A day late, a dollar short but here goes. I want to cover the issue in a bit more depth than the other discussion topic on this board.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This isn't the "new" format for me anymore: The bedding in process is over and in the last two issues I feel the magazine has settled. It had hit the ground running since the re-launch, with provocative opinions, quirky humour and not your standard topics covered either, would it still be doing this half a dozen or so issues in? Looking at the cover, we have a nice Wild West skirmish scene with Mexicans and an eclectic mix of topics from Donald Featherstone tributes to the Siege of Malta via Zululand.
BRIEFING: What other magazine lists the editor's contact details right down to his address and phone number? It gives the impression that Henry the heartbeat of the magazine and his imprint is right throughout. A nice tribute to Donald Featherstone in his editorial, which will be repeated throughout the issue.
FORWARD OBSERVER: I've found Neil Shuck to be VERY opinionated about what he likes in wargaming and what he doesn't and sometimes that's at odds with my tastes. But give him his due, he's thorough at investigating what's out there and as well as his usual previews of forthcoming games releases, he chimes in about historical accuracy in TV programmes, reserving particular anger towards The White Queen. I'm not a fan of the show, but that's mainly down to it being something like Twilight in doublet and hose.
ARE THESE JUST CREPE: The wargaming widow shows you how to make American Indian long houses out of insulation material and crepe paper. As a scratch building numpty, I read these articles and then go out and buy pre-built stuff.
FANTASY FACTS: "The Tread" continues his welcome return to regular column writing. As usual you get reviews of newly released sci-fi and fantasy gaming products, which goes over the same ground as Mr Shuck's column but doesn't repeat any of the games mentioned earlier. As well as describing new releases, he talks about "open" and "closed" scenery (whether you want your buildings with floors and lift off roofs) which is something that I never considered before, but I will now.
STOP THIEF! A quirky little Zulu war skirmish scenario which has a secret surprise in store for the British player. I'll say no more but if your gaming group is into the whimsical, then this kind of thing will be right up your alley.
THE WILD WEST: A Hollywood-ised set of skirmish rules for Wild West gaming. I was disappointed the author didn't include dynamite or cavalry carbines as weapons but he scores bonus points for a lovely text description of a scene from Rio Bravo.
COMMAND CHALLENGE: Based on a classic Donald Featherstone scenario, Henry Hyde has set it in a fictionalised 18th Century Europe and the challenge is to fight a battle for control of prominent terrain features but with your forces entering one battalion at a time.
TEALIGHT IRONCLADS: More DIY wargaming materiel, this time how to make Victorian era gunboats out of cardboard and those little tea light candles. The results aren't realistic, but they're representational and could lead to a fun club game if I weren't so cack handed at this kind of thing.
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE: Regular columnist Conrad Kinch muses on a tangential wargames topic: This time its battlefield walking. The nucleus of a very interesting article, it suffers from stating the obvious (get a map, dress for muddy conditions) and coming up with a really interesting insight (how battlefield walks can enlighten your appreciation for unit frontages and manoeuvring difficulties) but only briefly at the end. A follow up 2 page article with photographs and maps would be good to see.
SULEIMAN'S STALINGRAD: A mainly historical article on the siege of Malta in 1565. Lots on the history, too light on the wargaming in my opinion. The author makes suggestions for games, but I'd have preferred something more substantial like a scenario and OOBs.
LAST POST FOR THE TOY SOLDIER GENERAL: A wonderful eulogy for Donald Featherstone. The first part is a tribute and a potted history of the man's work and character whilst the second part is a verbatim report and photos from the very first wargaming convention in 1961. This bit is mindblowing: 20 people all crammed into Chez Featherstone, catering by his wife and worries about where everyone will sleep. Some things remain familiar to modern readers (lucky dice rolling but the winner) and some parts alien (games broken up by lectures given by guest speakers). Some great photos of the tournament as well with everyone in blazers and ties and not a goth metal T shirt and army surplus trousers in sight!
WIENER PLANSPIELREGELN: One TMP'er on the other thread about this issue didn't like this article at all, it seems, but it follows on from the Featherstone one neatly as whilst he and Charles Grant were codifying the hobby in the UK, meanwhile over in Austria in the late 50s something similar was happening. I liked this article; it showed the hobby from a different world viewpoint and I had no idea about the Vienna group and the work of the Hahn family beforehand. You have to see the cardboard and tin flat Wehrmacht vehicles and figures of Herbert Hahn to believe them. Marders made from cardboard over 50 years ago looking both toy soldier-ish and amazing at the same time. After a description of the Vienna group, you get the WW2 rules they've been playing since the late 50s: Played on a grid system, they look (from the photos) again toy soldier-ish but the system shares a bit with games like Rapid Fire and Command Decision, although a bit more stylised with the grid system.
AT PLAY WITH CROOKED DICE: I'm biased here, as a die hard 7TV player who has met with the Crooked Dice team on many occasions and shared some excellent chats and gaming with them, but I hope this article gives their company and the 7TV system with its spin offs a big boost. If you haven't tried the game, read the article and then get on to SELWG next month to try a game.
RECCE: I like the review system where they list whether the games were actually played or just read through as it shows how much they were road tested. There's a mix of historical book reviews on the Zeebrugge raid of 1918, British aircraft carriers of WW2 and some Napoleonic topics but the main reviews are for Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command (with a good description of the game mechanics), Dropzone Commander (saw it at Salute, admired the look of the game, narrowly avoided the pretty girl trying to sell me a copy) and a Crowning Mercy, which you'll remember had an article about that in the September issue of Wargames Illustrated.
SECRETS OF HORSE COLOURS: Thank you Henry; at last a chart of horse colours and now I know for sure what a Bay Dun is (A term I first heard in Bruce Quarrie's Napoleonic Campaigns book and I was completely in the dark about what colour that would be…pre-internet, see?). A simple and effective guide to cut out and keep next to your Horse and Musket books.
OVERALL: One for the long term enthusiast, this one. This issue is devoid of massed battles fought with trendy, newly released lines of figures using the latest glossy rules. It, more than recent issues, has a nostalgic feel to it with its scratchbuilding, battles with toy soldiers feel to it. The stuff about Donald Featherstone and the first wargames convention is priceless. I did miss the 3rd instalment of Henry's Salamanca series and there was no mention of when it will return either which is a shame because I really enjoyed the first two parts. The contrast between this issue of MW w/BG and the latest WI couldn't be starker. I'm not sure which one I prefer…vive le difference!
