EXCLUSIVE D-DAY SCENARIO INSIDE

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THE MAGAZINE FOR ALL WARGAMERS JULY 2019 – ISSUE 435

CONQUEST
THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS
Warhammer designer PARTIZAN
Alessio Cavatore unleashes
Show Report
a dark fantasy epic Featuring all
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SCENARIOS
Throughout History
Francis Drake;
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05 FORWARD OBSERVER
With reports on releases by Warlord;
Brigade Models; Caliver Books; and more!

11 SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE

DON’T THINK TWICE Solo and cooperative wargaming
his month we have a few articles that centre around D-Day. It’s salutary approaches by Conrad Kinch.

T to remind ourselves that seventy five years ago in June the British and
Commonwealth forces, along with their allies from the United States, stood
(in more ways than one) right on the brink. They squared their collective shoulders
16 RAUS! RAUS!
The Kriegsmarine’s last gasp: a
Cruel Seas D-Day scenario.
and made ready to do battle in what (after the withdrawal at Dunkirk almost
exactly four years before) they knew was sure to be the horror of yet another long 18 D-DAY
slog of a European conflict. I’ve read a fair number of biographies of the men that Spreading the Ham and Jam right to the edges:
fought in that campaign. As the landing ship ramps came down or their transport a scenario for Ultracombat Normandy.
plane doors opened, they may well have pondered on the last half decade: of not
just the cities bombed flat and countless other horrors (known and, at that point, 25 COMMAND DECISION
unknown). But they must have all thought about what awaited them. As wargamers Dorylaeum: Crusading in Anatolia in the
it’s sometimes easy to think of what we do as just shoving toys eleventh century by Jon Sutherland.
around a table top and that’s because – mostly – that’s just
all it is. However – especially in this coming month
COVER 30 PREPARE FOR WAR!
of June – I think it’s good that we all take time out to
FEATURE Move over Warhammer:
Conquest is bringing grimdark to the world
remember what those brave people fought for and for the
of fantasy. Report by James Winspear.
cause that many gave their lives. Freedom from tyranny and
fascism comes at an almost inconceivable price. As I write this 36 FANTASY FACTS
on May 22 (and preparing to play a wargame, of sorts) I’ll just The latest releases in sci-fi and fantasy
roll the dice and hope to get another double six. Maybe my wargaming from Modiphius; Deep Cut
luck will hold! As I play my game, I’ll ponder Robert Studio; Antediluvian Miniatures and more!
Zimmerman’s lyrics: “I wish there was somethin’ you
would do or say to try and make me change my mind 42 BEING PARTIZAN
A show report by the Editor.
and stay... Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”.
48 THE GREAT EXPEDITION
John Treadaway Drake’s sixteenth century raids
in the New World. Part 1.
Editor
54 SLIGHTLY UNBALANCED
A WWII scenario mechanism set
CONTACT US in the Western Desert.

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Main cover image: An Iconic Nord from the
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59 RECCE
13 books for the discerning
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64 COMPARE & CONTRAST
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FORWARD OBSERVER | NEWS AND DIARY DATES
A CRUEL SEA
1/300th Dog Boats
Warlord sent some of the latest Cruel
Sea models: the Fairmile D MTB 624. In
a bubble pack you get a pair of models,
a sheet of flags, some nice stat cards,
the all important (and very clever) ‘how
fast are you going’ wake indicator card
to place behind the model, and two
complete versions of the Fairmile itself to
assemble. The models will – with a little
cleaning of the metal parts and application
of some super glue – make up into fine
representations of the dual MTB/MGB
boat that was immensely important
for the British and Commonwealth
fleets with almost 600 produced. For
more information on this boat you’d
do well to follow reviewer Martin
Pike’s recommendation in Recce
this month of the smashing new title
Allied Coastal Forces Of World War II
(Volume 1) on page 65.
I’ve not had a chance to see any of
the resin models in this range up close
(of course there are free plastics on the
cover of this very issue, as there were
last month!) so I was intrigued to see
how they’d generated the detail. Each
resin hull is around 115mm long and much
fine surface detail is cast on (dingy, bridge
and torpedo tubes) but – to add on to
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The Fairmile
D, painted and
assembled. The crew
are very impressive
for the scale.
›
that – are the guns, masts and crew all in
white metal.
What I found interesting was that
crew: there’s a real tendency for some
manufacturers to exaggerate figures in
this scale and I’m really pleased to say that
Warlord have resisted that temptation. They
are fine, 6mm tall models and – considering
their size – very proportional (in a way that,
frankly, many table top infantry and vehicle
crew figures just aren’t).
Will that make them more tricky to
paint? I would say “no” – not unless
your idea of a large afternoon is
trying to paint moustaches and rank
insignia on 1/300th figures. Anyway,
let’s face it: the game is all about the
fine model ships rather than super
detailing the crew so making that
easier with over exaggerated pumpkin
sized heads is (thankfully) not a supplied
option! These are excellent models
and will set you back £30 a pair from
warlordgames.com.
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 5
FORWARD OBSERVER | NEWS AND DIARY DATES
D-DAY
The Overlord Campaign
Coming out at an apposite time is the
Osprey and Warlord Bolt Action 2
supplement covering Overlord and
Neptune and it’s an impressive 220
pages or so long. That’s not surprising,
really: after all, it has a lot to cover! And
cover it this book does: there’s sections
on Planning (with operations Point
Blank and Bodyguard); the pre-invasion
deceptions; Airborne assaults; Pegasus
Bridge; Merville Battery (with a ‘what if’
scenario); US airborne landings (Brécourt
Manor, Sainte-Mère-Église, Neuville-Au-
Plain); and more.
That’s followed by a German Response
section and then the beach landings.
Prefaced by some history on the air
bombardment and the assembly of the
invasion fleet, there’s Utah, Omaha, Point-
Du-Hoc, Gold, Juno and Sword all dealt
with in great detail. After that there’s a
whole section on Fighting Inland with the
21st Panzer Division and three scenarios
(Pegasus Bridge ‘Hold until Relieved’,
Lebisey Wood and La Friere Bridge.
That impressive list takes the reader
to a little over half way through the book
and The Longest Day covers new units
for all the involved forces with some
New Theatre Selectors. That’s followed
by three sections on Fortifications; an
Appendix on Special Rules (minefields,
foxholes and gun-pits, and air-landing
reinforcements) and finally a section of
D-Day Characters. Listed are Howard,
6 Miniature Wargames July 2019
2mm ‘scale’
Waterloo buildings.
Lord Lovat, Kieffer, Maud, Von Luck,
‘Dutch’ Cota and many more and also
going as far down the command structure
as Lieutenant Richard Winters.
Well... that’s just a brief run down
but: it’s certainly a lot! As to the rest of
the book it is as you would expect from
this publisher. It’s packed full of maps
and illustrations with lots of shots of
wargames toys set up as dioramas (so
lots of flock covering the bases and nice
backgrounds: that sort of thing). They also
WATERLOO
have made some brave attempts to take I’ve been reducing
shots that are meant to be of night time
actions and... I’m not sure that they’ve
you all along!
really succeeded: this sort of thing is
Brigade Models have sent me some
difficult to achieve with model soldiers. To
Waterloo Farm houses and buildings in
me, the shots come over as just being too
1/1000th in their Small Scale Scene
dark, for the most part, so they lack a bit
range. This is an all resin set with four
of dynamism. I’d say that they really need
structures: the two smaller ones in the
some sort of ‘spot lighting’ on individual
shape of Plancenoit Church and La
figures (to represent muzzle flash and so
Belle Alliance (nowadays a nightclub
forth), either added ‘live’ or performed
but then, of course, a French medical
post photography in Photoshop (in which
station). There are also two larger
there are lots of filters available for that
structures of great historical note: La
sort of nonsense!). Easier to do with
Haye Sainte with three buildings and
dramatic illustration, I know, but...
the walled yard; and Hougoumont
However – to be honest – that’s a
with a splendid rendition of both yard
minor quibble: there are a lot of excellent
areas and all of the internal and external
illustrations in the book in the fine art,
buildings and walls.
photographic and diagramatic categories.
Bearing in mind that my actual,
As I always say, the book contains a one-
real world knowledge of La Haye
stop-shop to get anyone started playing
Sainte is entirely based on my old
the period and I, for one, see that as a
Airfix kit, I did some looking things
very good thing. This will be out in late
up and – as to be expected from this
June and will set you back £20. It goes
manufacturer – the buildings look spot
without saying that you’ll need the basic
on. Hougoumont, for example, is a
rules to use the supplement fully (though,
suitably non-rectangular shape, around
as ever, I maintain it’s a good read
85 to 90mm along the long (unequal)
irrespective of what rules you use). Go to
sides and between 40 and 50mm wide.
ospreypublishing.com to buy yours.
While these are suitable for the period,
these buildings still exist and are
typical of many in the area and so are
massively useful for many periods right
up to the present day.
But – that having been said – it simply
shouts for Napoleon and Wellington: this
splendid Waterloo Buildings set will
sell for £8 and – as I always say – it is
just begging for a table top game with
2mm or so figures in huge blocks. Go to
brigademodels.co.uk for more info.
PULP NAZIS
Available for any ‘60s film or TV work...
Crooked Dice sent me some figures that stray just On the right at the
over the border into the nebulous area of historical top we have Desert
Troopers and,
versus non-historical gaming. The two new Pulp
below them, are the
Goons sets Shocktroopers and Desert Troopers Shocktroopers, all via
are right out of those Indiana Jones style films and central casting!
do a fine job of depicting slightly over the top Nazis
that would do very well as ‘cinematic’ or character
figures in many a WWII army. There are two sets
of four figures and all are one piece castings armed
with rifles, MP38s and the odd Mauser pistol. As for
dress sense, they’ve all just arrived from ‘costume’:
the desert guys are wearing soft caps and goggles
for the most part and the Shocktroopers are
all in helmets and the sort of neat uniforms that
were very popular in ‘60s films like The Guns of
Navarone or similar.
I haven’t any prices as yet – they are very new – but
I’m guessing they’ll be around the £4 each mark and
are well worth seeking out. Check in at the crooked-
dice.co.uk website or catch them at a show.

