Thursday 22 October 2009

Wargames Illustrated 265

Its that time again. When I come home from a long hard day at work and find my copy of WI has arrived and is sitting on my desk waiting for me. My copy was delivered a little later in the month than normal which may be due to the ongoing (and worsening) postal strike action here in the London region, and now throughout the UK.

This issue of WI focuses on the American War of Independence, a conflict I know relatively little about. I doubt if I'll rush out and buy a load of models to game the period but I can still enjoy the content and scenarios and who knows, maybe I'll be inspired to do some additional reading on this world changing period of history.

So whats inside the glossy cover of issue 265?

  • So much at Stake - AWI - Setting the scene, and overview
  • Heavy Artillery in WWI - WWI - The problems of using artillery in tabletop games
  • Morgan vs Tarleton - AWI - A look at two lessor known generals
  • Recce over the Canal - WWII - A FoW scenario for reconnaissance forces
  • Uniforms of the Southern Campaign - AWI - Illustrations & Examples
  • Building Bridges - A how to modeling guide
  • Battle of Guilford Courthouse 1781 - AWI - Battle report
  • In Conversation with Rick Priestley - Discusses the release of Black Powder
  • The Battle at El Perez - Peninsular War - Battle report based on the Black Powder rules
  • The Chain of Evils - AWI - Scenarios for fighting the Battle of the Capes & Yorktown
  • Rules Roundup - AWI - Suggestions for game play
  • Festival of History - A tour of the UK's biggest Living History event

Once again this is a glossy, colourful and well put together magazine with interesting content. It's rare that I will read any magazine cover to cover but this is exactly what I have done with every issue of Wargames Illustrated since its rebirth earlier in the year. It could be argued that making each issue a 'special', might put people off if they don't game the period featured. But for me it has the opposite effect. Concentrating related articles on a given subject helps give a novice like me a chance to get inside the history and get a real flavor for gaming the period featured.

3 comments:

  1. Anything in a wargame mag is awesome ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with you comments - I particularly agree with your views that a single issue of special feature issue of a wargaming magazine rarely works, but in this example I feel it does.

    My favourite articles were; Morgan Vs. Tarleton and the one on AWI uniforms.

    I have not purchased EVERY issue of the new-format WI, preferring to pick up the issues that have something of interest to me.

    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  3. I tend to agree that on balance special features are a good idea, if you're interested in the featured period you get some good detail, if you're not then you can skip the issue.
    My one big gripe, and reason for not subscribing, is having pages and pages of Flames of War shoved down my throat in every issue.

    ReplyDelete

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