Right, getting caught up with my reading after the holidays…
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A busy battle action with mounted Byzantines and Arabs…a bit hard to tell who is who unless you look closely.
BRIEFING: Henry pays tribute to Battle for Wargamers (more of that later) and the digital age replacing the loss of high street hobby shops. Thoughtful stuff.
WORLD WIDE WARGAMING: Henry takes a look at the new wargaming websites out there, including the British rival to TMP, and how we should not fear the Twitter. BTW, if you wish, you can follow me at @RhubbaComedy.
FORWARD OBSERVER: Neil Shuck reports on the Joy of Six convention in Sheffield, the new Valhalla rules for Dark Age games and the eagerly anticipated Bolt Action Tank War.
GETTING INTO A PADDY: Diane turns astroturf and the ubiquitous foamcore into SE Asian paddy fields. Very good and looks straightforward although at one point she makes reference to making a water tank but there's no photo of it, which I would have liked to have seen.
FANTASY FACTS: John T. looks at plenty of 15mm hard SF figures and vehicles (including some futuristic civilian vehicles) and, by way of contrast, some 28mm Neanderthals by North Star, psycho clowns, zombies and more Planet of the Apes figures from Ainsty.
'TWIXT CRESCENT AND CROSS: A series of scenarios for SAGA based on the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos and his struggles against Crusading Normans and Arabs. A must if you like SAGA and have a copy of Crescent and the Cross. With 10 scenarios, you get your money's worth.
THE BRIDGES AT MONOCACY: A fictional ACW scenario based on Newt Gingrich's alternative Civil War novel "Never Call Retreat". All the info you need to play is here, and it's pretty non-rules specific, and if anyone at your club asks you where the scenario is from, you can say Newt Gingrich. There's also a 2 1/2 page battle report which, I have to say, doesn't really add to things.
WARGAMES PHOTOGRAPHY: Part 1 of a series by the editor on how to properly photograph your wargame vignettes. You get tips on lighting and how to change that in camera and in photo manipulation software afterwards. Very worthwhile reading if you want to take better photos, especially if you wish to submit your work to magazines.
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE: Conrad Kinch offers up some thoughts and advice on how NOT to scare off newcomers to the hobby. As I'm usually banging on about to improve things for those new to gaming (based on my horror experiences when I first started) this raises some excellent points. I'd add to Conrad's list "try to be patient and tolerant". Newcomers make mistakes, they don't come with a vast army (if any) all based according to your club's favourite ruleset, they may ask questions that to you seem daft, they'll probably forget rules for a while and they'll also probably be nervous at first. Don't grunt at them, refer to them as "oi, new bloke", don't roll your eyes or exclaim "what the hell are you doing?" if their tactics seem all over the place and don't arrange things so they can't get into a game next week. As Conrad puts it, "let the Wookie win".
RE-CONQUERING GAUL: Jim Webster follows up his Caananite campaign using playing cards by using a similar system for late Roman empire Gaul and Barbarian forces. An interesting part is that the Romans get more money but less troops and the Barbarians get more troops but less money.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MAGAZINES: A nicely written tribute to Battle for Wargamers magazine (I still have a stash buried in my garage).
BOVINGTON 2014: John Treadaway and his impressive photographic equipment journey to Bovington Tank Museum for the Battlegroup South show. His photos are terrific and the 20mm Old Pikey's Normandy game looks beautiful. I believe it was a participation game which makes it all the better in my opinion.
THE TRADER'S SURVIAL KIT: Crooked Dice's Helena Nash pens this short and amusing piece about what you need if you're running a stall at a show.
THE CHECHEN WAR 1994: Reminiscent of the piece on the same subject in a previous issue of WSS. This is less game-ey and more historical but it does suggest some ideas for gaming the war. Rules suggested were a hybrid of Force on Force and Bolt Action, but it doesn't go into many details about which bit from each.
HEX ENCOUNTER: Thoughts on how to teach boardgame rules to others. Never an easy thing, even with the classic SPI point and subclause layout (I never had a problem with them but many people did), but some useful tips that don't leave people floundering are here.
RECCE: There's a wide variety of stuff here, including some modelling tools but what is of note here is the new Battlegames Award system for any product a reviewer gives a 9 or 10 out of 10 for. Look for the shiny medal!
OVERALL: And this brings us to the end of our review. A nice read in my opinion: Less controversial or opinionated but after more recent issues stirring the pot, it's nice to relax with the magazine instead of reaching for the keyboard to compose an irate response. Plenty here to use and enjoy, although it's got fewer wargames scenarios and more modelling and peripheral hobby articles than most issues. Don't let that put you off though.