BRUCE & THE CONQUISTADORS Antediluvian 28mm

Antediluvian Miniatures sent me a few
of their latest historical releases (and some
not so historical ones which I shall review
elsewhere) so let’s dig right in. A couple
of months back I reviewed their recent
Bruce’s Spearmen and they now have
a second group. This is the Wars of the
Bruce’s Spearmen 2 set.
This four man group come with wire
spears though the hands will require
drilling to take them, and they form up into
a (for want of a better term) four-ranked,
pike-block arrangement. They appear to
be wearing padded armour and a variety
of metal helmets and are proportionally
sculpted with good detail and are cast
in metal with a small integral base. They
scale at 28mm and are £7 for set of four.
This manufacturer have also released
another Conquistadors Explorers
set (their third) in their Conquerors
of Mictlan range which is formed of a
motley collection of character figures:
there’s a robed Monk with a spiked mace
and bible (I assume: I guess it could be
any random book...). There’s a Dwarf
swordsman in three-quarter armour and
a helmet; and lastly a Dog Master – a
superb figure with a sword and helmet
and soft armour but depicted as whistling
with both fingers from his left hand in his
mouth. The reason that he’s doing that is
that the set comes with a very large War
dog and his protégé pup. These are all
cast in metal and scale at around 28mm
(the dog is almost 30mm from snout to
haunches!). Sculpted by Paul Hicks (with
›
the dogs by Phil Hynes) these are £16 for
the set of five models.
Finally there are three Mictlan Jaguar
Warriors, sculpted by Paul Muller. They
are cast in metal with separate shields
supplied but all of their weapons cast
integrally. These include two with the
obsidian edged macuahuitl ‘swords’ and a
spearman. All have jaguar head gear and I
found that the character carrying the cast-
in-place spear was a little fragile – as it’s
quite ‘scale’ – so I’d probably replace that
(albeit with having to fake up an obsidian
head for it...). They are, again, 28mm (albeit
quite proportional and slender) and £12 for
the three. Go to antediluvianminiatures.
wordpress.com for the latest information.

Who let the very large dogs out? Character figures for the New World. New spearmen for the Wars of the Bruce’s range.

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 7

FORWARD OBSERVER | NEWS AND DIARY DATES

NAPOLEON’S PYRAMID CAMPAIGN DIARY

A guide to the forces and battles DATES
Caliver Books have produced a new 100 page volume Sat 29th June
called (in full) Napoleon’s 1798 Pyramid GLASGOW GAMES
Campaign and the Egyptian Army. It’s a 23 GATHERING
Ballahouston Sports Centre,
by 16cm, perfect bound volume which contains
Glasgow G52 1HH
a selection of useful illustrations for uniforms g3gamers.co.uk
(with a couple of dozen uniform plates), some
Sat 3rd August
inspirational photography and some nice, hand
drawn maps and flags for the painter to replicate. CLAYMORE
Edinburgh College’s
It starts off with a timeline for the campaign Granton Campus,
itself and ends (along with references and figure 350 W Granton Rd,
credits) with one for the remaining period in Edinburgh EH5 1QE
seswc.co.uk
country of 1799 to 1801.
Author Chris Flaherty (with an extensive body Sun 18th August
of published work behind him) also covers tactics PARTIZAN
and major battles like Cairo, Chebreiss, Salalieh The Showground,
Lincoln Road, Winthorpe,
and Embabeh in what is both an informative and Newark, Notts NG24 2NY
a readable style and – if this is your period – then partizan.org.uk
it’s £17.50 well spent. Go to caliverbooks.com or
Sun 1st September
pick one up at a show: Caliver are, of course, frequent
HEREWARD
attendees of many wargames shows up and down the UK. Cover and internal page example. The Cresset, Bretton Centre,
Peterborough PE3 8DX
hereward-wargames.co.uk

DARK AGES Sat 7th September

COLOURS
28mm releases from a new manufacturer Newbury Racecourse,
Racecourse Rd, Newbury
RG14 7NZ
A new manufacturer called Creative Painting 30mm for the sword and shield wielding Einar nrwc.org.uk/colours-2019
(creativepaintingmodels.co.uk) has released (with a separate shield arm) and Cernhelm is a
a duo for what they aim to make a large big chap at about 35mm. Both are unarmoured Sat 28th and 29th September

range of white metal 28mm miniatures. At
the moment they are focusing on the dark
ages and the release is a Viking Jarl (or Earl)
“Einar” and a Saxon warrior Monk/Bishop
(save for some leather, perhaps) and Cernhelm TABLETOP GAMING LIVE
Alexandra Palace,
must talk quietly as he carries a big stick! Alexandra Palace Way,
I think they are a good start as character London N22 7AY
figures and – at £4 a pop – would be fun to tabletopgaming.co.uk/shows

called “Cernhelm”. sprinkle into a large force. At the moment the Sun 20th October
The sculptor – professional figure painter company’s new website is under construction SELWG
Richard Severn – has made a good start with but there is a click through on it to a facebook Crystal Palace National Sports
these: the nominally 28m figures are about page that will enable purchases to be made. Centre, Ledrington Rd,
London SE19 2BB
www.selwg.org/2019-show-1
LEFT TO RIGHT
a Saxon warrior Sat 9th November
Monk or CRISIS
Bishop called Hangar 29 Waagnatie, Rijnkaai
“Cernhelm” and 150, 2000 Antwerpen
a Viking Jarl www.tsoa.be/crisis_general
(or Earl) named
“Einar”. Sat 9th November
TARGE
Webster’s High School, Prosen
Road, Kirriemuir, Angus DD8 5AT
kirriemuirwargames.co.uk

Sat 16th and 17th November

WARFARE IN READING
Rivermead Leisure Centre,
Richfield Ave, Reading,
Berkshire RG1 8EQ
wargamesreading.co.uk/
warfare

8 Miniature Wargames July 2019

 COLOURS 2019
Saturday
September 7th 2019
Doors 10am – 5pm
At Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, RG14 7NZ
• Free parking and close to Railway Station
Thousands of models, dozens of trade stands,
Bring and Buy, participation games, action
packed displays, refreshment facilities and bar

