Innehållsförteckning för December 2024 från Miniature Wargames

Well here we are: after 41 years it’s issue 500 of this esteemed magazine. What do we have this month? The usual eclectic selection of topics reflecting the broad sweep of the wargaming hobby. If you’ve bought the print version you should have a FREE plastic sprue of Wargames Atlantic Werewolves. If you like them there’s a scenario for the beasties from Mr Kinch and a painting guide from Paul Mackay. But there’s more: The Siege of Vienna in 1683; a WWII French partisans versus Wehrmacht idea; a review of Partizan the show; a Teutonic clash with the Battle of the Ice; Wild West Dodge City action; Rohirrim fun in Fangorn Forest using Oathmark and Tony builds an Ian Weekley Tribute Windmill. Stratospheric stuff! As Reginald Dwight sang: “I miss…

The most convenient and cheapest way to receive your monthly magazine • Whole rule systems to take away and play • The latest news, previews and informative reviews • Practical ‘How To’ guides and tips to enhance your gaming experience • Everything you need to know about modelling materials, figures, wargames shows and more! JUST £9.99 FOR THE WHOLE YEAR! To see our latest subscription offers go to: www.ttgami.ng/MWG500 or call 01778 391180 and quote MWG/Subs25 T&Cs apply. Price applies when subscribing to Miniature Wargames print magazine via monthly direct debit from 29th October 2024 – January 31st…

All shots are taken by myself from a game by the South Somerset Wargames Group at Bovington 2018. Ed. PRELUDE When we think “siege of Vienna” we recall Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent’s victory at the Battle of Mohács on August 29 1526. The Ottomans went on to besiege Vienna, but this failed and only led to 150 years of simmering hatred and conflict between the Ottomans and their Habsburg enemies. Both sides watched for weaknesses and it finally came in 1683. Vienna had been suffering from a plague outbreak for the past four years. The Ottomans had made headway in undermining old alliances by bankrolling non-Catholic minorities in Habsburg Hungary. The Ottomans promised a “Kingdom of Vienna” to the protestant leader Imre Thököly should Vienna fall. To deal with the Hungarians…

Back in Issue 1 of Miniature Wargames (in 1983) there was a three page article by Ian Weekley titled Small Buildings for the Battlefield. In homage to this much missed pioneer of scratch building terrain for the wargame table and to commemorate this very special 500th issue I was asked to produce a piece of themed terrain based on this early article: I choose the Windmill: a Post Mill modelled to 1/56th scale. As with most of my scratch built terrain, it started with some research. I had a very poor image of the magazine article supplied by the Editor, but a plea for more information on The Lead Adventure forum produced a full scan of the article. From these images I sketched up an initial plan but also searched…

WINGS OF WAR ◗ wingsatwar.com ◗ £10 Wings at War is a series of wargames rules for recreating air combat using 1/600th scale aircraft models. Made in association with manufacturer Tumbling Dice each set of rules concentrates on a specific conflict or campaign, with games designed to last around one or two hours. Each pack (in a zip lock bag) contains almost everything you need: a rules booklet and a dozen or so 1/600th metal aircraft models (movement templates are downloadable for free for both piston era and jet planes from the website along side some useful painting guides and modelling tips). Although you don’t strictly need to base the models they really beg to be stuck on a wire base that you’ll have to buy or make yourself. The models…

This month Paul paints some of the models that you might have received on the cover of this magazine. Ed. THE MODELS The figures come on five sprues and are advertised as enabling you to build twenty multi-part hard plastic figures on the box cover. I built up one complete sprue for this article and found that the height very much depended on the pose with the tallest one coming in at nearly 35mm foot to eye. All five sprues are identical and for every four bodies you are provided with six different heads and fourteen arms. Four tails complete what is offered on each one. It is a little bit confusing where exactly some of these components should be fitted as they are no clear join location points. However, once…

I took a trip to the second of the two Partizans of the year. Being unusual in that it’s a show that’s effectively split over two days (although each is over half a year apart), what sort of a show is it and how does it compare to others, specifically the earlier incarnation – the ‘early’ Partizan) or other shows – including Hammerhead that’s held at the same venue. It’s a ‘big shed’ show, bigger than most but smaller than Salute. It’s a similar size to Warfare but with far more demo games and no competitions. There were over 40 traders with some big names and a good spread of periods, concentrating (as do the games) mostly – but not exclusively – on historicals. There were also 26 Party games, half…

The Second Battle of Rappahannock Station in the ACW took place near the village of Rappahannock Station (now Remington, Virginia), on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The battle resulted in a victory for the Union. A pontoon bridge at the town was protected by a Confederate bridgehead on the north bank and a batteries posted on hills south of the river. Union forces attacked head on and crossed five miles down river at Kelly’s Ford. Confederate resistance folded after mass surrenders while some swam the icy river. In all, 1,670 Confederates were killed, wounded, or captured in the battle, with Union casualty figures were a quarter of that at 419. The battle had been as humiliating for the South with the loss of the bridgehead.…

ORIGINS I’m always a great believer in the ability to take a scenario or a rule system and adapt it to other periods or settings. Back in issue 471 and 472 I presented a game based on the TV show UFO from 1970 by Gerry and Silvia Anderson. I detailed the creation of some hexagonal tiles to play the game on and – the following month – I covered the rules themselves, some of which were ideas borrowed from Games Workshop’s Lost Patrol board game (the gestation of this is convoluted). Aimed at a ‘lay the scenery as you go’ game for two players and was very adaptable for solo play. The previous incarnation used a SHADO team of humans with four AFVs comprising a Command Mobile and three Combat…

INTRODUCTION If you're like me, you may well love the visual aesthetics and cinematography of a well done cavalry charge in the movies. There have been a few notable ones: The Scots Greys and the French Heavy cavalry in the 1970 epic Waterloo; or the Light Brigade in ‘68’s The charge of the Light Brigade., Even the charge of Balian in Kingdom of Jerusalem to name a few: all are stunning to watch and invoke emotion Surely – to add to that – I would say one of the finest cinematic cavalry charges has to be the charge of the Rohirrim during the battle of Pelennor in Lord of the Rings. WHO WERE THE ROHIRRIM? The Riders of Rohan were an independent state who were allied to the realm of…

PERCEPTIONS OF BATTLE: GEORGE WASHINGTON’S VICTORY AT MONMOUTH ◗ J R Dacus ◗ Brookline Books (2024) ◗ £29.95 ◗ 215 pages (hardback) ◗ ISBN:9781955041270 ◗ casemateuk.com or pen-and-sword.co.uk This book covers a vital year of the American War of Independence when the early years of defeat were behind the American forces. It describes the harsh winter of 1777-78 in Valley Forge and the training of the men under the tutelage of Baron Von Steuben, reviews the strategic situation, changed with the French entering the conflict, and the challenges to Washington’s position. The British Commander in Chief, General Clinton, was instructed by London to adopt a defensive strategy and to withdraw to New York abandoning Philadelphia. This set the conditions for the campaign as it necessitated an overland retreat with a…