Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från Miniature Wargames

I’ve recently been reading a lot about virtual reality goggles for augmented reality, backed by hilariously awful AI systems that can’t work out who fought for the Nazis in WWII. It reminds me that – when it comes to research – there is no substitute for the immutable written word and – when we think of gaming – I want toy soldiers not trick goggles… So: for Cape Wars, Painting Panzer Grenadiers (the right colour), Wars of the Roses, How to Best Balance a Scenario, Historical Silver Bayonet, Siege System Ideas, Scratch-building, Tips on Photographing your Models plus news and reviews, I present issue number 493 of Miniature Wargames. As Jason Kay sings: “Now there is no sound if we all live underground, and now it’s virtual insanity: forget your…

This latest release from Wargames Atlantic includes a box of 12 models depicting cavalry typical of the North-West Frontier during conflicts with the British from the 1830s-1920s. Depending on weapon choices they would not be inappropriate from 1700 up to the present time. The set comes with a new horse sprue with bespoke furniture and poses but – again – with ‘swappable’ body halves and four different heads. The human component comes with two torso options and lots of different heads/hats plus weapons can be selected from a range (swords – both in use and sheathed – and rifles or jezails). Models are proportionate and well detailed and a set will cost £25 but there’s a reduction for buying in bulk. Go to wargamesatlantic.com.…

Paul recently showed us some of his ECW and horse painting. Now for something completely different! Ed. INTRODUCTION Back in the October 2022 issue we were provided with a free sprue from Wargames Atlantic of their then new Panzer Lehr. I will not go over any uniform or history information about this famous unit (as it was covered in that issue) other than to mention they are equipped with the M1940 field grey uniform issued to all Panzer Lehr soldiers not entitled to wear the black Panzer uniform. Other hints and tips to make these authentic to this Division will be covered in my guide. Although my article is obviously aimed at the Panzer Lehr many of my comments will hopefully prove useful for painting any mid to late war German…

◗ pendraken.co.uk ◗ £1.95 - £6.75 A couple of months ago we mentioned in Forward Observer that Pendraken had released a new range of Sci-Fi-in 10mm (as usual!) At Hammerhead we finally got our hands on some samples and very nice they are to. With the release of models adjacent to this sort of scale from both Mantic and GW (well – a re-release in the latter case) maybe – what with Dropzone Commander – it really is the time for 10mm to shine. All of the Pendraken releases are in metal and it does make for an interesting ‘feel’. The forces are split over four army types, all Human: Corporate (hover-vehicle types); Empirical (with a bit of a WWI-meets-‘Death Corps of Krieg’ feel with Rhomboid tanks); Theological (with very…

Somewhere back in the mists of time there were a couple of clever articles about photographing miniatures. They were published in a magazine now inextricably associated with a certain gaming imperium, but back in the day its pages teemed with varied tabletop gaming content to tickle all fancies. The author, the late great Joe Dever, had taken it upon himself to explain to readers the fine art of taking decent pictures of their painted metal miniatures. The article which was part of his regular ‘Tabletop Heroes’ thread, outlined the kit, props and techniques needed to get professional or at least near decent results. TIME BANDIT Back then I poured over the descriptions, photos and instructions with something approaching confused eagerness. Because… here’s the thing: back then in the mid-80s the…

The very latest plastic release from Victrix is Early Saxon Unarmoured Warriors. £36 buys a bag of six identical sprues with a total of 36 models which represent the Early Saxons, Jutes, Angles and Danes (all grouped together under the generic title of ‘Saxon’) that invaded Britain during the 4th to 6th centuries. There’s a huge mix of head types (90 in total) from bare headed to caps and various helmet styles. Fur cloaks (with separate optional ‘paws’!) can be stuck on adding variety, along with hair extensions and crests, plus weapon options including swords, spears, javelins (also held as spares in multiples), hand axes and some Angons with the metal socketed spearheads. Early Saxons often used smaller round shields so there’s small bucklers included (36) but also the same…

Adding to Sci-Fi clutter for 28mm Stargrave and similar, Crooked Dice have some Octagonal Crates in a resin set which come as a single, a pair and a foursome for £7. And – if your crew has some downtime – what about an Arcade Machine to keep them occupied (again in resin for £4). However – in a different vein – there are also two new sets of Skeleton Archers: in metal and £4 each or £15 for a pack of four with eight different poses available. For more info go to crooked-dice.co.uk.…

INTRODUCTION Our group has had a longstanding interest in the Wars of The Roses. Several of us have walked the battlefield at Towton, and I have visited Tewkesbury, St Albans, and Bosworth. The pick of these, for me anyway, is Towton, as I watched a re-enactment there on the anniversary of the battle as well as meeting the late, great Robert Hardy who was an expert bowyer and one of a few people who could produce an authentic longbow. RULES IS RULES The recent introduction of some new rulesets for the period, namely Test of Resolve, Never Mind the Billhooks, and the newest version of Hail Caesar, only piqued our interest further. Unfortunately – and not unusually for our group – we didn’t really take to any of them, largely…

◗ groundzerogames.co.uk ◗ £3.60-£12 Ground Zero Games have been a little lacking in recent months for new releases but I’m pleased to say that they finally have some new material out. Broadly this amounts updates in three areas: spaceships for Full Thrust; 15mm SF figures; and Game Tokens. The Full Thrust ships are all smaller vessels for three different forces: UNSC Gunboats; NAC Gunboats; NAC Missile Boats; NSL Gunboats; and NSL Missile Boats. All of these are three quid a pack of three models, and each comes with a black plastic hex base and a with nifty one-piece, three-way, clear plastic flight stands to mount them on in a ‘Y’ shaped formation. The models themselves all have a winged, ‘Star-Warsie’ feel about them and each ship is pretty small –…