More details on our website: www.nrwc.org.uk

SEND THREE & FOURPENCE
I contain multitudes:
Co-operative & Solo
Historical Wargames
Words and pictures by Conrad Kinch
oseph McCullough is a fine fellow and
J he’s written three tip top wargames:
Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadowdeep
and Ghost Archipelago. Which is why I
was quite surprised to find myself thinking
unkind things about him the other day
when a random Twitter exchange brought
me to the Meeples & Miniatures Podcast
Episode Number 264 on co-operative and solo
wargaming (the moral of this story Conrad is
to avoid ‘random twitter’ exchanges! Ed.) It’s an
interesting episode and I would urge you to
give it a listen, but in it Mr McCullough said
some things which I don’t think really stand
up to serious scrutiny.
The first point was that Fantasy and
Science Fiction wargamers are ‘more
interested in story while Historical
wargamers are more interested in
simulation’. There is some truth to that: a
great deal of ink has been spilt in the pages
of this magazine discussing various ways
of making wargames more realistic. But
the idea that Historical Wargamers don’t
have an interest in narrative is, I think, a bit
silly. Sharp Practice by the Too Fat Lardies
is, to my mind, the premier example of a
“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict
myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.”
story driven game that is firmly rooted in
history (it’s section on drill would repay
study) and that focuses on the adventures
of larger than life characters, while still
having all the trappings of a “serious”
wargame (scenarios, points, army lists,
etc). The lads at Wargames Developments
(wargamedevelopments.org) have run scads
of their narratively focused games at their
annual Conference of Wargamers and
published more of them in their house
organ, The Nugget.
I play all sorts of wargames – both
fantasy, sci-fiction and historical – but one
of the reasons I prefer historical wargames
is because of the stories. I’ve never met
anyone who fought at Helms Deep, but
have friends who fought in the Falklands,
ancestors who were on the Western Front
and I go to church where heroes of the
Zulu War are buried. Those men’s stories
are more engaging to me than any number
of Space Marines, not only because they
are fantastic stories, but also because they
happened. I’m emotionally invested in
duffing up the Waffen SS on the tabletop.
I like shooting an Ork as much as the next
man, but they don’t evoke the same visceral
reaction as their German counterparts.
IN A PADDY
Paddy Griffith, in his magnificent book
Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun, compares
historical wargames to abstract competition
games like Chess, and writes:
Walt Whitman, A Song of Myself.
“In a wargame {...} the competitive element
certainly has a part to play; but it is not really
predominant. It is, rather the sense of recreating
the past which provides the excitement. The
wargamer is playing at “let’s pretend” with
military history. Some form of realism, or
imaginative leap into the Napoleonic era will be
essential and anything which helps it along will
be good for the wargame.”
That’s something that has always
informed my approach to the hobby and I
think does so for a lot of others, how many
›
times have you seen lads dressed up in silly
hats at wargames shows (no comment... Ed.)
or recreating the story of their favourite
historical film on the tabletop? Story matters.
The other thing that Joseph McCullough
said was that historical solo/co-operative
games were “...virtually non-existent”.
This wound me up so much that I started
compiling a list in my head of all the solo
or co-op Historical games that I had either
played or – in some cases – written.
Let me say that I really admire Joseph
McCullough’s work. I haven’t played
Frostgrave, but I have read it and there’s
a lot of good work in the design. I’ve been
playing Rangers of Shadowdeep for a while
now, mostly solo using a map drawn in
a notebook, but more recently with my
pal Savage using figures. The design is a
traditional one, which is a marriage of the
Frostgrave mechanics with a really robust
set of solo scenarios, but the execution
(which is the hard bit if you ask me: any
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 11
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE | CONRAD KINCH
bloody fool can have a good idea) is really
slick. If you fancy a simple, robust wargame
that requires only a few figures and plays
like a cross between Middle Earth Role-
Playing (MERP) and a Fighting Fantasy
book with figures, you should definitely
try Rangers of Shadowdeep.. There will be
a review on The Adventuring Party – Irish
Gaming Podcast – shortly.
But a list of games that I’ve played
isn’t much use to man or dog, however it
did occur to me that perhaps there were
wargamers who didn’t know much about
historical solo or co-operative wargames
and that is something worth writing about.
So, on that basis...
WHAT IS A SOLO GAME?
Solo wargaming is wargaming by yourself
yourself.
Setting up the board and the figures and
then playing both sides. I used to think
that this was a particularly low form of
wargaming, but I’ve warmed to it. There are
two schools of solo wargaming as I see it:
firstly, those who play ‘normal wargames’,
but simply play both sides themselves. If
you’d like to see good examples of that
sort of game, I would recommend that you
check out the Battle Game of the Month blog
by Ross McFarlane or Tin Soldiering On
by Tony Kitchen. These two bloggers play
a lot of solo stuff using perfectly normal
rules (Tony’s Black Powder games are
particularly worth a look) and they are
classics of the genre. I don’t know how
exactly they managed to separate their
brains into two halves, but they manage it
and have a lot of fun doing it.
The second type of solo wargame is the
wargame where the player pits himself
against the game. This usually takes the
shape of some sort of set of rules to control
the enemy, while the player moves all the
troops and rolls the dice. The most recent
and most popular example of this type
of game that I’ve seen is Dan Mersey’s
excellent The Men who would be Kings set
of Colonial rules . While the game works as
a standard two player (or more) set of rules,
there is an optional set of rules called “Mr
Babbage” included that allow the game to
be played solo.
Mr Babbage is a short set of rules and a
couple of random tables that control the
appearance and activities of the enemy
troops. While it is generally understood that
Mr. Babbage should play the Native forces,
I’ve found the rules for controlling Imperial
12 Miniature Wargames July 2019
The Portable Wargame and The Men who would be Kings: both with solo rules that are currently in print.
troops quite good and have had a couple
of good games as a Zulu Induna pitting
myself against the redcoats. I prefer the
approach of having a dedicated set of solo
rules to control the enemy forces as I get into
agonies of indecision when using the play
by yourself method.
WHY SOLO GAME?
My preference would always be for a game
played against an opponent, but I’m also a
shift worker and a father to twin toddlers,
so my options are often limited and I’ve
really taken to solo wargaming in the last
few years as a result. There are a number of
reasons why I’d recommend giving it a go:
OPPORTUNITY
If I have to choose between a solo game and
no game at all, I will choose a solo game.
With two small children and a busy work
and family schedule, getting a night off to
wargame with the lads doesn’t happen as
often as I would like. When your free time
to wargame comes in hour long chunks at
eleven o’clock at night, opponents are hard
to come by.
TIME
A solo game takes exactly as long as you
need to it to. With no one waiting on you,
you can play at quite a leisurely place. This
requires that you have enough space to
leave a game set up, but the trick is to cut
your cloth to suit your measure. I usually
play The Men who would be Kings on a
standard six by four table, but Rangers of
Shadowdeep uses a three foot by three foot
table at most. If you have the space, you can
play quite elaborate games solo and there’s
something quite relaxing about retiring to
“the War Room” for half an hour before
bed with a glass of something, knocking
out a turn or two and then turning in. If
you don’t have a dedicated wargames area,
I’ve had some success putting on a tea tray
sized wargame using the Solo Rules in Bob
Cordery’s Portable Wargame (available
from bookdepository.com) to play games with
6mm figures .
VARIETY
What kind of solo wargame can you
play? Whatever the hell you want! As a
chap with some niche interests, it’s not
always easy to convince my friends that
they want to play Carlist wars or Very
British Civil War. With solo games you
only have yourself to please and you can
play whatever you like. I’ve been building
a small collection of 1/72 scale figures
for the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 for
a couple of years now. It may surprise
you that this particular niche of history
isn’t wildly popular with the wargaming
public, but I’ve been able to play a few
solo skirmish games quite happily by
myself without having to convince a
sceptical pal that it was worth doing.
WHAT’S A CO-OPERATIVE GAME?
A co-operative wargame is one where all
the players are on the same side and are
facing the same enemy. That enemy can be
played by an Umpire who is moving the
bad guys according to a predetermined
script or against some kind of card driven or
randomly determined AI. Two examples of
co-operative games that have been recently
released are the afore mentioned Rangers of
Shadowdeep but also Games Workshop’s
Blackstone Fortress: neither of which are
historical, but both of which are excellent
games. Historical co-operative games are
less common, but you don’t have to look too
far to find them. To be honest, you can play
any set of wargames rules co-operatively,
you just have to pitch the scenario right .
Another example is Science vs Pluck by
Howard White, currently in its third edition
and now back in print with Wargames
Vault and is the classic recreational co-
operative wargame.
Science vs Pluck is set during the Mahdist
wars of the late 19th century. The players
all play on the Egyptian/British officer
side against the forces of the Mahdi, taking
on the roles of the officers in the column,
logisticians (water is very important, be
warned!), journalists and other hangers on.
The Umpire controls the Mahdist forces
and only places them on the board when
they actually be seen by the Imperial forces.
Two Hour Wargames’ entire stable of
games (also available on wargamevault.com),
including 95th and Muskets & Shakos, just
to name the Napoleonic versions, include
rules for solo and co-operative play. Gregory
Arofan’s With the Colours in the Late War
(wargamingmachines.org/WithTheColours.htm)
which I reviewed Miniature Wargames 425,
is also designed to be played co-operatively
and best of all, is absolutely free.
Curiously enough, the place I’ve come
across co-op games most frequently is in
professional wargaming. Kriegspiel,, the
original wargame, currently published by
Too Fat Lardies,, is often played by a group
of players against an Umpire controlled
force. If you have a look at the books
available from the History of Wargames
Project run by John Curry you will find any
number of books including co-operative
scenarios, including The British Army
1956 Wargame Rules and The Sandhurst
Kriegsspiel, Wargaming for the Modern
Infantry Officer, Training for War: Volume
1 (by John Curry and Tim Price MBE). I
think co-operative wargames are useful in
a training context because they help teach
people how to work together as a team,
which would obviously interest real world
militaries who are always eager to find
ways to do exactly that.
WHY CO-OP GAMES?
I love co-operative games mainly because
they present the players with opportunities
that don’t normally crop up in standard two
player games. These include:
CHAIN OF COMMAND
There’s nothing like putting a group of
armchair generals together in a simplified
chain of command and watching them
pull together or fall apart. Because you’re
not relying on other players to provide
the opposition (assuming an Umpire led
game), you have more time for discussion
and planning. Following another players
orders is hard, but so is leading effectively:
handling that tricky situation is one of
the joys of the hobby in my opinion.
INTELLIGENCE
As wargamers, it’s fair to say that a lot of
us got into the hobby because of the toy
soldiers. Toy soldiers are great, but they
do have some limitations. Once you put
a figure on the table, it’s there and there is
no ambiguity about where it is or what it
represents. This is fundamentally different
to real battle situations, where visibility is
poor, real opponents are trying to remain
concealed and deception is king. By playing
co-operatively, the Umpire can take over the
role of the enemy and only deploy figures
to represent figures that can be seen and
identified by the players own troops. This
makes scouting important in a way that it
rarely is in conventional wargames. I’ve run
some really satisfying co-operative games
where the point of the scenario wasn’t to
engage the enemy, but merely to scout their
position. This is a very different experience
to a normal wargame.
Sharp Practice 2 and The Sword and the Flame - both popular wargames that present tactical problems.
NO EXPECTATION OF FAIRNESS
This strictly speaking isn’t unique to co-
operative games, but there is something
about the psychology of game playing that
makes it easier to deal with outside a two
player game. If you’re playing a two player
game, there is an expectation that both sides
have a fair chance at winning. In a game
where all the players are on the same side,
if the enemy have an advantage, the players
just have to work together to overcome it.
An Umpire springing something new on
you is different to your opponent springing
something new on you.
One of my favourite co-op game stories
is one I was told by Paddy Griffith about a
Kriegspiel game he ran where the players
took on the roles of a US Brigade in Vietnam
against Umpire controlled VC. The trick
was, there were no VC and the only enemy
was the players own paranoia because
their expectations were that there had to
be enemies out there. The players won by
moving forward and taking an objective,
but ended up losing quite a few men to
friendly fire because they started using
artillery wildly trying to locate an enemy
that they knew had to be there.
One of my own games that I was
›
particularly proud of, was a Napoleonic
game where the players were playing
the staff of a British Division during the
Peninsula War. They were ordered to attack
an objective, but it became clear that it was
far more strongly held than they had been
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 13
SEND THREE AND FOURPENCE | CONRAD KINCH
Some of the excellent books available from the History of Wargaming Project.
led to believe. The challenge in the game
was to move forward, work out that the
reality of the situation was different to the
brief and then pull back in time to weather
the French counter attack. My players
managed to pull it off – just – but it was a
damned close run thing!
BEYOND THE TACTICAL
Another aspect where co-operative games
really shine is in handling wargaming
beyond the merely tactical level. I’ve
struggled to integrate things like
intelligence, logistics and ammunition
resupply into two player wargames, but it’s
a lot easier to do this in a co-operative game
because you can assign responsibility for
that particular area to a particular player.
WHERE SHOULD I START?
If you’re interested in giving Solo and Co-
operative Wargaming a try, you should try
out some of these resources below:
THE LONE WARRIOR
The Lone Warrior is the blog of the Solo
Wargames Association and has a variety of
rules, scenarios and other resources for the
budding solo wargamer.
THE HISTORY OF WARGAMING PROJECT
I mentioned this earlier and this is a noble
endeavour run by Mr. John Curry which
researches and republishes books that are
14 Miniature Wargames July 2019
significant in the history of the hobby. If
you have a look around the site, you will
find gems like Donald Featherstone’s
Solo Wargaming and Paddy Griffith’s
Napoleonics Wargaming for Fun as well
as a wealth of wargames rules aimed at
the professional (i.e. real world military)
wargamer most of which are aimed at co-
operative play.
Sadly lacking is Programmed Wargames
Scenarios by Charles Grant Senior (1983),
but I hope John will get the chance to
republish it soon. One thing Joseph
McCullough got absolutely right in his
podcast was that a really good solo or co-
op wargame lives and dies by its scenarios.
Programmed Wargames Scenarios is a
collection of twenty scenarios specifically
designed for the solo or co-operative
wargamer complete with randomly
determined terrain and dice driven
opposition. Each scenario comes in three
different versions, Ancient, Horse & Musket
and Modern (really Second World War). If
you were to buy just one book, I think this
might have to be the one. Sadly second
hand copies are quite pricey.
THE PORTABLE WARGAME
If you’re a solo wargamer who is short on
space, you’ll find Bob Cordery’s book a
solid set of solo rules that can be played
on a tea tray, including Second World War,
Napoleonic and Colonial variants.
WARGAMING MACHINES
This is a website run by Gregory Arofan
aimed at using computers in traditional
toy soldier wargames. Most of the content
on the site are computer mediated rules
(i.e. where the computer handles the
dice, modifers, etc), but there are also
two completely free sets of rules With the
Colours in the Late War (shiny toy soldiers
in a fictional late 19th century conflict) and
1848 (Revolutionary Warfare during the
European Uprising of the Mid 19th century)
which come with a computer controlled AI
which runs in a webpage. To play the game,
you simply need to set up your table, set
out your troops according to the rules and
allow the computer to guide you through
what can prove to be quite a tricky scenario.
TWO HOUR WARGAMES
These are a commercial outfit who produce
rules for a variety of settings, both big
battle and skirmish. You can try their Chain
Reaction and Sword Point rules for free on
their website, both of which include variants
for solo, co-operative and head to head play.
They also sell 95th (Napoleonic Skirmish),
Nuts (Second World War Skirmish), Nuts
Big Battles (larger battles) and Six Gun
Sound (Wild West/Indian Wars). All of
these are suitable for solo, cooperative or
head to head play.
IN CONCLUSION
I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to
solo and cooperative wargaming. It’s been a
lively part of my wargaming hobby for years
now and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. Let me
know at conrad.kinch@gmail.com if I’ve left
anything out or if you think I’m talking a
lot of fat headed nonsense. In preparation
for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, next
month you can expect to see Send Three &
Fourpence: “The Keynote of everything to be
Simplicity” A solo/co-operative scenario set
during the Normandy Landings. ■
LINKS
Meeples & Miniatures: meeples.wordpress.com
The Adventuring Party: theadventuringparty.net
Battle Game of the Month blog:
gameofmonth.blogspot.com
Tin Soldiering On: tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com
History of Wargames Project: wargaming.com
The Lone Warrior: lonewarriorswa.com
The Portable Wargame:
wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com
Two Hour Wargames: twohourwargames.com
Wargaming Machines: wargamingmachines.org
Raus! Raus! Load your torpedoes and gun your ship’s engines in
an exclusive ‘what if’ scenario for Cruel Seas
Words and images supplied by Warlord Games

