Right, no mucking about…let's jump right in.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Some truly fantastically painted Byzantine cavalry graces the cover. They'll be along later but my word, they look gorgeous.
BRIEFING: Henry's been indulging in audiobooks and extolling the virtues of small scale historical actions. Who hasn't got a figure of some grizzled NCO who says something like "thems that dies will be the lucky ones"?
WORLD WIDE WARGAMING: The main section of this increasingly informative regular column is devoted to Bob Cordery's reasons for blogging, in case you're tempted to start. Pretty much all of this article is about wargame blogging.
FORWARD OBSERVER: Neil Shuck has checked out Spartan Games' new line of sci-fi ship models and a German company that makes very good resin terrain kits…albeit with tons of flash and no instructions. He then ponders the issue of figure compatibility and whether PSC's 15mm infantry can co-exist alongside Battlefront's, Forged In Battle's or Peter Pig's….I'm not fussy myself and my armies are made up of strange bedfellows. See if you agree with him.
FYNBOS: Diane Sutherland uses this bit of foliage to make interesting scrubland terrain. It requires drying out in ovens before sanding off some blue foam….again, too much work for a lazy batarde like me.
FANTASY FACTS: There's actually fantasy figures on review, armed simians, a wild looking bear and the ubiquitous 15mm hard-SF hovercraft tanks. Everything looks nice and interesting though.
THE MARCH ON MADRID: Part 2 of Andrew Rolph's latest 20th Century campaign set in the Spanish Civil War. As you would expect from an article by him, the mechanisms for the campaign are simple yet highly effective. There's some great photos of figures and vehicles and this should really whet your appetite if you're into the SCW.
THE DONALD FEATHERSTONE TRIBUTE WEEKEND: A report on the event, which had a Market-Garden theme. It's a good event, I felt a little disconnected with the article as it's about the players and the event whereas I would have liked to know the scale and the rules used. Great photos though which made me want to know more about the game and less about the event.
THE RETREAT FROM QUATRE BRAS TO MONT ST JEAN: This is a purely historical article, by a historian, which gives you lots of information backed up by quotes from soldiers who were there but nothing in the way of practical wargaming data. It's a decent read though, and topped off by a reproduction of Lady Butler's magnificent painting of a British square at the battle.
FLAGGING SPIRITS: A neat idea for indicating the morale status of your units…alter the position of the standard bearers within the unit. A simple idea of some merit, although the article is a bit florid in the way it's written and it begins with a moan about counters, little tiny dice on a tiddlywink counter and casualty figures cluttering up the table. Are they really a problem? Is moving your command stand around in your units just creating more of a fuss? I might give this idea a try but I have my misgivings.
THE BATTLE OF DARA 530AD: This is the article alluded to on the front cover and it's a battle and part of history I know very little about but it presents a challenge of fighting an ancient enemy who is behind barricades. The scenario is designed for Impetus, which seems to be a favourite over at MW w/ BG.
HEX ENCOUNTER: Brad Harmer questions the appropriateness of many wargames set in the modern era. Just what is the statute of limitations on a war to become a game? Brad makes an excellent case for why modern era games aren't necessarily immoral or insensitive, but I'm in agreement with him that having a game set in a war that is still ongoing oversteps the mark.
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE: Conrad Kinch gets a (for him) whopping 3 pages to extol the virtues or hex and gridded terrain wargames. I found this to be a bit didactic but there's a useful list of wargames rules that use grids.
RECCE: Lots of products get the BG award for excellence this month; my picks would be Tide of Iron, the next wave, a book on Royal Military Police in action, Riot control vehicles, the Somme in the Franco-Prussian War and a slew of Napoleonic themed books.
SUMMARY: A good read overall; one to enjoy from a pure reading perspective whether on a train or whilst listening to Tubular Bells 1 and 2 in the comfort of your own home. There's only two scenarios in this one, one terrain piece and the rest given over to theorising about going about the playing of games which, from my point of view, address problems that I don't think are much of a problem. But to each their own. That's not to accuse this issue or those articles of being too hectoring towards readers not on board with the ideas; they're not. Everything that's written in this issue has a warmth and positiveness about it. So not a vintage issue with plenty to cut out and keep in your file marked "gaming articles" but a good read nevertheless.
is back from Council of Five Nations.
