The 40th anniversary of the Falklands War is less than a month away and we’ve been looking back at previous issues in the Wi archive that feature articles about that conflict. We’re working on something new to commemorate the Falklands War; that article will appear in an issue a little later in the year, but until then we let the Falklands War articles guide us around previous issues for this instalment of From the Vault. Wi326 – December 2014 Roger Gerrish looks at what could have been if things had escalated between Britain and Argentina in this issue, putting his focus on the sea. “If the wind had not dropped on the morning of the 2nd, if HMS Conqueror had suffered the same luck as Sceptre and Spartan and failed to shadow the cruiser Belgrano then the stage could have been set for a substantial naval battle. Thankfully this did not occur as the loss of life would potentially have been very high on both sides. However, as a wargame scenario it provides an interesting and challenging opportunity to simulate a modern naval battle not entirely dominated by air or submarine power, but one between surface ships.” Elsewhere in this issue are various articles on the theme of ‘take the high ground’. There’s an introduction from perennial opener Pete Brown, Nigel Stillman looks at the unusual combination of chariot armies on mountain campaigns, and James Morris shows off how to wargame on the impressive verticality of his Battle of Karen terrain using Bolt Action or Chain of Command rules. It’s not all about fighting at altitude: Matt Parkes provides a painting guide for gladiators, Gary Kitching and his gaming chums fight the Battle of Ligny as part of their Hundred Days campaign, Nick Buxey shares a condensed piece that’ll help you build buttes for all your Old West gaming needs, and Barry Hilton shares some of the troubles faced when publishing wargames rules in Fighting Talk. If you like visual spectacle then Derby Wargames Club’s 1914 on the Western Front game is a treat. Check out a plethora of pictures from page 98. Wi335 – September 2015 It’s Roger Gerrish again with another what if game, this time to fit the theme of the issue. This time it’s a ground-based assault and the target is the Argentine mainland. Operation ‘Mikado’ sees the Brits making a Special Forces raid to neutralise the Exocet threat against the Royal Navy Task Force. There’s history, gaming, and guessing what might have been mixed here to create some intriguing ideas for Force on Force with elite SAS attacking an airbase. Other theme articles explore ‘what if’ poster boy Operation Sea Lion, the Cold War gone