Command Decision investigates a touchy subject this month and we look at points costs, odds and more. Ed. As gamers, we like a fair fight. We want an element of risk, to be wary of the counter-punch, have a determination to take the objectives (but not at any cost). We’re always wondering whether to take the initiative and be proactive, or to sit back and see how things develop. To keep things fair, we will invariably work to a points system. Point systems aren’t arbitrary, each characteristic of unit is assigned a value, command points are often added in too. THE THEORY We all know that the majority of battles were never fair. Just what convinced an historical commander to take the initiative and attack? Back in the mid-1980s the U.S. Army…

How did the club first get started? A long time ago, in a city far, far away (Bristol in the ‘60s) three wargaming friends came together with an idea: Ian Colwill, Mike Blake and the late Steve Curtis simply wanted to recreate the Gunfight at the OK Corral using 54mm Swoppit and Timpo cowboy figures, so they wrote what are now seen as the first set of one on one skirmish rules in the form of the original Western Gunfight Skirmish rules, which in 1974 were expanded to become the Old West Rules. They even formed a limited company to sell their rules and trademarked/patented the term Skirmish Wargames. What have you done since then? They went on to write more rule sets collaborating with Don Featherstone before stopping selling…

Brigade have some new releases for Salute. Firstly they have some additional Sci-Fi platform structures for their Agri-Colony Building range: priced at £2.50 to £3.50 there’s a Homestead, Warehouses and a Chapel (complete with as steeple). They also have some new Desert Fortress walls in the same scale. Going up a size they have also added some 15mm Adventurers with four packs of six different figures: a mix of humans and aliens in various attire. These are great for Stargrave, Traveller and 5 Parsecs from Home for the smaller scaled adventure/skirmish or RPG systems. These are £3.50 per pack of six different and Brigade are aiming for some vehicles to suit as well. Go to brigademodels.co.uk…

MISSION STATEMENT This is Miniature Wargames, the magazine for all wargamers, and I like to think that there’s something to that. Our esteemed Editor Young Master Treadaway makes it his business to ensure that there is something for everyone in these pages. You’ll find science fiction, fantasy and horror represented. Every shade and period of historical wargaming has found a home here. I’m struggling to think of a conflict that I haven’t seen covered in MW at some point. Possibly the Emu War of 1932, though I’m not saying that wargame is not on the cards… It’s perfectly possible that Master Treadaway has an Emu War article lined up for next month’s issue (my money is on Arthur Harman, but I could be wrong), but I like to think that…

◗ victrixlimited.com ◗ £40 There are very few finer looking wargames units than ranks and ranks of hoplites in linen armour and bearing their bronze faced shields. Building up a big unit in 28mm can be expensive and hard work when it comes to spears (steel or bendy white metal?) Plastics are probably a good way to go and Victrix has made a great set to help with that. Forty quid buys eight identical multipart sprues, each of which will build you six models with a host of options. So – for the mathematically – challenged that’s less than 84p a figure… The sprues have five complete torsos in advancing/standing poses plus one spilt at the waist. This latter one doesn’t have any other halves to mate with but does…

◗ brigademodels.co.uk ◗ £3 - £8.50 Brigade have been adding to a force on their 15mm SF range. Baffin’s Legion (a Hammer’s Slammers: The Crucible based unit) have now been fully represented vehicle wise. Baffin’s Legion makes an appearance in the second part of the story ‘The Warrior’, as the Hindi and Han forces clash over the paddy fields of the town of Morobad. While the Han are supported by the Slammers, the Hindis are reinforced by Colonel Baffin and his force of tank destroyers, armoured infantry and heavy artillery. To go with the with the M12 Tank Destroyer and the Twin-Hull APC (the latter of which I have recently covered in this column) they have released an APC, a Calliope; a Missile Vehicle; a Command Vehicle; 21cm Hog Artillery piece…

INTRODUCTION Last month Chris gave us some background to the conflict. This month we have three scenarios! Ed. The following three engagements are purely representative of the types of engagement fought during the 6th, 7th and 8th War. They can be played out with any “small unit” rules for the mid 19th Century/Black Powder period. I have given details of the forces used in each scenario in general terms so that players an can adapt them to whatever rule set they prefer but, of course, they can use the information for Black Powder given in the previous article and for Rebels and Patriots (there is a download of guidance on the magazine’s web site). All three scenarios can be played using the same scenery with minor adjustments for each one. They…

I took two trips on consecutive weekends to a pair of shows so this month we’ll start with… CAVALIER The show – hosted by the Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society at the Angel Centre, Tonbridge, was a bit of an improvement over last years event, I think. The 2023 show had been the first one in three years (Covid) but this year the organisers were back in their stride. Numbers through the door seemed up but they were down a couple of traders (not the only show to have reported this issue…). The venue was much as per previous years: parking was easy (but a fight with local shoppers) and there was a nice cafe indoors and a good spread of games and traders. GAMES I’ll be brief but highlights for…

This particular tutorial was first published back in 2013 in my self-published, limited edition guide Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 1: Building Wargame Terrain. The book is now out-of-print but I have reproduced it here in a slightly condensed form as the original text and images filled twelve pages! The core structure was constructed from simple profiles cut from scrap corrugated cardboard and then glued together with my hot glue gun. The simple core was further strengthened by cladding it with more card. The main door areas were cut out with a large snap-off bladed knife and the walls covered with DAS modelling clay which was applied over PVA glue. The base was cut from scrap 3mm thick plastic card and the main building was glued in place with the hot glue gun.…