0400 HOURS, 14TH JUNE 1944

Warlord’s gargantuan
global D-Day campaign
is in full swing - we’re
now into the thick of it
as players fight it out
through muddy fields
and ruined towns. The
balance of power has shifted back and
forth between the Axis and Allies, and
both sides are looking for something that
will tip the scales back in their favour!
Cranking the spotlight away from
the action on the ground and out
into the choppy waters of the English
Channel, this scenario focuses on the
Kriegsmarine’s last gasp - a desperate
attempt to interdict the flow of supplies
from England!
The German combatants are the last
dregs of the Kriegsmarine’s coastal
squadrons, a mixture of unblooded
recruits and hard-bitten veterans. Their
ships are riddled with holes and short on
fuel, ammunition and rations.
Thumping artillery and staccato A new concrete structure extends out
machine gun fire plays across the into the water, separated from the
Norman bocage, as the Allied and civilian harbour by a barbed wire fence
Axis forces jockey for position amidst and studded with guard towers.
the towering hedgerows. Out to sea, Inside, the last remaining
a flotilla of lumbering landing craft, operational S-Boat flotilla on the
heavily laden with vital supplies, make channel coast takes shelter for
a beeline for the dogleg of the temporary the night. A blaring air raid siren
harbour anchored off Utah beach. summons sleep-deprived crews from
Far to the north, the Dutch port of the bunks, dashing for their action
Ijmuiden has become a hive of activity. stations before the bombs start falling!
The S-boat pens
constructed by the
Kriegsmarine were
monolithic concrete
structures designed to
shelter the watercraft
from aerial attacks.
The largest bunker at
Ijmuiden had berths
for 14 boats, alongside
four repair docks and
armoured fuel depots.
At 5 metres thick, the
roof was impenetrable
to conventional
ordnance, and would
require something
special to crack
it open…

The first raid against the S-Boat
pen at Ijmuiden took place on
14th June, led by the legendary
Dambusters squadron with the
bunker-busting Tallboy bombs
secured in their bomb bays. Packed
with 12,000lbs of high explosives,
the Tallboy was an earthquake bomb
designed to collapse the hardened
pen on top of the vulnerable S-Boats.
This scenario imagines that
the S-Boats got some advanced
warning and attempted to scatter.
A squadron of Royal Navy MTBs
and Costal Command aircraft lie in
ambush off the Dutch coast, ready
to intercept any ships that escape
the bombing!

16 Miniature Wargames July 2019

 -DAY SPECIAL FEATURE COMMEMORATING 75 YEARS

FREE
VOSPER MTB OR
S-BOAT
E PR IN T ED ITION!
WITH TH
official
Download the
bl y an d pa inting
assem
ur s at:
guide for yo
i.n g/ ex tra co ntent
ttgam

DEPLOYMENT
Place the RN Vospers in the north-west
corner, with their sterns touching the
table edge, moving at Combat speed.
The Beaufighter deploys as per the
rules for Aviation on page 55 of the Cruel
Seas rulebook.
Place the three E-Boat S-100 class in
the south-east corner. They begin the
scenario stationary.

OBJECTIVES
KRIEGSMARINE
You must survive the raid and escape
out into the open sea!
ROYAL NAVY KRIEGSMARINE
» 3x Vosper MTB Type II (Late) with » 3x E-boat S-100 class with ROYAL NAVY
Regular crews Veteran crews You must sink the S-Boats before they
» 1x Beaufighter Mark VI with can escape!
Regular crew

To record the result

of your game go to
GAME LENGTH caught napping, holed up inside the Warlord D-Day
The game lasts until the E-Boats have their concrete berths. To escape the Facebook page
escaped by moving into contact with the droning bombers and scything fast- (facebook.com/groups/
boltactioncampaign/) - you’ll be
table edge marked Escape Zone. attack boats, the exhausted crews
helping the Axis slow down Allied
must get the engines going as quickly progress or dealing the death blow to
SPECIAL RULES as possible. the Kriegsmarine!
Get that Engine Running: The On their first activation, each E-boat Over the course of the campaign,
Kriegsmarine E-Boats have been must roll 1d10 on the table below. Warlord will be posting updates with
all the latest info, new scenarios
and historical articles diving into the
ROLL RESULT
largest amphibious landing in history.
1 Critical Malfunction: The damned engine won’t start! The vessel may not increase
their speed until next turn.
2-5 Sluggish Power: An exhausted crew or faulty drive train prevent the vessel
from reaching maximum speed. The vessel may not go faster than Slow speed
VICTORY
for 1d3 turns. KRIEGSMARINE
6-9 Quick to Action: The crew manage to get everything working as intended. No Escape!
additional effect.
10 Sprinting Start: The crew have performed a minor miracle. The vessel may ROYAL NAVY
increase its speed by two steps this turn. Sink the E-Boats!

-DAY SPECIAL FEATURE COMMEMORATING 75 YEARS

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day we also have a scenario, written
by Colin Phillips, based on Ultracombat Normandy rules. See pages 18-23

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 17

16_17_cruelSeasScenarioJD.indd 17 05/06/2019 15:48

 -DAY SPECIAL FEATURE
COMMEMORATING 75 YEARS

Spreading the Ham and Jam right to the edges

Words by Colin Phillips Photography by John Treadaway

hen The Editor asked me to write inished... The Pegasus Bridge MDF models

W a D-day scenario, I was really

excited even when he gave me a
very tight schedule! John then mentioned it
would be cool to do something around one of
the more important events of D-Day. At this
stage, I could see a few problems: even after
writing Ultracombat Normandy I didn’t have
any beach terrain. My group were currently
rebuilding the US paratroopers which left me
only with British Paras or British and American
infantry. What to do. What could I do that was
speciically D-Day rather than just Normandy?
Pegasus Bridge (of ‘Ham and Jam’ fame)
came to mind but I neither had a large enough
bridge or the time to buy and build one. Let
alone what would I do with it after it was
are marvellous but how often could you
replay that scenario? And it sucks being the
German force...
This led me to put on my thinking cap and
started doing some research about the defence
of the Pegasus and Orne bridges. I reread
Ambrose’s Pegasus bridge, and then I read The
Pegasus and Orne Bridges - Their Capture,
Defence and Relief on D-Day by Neil Barber.
I also looked at how some of the modern
computer games handle the scenarios I was
most impressed with the look and feel of Steel
Division Normandy 44. Taking all of this into
consideration I started to look for what would
create an exciting scenario, and I found one in
Neil Barber’s book.

