Friday 18 February 2011

Wargames Illustrated 281

One of the best things about being a subscriber to a magazine is receiving it before the issue is released in stores. I always enjoy that feeling of 'privelaged access'. Of course I'm no more privileged than thousands of other subscribers but it's a nice fantasy to indulge!

The Theme of this months issue makes a break with the 'period' themes of the past year or more and instead focuses on artillery through the ages. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this theme but having now had a chance to sit down and read through this issue I have to say I have changed my mind.
  • Artillery Through the Ages: An Introduction - As the name suggests this article sets out the theme for this months WI and provides an overview of this important branch of the military.
  • Wood, Sinew and Metal - A look at early artillery and in particular the torsion-powered weapons of the Roman Army
  • The Brave at Mokra - Battlefront have just released a set of Polish Armoured Trains for Flames of War and this article looks at their use in the early days of WWII.
  • Extensive Knowledge of Powder - Jim Graham writes about the advent of Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages.
  • Britain's First Special Forces - A follow up article to last months Theme on the Mahdist Uprising in Sudan. This article discusses the innovative use of the Camel Corps in this conflict.
  • Towards Tactical Mobility - A scholarly article by Dr Stephen Summerfield on the development of Horse Artillery during the Napoleonic Wars.
  • Cavalry against Panzer's - Following on from the earlier article about Polish Armoured Trains this Battle Report looks at how the Smialy (translated as The Brave) played it's part in giving the Germans a bloody nose at the Battle of Mokra.
  • Bridge to the Future - The American Civil War saw weapons and tactics - especially the use of artillery - move from a firmly Napoleonic style to a more 'modern' setting, strangely prescient of the First World War.
  • How to run a Wargames Campaign: Pt 1 - Rick Priestley writes the first of a series of articles on running wargames campaigns.
  • Imperial Long Shots - This article is set between the American Civil War and the Battlefields of WWI with the conflict between France and Prussia in 1870.
  • Painting The Brave - A guide to painting Battlefronts new Armoured Train model.
  • Norman Knights - Continuing the Great Warriors series this article looks at the Norman Knights.
  • How to...Explosions - Someone at Battlefront has clearly been listening to the Forum boards on their website because the subject of 'how to make explosion markers' has come up time and again.
  • Project Hougoumont - An interesting article by Richard Holmes bringing the story of Project Hougoumont up to date.
All in all a pretty good issue with plenty to whet the appetite and excite the imagination.





I thought I would post some statistics about this issue like I did for WI 280. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Issue 281 is 124 Pages, of which 32 contain some Battlefront and/or FOW content (26%).
This issue contains 26 pages of Advertising of which 5 are for BF/FOW (19%).
Articles account for 92 Pages of which 26 are dedicated to BF/FOW games (28%).

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the heads up but will probably still end up buying it.:D

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  2. I don't think I've ever bought a copy, but based on that run-down this issue at least looks very attractive, and more universal than I'd expect.

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  3. I really need to get a subscription.

    Cheers
    Christopher

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  4. Same here - I should get a subscription. Must pop to WH Smiths on the morrow...

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  5. Looks like another good issue. The Rick Priestly article will be interesting.

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  6. I'll buy it, as usual, but the contents list looks a bit heavy on "history" as opposed to "wargaming" (and the latter seems largely gearwed towards FoW's new releases). Still, presumably there are lots of pretty pictures as well.

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