Here I am in (mostly) sunny Devon enjoying my holiday….but the reviews don't stop!
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A very crowded late Republican Roman battle; Roman v Roman with a splendidly coiffured Caesar in the middle looking like Jeff Chandler…
FROM THE EDITOR: The magazine welcomes back The Society of Ancients as curators of this month's theme: The campaigns of Julius Caesar.
WARGAMING NEWS: Two bits of news stand out here; a new wargames show in Nottingham…Red on Blue In Nottingham…and the next W.I. gaming day featuring SAGA. As I participated in last month's 7TV event I can recommend their events.
VENI, VIDI, VICI: An overview of wargaming in the late Republican/Caesar era. This is mainly history, with some sidebars about the XI Legion, core unit of Caesar's army, plus a handy recognition guide to the various stages of Imperial Roman soldiers and their changes of armour. Very handy if, like me, you're tempted to wargame this era but don't know too much about it.
THE CHICAGO WAY: An example of this new game set during the Prohibition Era and based on Dead Man's Hand. What makes this article a little bit fun to read is the graphic novel style of AAR, which shows very clearly how the game proceeds. Great photos accompany this.
CLASH OF TWO ROMAN TITANS: Re-fighting the Battle of Pharsalus between Caesar and Pompey. Now this article is part-scenario, part-thoughts on how to stage it as a wargame. There's a map and OOBs but the meat and drink of this article is how to take a huge battle like this and represent it on the tabletop, with the author considering what factors need to be replicated and how.
YOU'VE SEEN THE TERRAIN, NOW WHAT'S THE GAME: An article about the W.I. Salute 2016 game based on the 1959 movie North West Frontier. The terrain board was recycled from their Little Round Top game and this article is about how the game was put together and the design considerations. Not much in it to help you recreate the game yourself, but as always there's the high quality photos to accompany it.
BATTLE OF PHARSALUS, SOCIETY OF ANCIENTS BATTLE DAY: It doesn't seem that long ago that the SoA did a report on their previous, Alexandrian, game day. Again, the day followed the usual format: A talk by an expert preceding the refighting of one battle using various rules and figure scales. One of the best bits of this article focusses on the talk given beforehand which raised questions about various aspects of the battle, and which are repeated in the article. If I had a criticism of last year's article, it was that the author focussed a lot on his own game and less on the others (understandable given his familiarity, but it didn't give a very rounded picture of the day) and that's repeated again here. However, this is still a good read and will give you food for thought if you're going to do your own game.
SABRE SQUADRON: The Cold War Gone Hot is a popular theme right now and this is a rules writer's view on his own set of rules. There's a description of some of the gaming concepts but unfortunately there's no mention of figure ratio: Is it a tactical or operational level game?
PAINTING FORGED IN BATTLE ROMANS: The clue's in the title. Nice to see 15mm painting guides in magazines for a change and it's all very well laid out and informative.
ADEPTICON 2016: Photos of the event in the USA. Big on pics, low on text.
CAESAR'S LEGIONS: Going over some of the same ground that the introductory article this is about the character and composition of Caesar's army. Informative.
THE EARLY FRIENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS: A guide to putting together an army for this period; before Bonaparte got his hands on France. There's history and a guide to who sells appropriate figures…but only in 28mm. I wish other scales were included.
RULES SHOWCASE, WAR & EMPIRE: Forged in Battle's new Ancients rules set, firmly based in the Roman Empire period. It doesn't seem radical in terms of game design, but there's unit cards a la Blucher and it seems to run in a straightforward manner.
WEIRD WAR GAMING: Another hot gaming genre, not one I'm partial to I have to admit. This is a beginner's guide to the genre, especially bigging up the Nazi's pseudo-science projects. There's a scenario thrown in as well. Fun if you like this sort of thing.
DO YOU HAVE A CASTLE: Alan Harrison talks a little about how he made a suitably gothic East-European castle. Not much to help you do likewise, sadly.
BLOOD EAGLE: Another rules showcase on the newly released Dark Ages game. So you get the design notes and an introduction to the game concepts.
SALUTE 2016 PAINTING COMPETITION: Lots of pics, mostly focussing on the fantasy and sci-fi winners.
LEGIONARY 2016: A show report from the South-West of England with lots of photos to illustrate the games on show. A nice bunch of mainly historical games on offer (with yet another Dad's Army game which seems a perennial over the last couple of decades) with the Antietam ACW game looking particularly good.
OVERVIEW: An interesting read; I think the theme is well presented if light on scenarios. I think it will suit someone who wants to get into late Republican Roman wargaming very well. Elsewhere, the magazine is dominated by 3 rules showcases which are interesting to read about, but lacking in practicality. I thinks this issue is one to whet the appetite rather than satisfying it.
