Sometimes you don’t choose a wargaming period; it chooses you. Via a small contribution to the latest issue of the Wargames Illustrated magazine (Wi405) I wrote about my appreciation of the author Thomas Hardy and how his book The Trumpet-Major provided some interesting background material for wargames based around Napoleon’s
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download it instead! If you can play the guitar, music can become interactive. You are no longer just listening to music, you're taking part in it. If you play a wargame, you can make history interactive. You are no longer just reading about
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download it instead! French troops are never very far from the wargames table: whether that be Charlemagne's Frankish warriors, Napoleon's legions, the Poilus of the Western Front, and more. The martial prowess of the soldiers from the various regions that have come to
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download it instead! Death in the Dark Continent is a set of rules for small scale battles set in sub-Saharan Africa in the late 19th century. What you have in your hands is the Lite version of the game - it contains all
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download it instead! Following several months delay caused by Coronavirus, it is with great pride that we present our free ruleset, Never Mind the Billhooks with this issue of Wargames Illustrated magazine. A fast-paced small battle/large skirmish game, ‘Billhooks’ first came to my attention when
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download the PDF instead. Download the Cards, Tokens and Cribsheet. Never mind the Billhooks is a simple, Wars of the Roses-themed wargame pitched at the Big Skirmish/Small Battle level. This sort of thing probably went on a lot of the time, particularly up around
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download the PDF instead. Victory at Sea is the game of naval combat during the Second World War. Throughout 1939–45, the nations of the world duelled across the oceans across the globe, only to discover the fundamental nature of naval warfare changing in
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Having trouble viewing the flipbook magazine? View and download the PDF instead! This is it, you are reading the last issue of Wi Bite-Size. When we temporarily mothballed production of the print magazine back in April we went into production with Wi Bite-Size and since then we’ve produced six issues with
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Having trouble viewing the 3D magazine? View and download the PDF instead. Download the plans for this How To... now. This ‘How To…’ guide is a compilation of articles published over several years in Wargames Illustrated magazine. This volume is an eclectic mix of the best of the articles from our regular
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Quickly! Flip to page 36 of this magazine, then come back here…. Good, isn’t it? That’s Alan Sheward’s Stalingrad table. To coincide with this month’s Urban Combat theme Alan, with the help of buddy Adrian Deacon, took the trouble to come to WIHQ with their amazing table and set the whole
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Buy this in Print Do you like this month’s cover mount freebie? (Prime members can find theirs here) We figured that even if you are not into naval wargaming you would like to ‘have a play’ with the great new 1/700th scale ship models designed by Warlord Games for their forthcoming
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Buy this in Print FROM THE EDITOR The dust has now settled on Salute 2019, certainly the biggest wargames show of the year for the WI team. All of our staff attend, hundreds of Salute goers subscribe to the magazine and we run the world’s largest participation game at any show (see
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When is Modern not Modern - when it’s Ultra Modern. At least that’s what we’ve decided here at Wargames Illustrated. For this month’s magazine theme we wanted to go beyond World War Two, but stop before the Millennium, so we’ve decided that the Modern ‘period’ covers 1946 to 1999 and
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Fougou Models produce a variety of resin buildings and other items, mostly focused upon the Dark Ages and Modern or Post Apocalyptic Shanty Towns. The items sent for review include this Dark Age Oratory Church, based upon the Oratory churches of the Celtic world but could work equally well in a
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Previously known for creating 28mm Fantasy figures, Battlezone Miniatures have moved in a new and exciting direction. Offering Soviet troops and support in 20mm means they have entered the lucrative World War Two market, with some new approaches of their own. Currently, their vehicles feature three versions of the BT fast
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FROM THE EDITOR This month we commemorate one hundred years since the end of World War One, perhaps the most poignant time for those alive now to reflect on the loss of life during a previous generation. This November also hosts another commemoration or more correctly celebration in the form of
