First off, an apology for the absence of reviews of late. I'm in a category of wargamer where I'm not young and single with way too much free time on my hands and not retired with the children living their own lives. "Daddy, daddy, daddy! Help me with this!" is the mantra of my household, and that's just the wife talking. Add to that my work…..
So I return with the familiar format and begin with the latest offering from Mr Henry Hyde and his chums.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A very dynamic looking ACW charge in full swing where it looks like both sides have crashed into each other. The odd bent bayonet here and there but very dramatic…this cover refers to a Chancellorsville article inside.
BRIEFING: First, WI changes hands and now Miniature Wargames with Battlegames as well. Warners Group Publications have bought the title from Atlantic and Henry is pretty enthusiastic. So no obvious changes to the format or content announced but Warners can push the title perhaps into a wider market.
WORLD WIDE WARGAMING: Increasingly becoming a favourite column for me, Henry talks about the virtues of backing up your data on The Cloud (something I've considered since eldest son spilled a glass of milk on my laptop….part of the reason for my recent absence, there's a shout out for Brad Harmer's "Supressing Fire" blog (you see, he says he doesn't like ASL and yet…) and an open question about how much you like games companies to pester you with newsletters.
FORWARD OBSERVER: Neil Shuck has visited the UK Games Expo and shares his thoughts about it and there's more info on The Great War by PSC, Battlegroup Blitzkrieg and MDF jalopies for your WW1 games.
A TENTS MOMENT: See what she did there? The Widow makes some different shaped tents using a kind of papier mache effect (only this time with hot glue guns and lots of wire).
FANTASY FACTS: A look at the new Frostgrave, the new fantasy miniatures game with a very specific setting, some figures from new company Bolt Thrower, a VERY impressive looking fantasy inn which begs the question: useful wargaming terrain or objet d'art? There's also some cool looking futuristic cars from Antenociti which remind me of the ones out of a very obscure 70s sci-fi movie called "Final Eye" starring Susan George. Somebody else here must remember that one!
CHANCELLORSVILLE 1863: The second part of a series about the campaign and battle. Alas, I don't own issue #386 so I can't comment properly on how this follows the first instalment but here is a nice battle-within-a-battle that you can readily use for your preferred ACW rules set.
KORPS HARTENECK: A WW2 campaign system recreating Operation Bagration in 1944. It uses a card driven mechanism and I must say I had to read it twice to make sure I understood it. I'm not sure this is helped by some of the jargon used: For example, you have Area Location Cards (ALCs) which become nodal points for movement. Also, if you're playing the Germans your most likely result isn't a win, it's damage limitation so it's best for those players who don't mind being gluttons for punishment. It still looks an interesting campaign, but you need to get your head around the terminology and mechanics. The cards are available on the MW website.
EVESHAM 1265: On the 750th anniversary, here is a scenario for Simon De Montford's final hour. It's all here for you to re-fight and the author recommends using his own Scottorum Malleus IV rules.
TRENTON 1776: A scenario about Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware and the battle that ensued. The historical preamble, OOBs and maps are all succinctly covered, and there's an after action report from a solitaire game played (makes a change from "and then Barry rolled 2 sixes and carried the day). I'm always circumspect about AARs that are too self-indulgent and although this doesn't come across as smug as some I've read, it could have done with a comparison to the real battle to see how the game matched reality.
SALUTE 2015: A report on the show….and the first one I've read that has acknowledged the discrepancy between the ultra-fit marathon runners Salute has to share a convention centre with and the jaw-droppingly attractive Sherlock fans that were a feature this year. There's a slight bias towards reviewing sci-fi games but that's not surprising given that the show seems to have a slight sci-fi bias itself. I enjoyed the show, not as much as in previous years, and I'm in agreement with most things the author says, except for Forge World's "queue within a queue" giveaway which got annoying and disruptive as time went on.
THE BRIGADIERS: John Treadaway interviews the men behind Brigade Games. Very informative as I didn't know they'd been going for such a long time. Given JT's gaming preferences, there's an emphasis on their sci-fi ranges but overall a nice interview.
HEX ENCOUNTER: Brad Harmer explains why he prefers board wargaming to miniatures and as someone who started in the hobby as a counter-pusher, some of this resonates with me. Having said that, Brad says there's less faffing around when it comes to board games….as a former owner of some SPI monster games, I have to disagree!
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE: Conrad Kinch gets legalistic on us as he explains the various levels of the law and their relevance to wargames rules. It's a lot more entertaining and informative than my summary.
RECCE: New fantasy rules Warband gets the seal of excellence, as does the Star Wars Armada game. Elsewhere there's some VERY specific Osprey titles but the big news (for me at least) is the re-release of Hornet Leader, the brilliant solitaire air combat wargame.
OVERALL: Plenty here to use this month and a solid issue all round. Lots of eras covered is a bonus so I would describe this one as a keeper.