I'm on me hols and hopped up on a stick of Croyde rock….let's go, although I realise issue 334 is hitting the shelves right now. Never mind.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Ancient Greeks and Persians (or is that Indians…ancients isn't my area of expertise) are fighting cheek to cheek with a calm looking guy with blonde curls is directing things…it can only be Alexander the Great.
FROM THE EDITOR: An introduction to the theme this month… Alexander which has been sub-contracted, as it were, to the Society of Ancients.
WARGAMING NEWS: A bit slim this month, with some Historicon news, a notice about Dragondaze games and comics convention in Wales this September and a new Osprey Combat release pitting the US Marine against the NVA soldier in Vietnam.
THE ARMIES AND BATTLES OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT: An introduction by Simon MacDowell of the Society of Ancients to the campaigns and armies of Alexander with the view of how to go about creating a wargaming army for the period. This article is packed full of information, about 10 pages worth.
THE THIRD REICH'S LAST STAND: The latest Flames of War book, Berlin, is about to hit the stands and here is a little preview with the kinds of things that will be in it. This focuses on the German army in its last throes including the Hitlerjugend, Volkstrumm and Kleinpanzer Wanze. A nice taster for what's to come.
WARGAMING HYDASPES: Alexander's mighty triumph in India, this isn't a conventional scenario article but more a DIY kit for you to make your own game out of the information that's given here. Plenty of historical background and information on how to put together the Macedonian and Indian armies and as you're fighting over a featurless plain, there's no need for a map. No specific rules system is recommended.
FROM BDU's TO OCP AND BEYOND: A look at US army combat uniforms in the 21st century (so far). An interesting article describing the transition from the beloved Woodland BDU's and Chocolate Chip desert uniforms via the reviled UCP pattern ones to the Multicam ones. This article is part history and part painting guide but don't go looking for Vallejo or Humbrol numbers; this shows you the patterns and how they would look on a figure rather than giving you a paint-by-numbers guide.
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: A look at some of the smaller scale battles of the Alexander the Great era. Again, like the Hydaspes scenario, this has a DIY feel to it by providing the historical inspiration rather than the nuts and bolts. Of interest are the what ifs of an Alexandrian campaign in Italy (had he lived) and how to go about coming up with special rules for his particular style of leadership. Take note: That's not a list of special rules, but ideas for special rules that you'll have to come up with yourself.
RULES SHOWCASE, FROSTGRAVE: The very specific setting fantasy skirmish game sees the designer explain the game and share some of the concepts. It does seem VERY AD&D 1st Edition inspired, which isn't necessarily a bad thing and there's plenty of lovely photos to accompany the text.
BATTLEDAY: The Society of Ancients battle day where 17 games using 15 sets of rules were used to re-fight Hydaspes. I found this interesting, particularly noting how the different sets of rules compared (most gave the actual historical result) but there's a heavy slant towards Simon MacDowall's Civitates Bellantes rules.
SALUTE 2015: Photos and a report from the day…the photos are really the stars here and funnily enough the editors of 2 rival publications manage to appear here.
ENDLESS ARABIAN ADVENTURES: How the box of Gripping Beast Arab cavalry can be used for so many different wars across the centuries! This lists the ways you can cleverly recycle your Arabs from the Crusades through to WW1.
LACEPUNK; AND WHY NOT: I'll tell you why not, because sticking "punk" on the end of words is irritating. Barry Hilton talks you through the different ages of Musketeers in popular culture from the Dumas novels to the various film and TV adaptations (some, like the 1993 and 2011 versions, I would prefer to forget) and how you might create a skirmish game around them…well, he's done exactly that with Donnybrook. Geez…"Lacepunk", what next? Is Shakespeare going to be re-branded "Doubletpunk"?
CREATING A THATCHED ROOF: Using a white towel. Yep, it's all that. Looks quite simple and effective.
SALTANOVKA: A Russians v French Napoleonic game which follows a more conventional scenario format with map, OOBs, history and special rules. Tailored for Black Powder but we all know how adaptable the stats for that game are.
GAMING SURVIVORS: Ah, Survivors…an inexplicably popular show from the 1970s (which attracted 14 million viewers in the UK) where a plague wipes out everyone except for the rural middle class. And speaking of the rural middle classes, he's decided to set his post-apocalyptic game in the world of The Archers. So that's taking two inexplicably popular British rural shows (albeit with 2 wildly different formats) and mashing them up into a gun 'em down skirmish game.
GREAT WARRIORS: 95th RIFLES. Everyone's favourite British Napoleonic regiment gets a quick primer article here with a greatest hits historical write up and the Bryan Fosten artworks from the Osprey series. Oh, and that Sean Bean chap makes an appearance as well.
SUMMARY: I enjoyed reading this and then realised there wasn't much to cut out and keep here. Credit to the Society of Ancients and Mr MacDowall for submitting some very well written articles on the theme but they're not pick up and play scenarios, but more historical information and ideas for the reader to take up, go away and do their own work to get a game onto the table. Elsewhere it's all fairly entertaining stuff but not a lot of meatiness. The Napoleonic scenario is about the most old school article here and I will be keeping that one but this is one for train journeys on the way to and from work.
has lost everything.
