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Wargames Illustrated has been working with model maker and wargaming maestro Ron Ringrose for many years. His articles have been the highlights of several issues of the world’s best-selling tabletop gaming magazine, through which his models and games have inspired hobbyists around the world. For Mega Wargames, Wargames Illustrated teamed up with Ron, and professional miniatures photographer and author Joe Dever, to bring you the best of their mega-wargames; ten of the very finest wargames tables and games you are ever likely to see. From Ancient Rome to World War Two, Gettysburg to the Tet Offensive, the battles presented in this book form a body of work irresistible to any gamer who enjoys looking at great-looking models on great-looking tables.
Beyond the aesthetics, Mega Wargames also provides Orders of Battle, construction, and historical and gaming information on the featured battles – making the book practical, as well as pretty.
Get ready for gaming on another level – Mega Wargames!
CONSTRUCTION
Whenever Ron presents a game at a wargames show, the topic of conversation invariably revolved around his terrain and techniques. He makes all his own terrain, from the base boards to the trees. Many of his buildings are scratch built, using tried and tested methods he has developed over the years.
BEST OF ENEMIES: NARBONNE – 436
Narbonne was strategically situated on the crossroads of the Vin Domitia and the Via Aquitania, essentially linking Italy with Spain. It is believed that the Romans settled here in 118 BC. At the time of Julius Caesar, army veterans were granted plots of land and, by 27 BC, Narbonne had become the capital of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, It was a wealthy town, well-placed on much-used trade routes.
THE RISE OF WESSEX: BENFLEET – 894
The town of Benfleet sits on the banks of the River Thames, around 30 miles east of London. During the 9th Century successive waves of Viking invaders (mainly Danes) took advantage of the Thames and the other waterways on the east coast of England to strike inland. What had initially been a series of protracted raids became a process of gradual colonisation. As the east coast of England fell under Viking control, pressure began to mount against the Saxon kingdoms further west, Mainly Wessex.
GENTLEMAN JOHNNY: STILLWATER – 1777
The American War of Independence, or the American Revolutionary War, broke out between Britain and her thirteen American colonies in 1775. After two years of bitter conflict, it was the defeat of Burgoyne’s British army following the battles of the Saratoga campaign, that would finally tip the balance in favour of the rebels. France openly entered the war and two French allies – Spain and the Dutch Republic – also went to war with Britain.
WELLINGTON’S FIRST SPANISH VICTORY: TALAVERA – 1809
The French had never intended the Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) to be a major theatre in the Napoleonic Wars. The British had different ideas and saw it as a means of grappling with the French on the continent.
FIGHTING WELLINGTON TO A DRAW: QUATRE BRAS – 1815
By the time Wellesley was informed that Napoleon had abdicated in April 1814, he and his army had marched some 6,000 miles. The armistice and peace would be short-lived. Napoleon was sent into exile on Elba but managed to escape and set foot once more on French soil on 1 March 1815. His old corps commanders and friends rallied around him and, with a growing army behind him, Napoleon marched on Paris.
THEY CAME AND DIED: GETTYSBURG – 1863
It is possible to trace back the antagonism between the North and South for nearly 100 years before the outbreak of the civil war in 1861. Nationalism in the South, and the determined independence of specific states, had been growing ever since the War of Independence. The south, a predominantly agricultural economy, was facing an uncertain future on at least two fronts. The Northern states were becoming far more populous and wealthy and, at the same time, the economic importance of agriculture was being trampled by the industrial power of the North. Money, in the form of taxation, seemed to be flooding out of the South to benefit the North.
CLEARING THE WAY TO MONTE CASSINO: CIORLANO – 1943
The hill town of Ciorlano lies to the north of the River Volturno, in Italy, and was part of two lines of German defences; the Volturno and Barbara Lines.
OPERATION TOTALISE: FALAISE – 1944
The so-called Falaise Pocket or Gap was a pivotal but flawed operation in the battle for Normandy. The Alies had landed on the Normandy beaches on 6 June and initially their attepts to drive inland were met with ferocious defence.
TURNING POINT IN VIETNAM: THE TET OFFENSIVE – 1968
As far as the Communists in Vietnam were concerned, the Tet operation of 1968 was a general offensive and uprising. They firmly believed that the South Vietnamese army was largely incapable and that a series of determined blows would break the resolve of the Americans.
DAY OF THE RANGERS: MOGADISHU – 1993
In early 1991 the President of Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre, was overthrown by a loose coalition of several armed clans. The capital Mogadishu fell under control of the United Somali Congress. In reality this was really two separate armed factions, one led by the future president Ali Mahdi Muhammad and the other by his opponent Mohammed Farrah Aidid.