Innehållsförteckning för January 2024 från Miniature Wargames

The Battle of Haifa Street took place in a two-mile-long street in downtown Baghdad, Iraq between US (23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Black Jack Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division) and Iraqi Army forces against various Sunni insurgent forces as a precursor for clearing operations (“the surge”) which neutralized insurgent groups in this part of Baghdad. Around 500 Iraqi and 400 U.S. soldiers took part. Heavy incoming sniper and machine-gun fire fire pinned down the US on the street. US Apache helicopters, F-15E Strike Eagles, a dozen Iraqi gun trucks, Stryker ICVs and about 1,000 Iraqi Army soldiers were called in. This was one of the few battles where the insurgents and the coalition troops fought each other ‘face-to-face’.…

The author of the Tribal rules (reviewed last month) adds a random element of Nature’s Fury to any Prehistoric game. Ed. THE SETTING When Wargaming in Prehistoric settings, my wargaming chums and I like to imagine that we are playing in “A Time at the Dawn of Man”. This is a time when Humanity was first establishing itself across the harsh landscapes of a primordial world: an emerging Humanity’s fight for survival and supremacy, we think, provides a world of interesting gaming opportunities! While we share our enthusiasm for the research and theories on Prehistoric tribal life and warfare, we recognise that we cannot offer a definitive perspective on Prehistory (the clue is in the name). In the end, we are essentially playing a game. If a Pulp or Hollywood-inspired game is what interests you…

◗ crooked-dice.co.uk◗ £35 7TV by Crooked Dice is a fun, cinematic style skirmish game system which has generated a second edition set of rules. In a handsome, full colour, 288 page hardback, the new version is as well produced as any product on the market. It’s top notch: superbly illustrated and full of mouth-watering figure shots. But – if you haven’t tried it before – what does it actually do? It allows you to recreate and game in any film or TV show you fancy (see last month’s issue with the Anderson themed, underwater setting!). But the rules can be used for SpyFi, Fantasy, general SF and many more and the format is always one of creating not-so-much a ‘real’ skirmish but more a ‘theatrical’ version of one, so the…

INTRODUCTION Earlier this year I and fellow members of the Skirmish Wargames group staged a Russian Civil War demonstration games in 54mm scale at two wargames shows in Kent. The first of these was at the Broadside show run by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club and the other at the Medway Games Festival held in the Chatham Historic Dockyard. THE GAME The Russian Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War which lasted for four years was one of the great turning points of the 20th Century. It was fought not only in Russia but across those countries which had formally been part of the Russian Empire including Poland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, the Ukraine and many of the central Asian counties such as Turkmenistan. This makes the conflict a very interesting…

◗ Jonathan Davies◗ Helion (2023)◗ £35◗ 359 pages (softback)◗ ISBN:9781804514092◗ helion.co.uk This is the third and final volume in this magnificent trilogy on the warfare and armies of the Tudor period, here focussing on the Elizabethan army: organisation, recruitment, training, tactics, logistics, ‘ethos’, equipment, and the socio-political background (that curious mixture of honour and corruption that epitomised the period). The amount of research is mindboggling: there is even a 10-page section on duelling. All of it is conducted with a light touch of humour and phrasing so that it is weighty but not crushing. At times, the extensive use of archaic language extracts, and some variable proof-reading, can make for hard going, but these are minor drawbacks relative to the breadth and depth of description and analysis. These volumes must…

◗ Angus Konstam◗ Osprey Publishing (2023)◗ £25.00◗ 320 pages (hardback)◗ ISBN:9781472857682◗ ospreypublishing.com Subtitled Taking The Fight To Hitler’s U-Boats this is a fascinating book on the battle against Hitler’s U-Boats using the homebound convoy HG-76 almost as a framework to study both a convoy battle and the broader aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic and the U-Boat war. This convoy saw a strong anti-submarine warfare escort group under one of the most famous Escort Group commanders, Captain ‘Johnnie’ Walker and his Escort Group 36, and the Escort Carrier HMS Audacity, defend the convoy from Gibraltar against both submarines and aircraft in December 1941. It covers many connected issues: the war to this point, the overall U-Boat strategy, the U-Boat’s tactical doctrine and developing anti-submarine warfare doctrine. The Escort Group…

◗ Brian Walter◗ Casemate Publishers (2023)◗ £25◗ 336 pages (hardback)◗ ISBN:9781636243573◗ casematepublishers.co.uk The British main force in Indian and Burma fighting the Japanese was often referred to as ‘the Forgotten Army’, and the author here encompasses the wider British and Commonwealth land, air and sea effort, which has indeed perhaps been under-reported in relation to the other theatres of war. He presents a readable and, I would say, balanced appreciation of those efforts, including various tables showing numbers, losses, equipment, casualties and damage inflicted, etc. I say ‘balanced’ because he is quite candid that the overwhelming element of success in the war against Japan was down to US resources and actions: indeed, the war in India and Burma was largely secondary to ultimate success in the Far East, and was…

