wargames illustrated 307

just like the other mags this month WI has got a lot of Gettysburg content, including a 10 page battle report (too long!!!!)and then a 12 page battle report considering neither is of the whole battle this is overload, battle reports are good but this is too much detail for a magazine. the space could have been better used for some coverage of other periods, also featuring heavily is FOW Vietnam not surprisingly since its battlefronts latest release. now I've seen many a comment about how battlefront is trying to ram tanks where they don't belong and pretend they were there all along which i kind of agree but they do take a bit of what if to it so if they sold it as recreating the war that America wanted rather than what happened  that would make sense but nonetheless you get 3 articles on FOW tour of duty (interestingly the advert for FOW box sets shows more tanks than infantry even though they date the rules 1965-71 before any of the actual large tank battles) rest of the magazine has a look at tanks in the first world war and a brief overview of vikings couple a looks at demo games and a play through of some gunfight rules. so good if you like ACW if not avoid

A game!

 a lack of gaming has been causing withdrawal symptoms so to get a quick fix i set up a game of battletech yesterday when i had a spare hour. The forces involved were a clan Thor vs a star league Avatar and Owens.

starting positions

the star league mechs advance into the forest while the Thor jumps into cover

The avatar walks forward while the Owens makes a run for the edge to try and flank the Thor, the Thor meanwhilele lines up a shot, the Thor and avatar exchange fire but no-one hits(lousy dice)

Having lost the initiative the Thor sits still while the Owens sprint for the rear and the avatar walks into better range. The Thor scores a pulse laser and srm6 while the avatar only hits with its large laser

the Thor isn't having any luck and loses the  initiative again so jumps back but it doesn't stop the Owens from getting to the rear , the avatar closes the range.

boom the Thor blows and arm off the avatar with a ac/20 hit but takes a bunch of mrm's in the centre torso along with 2 medium and 1 large laser causing criticals and when the Owens hits in the back of the centre too its all over 3 engine hits, i think the Thor was all ways struggling when it couldn't win the initiative after the first turn but still my blood lust has been slated for now.

Miniature wargames

Managed to get into a smiths last week and get a copy of the revamped MW.
now MW and battlegames have been merged together starting with this issue, i would have to say that despite the title this is battlegames they just kept the MW title because its better known. The editor states that they will keep sci-fi and fantasy in the mag but apart some reviews of models and making a Saladin for U.N.I.T (a real vehicle not really sci-fi) its all gone only time will tell if non historical comes back i for one I'm going to miss darker horizons. I liked having all the news from the smaller manufactures gathered up in one place because I'm lazy and can't be bothered to search around the Internet for it (and anyway there's nowhere to plug my PC into in the bathroom and the wife says having an extension cable in the bath is dangerous). i understand the decision to merge the two mags it is silly for one publisher to print two wargames magazines but even though the new MW is a fine mag, nice range of articles the old MW was the only mag left that dealt with sci-fi, fantasy of a non gw variety( i suppose that should tell me that sci-fi doesn't sell) i wish the ancible still did print.
As for the mag itself its new look is good bright clean, you've got a couple of battle reports (dark ages again!) one of which does drag on a bit but i suppose since its for the new game dux bellorum it would help would be purchasers. a basic photography article (read it all before, should start listening) quite a long construction article on building a house , some rules for using toy (and i mean TOY)soldiers in a wargame, a mini campaign for the armada, some scenarios for hells highway using blitzkrieg commander(yeah!) even with the long report on dux bellorum you get dux a second time this time of the dux britanniarum variety (you can have any wargame you like as long as its the dark ages!). a piece on using 2d figures for wargaming ( this really is a Battlegames article) usual reviews with quite abit of opinion especially  against FOW (mind i like opinions good or bad) with ANOTHER dark age rule set and a book about Arthur, and i used to like the dark ages arrgh! still if you liked battlegames you'll like this mag if you where more of a MW fan you might be left a bit sad for what once was.

Pe-2

Russian Heroics& ross 1/300th PE-2

Wargames soldiers & strategy 66

just a quick review of the latest WSS, bit of coincidence that the main theme is Gettysburg like wargames illustrated.both trying to get in on the interest with the 150Th anniversary in July but if you haven't got any interest in the ACW it means its a slow month on the wargames reading scene. rest of the mag has a look at the vikings game by peter pig ( dark ages in Vogue at the moment) bit of biblical and another of the lets play articles on skirmish sangin. plus usual reviews of new figures games and books plus don't forget boardgames, and in a shock a review of some 6mm figures from rapier miniatures nice!
with the usual columns from priestley et al makes it a worth while read i recommend it