18 Miniature Wargames July 2019

 “At 0630 hours the
Germans attempted to
probe the Divisional
perimeter from the
south-east. Lieutenant
Colonel Alastair Pearson’s
8th Parachute Battalion
The action detailed happened approximately of 3 Parachute Brigade,
1000 yards (914M) away from the Orne Bridge. which had begun to
The British Forces expecting German counter- establish itself in the Bois
de Bavent, had set up
attacks pushed blocking forces out at key a PIAT detachment on
intersection to create a defensive perimeter. It the Escoville to Troarn
was not until I started to research this battle road, at a road and track
that I finally understood the extent of the Ham crossroads around a
and Jam landings. Capturing the bridges was thousand yards forward
of the main junction ABOVE & OPPOSITE The German forces deploy some 251s and
possibly the easiest part, holding them would known as the Triangle, support weapons.
be something else and in many cases was a where it met the Breville
hard-fought and protracted battle throughout road. Six half-tracks
the day of D-Day. drove up from Troarn, BRITISH FORCES
While the quote suggested a different kind and each was hit by a The British Forces were part of 8th Parachute
PIAT. The enemy crews
of scenario, I realise that not everyone, myself dismounted and took
Battalion of 3 Parachute Brigade. In his book,
included, has six half-tracks at hand especially up position on the side Barber doesn’t say how big the PIAT detachment
the 28mm players, so I have downsized the of the road. A fire-fight was, and it’s not something I could find, but
battle to more readily fit the standard two- ensued, but the Germans my research did find mention of a PIAT unit in
player game. I will provide a full list for this eventually withdrew. pamphlet used in the British Army “Infantry
This was another vital
scenario at the end of the article for those of interruption to the initial
training, 1944 pamphlet”. In it, there is a diagram
you that can manage the full forces and I would German reaction in of how to carry out an ambush and lists a typical
suggest it’s probably more manageable as a the area.” Barber, Neil. PIAT force. I decided to use this as the basis of
four-player game. (my photos also suggest some The Pegasus and Orne PIAT detachment. The force list is just an example
slightly alternative vehicles and weapons...! Ed.) Bridges, Pen and Sword. feel free to use your own, but the British force
Kindle Edition.
needs to be smaller than the German force.
PLAYING THE SCENARIO
OVERVIEW
The German reaction to D-Day was mainly
one of confusion especially concerning the
paratroopers and frustration at being held
›
in place until Hitler had given personal KEY MAP 1
permission that their units could begin to
11
Numberedchecking
Numbered checkingpoint:
point:
counter-attack. The Germans found themselves 22player
playergame
game
dealing with numerous airborne assaults that
were spread over a large area. Information GermanEntry
German Entryor
orExit
Exitpoint
point

about the invasion was at this stage sketchy and

units had in many cases had to be formed up to
create a responsive force. I could find no more
information about this battle than the above
quote, so I decided to take some artistic license
with the game.
The idea for the scenario is the German
force is an initial probing force sent towards
the bridges to find out where the British
paratroopers were and in what strength had
they landed. The first scenario starts with the
German player just fielding three vehicles.
At the fork in the road, the Germans can take
whichever fork they wish as long as they are
moving forward towards the bridges. This
adds an element of risk to the ambushers. Do
they concentrate their forces on one road or
spread their troops thinly across the board?
While this is an issue its less of a problem with
Ultracombat as ranges used in that system are
realistic so are considerably longer than most
games. Those of you that want to play this
using other systems I ask you to bear this in
mind when developing your forces.

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 19

FIRST CHECKING POINT ABOVE Okay, jeeps aren’t in the The British force gets to deploy anywhere on
scenario as it stands...
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT the board. The British may set up any way they
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE like but doctrine at the time may have followed
OPPOSITE The parachutists
Platoon commander 1x VET NCO the diagram below.
have landed but not all
Section commander (NCO) 1x AVG Junior NCO
successfully. I recommend that the British forces start the
2-man assault party 1x AVG 6-man element
2-man smoke grenades (Mine chain and Smoke game hidden but placed on the board so the
grenades) German player can see where they need to
attempt to spot. If players using other systems
SECOND CHECKING POINT want to play with blind markers or maps, this
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT
will also work. The essential element to retain
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE is this is an ambush by a small British Force
Section commander (NCO) 1x VET NCO Element against a much larger German force.
2-man smoke grenades 1x AVG Junior NCO Element
3-man assault party 1x AVG 6-man Rifleman GERMAN FORCES
1-PIAT team element, 2x Smoke grenades
The German force was most likely 125th
1 Heavy weapon element
(PIAT) Panzergrenadiers who were part of 21st Panzer.
The Division had been badly mauled in Tunisia
and was reformed in France from the surviving
THIRD CHECKING POINT
personnel and reserve units. This is why I have
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE
rated them Average troops with Veteran NCO’s
Section commander (NCO) 1x VET NCO and at least 1 Novice element in each squad.
2-man smoke grenades 1x AVG Junior NCO, 2x The Panzergrenadiers force is made up of
1-Bren team Smoke grenades three Sdkfz 251/1 vehicles each carrying a
1 Heavy weapon Team (Bren) Panzergrenadiers squad. Each vehicle carries

20 Miniature Wargames July 2019

 -DAY SPECIAL FEATURE COMMEMORATING 75 YEARS

under-strength squads as many German squads

at this time in the war had as few as 8 men in
some formations and the idea is this is a quickly
gathered formation. The German forces are
listed below.

GERMAN ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY FORCE

KEY MAP 2
11
FORCES Numberedchecking
Numbered checkingpoint:
point:
Vehicle 1 - 1x AVG Vehicle element 22player
playergame
game
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
S Seal

1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element GermanEntry

Entryor
orExit
Exitpoint
point
German

GERMAN ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY FORCE

FORCES
Vehicle 2 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
1x NOV 3-man rifleman element

GERMAN ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY FORCE

FORCES
Vehicle 3 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element ›
THE TERRAIN
Looking at Map 2, we can see the south end of
the Triangle is heavily wooded, and the roads
are hedged lined. This shouldn’t be either
continuous or all of one height so there should VICTORY CONDITIONS
be plenty of places after the fork that the Sdkfz
GERMAN FORCES POINTS BRITISH FORCES POINTS
251/1 to break out into the fields. A note to non
For each active Sdkfz 251/1 50pts For each Sdkfz 251/1 25pts
Ultracombat players: Hedges are counted as knocked out
concealment which means they interfere with For each checking point secured 50pts For each checking point 50pts
the ability to spot the enemy, but they do not secured
provide any cover saves. The small coppice For Sdkfz 251/1 that gets off the 100pts
wood at the fork provides cover. board

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 21

 -DAY SPECIAL FEATURE COMMEMORATING 75 YEARS

THE GAME
This game was designed to be played with
Ultracombat Normandy, but it would be
straightforward to make the small changes to
play this scenario using any of the popular
systems currently on the market.
As a game that both players need a bit of
luck to win. The sensible placement of troops
by the British is imperative as is when to
actually when to spring the ambush.
The Germans need to spot the ambush and
if they do so in the first move as it did in one
of the Playtests the British force can be in for
a shock. Having played this through several
times, we found the British won more times
than the Germans, but each time it was a
hard-fought battle which at the end of the
day is all we, as players really want anyway.
My advice to the German players is to
disembark your troops as early as possible.
Having your squads caught in their
halftracks can lead you to a high casualty rate
early in the game, and if the British Player
is lucky, that could be the end of the game.
German players shouldn’t get disheartened
at early casualties as your numbers should
come into effect as the game progresses.
My advice to the British Player is hit
early and hard and make the maximum KEY MAP 3
use of both your cover and your officers
and NCO to keep those heavy weapons
Numbered checking point:
22 Numberedchecking
Numbered
44player
checking point:
playergame
game
point:

firing. Suppressing German element is

often enough. S Seal

THE HISTORICAL OUTCOME GermanEntry

German Entryor or
ExitExit point
point

As stated in the quote the historical outcome

was the initial 6 halftracks were destroyed,
and the small PIAT detachment managed to
force a German withdrawal. This with the
initial delay of reacting to the Paratrooper
landing must have helped the British
forces to hold the Bridges against multiple
intense attacks from German forces that
we remember today as the Pegasus bridge.
What’s possibly less know is the battles that
went on away from the bridges themselves
in all directions, and I hope this scenario
can inspire players to perhaps look beyond
the more prominent events of the day and
look at the numerous small engagements as
inspirations to play different games

FOUR PLAYER GAME

The four-player game is a much bigger game
is obviously the most accurate to the original
quote and is much harder for the British
forces. The added PIAT will help this as will
the additional smoke grenades.

