"Review of Wargames Illustrated #317" Topic

OK, let's crack on with this before the wife and kids get back…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A siege of Vicksburg theme issue with a dramatic picture on the front of Union soldiers storming the Confederate barricades. What creeps me out a bit is that a couple of the faces of charging Union troops appear to be photos of the artist and his mates because they seem cut and pasted on the bodies, have cheery smiles and are that little too big for the bodies. Uncanny valley…

EDITORIAL: Dave Taylor, US editor is on duty this month and, duly, you'll get a bit of American themed topics this issue.

WARGAMING NEWS: One item that stands out is about the new Bannockburn visitors centre which will feature a 3D interactive display of the battle where you can lead your own units. Right, off to Scotland, win the battle for the English…

REBELS ABANDON VICKSBURG: After a newspaper style intro, this article gives an overview of the Vicksburg campaign. All history.

HOW THE WEST WAS LOST: Article by Bill Moreno about how he put on a Vicksburg campaign convention game with 4 games in one. So you get the nuts and bolts of how the game was put together, what was involved and some great photos but not that much you can take away and apply at your local club.

THE END OF NEGOTIATIONS: A SAGA scenario which takes place in a Saxon meeting hall and allows you to have room to room fighting. As well as the OOBs and scenario rules, there's a battle report in the style of WI's FoW AAR (and I know I've just used 3 wargaming acronyms there). If you're into SAGA or any other Dark Age skirmish games then this is your thing. If you are trying to give up on buying expensive game specific terrain for Lent then DON'T look at 4Ground/Gripping Beast's Great Hall model for too long. Buy some foamboard, dressmaking pins and a can of Halford's Earth Brown spraypaint instead.

SEIGE OF VICKSBURG: 2 articles in one. The first is a straight up history of the siege itself, followed by a raiding scenario where Confederates try to destroy Union siege works.

THE ITALY CAMPAIGN: A preview of the FoW late war Italy campaign books. New Allied and Axis company lists (including the depleted Italian Fascist forces). With Italy Battles, this compiles Dogs and Devils and Cassino with some new bits.

PAINTING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: A simple two page article with photos of what colours you need to make a decent looking ACW army. The featured scale is 15mm, which makes a nice surprise. Great article for the ACW noob.

KUNYE! ISIBILI! KUTHA…Oh, I'm not going to bother finishing the title. Zulu war scenario highlighting the new Black Powder Zulu supplement (Wargames Illustrated: Popular Wargames for Now People). Rather than fielding a force of red-coated regulars, this time the Zulus go up against Natal Native Contingent, Frontier Light Horse and Ornery Settlers. After the scenario set up you get a 6 page battle report which verges on "Games With My Mates" but just shies short of being too self-indulgent as it does illustrate game play (although 6 pages is a bit too much).

6mm ARMIES FOR WATERLOO: Veteran wargamer Stephen St Clair's project to depict the entire Battle of Waterloo at a 1=1 ratio and in 6mm. What's depicted in the photos covers a division on each side and is only 6% of his collection. So, plenty there to inspire your next club game.

29 LET'S GO: A brief history plus a company list for Flames of War depicting the US 29th Infantry division from the end of the Normandy campaign through to the surrender of Germany. At the end there's a guide as to how to make your own Sherman Crocodile flamethrower tank.

WANTED, GLADIATORS: Preview of the Jugular gladiatorial game. Some nice figures on display and a description of the different classes of gladiator.

HEAVY HITTERS: A history of Main Battle Tanks from the close of WW2 to the operations of the Israeli army. Solid history, not much to apply to games though.

FALL IN 2013: A convention report of one of the biggest shows in the US gaming calendar. Good photos, bite sized descriptions with one game depicting a zombie breakout…at Fall In right down to the convention hall being depicted at 1/56 scale. Trying to escape a convention hall filled with shambling, daylight avoiding creatures who smell…that's too much like most conventions I attend. Badoom-tsching! My Name's Nick and I'm here all week…

A ZULU TOO FAR: Another wargaming "obsessive" and I use that term affectionately! This time, Jon Sutherland's massive Zulu War collection which does contain "Zulus, Sir, tha'sands of 'em!" He talks a lot about how the collection came about but there's also a set of rules he's written here…just in case you're not tempted by Black Powder Zulu.

BLUE FACES OR EMPTY CINEMAS: Barry "Paris" Hilton discusses whether historical accuracy and movie entertainment can ever go together. I have strong views on this topic: If the inaccuracies don't affect my overall enjoyment then I'm cool with them. Take Zulu for example: Rife with inaccuracies but the story, cinematography, editing and performances are so good that the bits the movie gets wrong just don't play on my mind. It's when the story fails to engage, like Anzio, that I start to notice that those American GIs are carrying Lee Enfield rifles.

OVERALL: There's a thin line between articles and advertising: WI walks that line. If you are easily parted from your money then you're probably placing orders for a Saxon Hut, Black Powder Zulu, Italy Battles and Jugular right now. With less than 50% of the articles here having any club applications, this is a well presented and written issue…but you can skip this one.

With less than 50% of the articles here having any club applications, this is a well presented and written issue…but you can skip this one.

Not sure how those two comments go together – not worth buying because it's not focused on club play ? What about all the people who don't play at clubs ? Does that mean it's an essential buy for them ?

Its a puzzlement to me. When I wrote the article on my construct and playing of the Vicksburg campaign, I did so with the hopes that it would help clubs, like my own SMG club in South Florida, to run such a campaign themselves. I suppose I must have missed something.

OK, to clarify. This issue has some well written articles but for me the take away and use it at your local club with what you've got (or else what you can use at a game at home with what you've got) aspect if limited. I include the 4 in 1 Vicksburg campaign as well: It really needed OOBs, maps and a list of special rules that you can apply to your chosen rules set. If I was to take WI #317 to my club with the idea of running a Vicksburg campaign we'd couldn't depend on it without immersing ourselves in other books and materials (there's no bibliography or links to online resources either). So as a light the touchpaper article or to inform readers of the history, yes, it was very good but I think it lacked the necessary information that a club would need to recreate it.

But apologies, my last paragraph in the OP had mixed up syntax. It should read:

"I would say that 50% of the articles here have any club applications, nevertheless this is a well presented and written issue but if you want more articles that you can take away and easily use at your local club, then this isn't the issue for you."

I skipped this one.

I've skipped them all since January last year, and my collection goes back to number 1.

Do I miss not buying and reading it – nope.

I found less and less that I wanted to read. Sometimes I could read all the bits I was interested in in less than 10 minutes.

I tend to have a look at magazine in local newsagents and only buy if there are sufficient articles that interest me. Only bought 1 in the last 12 months!

I enjoy these reviews of WI very much. I find them balanced and well thought out. I also think most of the critique is right on the money. It would be more interesting if follow-up commentators also discussed the issue of the magazine rather than point out they don't buy the product. What is the purpose of that? Would it be okay if someone reviewed a model tank and I replied that I didn't buy it because I'm not interested in that tank?

For what it is worth, the SAGA Great Hall is an incredible model if you haven't yet seen it; the Jugula game is a very well thought out gladiator game and the review doesn't do it justice; and I think WI generally does a great job of inspiring new wargaming ideas, as my empty bank account will testify; and sometimes it is just a simple pleasure to view the incredible talents of some wargamers – I'm thinking particularly of the recent article on Napoleonic ships but the Sutherland Zulu collection is worth drooling over too. I'm also not sure of the club critique: are most wargamers members of clubs?

I look forward to the next review.