Hello, hello, hello. Sorry I've gotten a bit behind with these but I've not been well of late. Anyway, you don't want to know the details so let's crack on with the review.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: IT'S CHRISSSSSTTTTTMMMMAAAAASSSSS! You can tell because of the snowy festive Carlist War picture on the front cover. There's no Carlist War feature inside though if you were hoping for one.
BRIEFING: Henry reflects on his rollercoaster period as the new editor of MW(w/BG) and the publication of his own Wargaming Compendium in 2013. I like Henry's editorials; they make you feel glad you've bought the magazine before you've even started reading it. It kind of welcomes you in nicely and you get snippets of the bigger wargaming community out there and what they talk about.
FORWARD OBSERVER: Neil Shuck gives his rundown of what he's noticed that's new and interesting out there but this time he's put in a chart letting you know what crowd funded wargaming projects are out there at the moment, their status and expiry dates which I think is very prescient right now with so many going on. I hope he continues this in future issues.
MAKE YER WAGON: The wargaming widow makes wooden carts out of coffee stirrers and something called wind spinners (???). She uses a tool called a dremel (??) and the results look really good. I can't scratchbuild for toffee so apologies if you're a dab hand with dremels, and have a collection of them in your wargaming workroom, if I've not explained things well.
FANTASY FACTS: The Tread looks at some Witchfinder General themed figures, armed lizards (I do like an armed lizard), more things you can use for Hammer's Slammers (or Tomorrow's War or Striker to name other hard sci-fi games) and some lovely furniture and scenery from Antenociti's Workshop.
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: A real oddball article this. It's
imagi-nations, you may remember them from the previous issue. A lot of phoney 18th Century European countries with some suspiciously dodgy pun names descend on Not-South Africa 100 years early to attack a diamond mine and settlement which may be defended by company troops armed with a Lewis gun. I think. It's odd; written as a series of diary entries by the players in character as their respective imagi-nation generals. You get a map and an order of battle and the hint that wild animals should rove across the battlefield either stomping on or eating your troops as they're trying to fight. It's one of those articles that's a bit "games with my mates" which can leave the reader feeling they're an outsider to a fun party to which they weren't invited (see Wargames Illustrated #313 for example) but on the other hand it is bonkers in a fun way to read. If this kind of thing is up your alley, you'll love it. I don't think many will try to recreate this battle at their clubs, though.
MISSION; BASTON HOUSE SCHOOL: John Treadaway and his wife, Fiona, take wargaming into a school and help some autistic children build and paint some Armourfast tanks and then game with them. The underlying point and the bit for us to ponder is how do we get new players interested in the hobby? I know this topic comes around every so often and the opinions vary from the harsh to the evangelistic. My suggestion is that clubs should be a whole lot friendlier and less close knit when it comes to attracting new people but as an exercise in showing people how simple it can be, this article does well.
COMMAND CHALLENGE: Now the issue really comes alive. This is a cracking article, dare I say it almost the ideal wargaming piece. It's a WW2 set mini-campaign of 3 linked scenarios involving river crossings and establishing a beachhead. What makes it so good? Let me break it down:
1. It establishes the background and what the intention is.
2. The objectives are well set out and easy to understand.
3. It's suitable for any rules AND any level from skirmish (BA, C&C, Crossfire), Company (IABSM, BG, FoW) and operational (RF, CD, TAC). There's a diagram explaining what levels of forces you could use for each level of game.
4. Maps.
5. Suggestions of OOBs.
6. A summary of how this scenario actually played out without it becoming a games with my mates article, so you can compare the briefing with the results.
7. It suggests other conflicts and wars you could translate the scenario into.
The only thing this lacks are lots of nice photos of the game but in terms of layout and writing, Andrew Rolph has raised the bar for me in terms of what good magazine scenario writing should be.
WHY ARE MANY RULESETS SO COMPLEX? Fans of Field of Glory, look away now
2 page article on just why many rules seem over convoluted and needlessly complicated by using FoG renaissance as an example. The kicker here is that the writer thinks too many rules are needlessly written in the negative of what you can't do rather than being phrased in a way of telling you what you can, which can end up (in his opinion) sounding too complicated. Discuss.
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE: My favourite Conrad Kinch piece so far as to how you can lie in your games: Give the players faulty maps before the game starts, change the mission halfway through a game or even putting SS and Tiger tanks on the table but only giving them the characteristics of Heer and Panzer IVs. Nasty stuff, must try them at some point.
SALAMANCA'S SIREN CALL, PART 4: Great instalment of the series which looks at command factors and choice of rules. Very thoughtful on the command; I recently played a game of BP where the command rules were given a thorough work out and one player complained that he couldn't order his troops to do exactly what he wanted every time. I shall lend him this article and retire to a safe distance
.
BATTLE OF THE KURA RIVER: Nice bit of history and a scenario about a Mongol force reconnoitring around Azerbaijan and Georgia in the 13th Century. A good piece from a lesser known period and incident although the author insists on calling Ghengis Khan by the lesser used spelling Chinggis (cue a heap of comments from people saying it's not used less and that, in fact, everyone and his aunt knows it except me).
CANAANITES FOR CHRISTMAS: In which the author uses the book of Judges from the Bible to present a quick n' easy campaign using plastic Hebrew miniatures. It's nice and off beat.
CANALETTO OR CANAL GRANDE? Make your own canals. Hmmm, this looks deceptively easy
.the results look fantastic.
RECCE: None of the books on offer scream "must buy!" judging from the reviews. A flawed bunch in the main although there is an Osprey on river assaults which tie in with the Command Challenge and a real cracker right at the end "A Military Gentleman of the 18th Century". It looks amazing, but I haven't a hope in reviewing it here because not even the editor can find the right words to describe what it is except that it's
.exceptional!
At the back there's the lovely Featherstone Annual Tribute cup details, the secret eye candy page is particularly nice and the combat stress appeal.
OVERVIEW: After a slow start, this issue really kicks in with the Command Challenge and never lets up from then on in. This is a keeper, no doubt about it and a great way for the magazine to end the year.
Right
off to finish reading WI #314: Wish me luck.