22 Miniature Wargames July 2019

 GERMAN FORCES
PLAYER 2 – GERMAN FORCE 1
GERMAN ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY FORCE
FORCES
Vehicle 1 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element
Vehicle 2 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element

VEHICLE 3 - PLAYER 3 – GERMAN FORCE 2

GERMAN ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY FORCE
FORCES
Vehicle 3 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element
Vehicle 4 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
ABOVE British Paras at the 1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element
PLAYER 1 – BRITISH FORCES Second Checking Point
FIRST CHECKING POINT (on Map 2). PLAYER 4 – GERMAN FORCE 3
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT GERMAN ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY FORCE
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE All photographs in this piece
FORCES
Platoon commander 1x VET Officer were taken by the editor of the
Vehicle 5 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Section commander 1x VET NCO Old Pikeys game: Red Devils v
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
(NCO) 1x AVG Junior NCO Green Devils at the Bovington
1x AVG Junior NCO
2-man assault party 1x AVG 6-man element 2018 show.
1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
2-man smoke grenades (Mine chain and Smoke 1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element
grenades)
Vehicle 6 - 1x AVG Vehicle element
Sdkfz 251/1 1x VET NCO
1x AVG Junior NCO
SECOND CHECKING POINT 1x AVG Heavy weapon team (MG42)
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT 1x NOV 3-man Rifleman element
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE
Section commander (NCO) 1x VET NCO ULTRACOMBAT NORMANDY RULES
2-man smoke grenades 1x AVG Junior NCO Smoke Grenade
3-man assault party 1x AVG 6-man element
Can be thrown 30 meters (15” inches) by an
1-PIAT team 1 Heavy weapon Team
average soldier. The grenade produces a cloud
of coloured smoke for 50 to 90 seconds. It
THIRD CHECKING POINT generates a 6” radius of smoke which lasts two
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT
complete turns. Smoke gives an additional +6
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE concealment to all troops inside or behind it.
Section commander 1x VET NCO
(NCO) 1x AVG Junior NCO Mine Chain
2-man smoke grenades 1x AVG 6-man element A mine chain is a string of mines that cover the
3-man assault party 1 Heavy weapon Team
width of the road an element takes 3 AP to place
1-PIAT team
a mine chain. It should be treated as a hidden
element for spotting purchases. Any vehicles
SEAL crossing a mine chain treat as though attacked by
INFANTRY TRAINING, ULTRACOMBAT
a single mine. Once the mine explodes the mine
1944 PAMPHLET NORMANDY FORCE chain is removed from the road. The enemy may
1-man armed with mines 1x AVG 3-man rifleman remove the mine chain by having a dismounted
2-man smoke grenades (Mine chain and Smoke element spend 3AP to clear the road. Neither side
grenades) can use the mines after they have been cleared. ■

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 23

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 Bohemond at the head of
his mounted knights.
COMMAND DECISION
DORYLAEUM
Command Decision Eighteen: Crusading in Anatolia, July 1, 1097.
Words by Jon Sutherland Photography by Diane Sutherland
C
ommand Decision is designed so
you can read the situation and
figure out your own command
decision if you were leading the troops
on the ground. You can either work
through the various options or use the
mechanics provided to create the precise
circumstances of the tabletop engagement.
The scenarios may have particular
historical themes and settings, but you
can easily adapt the mechanics to suit
your own preferences and collections.
SITUATION REPORT
The attempt to take Jerusalem from
the occupying Seljuk Turks began in
1095. The Pope begged the Christian
kingdoms of Europe to come to the aid
of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines
had borne the brunt of the fight so far.
The Europeans did come to their aid
and by early June 1097 a huge Crusader
army surrounded the Seljuk capital of
Nicaea a short distance to the south of
Byzantium. At first the Seljuk leader
Kilij Arslan I attempted to break the
siege, but decided his chances were
better in the open ground of Anatolia.
The Crusaders planned an assault
on June 19, but when they awoke
that morning they saw the Byzantine
flag flying from the city. The garrison
had surrendered to Emperor
Alexius. Understandably, this caused
considerable acrimony. The Crusaders
refused to approach Jerusalem along
the coast with one of their flanks
protected (as this was the preferred
option of Alexius). Instead they opted
for a direct route through the heart of
Seljuk territory which would lead them
to Dorylaeum.
›
ROLE & COMMAND
You are Mark, son of Robert Guiscard,
Count of Apulia and Calabria. You are
forty-three years old and have been
the Prince of Toranto for eight years.
Because of your size you are nicknamed
Bohemond after a legendary giant.
You have 500 knights, 3000 infantry
and have the support of your nephew
Tancred and his 2000 men.
The expedition to liberate Jerusalem
had left Nicea (June 26) and you
command the vanguard. The bulk of
the army under Godrey is about a day
behind. Spies suggest that Kilij Arslan
has made peace with his enemy Ghazi
ibn Danishmend and they have agreed
to launch joint operations against your
army. It seems that the Seljuks could
strike at any moment and you must be
on your guard.
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 25
COMMAND DECISION | CRUSADING IN ANATOLIA

ABOVE Crusader crossbowmen load up as the

enemy closes in.

RIGHT A handful of Seljuk foot archers try their

luck at maximum range.

COMMAND DECISIONS
Take a good look at the map and then
consider your options:

Option One: Push your vanguard force

on without pitching tents overnight.

Option Two: Make steady progress by

taking direct route.

Option Three: Keep the river to your

flank and advance with caution.

Option Four: Slow down your advance

and assignment a quarter of your force to
stand guard overnight.
Consider your options before continuing to
read the narrative.

HOW THE OPTIONS CAN

BE WORKED OUT
To read the positions on the map H
means horizontal, V means vertical. The
map can also be used to randomise the
start, entry and exit squares if you wish
to stage an encounter battle based on crossing it. Messengers may not leave
the scenario. the table until either the first Seljuk
Note that the river is fordable, but charge or the first casualty inflicted
it will disorder or disorganise troops on the Crusaders by enemy fire.

26 Miniature Wargames July 2019

Option One: Push your vanguard force on without pitching tents overnight. This option means that your men may be exhausted, but
at least they might not be caught napping by the enemy. Use the table to determine how this choice will affect the battlefield layout.
OPTION ONE
BOWL Bohemond’s Seljuk Entry Points On Table Messenger Exit Main Army Arrival Turn Notes
a D6 Position On Table Square On Table
1-2 H1V1 H4V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H1V2 10 Turns after Exhaustion means no Crusader
H1V5-6 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units messenger leaves table. charges until turn 5.
H4V1 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force
3-4 H2V2 H4V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H1V1 9 Turns after messenger Exhaustion means no Crusader
H1V5-6 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table. charges until turn 4.
H4V3-4 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force
5-6 H4V3-4 H4V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H1V3-4 8 Turns after messenger Exhaustion means no Crusader
H1V5-6 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table. charges until turn 3.
H6V5-6 Turn 5 - Remainder of Force Pilgrims begin on H4V2

Option Two: Make steady progress by taking direct route. Cutting across country means a faster progress, but it does expose your
force to attack from any direction from the enemy. Use the table to determine how this choice will affect the battlefield layout.
OPTION TWO
BOWL Bohemond’s Seljuk Entry Points On Table Messenger Exit Main Army Arrival Turn Notes
a D6 Position On Table Square On Table
1-2 H2V2 H4V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H2V1 10 Turns after Pilgrims begin on H1V1
H1V5-6 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units messenger leaves table.
H2V2 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force
3-4 H3V2 H1V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H3V1 9 Turns after messenger Pilgrims begin on H3V1
H1V3-4Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table.
H1V3-4 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force
5-6 H3V3-4 H1V5-6 – 4 Horse Archer units H1V1 8 Turns after messenger Pilgrims begin on H3V3
H4V1 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table.
H2V5-6 Turn 5 - Remainder of Force ›
Option Three: Keep the river to your flank and advance with caution. This is a safe and prudent choice considering you are in enemy
territory and you could come under attack at any time. Use the table to determine how this choice will affect the battlefield layout.
OPTION THREE
BOWL Bohemond’s Seljuk Entry Points On Table Messenger Exit Main Army Arrival Turn Notes
a D6 Position On Table Square On Table
1-2 H6V1 H1V2 – 4 Horse Archer units H3V1 10 Turns after Bohemond must continue
H2V2 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units messenger leaves table. moving until he reaches the V3-4
H2V2 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force row
3-4 H6V2 H2V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H3V1 9 Turns after messenger Pilgrims do not move in Turn 1
H3V1Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table.
H3V1 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force
5-6 H6V3-4 H1V2 – 4 Horse Archer units H5V1 8 Turns after messenger Pilgrims will move in Turn 1 if a
H4V1 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table. 3-6 is thrown on a d6
H2V5-6 Turn 5 - Remainder of Force

Option Four: Slow down your advance and assignment a quarter of your force to stand guard overnight.
Whilst this means it will take longer to get to Jerusalem it does mean that the rest of the army are closer and some of your men
will be ready should the enemy attack at any time. Use the table to determine how this choice will affect the battlefield layout.
OPTION FOUR
BOWL Bohemond’s Seljuk Entry Points On Table Messenger Exit Main Army Arrival Turn Notes
a D6 Position On Table Square On Table
1-2 H4V3-4 H4V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H2V1 10 Turns after Only Pilgrims and Crossbows
H1V5-6 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units messenger leaves table. may move until Turn 2
H2V2 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force
3-4 H4V3-4 H1V1 – 4 Horse Archer units H3V1 9 Turns after messenger Only 2 units of Heavy Infantry
H1V3-4Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table. and 1 unit of Archers may move
H1V3-4 Turn 4 -Remainder of Force until Turn 2
5-6 H4V3-4 H1V5-6 – 4 Horse Archer units H1V1 8 Turns after messenger Only Knights and Archers may
H4V1 Turn 2 – 4 Horse Archer Units leaves table. move until Turn 2
H2V5-6 Turn 5 - Remainder of Force

