act as a review of the game as well as the designers talk about them and how they made their choices of system. However, page 17 and no wargaming as yet…
TIGER, TIGER SCENARIO: What every WW2 gamer has secretly wished for: A legitimate, historically based reason for deploying King Tigers onto a wargaming table. I can see this working well for a number of rules sets but I'm not convinced by the author's assertion that the Tigers are at a big disadvantage. Anyone giving this scenario a go, please tell me the results.
WITH GREAT BRAVERY: What good wargaming articles should do is shine a spotlight on a lesser known event and this one does it well. It made me go out and Google James Leach to learn more. This is a well presented article: History, scenario, figure and terrain notes.
SCIPIO V CAESAR: Late Republican era Rome is a fascinating subject for me and this scenario presents the history nicely although it could have done with more information about how to turn the game into a wargaming scenario: ie, figures, alternative rules suggestions (the author recommends his own, as yet unreleased set) and more links to books and uniform and equipment guides would have been welcome.
DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: One rule set for everything? Not convinced. To get a group of wargamers to agree on a ruleset is difficult enough. And think of all the game designers put out of a job whilst one person controls the monopoly. And here I was thinking WSS didn't do fantasy articles.
THEME:
1. BATTLE OF NATIONS: OK, the theme for WSS (this sets the magazine apart from its competitors) is Leipzig. Or is it? The opening, set the scene, two page article kicking it off sadly lacked anything new or interesting to add to the Battle of Nations. The author admits there isn't the space to do the battle justice and although there are some bits of interesting information, the piece drifts away at the end and becomes a plug for a website about a convention game without giving us more about that game. So in the end I felt the article fell between two stools.
GROSSBEEREN: The next article is better. This turns out to be a good mini-campaign and sets the scene for the next few articles where you can game around the battle of Leipzig with fewer models without having to think of how you're going to get a massive table and thousands of figures. Nicely set up to play with Black Powder in 15mm, but I'm sure it would work with any grand tactical set of rules.
DOLITZ & MARKKLEEBERG: Zooming in from a corps level game in 15mm to a divisional level one in 28mm. This is a good way of covering the theme. We're still dancing around the main battle of Leipzig but, again, this is good wargaming for those with limited numbers of figures.
MOONLIGHT SONATA: and zooming in once more; this time to a Napoleonic heroic skirmish scenario. In the end, you're getting three ways to do something involving Leipzig for different scales and troop numbers. I think this is a good way to cover the theme of the issue.
FIGURES: OK, here's my big gripe and it relates to something I mentioned in the review section. We get 11 reviews for 25/28mm and 2 each for 15mm and 10mm. Only 2 range reviews for 15mm seems especially paltry, given that a) we're dealing with the battle of Leipzig, where smaller scales are better in realising it and b) 15mm Napoleonics is still a big deal. Where's Minifigs or Essex? Do we really need 11 25/28mm reviews? Could not some of them have made way for more 15mm or even 6mm, which only gets one entry? I used to think WSS wore its pro-28mm stance on its sleeve but over time it's become more inclusive of other scales but still, this review section gave us too much 28mm.
I AM A PRUSSIAN: I didn't think I'd like this bit, but sometimes I get drawn into these expert walk-throughs of painting and diorama building. As someone who is useless at both, I read and dream…
IT'S JUST A GAME: As a once proud owner of SPI's Atlantic Wall and who once dreamt of owning my own copy of Campaign for North Africa, I can relate to the quest for complexity. I'm over it now. A timely reminder of what gaming in the 1980s was like.
TANKOGRAD! Again, as someone who is rubbish at weathering tanks and buildings (the more I try, the more like a Jackson Pollock painting my tanks look), I was looking for expert tips but I must admit I was hoping for more explanations as to how filters worked (I'd never heard of them before) and pigments and all that stuff. Also, a bit about how to use those techniques for 15mm and 20mm would have been nice.
PERRY 8th ARMY: I read this out of a desire to read everything in the magazine and although 28mm WW2 isn't my thing, I enjoyed this article more than I thought I would, given that it's dealing with a single product from one manufacturer. I think the jaunty writing style helped. I wonder if the article is really useful to your average wargamer, but it was a nice read.
BASE, THE FINAL FRONTIER: Really good. Nice tips and now I know that Forex isn't just an Australian lager.
LET'S PLAY…: I'm going to treat the two articles as one because they share the same format. A great way to review a game or rules set by reporting on actual games and doing a step by step analysis of a game. Space limits this as a standard format but I'd much rather read this kind of article than a dry, one paragraph review based solely on a read through.
GAME REVIEWS: Speaking of which…actually, these were a bit more and not at all dry than your one paragraph review. Now I want to see a Let's Play article on By Fire And Sword!
UP FRONT: And so to Mr Clarke, the man entrusted to the denouement of every WSS (I know there are some other reviews but for solid content, this is where WSS bids us farewell until next time). I like his pieces (and yes, I have mocked his "how can we move away from IGO-UGO by using card driven initiatives?" style in the past) and they give a real insight into the thinking of one of the most innovative designers around. And no, I'm not saying that because I want a complimentary copy of Chain of Command. What was nice was how, even after designing dozens of rules, he still feels pride and excitement with the release of every new one. I don't mind a slightly worn copy btw.
OVERALL: I enjoyed reading this issue. With the Napoleonics, WW2 and late Republican Rome articles, I can keep a number of articles. The Leipzig theme was slightly misleading…we never got to the main event but what we did get on the subject is achievable by us mere mortals with limited space and figures. Hats off to the contributors; I liked the writing styles this time around.
