Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

Editor-in-chief: Jasper Oorthuys Editor: Guy Bowers Copy editor: Naomi Munts Layout, design: Christianne C. Beall Maps: Rocío Espin Contributors: Pascal Baatz, Ian Beal, Steve Beckett, Joe Bilton, Kevin Dallimore, David Davies, Adam Gilbert-Rossini,

In 1813, after a spate of looting in the army, the Duke of Wellington famously accused his men as being the “mere scum of the earthy”. On another occasion he also stated that he did not know what effect his soldiers would have on the enemy, but by Go

Company: Conquest Games Size: 27 mm ‘foot to eye’ or 29mm tall Era: Dark Ages/early medieval Price: £12.00 for six slingers www.conquest-games.co.uk Conquest Games has re leased a set of six Norman slingers and staff slings. Conquest's existing Norma

Skirmish wargaming is like riding a bicycle: doing it is simple enough but describing how to do it is another thing entirely. To start with, it is worth remembering that before skirmish wargaming was ever thought of there were such things as skirmish

Why did we make crossbow range shorter than bow range in Ravenfeast? Modern field tests of early medieval crossbows suggest a theoretical range of several hundred yards – very comparable to the later longbow – but with a rate of fire 50–75% slower ba

I have also provided a conversion to the second edition of Lion Rampant. Although aimed at medieval warfare, the unit archetypes are easily converted to the earlier ancient period. Having said that, feel free to use the campaign with any other rule s

For Bad Wimpfen, I would suggest using a rules system specifically aimed at this period of history as other skirmish rules may not work quite so well. With this in mind, Pikeman's Lament will serve this battle well. Alternately, a larger set of battl

There are many stories as to why red was chosen for the main uniform. Rome and Sparta are often pointed to, but the most probable and practical reason for the choice of colour was cost. Red cloth was the cheapest to procure for uniforms. The Protecto

In the case of both patterns, start by painting the ‘base’ colour of the camouflage (the colour that occupies the largest area) – in this case, a pale beige or grey. For the splinter camo, we mix Dark Brown (F-533) and Splinter Grey (F-536) in the sa

A trick for painting the splinter pattern is to combine multiple isosceles triangles. Paint a first brown triangle near the edge of the garment, then add another in one of the corners of the first triangle, next one in the corner of the second triang

Begin by creating the dark-brown cloud shapes with Dark Brown (F-533) and a number 0 brush. Use the paint thinner than normal, and use the tip of the brush to create the cloud by merging multiple small circles or dots. At the same time, add small dar

The new beautiful hardback book is packed full of gorgeous full-colour photographs of miniatures, maps, and artwork, all of which help the reader to really get the feel for the battles of the era the book covers. The first 50-odd pages are devoted to

Watching Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai gave all us moviegoers a taste of the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. While the film had its inaccuracies, it told the story of the traditional warrior class who rebelled against the Japanese government and their mo

One rarely thinks of the logistics involved in warfare, including how the hardware gets to the combatants. Arms merchants tend to be controversial, yet successful and flexible businessmen. Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East, Volume 1 is abo

With the new year comes the annual spring clean. Like a lot of us I'm sure, I collect far too many wargaming-related ‘bits’ that I really should dispose of. Plastic sprue frames are probably the worst thing for taking up space. I really should chuck