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Pendraken Miniatures have released a whole host of miniatures for the Korean War of the 1950’s. They’ve decided to ‘go large’ on the number of packs, providing all you need to get started in replicating the battles in 10mm. There are 128 packs in the initial release, which cover infantry, command
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I always get a bit nervy when our theme content doesn’t include the wargaming ‘big three’ of Ancients, Napoleonics and World War Two, and in truth we could have crowbarred articles on all of these subjects into our ‘Bush Wars’ theme, but we decided to embrace the eclectic in the
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The theme for this issue is End of Empire and we have seven articles which relate to this very board topic. We begin by dealing with wargaming the collapse of Bronze Age civilizations around the Mediterranean and head all the way through to the French Indo-China War in 1954, with
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBp3dHDSHlI&feature=youtu.be OBSERVATION POST A special focus on what we picked up at Vapnartak in York this month. THEME 1: ARMIES OF THE THIRTY YEARS WAR Jim Graham provides some advice for gamers looking to invest in a new period or army for use during this fascinating period. THEME 2: AIRCRAFT AND GROUND SUPPORT IN THE
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tssAOTqVJxk&t OBSERVATION POST Our latest look at what’s new and upcoming in the world of wargaming. THEME: AMBUSH! Pete Brown shares some ideas for replicating the military art of ambush in our tabletop battles. SAGA 2 – ITERATION OR NEW GAME? Dom Sore takes a close look at the new rulebook and discusses what’s changed or
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OBSERVATION POST Once again our all-seeing eye is cast upon the wealth of products coming the gamer’s way in the next few months. THEME: GOING TO EXTREMES Pete Brown takes a necessarily broad look at the world of warfare in extreme conditions, with some suggestions for environmental related rules. HORSE AND MUSKET BLITZKRIEG -
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THEME: STRIKE FAST, STRIKE HARD, GET OUT! An introduction to our theme, exploring the role of raids in history and looking at featuring these actions on the tabletop. THE SCALE OF THE GAME Some ideas on expanding the gaming possibilities of a number of Flames Of War related products. THEME: WOLF OF THE SEA Dash,
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THEME: IF YOU CAN KEEP YOUR HEAD Neil Smith introduces our theme this month, using rules examples and moments from history to draw us into the world of the ‘blunder’. FIGURE SPOTLIGHT: WARLORD GAMES PLASTIC FALLSCHIRMJÄGER Phil Lewis looks at creating 28mm German Paratroopers for a range of different theatres. THEME: MAKING A GAME
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THEME: VENI, VIDI, VICI Veteran wargamer, rules writer and self confessed Caesarian Simon MacDowall introduces us to this month’s theme - Wargaming with Julius Caesar. RULES SHOWCASE: THE CHICAGO WAY We take up our ‘Chicago Typewriters’ and try to bring law to the lawless during the Prohibition era of 1920s America. THEME: WARGAMING PHARSALUS
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THEME: GREAT TANK BATTLES We kick off our theme content with a look at some of the great and the more obscure tank battles from the pages of history. GAMING THE EARLY FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS Part one of a two parter on collecting armies for the early French Revolutionary War, circa the War
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THEME: SOLDIERS OF THE EMPRESS So, you want to field a force to support Matilda in her quest for the throne back in the 12th Century? Then this is the perfect article for you! UP THE BEACHES Chris Townley from Battlefront Miniatures shows us how to paint Marine Amtanks for use in your
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THEME: GREAT REPUTATIONS Neil Smith discusses the nature of reputation and how it is to be gained and lost upon the field of battle and tabletop. HAMELIN 1985 The Flames Of War: Team Yankee crew present details on how to integrate the Afgansty veterans of the VDV into your battles for dominance in
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The Duke of Marlborough! We begin our theme content with an outline of England’s last great General. Hit the Beaches! The Flames Of War team presents a look at the new format and focus behind their foray into the hard fought Pacific War. Young Churchill Nick Eyre takes us back to a time when the
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Wars that Never Were Gary Mitchell explains the concept behind this month’s theme and provides his top suggestions for ‘Wars that Never Were’. Ice cold in Berlin In connection with their latest ruleset Team Yankee, Battlefront provide us with an account of Cold War operations in Germany by ex-British Intelligence Operative and
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