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 27

COMMAND DECISION | CRUSADING IN ANATOLIA
A solid block of Crusader spearmen form
the back bone of the defensive line.
GAMING DORYLAEUM
There are several different sets of rules
that would be ideally suited for a
Crusades period battle including Field of
Glory from Caliver Books, Swordpoint
from Gripping Beast, Warlord’s Hail
Caesar and Sally 4th’s Soldiers of God.
The map suggests a 6 x 4 table, but – in
reality – a game with fewer troops and a
4 x 4 playing area would work well.
The battlefield is rolling terrain with
the chance of some cover, difficult
terrain (the marshy ground) and some
insignificant hills. The map indicates
where the camp was situated, in order
to give the Crusaders a chance they
should not be exposed to attack from all
sides. However, this may depend on the
option chosen by the Crusader player
(Bohemond). He may either begin the
game heading for his campsite (already
having been chosen by scouts) or
actually in the camp.
The Seljuks will have more or less
time to overrun Bohemond before the
main body of the Crusaders arrive to
help him. In the confines of this scenario,
when the main Crusader army arrives,
the game is over and the Seljuks will
have been robbed of a significant victory.
The map also suggests likely entry
points for both the Seljuks and the
Crusader reinforcements; these are also
modified according to the option chosen
by the Crusader player. Remember, that
Bohemond must have a single mounted
figure to act as a messenger. The option
28 Miniature Wargames July 2019
will also state where that figure needs
to exit in order to get the message to the
Crusader relief force.
ENCOUNTER BATTLE
If you chose to play Dorylaeum as an
encounter battle I would suggest using
the basic suggested layout from the
map, but – to add some extra spice to
the game – use the following table to
indicate the terrain type in each of the
unmarked squares.
I would count the river as fordable (but
disordering) – perhaps the Seljuk player
should be able to nominate an unknown
ford (not H5V3-4). Bohemond should start
in the camp as indicated. The messenger
should be made to exit at H1V1. Where
the palm trees are indicated, these should
count as soft cover.
For the unmarked squares roll a d6
(the Seljuk player should roll the dice):
D6 TERRAIN TYPE
ROLL IN SQUARE
1 Nothing
2 Rocky ground – lose 20% of movement
3 Scrub – count as a soft cover
4 Low hill – infantry may count this as
hard cover
5 Significant rocky hill – all units may count
this as hard cover
6 Soft sand – impassable to mounted units
The dice rolls should only apply to H2
to 5V1, H1 to 5V2, H1 to 3V3-4, H1 to
2V5-6 and H6V5-6. The campsite is
considered to be the only guaranteed
flat ground on the table.
ARMIES Seljuk light cavalry emerge from the
For command purposes, both Bohemond and Arslan should be considered mountains to close with the Crusaders.
average leaders.

BOHEMOND’S FORCE
Number of Units Troop Type Notes
2 Partially Armoured Superior Knights 1 sword/1 lance
3 Heavy Infantry Average Foot 1 spear/2 swords
2 Light Infantry Average Archers Bow and sword
2 Unarmoured Poor Pilgrims Swords (no shields)
1 Light Infantry Average Crossbows Crossbow and sword

KILIJ ARSLAN’S FORCE

Number of Units Troop Type Notes
1 Noble Superior Armoured Horse Bow and sword
1 Ghilman Average Armoured Horse Bow and sword
8 Horse Archers Average Unarmoured Horse Bow and sword
1 Allied Average Unarmoured Lancers Lance and bow
2 Horse Archers Average Unarmoured Horse Bow and sword

DORYLAEUM: FACT CHECK

Heavier Seljuk cavalry are The Seljuk’s attacked at dawn
seen manoeuvring into on July 1. Bohemond’s force was
position. taken completely by surprise.
Bohemond ordered that the non-
combatants be shielded in the
centre of the camp surrounded by
troops. His heavy knights charged
out several times to try and catch
the enemy horse archers, but each
time they evaded. Bohemond
ordered his knights to dismount
and join the defensive perimeter;
all he could hope was that relief
would arrive soon. Fortunately,
Bohemond’s choice of campsite
saved him. His rear was protected
by the river, his left by marshy
ground. By noon, he was still
holding out and still hoping.
Godfrey of Bouillon and Hugh
Pilgrims, a motley of Vermandois with fifty knights
collection of characters arrived first, cutting their way
with a wide variety of
from the Seljuk lines.
motives and combat skills!
Fighting continued and finally
Raymond of Toulouse arrived with
most of the rest of the army. They
hit the Seljuk flank and linked up
with Behemond. The Crusader
force formed up and launched
themselves at the enemy. With
amazingly good timing, Adhemar
of Le Puy arrived on the battlefield
at the head of another force. He
Another shot of the magnificent crossed the river and hit the Seljuk
Crusader knights.
camp. The Seljuk’s panicked and
broke and the battle was won. ■

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 29

PREPARE
FOR WAR!
Move over Warhammer: Conquest is bringing
grimdark to the world of fantasy
Words by James Winspear Photography supplied by Para Bellum
he world of Eä descends into war
T as armies clash, lands are claimed
and towering monsters stalk the
despoiled earth in Conquest: The Last
Argument of Kings, the debut title from
newfounded studio Para Bellum. Half a
decade in the making, Conquest is a dark
fantasy 38mm (yes, you read that right)
miniatures wargame that promises to
offer players a tactical rank-and-file
mass-battle game with a number of
new gameplay twists. With the starter
set hitting shelves this month, we had
the opportunity chat to community
manager Leo Mavrokefalos about this
strange new world.
DARK VISIONS
One of the things that’s most
immediately striking about Conquest
is its aesthetic: a whirlwind of dark
fantasy filled with apocalyptic visages,
baroquely armoured nobles and strange,
impassive-faced monsters. According
to Mavrokefalos, the visuals have three
main inspirations: Renaissance-era
mythological art, the classic fantasy
illustrators of the 1970’s and 80’s and just
a dash of Rackham’s old Confrontation
miniatures game. Yet above all, the art
style has evolved principally from how
the creators understand the nature of
their setting, In particular, the team
has sought to create a setting removed
from the somewhat naïve tropes so
commonplace in traditional high fantasy.
30 Miniature Wargames July 2019
“Even though we’re dealing with
monsters and dragons and such, we tried
to go for a realistic, grounded approach,”
says Mavrokefalos. “That is, we wanted to
make sure that each race’s approach to and
understanding of their world was realistic in
a sense. They’re not really interested in high
moral concepts; it’s all about promoting
their own interests. So when you want to
approach a world from that perspective you
automatically find yourself going darker,
because the reality of what everyone has to
face in that world is so grim.”
Case in point are the Spires, one of the
two playable factions from the game’s core
box. Masked and bandaged, the warriors
of the Spires are bio-engineered creations
mass produced in vats and controlled
by their aloof masters. As unlikely as it
seems, these sinister masters are Conquest’s
take on elves – a far cry from the gentle,
pointy-eared folks of standard fare. The
central theme surrounding these creatures
is their immortality; far from engendering
wisdom and compassion, their extreme
age has caused them to become detached
from reality and callously indifferent
towards the lives of lesser beings. They
derive their name from the titular Spires;
insectile, Giger-esque structures whose
sole purpose is to extract biomass from the
land for bio-fuel. Mavrokefalos describes
the outlook of the Spires as “corporate”;
whilst not necessarily evil, everything they
do is done so out of a calculated sense of
efficiency for an end goal.
 ›

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 31

INTERVIEW | PARA BELLUM
If the Spires are ambiguous villains,
it’s no surprise to hear that the humans
of the setting aren’t necessarily the de
facto ‘good guys’. Scattered long ago
by a cataclysmic event known as the
Fall of Hazliah, in the time since their
ancient empire fell humans have divided
themselves into numerous
petty fiefdoms collectively
as the Hundred Kingdoms. “We wanted to make sure that each
Bitter civil war has raged
interminably ever since,
race’s appraoch to and understanding of
with numerous would-be their world was realistic in a sense.”
emperors and conquerors
continuously vying with
one another in an attempt to claim the
Hollow Throne. Worse still, the old
feudal system that provided a measure
of unity is now under further pressure
from an increasingly complex and
atomistic trade economy, threatening
greater division even as external threats
mount. Far from fighting for noble
ideals, most of mankind’s military might
comes from mercenary forces whose
loyalty belongs to those who can pay
the most coin. Again, it’s the sort of
interpretation that leaves very little room
for traditional high-fantasy notions of a
Chosen One swinging a Sword of Justice
32 Miniature Wargames July 2019
or gallant knights of unblemished valor;
everything’s political and morally grey.
Humans are the second faction in the
starter box; in the lore, the forces belong
to a minor prince as he clashes against a
Spire after reneging on a Faustian bargain
struck by an ancestor.
HOW IT PLAYS
Whilst intriguing lore and artwork
are integral parts of creating a fantasy
setting, such efforts would have
fallen flat if the game itself proved
uninteresting, and the Conquest team
have invested a lot of time in trying
to make the game both engaging and
distinct from other systems.
“On a personal level” says
Mavrokefalos, “we are all gamers
ourselves – some of us have been gaming
for 15 years – and between us we’ve
pretty much played every wargame
under the sun, so it gives us a good
understanding of what’s out there and
what we’d like to see as gamers. The idea
[with Conquest]] was to create a mass-
battle rank and flank system with certain
mechanics that we feel we don’t see in
the market very often.”
To achieve this, the team
reached out to prolific game
designer Alessio Cavatore
– one of the minds behind
Bolt Action, Kings of War and
The Lord of the Rings Strategy
Battle Game,, amongst other
titles. Alongside fellow
designer Matt Ward, Cavatore set to
work implementing one of Para Bellum’s
core ideas for Conquest:: the deployment
mechanic. Unlike other mass-battle
games, Conquest features no pre-game
deployment in the traditional sense of
the word, and tables are completely
bare at the beginning of a game. Instead,
each player’s forces are split into three
types: light, medium and heavy. These
units appear on the board as the game
progresses, representing armies finding
each other with their vanguards, bringing
in their scouting regiments and finally
forming their battle lines.

