November is reaching its end, the days have well and truly darkened, and there’s less than a month left until Wi Tower gets locked up so we can head off for our festive break. I’m excited to have some time to rest and recuperate ahead of me but at Wargames
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The introduction of MDF model buildings into our hobby has been one of the great innovations in wargaming. I remember travelling down to deepest darkest Wiltshire about ten years ago to take a tour of 4Ground’s laser cutting facility and see what all the Medium Density Fibre fuss was about.
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Wargames Illustrated 373 - November 2018 We begin our journey through the Vault with a jump to five years ago and an issue with one of Artist Neil Roberts' favourite bits of cover artwork that he's done for us. This
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We look ahead to 2024 and work out upcoming themes in this month's Insider Insight While the last couple of months of 2023 approach we at Wi Tower are already thinking ahead to 2024. It's time to work out our themes and decide on the magazine schedule for next year so
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It’s always intriguing to hear about famous wargamers. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I discovered the English actor Peter Cushing had been one of our fraternity. Doubly intriguing was the fact that Alan Perry had recently acquired what he billed as “Peter Cushing’s Wargaming Ephemera”. Alan invited myself and a
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Wargames Illustrated 372 - October 2018 This issue's theme sends readers through The Ten Years War in Cuba, The American-Philippino War, The Third Ashanti War, The Malayan Emergency, and The Second Chimurenga. While these might not be the most played
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We’ve focused on bringing together our Pulp and Peninsular War themes recently. Each of those issues are just about done, waiting on their timelier regulars such as product reviews. Once those are added the magazines will get signed off and head to the printers. You can see some page previews
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I’m completely biased of course, but I wouldn’t say our medieval rulebook Never Mind the Billhooks is ‘style over substance’. As a publication, it looks pretty, but it’s much more about the substance of the rules. Our Napoleonic rules: Valour & Fortitude, could even be accused of lacking in style,
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Wargames Illustrated 371 - September 2018 The pleasures that can be found through running or participating in wargaming campaigns more than make up for the efforts required to get them done properly. As the UK weather turns grim and gloomy
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We’ve encountered a good problem whilst sorting out the content for recent issues of Wargames Illustrated - it’s tough to fit everything we’ve got into each issue! There are some great submissions from contributors ready to go but they keep on getting pushed back due to new releases or more
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TM Terrain is a one-man band model-making maestro from Loughborough, Leicestershire named David Marshall. David is a lovely fella who has been making terrain boards, buildings and dioramas for individuals and companies within the hobby for over 25 years. He recently contacted me to say he was thinking of putting together
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Wargames Illustrated 310 - August 2013 We rewind a decade to check out an issue themed around Atila the Hun. The Hun are introduced broadly by Matthew Bennet then Roy Boss takes a focused look at their tactics and both
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I’m writing this month’s Insider Insight as the sign-off date for our next issue hits. At this point we need to have all articles finished and laid out, adverts ready to go (sent to us from the various fine companies that show off their wares on our pages), photos snapped
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Wargames Illustrated 369 - July 2018 With no prior planning or intent (beyond setting a 'Revisited' theme) our current issue has become bizarrely interwoven with the offerings of Wi369, our July issue from five years ago. Simon MacDowall kicks off
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A bonus for WiPrime Members: take a trip back in time to download and read Andy Callan's 1987 AWI Loose Files and American Scramble ruleset. Download the full PDF. [pdf-embedder url="https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Loose-Files-and-American-Scramble-Ruleset.pdf" title="Loose Files and American Scramble Ruleset"]
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A good umpire can make or break a game. I’ve played loads of multiplayer wargames that meandered along at such a tediously slow pace half of them had to be wrapped up early with a guess at what would have happened if we had another three hours. Other times players
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There’s much excitement in the Wi world as we bring together our next issue and prepare to send it to be printed. Sometimes this is a last-minute scramble with new articles or products sneaking in but this issue’s theme - Revisited - means there’s not such an opportunity for newness. Various
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It’s always a pleasure; never a chore visiting Gripping Beast down in Evesham. I had several boxes of what they warmly refer to as “Dark Age Haries” to return to them - painted figures Wargames Illustrated had borrowed for a recent photo session. What made this trip particularly interesting was that
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Wargames Illustrated 368 - June 2018 We head back five years, and the Lardies are at the office showing off their then-new game, What a Tanker! Interesting how things come around again as those rules inspired the newest game from
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Wargames Illustrated’s themes get shunted around more than enthusiastic bumper car drivers and our best-laid plans are ruined by various things. Those things are usually far more exciting than they are troublesome, so it’s not too bad really! The issue we will send to the printers very soon was going to
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The June issue of Wargames Illustrated comes with a free ruleset: Never Mind the Boathooks. It’s the nautical neighbour of our successful medieval small battle rules Never Mind the Billhooks, but Boathooks is a stand-alone set of rules, supported by downloadable cards and tokens. Players take to the high seas in a
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. The feeling of pollen agitation in my hay fever-prone nostrils tells me that Spring is springing today. I may not appreciate the sneeze-inducing evils this new season brings, but I do like the extra daylight the longer days bring
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We’re closing in on our sign-off date for another issue; always a busy time for us as we put the finishing touches to articles, track down final photos, and frantically try and fact-check something obscure and odd from one of the articles (which invariably tends to turn out to be
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I must be slacking. I clocked up 20,000 steps/eight miles walking around the Salute hall at ExCel last Saturday. Looking back in my diary I did nearly nine miles in 2021. Mind you, eight miles felt enough by the time I got home on Saturday night! Not only did Team Wi
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. Under no circumstances should you forget to peek into the Vault this month; there’s a £1,000 voucher for wargaming supplies inside … APRIL FOOL! Ah, what an elaborate prank. Sorry, no voucher (beyond the wonderful discounts you do get each
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We’ve made it our monthly mission to pull back the curtain and show off the goings-on at WiHQ; we’ve decided to make this edition of Insider Insight a multimedia spectacular to reveal more than mere words and photos could! The video below shows behind-the-scenes footage of the team putting tabletop setups
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Looking back in my diary at March 2020 was an interesting experience. It’s largely a collection of entries about different daily Lockdown rules and restrictions announced by the UK government, but just a few days before the big 'everyone in stay inside' announcement there was Hammerhead 2020. The Newark (participation game
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Take a tour through the Vault and read some classic Wi articles. “Ok, ok, settle down and bring it in everyone. That’s it … gather closer my brave time travel recruits and listen up! Today’s a big day, you’re about to head out on your first field trip; we’re going into
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We’re back with February’s edition of Insider Insight. Take your WiPrime exclusive monthly peep behind the Wargames Illustrated curtain at some of the exciting things ahead. WiDigital We gave you an advanced look at a new Billhooks leader for Bohemia in last month’s Insider Insight and promised there were figures for the
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It's a bit of a cliché that Medieval naval battles were just like land battles at sea, but what if you take a successful set of medieval land battle rules and set them afloat, does it work? That’s what rules writer Andy Callan did with Never Mind the Billhooks. If you
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