Innehållsförteckning för February 2023 från Miniature Wargames

This month’s issue has been plagued by problems from my end. I had two weeks ‘enforced leave’ caused by spending a week in hospital followed by a week with no broadband and both (especially the latter) made me realise how much I have come to rely on electronic communication in my job as editor and – for that matter – anything and everything else. Fortunately, I own a lot of books and not a few DVDs and CDs as physical media so I could keep myself occupied and I wasn’t in a position of having to ‘own nothing’ and to ‘be happy’ so I ‘survived’. And just in time to get this issue out to you, the readership! We have a Xenos Rampant article: a scenario for the latest SF…

I follow Dan Mersey’s work with interest as I think he’s one of the more exciting writers in the hobby at the moment. His most recent book with Richard Cowen, Xenos Rampant, (reviewed by me in last month’s issue. Ed.) is the latest addition to the ‘Merseyverse’ stable of games (Dragon Rampant, Lion Rampant, The Men who would be Kings, etc) and it allows you to play science fiction games using mechanics that – while not identical to the previous titles in the series – certainly rhyme with the others. I blow hot and cold on the Merseyverse games. I love The Men who would be Kings (we need more expansions for this!), however I’ve fallen out of love with The Pikeman’s Lament and I go back and forth on Rebels &…

When I heard that the Warfare at Reading team was going to relocate their show to Farnborough I was terribly pleased: Farnborough is only ten minutes from me! Oh… the other Farnborough. Fair enough! Last year following the unceasing requirement to cancel and then find new venues for shows, the Wargames Association of Reading got into lock-step and set their 2021 show in a new venue at Ascot Racecourse but subsequently decided that they would relocate again for 2022 by moving to Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre. Talk about making life difficult for oneself! RECAP Whilst small shows often make use of town halls or even schools, there seems to be a trend with bigger events to go in one of two directions: horses or planes. Last year they…

For most of us historical wargaming is a hobby that helps us to relax, a form of escapism that takes us away from the stresses of day-to-day life. Whether this is sitting down with friends to play a game, planning a campaign, painting miniatures, or even just browsing for new figures to buy, all these activities help us to unwind. During the most restrictive COVID-19 lockdowns, having all these varied aspects of wargaming to fall back on – even though much of the social aspect had to be conducted virtually – it had a significant and noticeable benefit for my own and many others mental health. Speaking for myself I greatly valued having a relaxing activity that took me away from the reality of living through a pandemic. At least…

IMPERIAL PALACE flooring fit for an emperor Deep Cut Studios have been releasing a steady stream of battle mats recently (along with painted terrain and all sorts of stuff) but – beyond basic sand and grass finishes – it’s often hard to select a mat that is both unique and yet has universal appeal to gamers. However, they’ve come pretty close with this one: if you want a mat that covers the interior of a ruined palace – whether it’s from the Horus Heresy or ancient Persia – this one might well fit the bill. With a selection of tiled areas, inlaid marble slabs, decorative gilded borders, and the odd piece of broken flooring (mostly with a subtle overlay of a 20mm grid simply via the flooring slabs themselves) this…

TOY SOLDIERS ◗ copplestonecastings.co.uk◗ £6.60 I was given a selection of a very interesting new product: Mark’s Little Soldiers. They are a selection of one piece castings in white metal of what can only be described as‘toy soldiers’. Granted they are a bit on the‘wee’ side for traditional toy-stuff: they are 32mm compared to Britains and their ilk at, I guess, 54mm or so. And – being sculpted by Mark Copplestone – they are exquisitely done. Period wise, they are – for want of a better term – set in a fin de siècle (or thereabouts) Imaginations Europe with the countries of Panovia and Berglandia plus the Slovskans (and indeed Panovian Royalists) thrown in for good measure. All of the infantry releases tend to be four to a pack and…

TWO THIN COATS ◗ transatlantisgames.com◗ £3.95 Duncan Rhodes wrote a Last Word in this magazine a couple of years ago talking about his painting career (he was, amongst other things, the ‘face of Warhammer TV’). Over the last little while, he has done sterling service proselytizing his mantra of ‘two thin coats’ on the basis that (in an effort to get good coverage) a mistake we painters often make is to use our paints too thickly and Duncan would like to help us to not do that. Being a man to put his money where his mouth is, Mr Rhodes has now released a paint-set that will help with his crusade and we were sent a box to review. Now for some personal stuff. When it comes to paint, most reviewers…

BOLT ACTION This month we’ve got a Bolt Action artillery piece and some ruined upholstery from Fredrik Hansson. Frank said: “I’m a history teacher and a poster of painted miniatures of twitter (@MammaMattsson) but I think I was born to be a painter of minis. My very first were tin solders my dad and I moulded in the garage, and then painted with oil paint, straight on to the metal. I still have those somewhere!” “The miniatures I’ve featured are all from Warlord Games; some plastic and some metal. I found the couch in a set of battlefield debris I got as a present. The sandbags are just made from Milliput. The whole piece will (hopefully!) be helping my Bolt Action Germans hold back the enemy at Budapest. I have a…

This is the first section of a three-parter. This time we deal with Movement, Supply, Scouting and After Battle Mechanics. Ed. THE PREMISE This is a slight diversion from the usual scenario based Command Decision. In it, we look at the fundamental mechanics around running a simple horse and musket period campaign game. One note about the descriptions of troop training and morale, some interesting combinations can be created: TROOP CLASSIFICATIONS TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE TYPES MORALE TYPES Green: Trained with no combat experience, an unknown quantity. Impetuous: difficult to control, bloodthirsty and unpredictable morale. Novice: Some battlefield experience, trained but not tested in actual combat Cautious: reluctant to put themselves in unnecessary danger, fragile morale. Experienced: Some combat experience, trained with an average ability and considered steady and reliable Steady: reliable…

Some time ago I dabbled with a late nineteenth century colonial game where a small British force were attacked by a much larger force of natives on the very fluid border between Egypt and the Sudan. Central to the whole scenario was that the encounter would take place on the site of an archaeological dig and I duly set about obtaining suitable terrain pieces. The game posed a few challenges but played out very well and was featured in Miniature Wargames Issue 449 for September 2020. I recently decided to revisit the scenario but this time I wanted to enhance the scene with much better terrain, in particular I wanted the table to be dominated by an imposing pylon. For those of you not familiar with ancient Egyptian architecture this…

Mr Harwood had been expanding his Epic scale scenery again! Ed. My earliest experiences of wargaming came many years ago when I was still a teenager and I attended a number of games at Swansea University where Airfix American Civil War armies marched across green dyed bed sheets, along chalk drawn roads and through lichen woods and hedge growth. The armies were mounted on to simple beer mat bases with crude rubber buildings that were originally intended for children’s railway layouts and rules that were based on the early Airfix ACW modelling guide. Ever since this ‘rose tinted’ view of wargaming has been an inspiration for me and the thought of reproducing these battles remains a long term goal. With the release of Warlord Games Epic ACW range of rules and…