Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Miniature Wargames

WELCOME PERFECT DAY As I write this editorial, we are well into 2022 and – by the time you read this – who knows what will have happened, wargames wise (or, indeed, with anything else!). We live in an uncertain world, that’s for sure, but there is one thing you can count on: quality articles in your favourite gaming magazine! This month we have another WWII piece with a different rule set for you to try; the conclusion of our North American Cherokee outing; a bit of Black Hawk Down along with a trip to the Sudan plus an 18th century Kriegspiel and some ideas on how to paint a whole army in a day. There’s also another splendid scratch build and all the usual reviews and trips to wargames…

COMMAND DECISION DAY OF THE RANGERS Mogadishu: 3–4 October 1993 Words and photos by Jon Sutherland. Each Command Decision aims to offer a series of playable options in timeless military scenarios. Command Decision is designed so you can read the situation and figure out your own command decisions if you were leading the troops on the ground. You can either work through the various options or use the mechanics to create the precise circumstances of the table top engagement. The scenarios may have particular historical themes and settings, but you can easily adapt the mechanics to suit your own preferences and collections.. This month is part one of a two part scenario based in Mogadishu but they can be played as separate, stand alone games. SITUATION REPORT In early 1991, the…

AN ARMY A DAY Keep the wargaming doctor away Words and Photos by Gerry Sutcliff Most of us have hidden, in some curtained off corner, a plastic or lead mountain (or even both). Despairing of ever completing many of the projects I had started and added to that mountain; I nevertheless decided to complete a whole project in just one day and yes it did mean another addition to my range of mountains but it was a very short lived one. This was prompted by demos I had seen of the siege of Portsmouth an English Civil War game in 2mm at a couple of shows. I remember previous magazine articles on such small scales: In praise of hair roller armies was one I recall; and another more recent piece had…

MATS & BOOKS 27.90€ - 79.90€ Deep Cut Studio have released some new mats and RPG system books. While most gamers will be aware that this manufacturer’s printed mats are top quality and grace many a wargames table in various formats, the RPG books are also very useful for some of the smaller skirmish games that are becoming increasing popular. So – starting with the map books – each of the two tomes they sent for review (Volumes 3 and 4) are identical in format: they are in‘double A3 size’ (so – over a wiro-bind, lay flat spine – they open to a full A2). That means around 420mm by 600mm (or so). Each of these spreads is a single, contiguous play-map with a subtly squared-off (at 25mm) overlay, and…

THE LAST WORD DUNCAN WASDELL Duncan Wasdell: a man on a mission Duncan ran a splendid looking Bolt Action game at Salute that was quite special and we wanted to ask him what it was about. What follows is a short Q&A: What’s your background in wargaming? I have always been fascinated by military history, but my earliest games were solo affairs, huge in scale, as my hordes of Airfix, Esci and Matchbox 1/72 figures battled ferociously against marbles and plasticine bombs across the war-torn wastes of my bedroom floor. By my early teens I visited the Ilford Wargaming club on a couple of occasions, but it was a significant distance to travel and I felt rather uncomfortable among so many older players. What periods are you interested in? I have always been hugely…

FORWARD OBSERVER News, previews and community submissions from the wargaming world WARLORD RELEASES Blood Red, Bolt Action & Konflikt Warlord Games have some new items available for pre-order by the time you read this. These include new squadrons and aces for their air combat system Blood Red Skies along with a trio of new Italian vehicles for Bolt Action plus some Konflikt ’47 in their post WWII, alternative-future rule system. In 28mm they have the M11/39 Medium Tank; the L6 Lanciaflamme Flame Tank; and the Autoblinda AB40 Armoured Car. In the air for Blood Red Skies are some twin-engined Fighters (and more): a P-38 Lightning and a Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu ‘Nick’ Squadron; plus a P-39 Airacobra Squadron (especially useful for the Soviets), all three with appropriate aces supplied. On top of…

BROADSIDE ALL GUNS BLAZING A new venue for Broadside 2021 Words and photos by The Editor it’s been, of course, two years since I was last at Broadside and – lockdowns and so forth aside – the organising club has spent that period looking for a new venue. This was always planned as the previous one had some notable disadvantages (parking being tricky and its sharing of space with a swimming bath and all of the humidity issues that entails) but Milton Hundred Wargames Club did their homework and certainly picked a better spot. VENUE December 2021 found me at the Medway Park Sports Hall. It is – as the name implies – a large open 'sports centre’ style room and, as a wargames show venue, it worked rather well.…

SYTHOPIAN WARS Kickstarter (but around £100) We don’t often cover Kickstarters in this column: as often as not they fail to hit their objectives and are fraught with disappointments. But there are always exceptions… I saw this game demonstrated by its creators at the SELWG show in October (one of the joys of getting out and going to wargaming events) and I was rather taken with it so… here we go: Sythopian Wars. Wargaming over the years is littered with the corpses of systems that try to stake a claim to be (for want of a better term) “The next Warhammer/40K” so this is always, I think, a good approach to avoid. But having said that, with any new venture into the hobby the comparisons are inevitable and –…