◗ David Nicolle◗ Osprey (2023)◗ £12.99◗ 48 pages (softback)◗ ISBN:9781472853349◗ ospreypublishing.com This second, follow-up volume covers Indo-Islamic forces from the 7th to the early 16th Centuries, so encompasses a wide variety of regimes, geography and periods. As a result, military detail is thin on battles or army structures, with the emphasis being on the political and cultural backgrounds that shaped the forces involved. For example, Islamic leaders initially regarded elephants as ‘satanic pride’ whereas – for the Hindus – they were objects of divinity and sovereignty. The author provides an interesting broad brush of the history of this period, including the key impact of trade centres and routes in making connections between regions, peoples and states and within terrain varying from remote mountains to highly-settled lowlands, As usual with the…

A couple of issues ago we mentioned supplements for the RPG system Elfking. Well the latest items in this range are just out. You can get them direct as PDF downloads direct from lucideyepublications.com (for example the smaller A5 one – the Adventure Module: Spirits in the Machine/Fall of a Fae Circle is £8); or you could go to get a print copy (perfect bound, soft cover) from Amazon: the A4 Book Of Encounters is £17. All are excellently produced with some evocative artwork and could be leveraged into any fantasy RPG system.…

◗ wargamevault.com◗ £7 Arrowstorm (by Daniel Mersey) is presented as a thirty-four page booklet in pdf form, with black and white text and diagrams. The rules occupy only seventeen pages; a further six pages offer suggested army lists; a two-page summary or quick reference sheet is provided at the end of the booklet, and a copy of the Tactics Chart is on the back cover. Four pages present the author’s earlier Scottorum Malleus rules 1066-1377, a version of which appeared in an article on the Battle of Eveshamin MW387, which offer a simpler introduction to the system, and is a good game in its own right, ideal for novices or children. The two players take the roles of a medieval king, bishop, lord, or commander leading their army on the…

You might well have a free sprue of these excellent Space Dwarves. On a Cold wind from Valhalla come these stunted Warriors and I needed to get some paint on them. Fast! Ed. INTRODUCTION So… What exactly are the Einherjar? “Abducted from their longship on the return voyage from a raid on Wessex, these Norsemen’s new owner settled them on a high gravity world and began their training for the Death Fields circuit. After each battle as wounds miraculously healed and even the dead were brought back to life, the warriors thought of themselves as the fabled Einherjar: the ghostly warriors of Valhalla who fight and die each day and are reborn to feast each night. Over the centuries, their ongoing regeneration while living primarily on their high-gravity homeworld has resulted in…

◗ Gregg Adams◗ Osprey (2023)◗ £15.99◗ 80 pages (softback)◗ ISBN:9781472857910◗ ospreypublishing.com I am becoming quite a fan of this ‘Combat’ Series by Osprey: for the wargamer, it seems to offer an ideal blend of information on doctrine, tactics, training, equipment and organisation, supplemented by three example actions (in this case, the 1943-44 landings on the Japanese-held islands/atolls of Tarawa, Roi-Namur, and Eniwetok). Both sides learned to adapt: for the Americans, greater use of combined arms, fire support, and amphibious capability, and for the Japanese the realisation that US forces would ultimately prevail on any island but that the cost could be made prohibitive by varying tactical methods. The well-written text is supported by good maps and helpful photos, and the single-page analysis of opposing battalion strengths and equipment is a…

◗ Mark Stille◗ Osprey Publishing (2023)◗ £15.99◗ 80 pages (softback)◗ ISBN:9781472856432◗ ospreypublishing.com With a subtitle of The IJN at its zenith, Pearl Harbor to Midway this is very much what it says on the cover. The Japanese navy (IJN) in its heyday making free across the Pacific and southeast Asia until it ‘walked into a door’ and got a ‘bloody nose’ at the Battle of Miday. It covers the development of the ships and types of ships, the effect of the naval treaties, the weapon systems such as guns, antiaircraft weapons and torpedoes, the Fleet organisations, fleet logistics, tactical doctrines and deficiencies in capabilities, doctrines, weapons and command and control. It has a particularly good analysis of the systemic weakness of Japanese operational intelligence and its employment of deception. It…

