Is it that time already?
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A unit of Uhlans in field grey uniforms I didn't recognise so I really had to study the photo to figure out what they were. The clue was the artillery in the background. Early WW1, and a nice surprise for the cover because I didn't know what early war German uhlans looked like. These won't feature in the magazine, though.
BRIEFING: Henry delights in a golden age of wargaming magazines and I have to say, I concur. We may moan about certain aspects of all three major titles but thank goodness we've got them. Also, spare a thought for the US gaming scene; they don't have any nationwide magazine for the hobby.
FORWARD OBSERVER: Neil Shuck has spent some time on Lard Island and talks about the games and forthcoming Too Fat Lardies summer special. Elsewhere he looks at the Wild West Chronicles expansion book, the boardgame version of Achtung Cthulhu (Shadows over Normandie) and an alternative to both MDF and Resin buildings in…you guessed it…hard plastic.
HOLLOW VILLAGE: An exercise in crafting foamcard into a tembe: African square hollow villages and seemingly the council estates of sub-Saharan African wilderness. Straightforward and not too tricky by the looks of it although if I have but one criticism of this regular column, it's that The Wargaming Widow seldom specifies what scale her projects are for. I'm guessing this is 28mm but a little mention early on would help.
FANTASY FACTS: Crooked Dice's lovely new Ford Transit vans and their SHIVA henchmen, a couple of MDF fantasy/mediaeval towers, the usual hovertank and some very striking figures from the Achtung Cthulhu range. Now, as a very old school Call of Cthulhu player (still have my 1st edition copy from 1982) I believe that the mythos should be presented as terrifying in a game and the players should be constantly nervous. Whilst I think these figures look amazing, they also look rather camp and cartoony, especially the US GI and a couple of the Germans. A nod or two too much to Iron Sky, Danger 5 and Sgt Rock than the nameless, shapeless, gibbering stuff of nightmares. As always, John Treadaway is blessed by great stuff submitted by manufacturers.
FORGETTING THE POINT: The strapline is "points systems are rubbish" so, second month in a row, we're getting an anti-points system article. I had issues with last month's one, which I felt was too antagonistic and the solutions were too broad (and with 96 figure regiments, impractical for me and my circle of gamers), so my heart sank a bit when I started reading this…mainly because I can take or leave pointed games and also because this was coming from Andrew Rolph, my favourite article writer. I settled in for another rant…
You get the rant for the first two pages which, frankly, I just skipped through because I've heard these criticisms before and recently. However, what follows next is very interesting. Andrew admits that a two page anti-points system rant isn't constructive: What is needed is an alternative system and for the next few pages he does precisely that with his Basic Universal Scenario Kreator: BUSK. It looks pretty nifty with a series of charts where you roll dice to determine what kind of battle you'll be playing and then the force composition is chosen but not necessarily as the player would like it. Terrain is chosen and again subject to random factors and in a nice twist, there's a bidding war at the end to choose force and deployment area. I'm not sure I'm describing this well but I can assure you this is worth checking out and trying. So, I could have done without the two page preamble, but it does turn out to be a constructive article.
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE: Conrad gives some tips over ebay buying. Erm, that's it really.
ADVANCE ON BUDAPEST '44: Both a scenario and a showcase for the new version of Panzergrenadier Deluxe (note, the word "Battlegroup" has been dropped from the title thus clearing up that bit of confusion with the other Battlegroup game). There's a battle report which showcases the rules as the game progresses, with particular emphasis on the game's selling point; the command and initiative rules. It's a very long article with lots of photos, mostly close ups and with gaming detritus in shot (dice, rulers, charts, etc).
BRIDGE FOR THE TAKING: A photocopiable, cut out Pegasus Bridge and Café Gondree in 1/300th scale. I predict that within 2 years every wargamer will have two Pegasus Bridge models but that aside, this comes with instructions although what looks the trickiest is getting the central part of the Pak40 gun pit to depress inwards.
THE MONGOLS IN EUROPE: Part 3 of this series has the Mongols swooping through Hungary, probably their last series of victories before the infighting began. All you need to refight this battle with a nice added bonus of having a list of manufacturers of all the armies mentioned in all the articles.
BRUNKEBERG 1471: A mediaeval battle not well known outside of Scandinavia and which can allow you to use your War of the Roses armies in the service of Sweden or Denmark. All you need for a refight is here and there's a nice section on how to build your own battlefield for it.
HEX ENCOUNTER: The theme this time is about the old chestnut of complexity versus playability. A few recent games are mentioned but one old monster gets a passing mention at the end…the notorious Campaign for North Africa by SPI. I wish Brad Harmer had written more about the sheer insanity of that game, it's strapline "A super detailed, intensive simulation specially designed for maximum realism" only skims the surface of just what a beast that game was. This was a company level recreation of the entire North African campaign, where each unit had to be allocated water during the initial bookkeeping phase (Italians had to have extra water because they ate pasta!) The summary of the bookkeeping phase covered 2 pages of the rules and after an hour, you were ready to proceed to the movement and combat phases….I think Brad has only scratched the surface of the Golden Age of the Monster Game and I think a follow up article is needed.
ESCAPING CROMWELL: A skirmish scenario set in the aftermath of the ECW and covering the Levellers. Ideal for Witchfinder General or Donnybrook.
THE BUSINESS VANISHES: A sobering article about why your favourite line of figures by a nice little company aren't available anymore. Of interest to those who are thinking of setting up your own miniatures company.
RECCE: Of particular note are reviews of Panzergrenadier Duluxe, On The Seven Seas and an interesting 2 part review of Johnny Reb. One reviewer likes the game, the other has misgivings. The positive review has played the game a few times whereas the negative review was read through only.
CARD GAMES: Henry extolls the virtues of wargaming with cardboard figures and terrain: They're cheap, they're ideal for travel (gaming in a Travelodge, what an idea!), you can try out new rules without having a large painted army as a prerequisite, you can get noobs interested in gaming quickly. Some useful links to where you can download such stuff included.
OVERVIEW: A very practical issue: Plenty to utilise right away with very little padding. Even the obligatory opinionated piece offers something very practical and interesting to apply to your games. I'd say this is a must-have issue…the BUSK system alone justifies ownership.
