… and should land in SoA member's postboxes in the next few days! Here is the cover picture, together with a list of the contents and a short summary of each article , or go to the SoA news page. (If you aren't already a member of The Society of Ancients , you can read about and join the society here.
Editorial
The view from the editor's chair including thanks to those who responded to his pleas for articles to replenish the stock and a reminder about the wealth of interesting material that originates in that other source of erudite debate, the Society Forum (check it out).
Guardroom
Stephen Brennan serves up some fascinating material about late medieval Hebridean mercenaries as a useful extension to that provided by Anthony Clipsom in his recent article, "An Archer's Tale".
The Rise and Fall of Nomad Military Power, part 1 c. 1000 BC – 1200 AD – by Michael Fredholm von Essen
Asiatic nomad armies created some of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Michael Fredholm von Essen analyses the nomad strategy that eventually transformed them from tribal federations content with opportunistic raiding into empire builders.
Solo Wargaming – by John Hastings
Given the scattered nature of the Ancients wargaming community, plenty of wargamers have no choice but to adopt schizophrenia as a recreational modus operandi and play against themselves. John Hastings discusses how it is done.
Slingshot interviews Simon Hall – by Gordon Garrad
Mortem et Gloriam has become a very popular ruleset in the Ancients community. Slingshot interviews its creator, Simon Hall, and asks him about his wargaming background, rules writing career, his experience with MeG, his futures plans, the meaning of life, and so on…
The Philistines are upon you – by Richard Andrews
Heavily-equipped but unwieldy Philistines vs. lightly-armed but agile Jews is a classic gaming setup where terrain makes all the difference. Richard Andrews analyses the historical composition of the two armies and how it applies to the wargaming table.
Game Mechanics and Realism – by Anthony Clipsom
Everyone knows that realism and playability are at odds with each other. But is that really the case? Anthony Clipsom makes the argument that you can have your cake and eat it, with sufficiently plausible realism happily wedded to enjoyable gameplay.
The Murder of Evesham – by John Graham-Leigh
Evesham ended the hopes of Simon de Montfort's supporters (and the life of de Montfort himself). John Graham-Leigh plays a refight of the battle using DBM, with a convincing result.
Assyrian 'Kallapani' – by Daniel McLaughlin
Kallapani have been a standard part of Assyrian army lists but with highly variable properties. Daniel McLaughlin examines the evidence to see if we can know anything certain about them.
Slingshot Book & Game Reviews
Including reviews of:
Commands & Colors Samurai Battles by game designer: Richard Borg
Hellenistic and Roman Naval Warfare, 336BC-31BC by John D. Graingerenn.
