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 friends of the magazine Andy Callan (who first wrote for us in Wi01!) and Steve Wood (of Arcane Scenery) asked if I would like to play a game of “these fun Wars of the Roses rules Andy has devised”. I was (bill)hooked after only half an hour of play! Fast forward a couple of months and then fast forward through a global pandemic, and forsooth here it is! Playtested, fine-tuned and presented as a 32-page rulebook free with every issue of Wargames Illustrated (and as a PDF to WiPrime members). We hope you won’t mind us stealing 16 pages of magazine content to go some way towards alleviating the horrendous shipping costs. Play ‘Billhooks’ and you will be sure it was worth it. In tandem with your free rules, this month’s theme is the Wars of the Roses, in which we present a couple of painting articles, Andy’s Designer’s Notes for the rules and two smashing articles by Simon MacDowell in which he tells us about some smaller battles in the WotR - ideal (but not exclusively) for ‘Billhooks’ - and talks us through the make-up of a WotR army. But what’s in the magazine for those of you for whom the Wars of the Roses is “not my period”. Fear not, there’s plenty more in the form of Frostgrave, Hail Caesar, Mortem et Gloriam, Swordpoint 2, converting 15mm figures, Command and Control and more besides. P.S. Make sure you check out our ‘advert’ on page 25 for more ‘Billhooks’ news. Happy reading Dan Falconbridge Editor and Owner QUICK FIRE! Quick Fire is a new (and hopefully expanding) feature in which we present short, quick-read posts from Wi readers about their hobby projects and observations. OBSERVATION POST Your monthly round-up of new product releases in the hobby. FULL PAPER JACKET Our new look, wargamer friendly, military history book preview column. THEME: DESIGNER’S NOTES: NEVER MIND THE BILLHOOKS ‘Billhooks’ Games Designer Andy Callan gives us the inside track on your free Wars of the Roses ruleset. THE PRESSURES OF COMMAND PART 2 In the second part of his article on Command and Control, Pete Brown looks at overhauling how we approach the topic in our wargames. THEME: FEUDS, RAIDS AND ANARCHY Beyond the big bashes of the Wars of the Roses like Towton and Bosworth, there were countless smaller battles and big skirmishes. Simon MacDowall introduces us to some
