A brief look at Miniature Wargames Magazine Issue 351

Miniature Wargames Issue 351

I know that at least two dozen of you who regularly read this blog have asked me via email why I have not yet reviewed the current issue of Miniature Wargames.  After all you say ‘you are in it’ and it features an advert for the USE ME series from 15mm.co.uk which was reviewed in MW349 back at Salute 2012 time.  Well it has been out for more than two weeks but I only got my copy a week ago in the mail.  By then I had missed my ‘early morning weekend review’ slot which I use at the weekend while the kids are asleep to tell you all about magazines, books and films.  I have a little time now so here is a brief outline of the magazine and what I found most interesting about each article therein.

This issue has the following articles in it.  I really enjoyed them all this time with a good variety and some more unusual subjects too:

Murat in a Muddle.  1812 The First Battle of Krasnyi

John Walsh begins his coverage of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s disasterous campaign in Russia with the lesser known action at Krasnyi.  This was a very informative article full of good wargaming ideas.  I have a lot of knowledge of this period and campaign including many text books and Mr Walsh does it proud.  Plus this is the first article with its OOB’s and so on available as downloads on the Miniature Wargames publishers webpage.

Shock of the New.  Salute 2012 Report

Andrew Hubback and Gary Mitchell co-author a four page article with their take on the pinnacle UK wargame show.  This went into a lot of detail and contained a lot of information that, though I was there, I did not know.  A pie chart of the popularity of periods and scales showed that 28mm and Science Fiction are in the ascendency and 20mm and 19th Century gaming are the smallest sector (as far as Salute games go).  Gary also singled me out for praise on the last page of the article which was very kind of him.  I do my best and it was a pleasure to meet him and Andrew.

Blood on the Danube.  Pike & Shotte Preview

Five pages given over to glossy coverage of Warlord Games new title for 16th and 17th century battles.  Very pretty and very nice to read but a touch expensive for me at thirty pounds.  But 15mm.co.uk will soon have the entire Renaissance range out which covers this period and I have an idea for a USE ME series title for the period too.  Budget gaming a plenty!

Rise of the Tokugawa. Part 1: The Sekigahara Campaign

Kevin Jones goes to one of my favourite nations and one of its most interesting points in history for his new series of articles on 17th century Japan.  The rise of the Tokugawa clan over all the other warring diamyo of Japan is a dramatic tale well suited to tabletop recreation.   The Battle of Sekigahara is the focal moment of this article and it plus its build up engagements are well detailed.  The battle itself is outlined and briefings given for the commanders plus a column on rules variations.  Excellent and I look forward to the next installment.

The High Ground.  Funny Business

As usual Steve Eardley’s monthly instalment of reviews and views on wargaming makes me think and laugh.  Just what you want!  Topic this time is humour in gaming…something the writer of Flintloque knows all about.

Wargaming Gettysburg.  Part 1: Little Round Top

 Jon Sutherland does a grand job on Gettesburg but to be honest I skimmed this article as I seem to see so much ACW and articles on Gettysburg that it seems to blend together.  One for Civil War USA fans.

Frost at Arnhem. Part 2: The Refight

An after action report or AAR (this American term seems to have totally killed the British term Battle Report in the last couple of years) by Russ Lockwood on last issues’ scenario for WWII.  A good read but it did seem to take up about two pages too much space.

Darker Horizons. Sir Patrick has a Point

The normal rambling star of every issue delivers gold again.  Darker Horizons is several pages of gold for Sci-fi and Fantasy players.  Crammed full of release information, options, web addresses and general ranting it is worth the cover price on its own to me.  Well done Gary Mitchell.  I am looking forward to when this section gets its own magazine.

Modelling.  A House of Cards

This two page article is all about making your wargaming buildings from paper and card rather than from resin or plastic.  This is a superb feature by Steve Goodman that I re-read several times.  It is also the first time I have seen paper given this space in a magazine for a long time.  For those interested check out Dave Graffam among others.

Paper Buildings article. Superb!

There were a few parts of the magazine of special interest to me and perhaps to fans of my work and of 15mm.co.uk in particular.

The MW351 Advert for USE ME

Advert for the USE ME Series on page 4. A prime slot!

Getting a Special Mention

Gary Mitchell gives me high praise on page 21. While all true it did make me blush!

Roll on next month!

GBS

2 thoughts on “A brief look at Miniature Wargames Magazine Issue 351

  1. Hmm… paper scenery… I’ve had a quite a passion for that sort of stuff for quite a while (bought some of the sets from Worldworks Games in the past too), definitely something interesting (my “Barbarians Tiles” are basically a spin-off of my own past experiments with 3D print-cut-fold-glue scenery).

    Also, on a fun note, the backdrop on the bottom right pic of this article is a photo of the Gravensteen castle which is located in the center of my hometown (Gent) in Belgium! It was my favourite place to visit when I was a little kid! What a strange coincidence! 🙂

    • Hello Sam,

      I really like paper scenics too. I am sure your tiles once they are ready will be welcomed by many wargamers and roleplayers.

      Ha! I never knew that, that is a strange coincidence indeed. Perehaps there is a tiny paper Sam inside it looking at all the armour and weapon displays!

      GBS

Comments are closed.