Indholdsfortegnelse for WSS 136 i Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

In Feudal society, the barons and lords were granted their lands by the power of the King; in exchange the nobility would offer their fealty and services as knights to the King in time of conflict. Every feudal lord had in effect their own private army, which could potentially be used against the King or to settle scores with other barons. In this scenario, two rival barons have met in a village in disputed territory under a flag of truce, with the aim of settling their rivalries once and for all by coming to a lasting agreement, rather than deciding it by the sword. Bloodied and bruised by their previous encounters, both noble factions are reluctant to plunge deeper into conflict. Instead, in a crumbling village chapel worn by time…

Austria struck in early April 1809 with an invasion of Bavaria. Napoleon was quick to respond and launched a force at the Austrian capital Vienna, taking it in May. However, the Austrian army still remained in the field, even after the subsequent bloody battle of Aspern-Essling on 21–22 May. Over the next six weeks, Napoleon gathered rebuilt his army on the island of Lobau, in the middle of the Danube. As the casualties from Aspern-Essling had been so high, some brigades had to be rebuilt from scratch. Meanwhile, Archduke Charles likewise rebuilt and repaired his army, preparing it for the inevitable attack. He ordered several fortlets and redoubts to be built covering possible French routes. As the French began to move, Charles moved his forces back to the stronger position…

What followed must have aroused a sense of déja vu in the SS formation that was tasked to cover the withdrawal of these divisions as the ‘fire brigade’ for LVl Panzer Corps. In April 1944, a small Kampfgruppe from SS ‘Wiking’ Panzer Division had provided the armoured spearhead for the relief of Kovel when it had been surrounded and cut off by Soviet forces. Supporting the depleted 131st Infantry Division, a handful of panzers had guarded the assault group’s flanks and managed to infiltrate a small force into Kovel. It took the deployment of both of LVI Corps' panzer divisions to finally break the Soviet grip on the town and relieve the garrison. THE LOSS OF KOVEL Fast-forward to July 1944, and the SS ‘Wiking’ Division was again to play…

The new core starter set is complete with rulebook, hard-card tokens, dice (D10, Morale Dice and several D6) and 54 plastic miniatures — enough foot knights, foot serjeants and peasant levy sprues to make two 500-point armies. Also included are the all-new plastic scenery barricades, which can also be built as a medieval market. The 150-page core rulebook, expertly set out with examples, clearly explains the rules and the situations in-game that players may come across. This proved very useful in our introductory game, as the extra guidance enabled us to keep everything moving. Terrain plays a vital role in Barons’ War and that section of the rules does an excellent job at explaining the impact it can have on a game. Next (and new in this edition) is the…

Renaissance infantry Company: Baccus 6mm Size: 6mm or 1/300 scale Era: Renaissance Price: £9.70 for 96 infantry or £11.20 for 45 cavalry www.baccus6mm.com Baccus has released a new Italian Wars - or early-Renaissance - range in 6mm scale. The Wars were a consecutive series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, involving the might of France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, all vying for control over the Italian peninsula. It saw the emergence of ‘pike and shot’ tactics, with massed pike blocks supported by early firearms. The range consists of Landsknecht infantry including marching (pikes vertical) and charging (pike at an angle), arquebusiers (marching and firing), two-handed swordsmen and field guns (light, field and siege). The cavalry consist of gendarmes charging and standing ready. Crossbowmen and light cavalry can be found in…

The offensive began on 5 March 1944 with a thunderous artillery bombardment. Soviet formations rolled forward with impressive speed and coordination, outpacing German expectations and leaving their defensive planning in tatters. By the third day, the Red Army had crossed the Gorny Tikach River, smashed through the last prepared German defensive line, and begun pursuing retreating Wehrmacht units across open country. The 6th Guards Tank Army followed close behind, exploiting breakthroughs and deepening the penetration. The pace was impressive — Patton would have been proud! Uman fell on 10 March, and Soviet forward detachments soon forced crossings over the Yuzhny Bug River, using using any means they could muster. It was a remarkable demonstration of operational mobility, through which the Russians gained over 160 miles in less than a month…