◗ caliverbooks.com◗ £19.50 Yes it’s that time of year again! Charles Grant – who wrote a piece for us last month (Who Burned The Bread) which should give you an idea of his style (if you weren’t already familiar!) – has released his latest Wargamers Annual via Caliver Books. This sort of thick, (almost) advert-less ‘magazine’ is 104 full-colour, perfect bound pages of solid wargaming action covering a fairly broad selection of periods, and all in one book so people who get their copy (possibly via Santa’s sack…) will know exactly what to expect. So what’s in this one? Samurai clan action; Winter is Here (a superb snowy Song of Ice and Fire fantasy game I saw at Partizan); Bath tub Borodino; Hamburg 1945: Raid on St. Michel (‘The rise…

Here’s a set of Ideas for Developing the Palitoy Battle of Balaclava Boardgame. Ed. In 1975 Palitoy published a family boardgame titled The Battle of Balaclava, designed by Malcolm Greensmith, a copy of which I obtained recently from ebay UK. The game offers an interesting attempt at representing the principal flow and events of the historical battle – the Russian capture of redoubts on the Causeway Heights; the 93rd Foot’s repulse of Russian cavalry; the almost simultaneous attack by the British Heavy Cavalry Brigade, and the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade down the North Valley into the mouths of Russian guns, all with very simple rules. TO THE BOARD The gameboard shows a simplified coloured map of the area where the battle was fought, overlaid with arrows indicating some – but not…

◗ Francis Doherty, & Michael Claringbould◗ Pen & Sword, & Osprey (2023)◗ £22, and £16.99◗ 211 pages (hardback) and 96 pages (softback)◗ ISBN:9781399057011 & 9781472855572◗ pen-and-sword.co.uk & opsreypublishing.com The first title describes the Vietnam/Laos experiences of a light recce aircraft pilot flying covert missions in support of Special Forces, focussing on the emotions in this dangerous work and the close relationships that developed with fellow aircrew. This was a brave, skilled and likeable man, but unfortunately the writing style is a prolonged ‘understatement for dramatic effect’ that becomes thoroughly irritating after a few pages: it’s like being closeted with someone who speaks in quips the whole time. Sadly, not recommended. The Osprey book covers the November 1943 planned Japanese air offensive against the US landings in Bougainville (Solomon Islands), which…

◗ Christopher Duffy◗ Helion & Company (2023)◗ £29.95◗ 166 pages (hardback)◗ ISBN:9781804512616◗ helion.co.uk Helion have republished the late Christopher Duffy’s concise but comprehensive guide to siege warfare of the ‘classic’ period from the late seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century, when fortresses were designed, and sieges conducted, according to the principles of the great engineers Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban and Menno van Coehoorn, first published by David & Charles in 1975. This volume, however, is a reprint of a second edition (of which I was unaware) published by Greenhill Books in 1996, so my few reservations about this edition must be criticisms of Greenhill, rather than Helion. In his Introduction to that second edition, the author states that he has “taken the opportunity to correct some mistakes and…

◗ Michael C. Harris◗ Casemate Publishers (2023)◗ £24.95◗ 128 pages (softback)◗ ISBN:9781636242644◗ casematepublishers.co.uk The year 1777 was important as its events encouraged the French Alliance which was eventually decisive in Britain’s defeat. This campaign is described as a turning point in the war which seems an overstatement as Washington failed to save Philadelphia and lost most of the battles. A key consideration in the campaign was coordination with General Burgoyne advancing from Canada. The Philadelphia campaign drew General Howe away and lead to Burgoyne’s defeat and capture. All of this is covered but while the strategic options and the course of the campaign are well described the narrative is unsupported by any strategic or operational level maps and too many of the maps included are contemporary and illegible. This lessens…

◗ Jorg Staiger translated by Linden Lyons◗ Casemate Publishers (2023)(First published in Germany in 1965)◗ £25.00◗ 98 pages (hardback)◗ ISBN:9781636242309◗ casematepublishers.co.uk This is a translation of a book originally written in 1965 has the subtitle Defensive battles of the Nineteenth Army, August-September 1944. It comes from the German ‘Die Wehrmacht im Kampf ‘ series of historical studies. It recounts the Allied landings in southern France from the German perspective and the subsequent retreat of the occupation forces to the Belfort Gap. Like many of the accounts written at this time not all information was available resulting in gaps in the narrative or events being glossed over. Nonetheless, it well describes the difficulties faced by the Germans, especially the effects of allied air superiority on movement. It contains a good examination…

I reviewed Paul’s most recent game in the last issue and really wanted him to write something about it. This Last Word acts as an introduction and – for added fun – there should be a scenario for Trench Offensive in the next issue. Ed. I have been wargaming for quite some time. When I was working in London, I had a two-hour journey into work and another back home. This allowed me way too much time to think, write and play concepts for games. I had designed other games before I started designing a game called Threat Level. I couldn’t work on my own games at work (I was far too busy) but I had vast amounts of time to devote to writing on the train. I took up people watching: I watched the…