THE WAR WITH THOSE IN The Anglo Cherokee War of 1758 to 1761: Part 2 Words by Chris Swan. Photos by The Editor In part one – last month – we covered the history and background of the Anglo Cherokee war. This month we conclude with a mini-campaign and rule suggestions for Black Powder plus there’s play aids to download for Rebels & Patriots plus some cards! Ed. MINI-CAMPAIGN: A WALK THROUGH THE WILDERNESS Entitled the Appletree Valley Campaign this is a mini-campaign based on the war but set in a fictitious area of the Carolinas. The object is to play a number of linked engagements or battles where the British Commander has to make choices and the outcome of each engagement affects the next engagement and the chance of overall victory. The winner is…

HOBBY TIPS BRO DAWEL An experiment in not using straight lines and sculpting with DAS Words and images by Tony Harwood I ’ll start by giving details of where I got my inspiration for this small cottage. The model is based on a Lilliput Lane sculpt called Bro Dawel which is part of their Welsh Collection of miniature cottages. I first saw this model on the internet and saved the illustration in an image folder which I like to keep just for this purpose. Sometime later I purchased the Osprey game Burrows & Badgers: this is a skirmish game of anthropomorphic animals and I even picked up some of the metal figures which I’m hoping to base and paint at some stage (Mr Harwood has made two previous models for…

COMMUNITY CORNER EASTERN FRONT This month we spoke to Piers Brand about his miniatures painting. “I’ve been painting toy soldiers since at least 1984” he tells us. “My family had an interest in model making and history so I easily fell into playing with toy soldiers. Eventually my Stepfather bought me a copy of Warhammer in 1984, and the world of miniature wargaming just sort of sucked me in.” Piers will happily paint whichever miniatures catch his eye, with interests from ‘Oldhammer’ to differing historical periods, but says his staple is 20mm WWII figures and models. “It’s just the perfect medium for the period, and nothing comes close to it for accuracy and detail, especially when you see manufacturers like AB Figures or Elhiem or many others in 20mm. Plus…

SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE WARGAMING THE JANUARY BLUES AWAY An 18th Century Nonsense, with grovelling apologies to CS Grant Words and pictures by Conrad Kinch T.S. Elliot wrote that April was the 'cruellest month', but I reckon this January could give it a run for it’s money. I’m normally pretty chipper this time of year, usually dreaming up ill judged wargaming schemes or planning on losing some weight or going to the gym more often, but not this January. A mixture of work, illness and COVID blues has meant that inspiration has been thin on the ground lately. The wargames room looks like a bomb hit it, mainly because I was hiding the Kinchlets presents in “Daddy’s special room” and the house now looks like an explosion in a toy…

DEFENCE IN DEPTH RULE BOOKS & FIGURES DOES THE POPE WEAR A SKELETAL HAT? £6 One of the things I do love about reviewing figures from Antediluvian Miniatures is that you genuinely don’t know what’s coming next. A couple of issues ago I looked over everything from a tentacled Alien Astronaut Theorist, a Master Vampire and a three-headed snarling Cerberus in 18th century costume. This time it’s something that could not epitomise those catholic tastes more pointedly. Papa Diabulus (and Familiar) is… well – no bones about it – a ‘Skeletal Pope’. He is fully dressed in robes and does – indeed – have an impressive hat: a mitre, I guess. He’s carrying a crook-style staff in his left, boney hand and his right hand – a separate casting – is…

THE BATTLE OF GINNIS A Tribute to Peter Gilder’s Sudan Campaign Rules Words by Dave Tuck Photos by Malc Johnston Peter Gilder was a great contributor to our hobby, and to my mind an under-appreciated one. His designs for Hinchliffe and Connoisseur still have a flair for movement and activity despite being over 20 years old. Many of the units he owned – but which he did not paint – were featured in early issues of this magazine, and the concept of a wargaming holiday break was pioneered by him. He also introduced the use of textured terrain modules and built some great scenery items. Dennis Coleman, the owner of Hovels the resin building manufacturer, introduced me to Peter, and sourced several of my 28mm armies, which are still going…

QUARTERMASTER ACCESSORIES & TERRAIN PALACES & YURTS £2 to £10 Brigade Models have some more new terrain out with some more in the pipeline. As, ever this is in various scales including 15mm and 1/1000th. Dealing with that small ‘2mm scale’ size first, there are a slew of releases in – presumably – this manufacturer’s furious attempts to allow complete European cities to be modelled in very fine resin detail. For example there is a Hamburg Grain Elevator (below, in resin with a metal chimney and £4) plus some other buildings from the same locale (a Tunnel Entrance and a Water Tower); a two part French Chateaux (£2); a rather modern looking Library building with a ten sided structure with a tower behind it (very sixties); and a superb, one…

HOBBY TIPS 1. SOFTLY INSPIRED I sketched up a pretty detailed set of plans and started to cut out some corrugated cardboard to build a 28mm scale copy of the Lilliput Lane cottage. Later still I was corresponding with another builder of fantasy terrain and we discussed how the ranges from Lilliput Lane and David Winter are sculpted with few perpendicular or straight lines. I thought it would be a test of my modelling and sculpting skills to see if I could do the same and the result is this cute little cottage. 2. CARD & PAPER The corrugated cardboard profiles were glued together with my hot glue gun and clad with more cardboard which was then covered in strips of torn newspaper and PVA glue. This simple technique produces…