The latest edition is a streamlined version of the rules, following in the steps of the new version of PBI. While the game does not have a scale, each base can be seen as representing roughly 40 men. An ‘army’ will typically consist of 30 bases (each with typically three men), so will need approximately 90 models in total. These will be typically assigned to three ‘units’ of infantry (best described as companies), although some armies can take four. There are eleven army lists to choose from, which are all stereotypical. So you might have a Religious Movement, or Popular People’s Party or Superpower Client etc. Each army has its quirks and list of equipment it can and cannot take – the Religious Movement, for example, cannot take professional troops…

Sir Ralph Hopton, the local commander, had placed his army into winter quarters along the Wey Valley, believing few would attempt campaigning in midwinter. He hadn’t counted on the audaciousness of his one-time comrade and opponent, Parliamentarian Sir William Waller. After defeats at Roundway Down and Basing, Waller’s reputation was at risk, but the isolated Alton garrison was a perfect target. On 12 December 1643, Waller’s army marched from Farnham towards Basing, diverting cross-country towards Alton and arriving early in the morning. THE SCENARIO This scenario was designed to provide a synthesised version of the Storming of Alton. While written using The Pikeman’s Lament, it could easily be adapted to similar skirmish rules. For larger games, double the size of units and add three regiments of foot to the Parliamentarian…

Splendid in pristine white uniforms, red fezzes and colourful facings, the Egyptian Army was well equipped with Remington rifles, ‘modern’ Krupp guns and machine guns (both Nordenfeldt & Gatlings). Add in the exotic Bashi Bazouks galloping across desert sand with their red flags streaming and the camel corps majestically striding across the dunes. What’s not to like? Well, frankly, they were a bit, er… crap. By and large the soldiers were incredibly poorly led, by incompetent, lazy and corrupt officers. Badly trained and rarely paid, the soldiers were conscripted in a manner that most would consider slavery — indeed, slave-raiding was seen as a viable recruiting technique. Service was until they broke, and welfare non-existent. If led competently by officers such as Muhammed Tawfiq Bey or General Gordon, they could…

To deal with this situation, Hitler appointed Field Marshal Walter Model as he liked his aggressive nature. Model found the situation to be dire: he needed to give ground. So instead of holding fast, he fought an aggressive retreat, allowing the Soviets to advance. As they outdistanced their supply lines, he counter attacked with well-prepared forces to blunt their advances. Hitler allowed Model to fight this way, and as a result he seemed to find a way of blunting large scale Soviet operations. The German High Command, struggled to shore up new defensive lines and move reserves to where the actually needed to be. The Soviet drive on Minsk posed an enormous threat, as its loss would prevent resupply and re-enforcement from reaching significant parts of the front. The simultaneous…

Working with our esteemed editor, we had plenty of opportunity to discuss what idea we wanted the cover diorama to convey. For the Eastern Front in 1944, that was obvious. Though the Germans fought back tooth-andnail, the spring and summer were dominated by the Red Army’s offensives, gaining hundreds of miles and inflicting massive losses. That is what the cover should convey, in a small vignette with 28mm figures and matching vehicles. Obviously, within those constraints, the scale of the Eastern Front goes out the window. Some kind of German wreckage was a must, however, and we wanted tank riders as they are such an iconic image of the Red Army’s advance. As an extra challenge, I did not want to build anything new, apart from the base to display…

My guide should be useful for those wanting to paint Napoleonic troops for the first time or a nationality they are unfamiliar with. Please note that facing colours for cuffs, turnbacks, shoulder straps and collars only relate to the regiments that I have chosen, and may not be applicable to all the soldiers within each army. Even button colours can vary. BRITISH LINE INFANTRY (Peninsula) Base coats First, apply basecoats to the various areas of the model as described at right. Highlights Highlight the coat with Wild Rider Red. The shoes and shako were dry-brushed with Administratum Grey; the same colour was used to edge-highlight the black pack and cartridge box. I used Grey Seer for the grey areas of the miniature and Vallejo Model Color White for the white…