“I really liked the deployment system”,
says Cavatore, “as I think it helps a lot
in giving you the picture in your head
that the thing on the table isn’t the whole
conflict. Instead it’s like you’re focusing
on a part of the battle – it gives you the
feeling that there’s a lot more happening
on the flanks you’re not seeing.”
From a mechanical perspective,
the deployment system also prevents
positioning from becoming the key
determinant of victory. Instead, players
are kept on their toes throughout
the game; early gains must
be capitalised on in the mid-
stages, light units mustn’t
be overextended and heavy
hitters can’t afford to arrive to
a situation that renders them
useless. This strategic element
is given further depth by the
role that battle lines play. As
units move up the table they
claim territory, advancing the
battle line for their army. Doing
this allows commanders to not
only bring new troops onto the
battlefield from their table edge,
but from the flanks as well. As a
result, gaining ground can often
prove just as vital for claiming
victory as securing objectives or
destroying enemy regiments.
Naturally, each faction has its
own strengths and weaknesses.
The Hundred Kingdoms are the
game’s jack-of-all-trades; evenly
distributed in strength across
all stages, their main advantage
is their ability to use a flexible array
of orders to bring the right unit to the
right place at the right time. The Spires,
meanwhile, boast a powerful bestiary of
monsters and tend to thrive in the mid- to
late-game. Two upcoming factions – the
Dweghom and the Nords – likewise have
their own playstyles. The Dweghom –
Eä’s version of dwarves – are a ‘slowly
but surely’ faction, lacking the speed
necessary to capture territory quickly
but making up for it with hard-as-nails
troops that excel late-game. Meanwhile,
ABOVE Spire Brute Drones.
the Nords (aka Vikings) are the game’s
raiding army, striking fast but losing
steam if a match drags on for too long.
Successfully exploiting a faction’s
playstyle depends in large part on
understanding the co-dependent
relationship an army has with its
characters; as Mavrokefalos explains,
“Characters are only as strong as their
faction allows them to be.” What this
›
means in practice is that characters
aren’t going to act as one-man armies.
Instead, players will have to learn to
use character abilities as part of
a grander strategy. The Hundred
Kingdoms, for example, rely on
officers and noble lords to take
advantage of the aforementioned
orders system. By contrast, the
Spires are split between two
playstyles. On the one hand, they
can use biomancers – masters of
creating organic life forms – to
field elite troops adept at the art
of killing. Alternatively, they can
opt to use pheromancers, lesser
cousins of the biomancers who
excel at controlling behaviour.
Although their creations lack the
finesse of design that biomancers
can achieve, pheromancers can
push their soldiers into overdrive,
allowing them to dish out and
sustain more damage in a frenzy
of destruction.
DEAL THE CARDS
Like many contemporary
wargames, Conquest eschews
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 33
INTERVIEW | PARA BELLUM
the traditional IGOUGO method of
having each player make all their moves
in one go in favour of alternating unit
activation. What sets Conquest apart is the
role that cards play in the proceedings.
Each unit comes with its own command
card, which combine to create an army’s
command stack. Players arrange the
stack and place it facedown. After rolling
off to determine who goes first, players
draw a card from the top of their deck
and the corresponding unit is activated.
The hook, of course, is that the sequence
of activation is locked in before the turn
begins, as you can only use each unit in
the manner dictated by your choice of
card order. This card mechanic forces
players to carefully plan each turn, as
they can’t react on the fly to bad dice rolls
or the moves of their opponents. Ploys
can easily go awry if contingency for
error hasn’t been factored in before the
turn begins.
“It’s a game where you have to
use a lot of foresight, something we
34 Miniature Wargames July 2019
ABOVE Household Knights.
felt was missing from a lot of mass-
battle games,” explains Mavrokefalos.
“Because of the way the card system
works you’re always going to be hitting
hard somewhere, but at the same time
you’re always going to be getting hit
somewhere else.”
Compounding this is the fact that each
unit can only take two actions when
activated. In many wargames units can
often automatically perform a full list of
actions in a turn. By contrast, Conquest
players have to work out the optimum
combination of available options; march
twice to cover more ground, march and
charge, shoot then retreat, and so on. It’s
another element that forces the player to
think rather than simply rolling dice.
MARCHING ONWARDS
Conquest is a game that’s very much
a labour of love. The original project
started about five years ago as the
brainchild of lead writer Konstantinos
Oikonomou and creative director Stavros
Halkias. It would take another year and
a half of fleshing out the basic concepts
before the birth of Para Bellum as a
company. From the get-go one of the
most important objectives has been
to keep everything in-house; Conquest
has been entirely self-funded,
with all designs, artwork and
most impressively miniatures
produced in-house. In the
age of Kickstarter
and outsourced
production in China
it’s a notable change from
the norm, though it certainly
wasn’t an easy choice.
“We decided to go the hardest
route possible and go for
the hard plastic
miniatures that
everyone knows
and loves,” says
Mavrokefalos. “Something
that a lot of people don’t appreciate
is that developing stuff in hard plastic is
actually a lot of hard work, and it requires
a lot of technical expertise. Thankfully and
fortunately we do have this, but getting it
all in-house has taken quite a while.”
With the game hitting retail
imminently, future releases will focus
on expanding the miniatures line. First
up will be more units for the Spires and
Hundred Kingdoms, with the Dweghom
expected to come in August and the
Nords in November. Importantly, Para
Bellum is keen to make sure that the
barriers to entry are as low as possible for
interested players.
“The main line here is that
everything that isn’t a miniature you
don’t pay for,” says Mavrokefalos. The
rulebook you can get for free on our
website, and that’s going to be the case
for all our army books as well. We’re
also building an army builder that’s
going to be freely available.”
Above all, Mavrokefalos stresses that
the team’s ambition for Conquest is to
create something far grander than a
simple play-out-of-the-box game.
“One of the most important things
about Conquest for us is that it’s not a
project but a world we’re creating; it’s
here to stay.” ■
Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings is
released June 20th
 ULTRACOMBAT
RMAND
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FOR GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
DARKER HORIZONS | FANTASY FACTS
BARSOOM
BECKONS
John Carter of Mars arrives on Earth
Sometimes, things can take a while to
develop in the wargaming world. Many is
the game system or figure range that was
promised and yet never ever materialises but
– I’m glad to say – Modiphius Entertainment
do not appear to be the sort of folks to make
empty promises. In issue 405 of Miniature
Wargames – more than two and a half years
ago – I visited Chris Birch at the Modiphius
HQ and he gave me a glimpse of the renders
of the ‘upcoming’ John Carter range, and now
– sitting on my desk – I’m glad to say that I
have the first of them.
John Carter of Mars: Adventures on The
Dying World of Barsoom is designed as a
‘planetary romance’ tabletop role-playing
game. Modiphius created it in under
license – and with the full cooperation of
the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, author
of the original Barsoom novels – and they
have made every effort to ensure utmost
authenticity. Using a pulp-action inspired,
stripped down variant of their own 2d20
system called Momentum, the game rule
system – launched along with everything
else in the range through a Kickstarter –
allows players to take the role of various
adventurers and heroes as they explore
Barsoom. You can play as John Carter, the
princess Dejah Thoris, the huge four armed
Thark Tars Tarkas or you can create your own
36 Miniature Wargames July 2019
new heroes from a wide variety of options.
Those three figures – plus the “ever faithful
calot Woola” (the ten legged, frog mouthed
comic relief companion in the recent film) –
are the models I have in front of me. I haven’t
actually seen the rules yet, so I’m going to
concentrate on the figures.
The range is called the John Carter:
Swords Of Mars, and the release I have to
look at is the basic ‘Heroes’ set. They are
designed as 32mm scale models (though –
obviously – some are rather taller than that)
and they are high quality, multi-part, grey resin
ABOVE
The Heroes set.
BELOW
White Ape.
miniatures which come complete with resin
scenic bases. The figures are both slender
and dynamic, being very proportional and (in
Carter’s case) almost balletic in their pose.
John Carter is a four part kit (base, body and
two separate arms) and is depicted leaping
into the air, taking full advantage of his abilities
in the lower Martian gravity. He’s stretched
on tippy toes (and standing on a rock) and is
swinging a sword as well as carrying a pistol
in his left hand. If I measure from his heel to
the top of his head he’s about 36mm tall but
looks bigger (it’s hard to tell...). There’s also a
less dynamic version of Carter available if you
so chose (I’ve seen a picture).
The Princess is a two piece model (figure
and base) and is a smidge under 35mm. Again
she’s pistol and sword armed and she’s not
wearing a great deal (though slightly more
than as described by Burroughs himself in
his works: “She was as destitute of clothes
as the green Martians who accompanied
her... etc”) so the figure is, ahem... historically
pretty accurate in the clothing department.
Woola is a three part kit – half of the body
with some short stumpy legs and the rest of
the body, legs and head on a (separate) base –
and is about human height but obviously more
massive. The Thark is terribly impressive: a
smidge over 70mm tall and with two sword
arms and another pair of arms to stick on
holding a rifle (plus a separate head, scabbard
and base). It makes up into an imposing
model, festooned with kit, ammunition
bandoliers and so forth.
The role playing game with the attendant
figures and bonuses has exceeded
expectations massively. Last time I checked,
the £20,000 goal had £228,055 pledged so
– release wise – the £27.99 cost of the figure
set is just a start, I think. On the website to
buy right now are lots of rules (both print and
PDF); play aids (dice, play sheets and so forth);
and there are a heap more figure options
(that I haven’t actually seen). These include,
for example, a Zondangan Fighting Crew
miniatures set (with Sab Than, a Zondangan
Officer and four Zondangans for £29.99); and
individual figures. As exemplars of these there
is a Banth (ten legged Lion at £18.99); a four
armed White Ape (£21.99); and an Apt which
– whilst I’m sure it is as source-material-
accurate as all of the other creatures in the
range – looks a lot like the chicken that Peter
Griffin fights repetitively on Family Guy...
These figures are splendid and –
interestingly enough – almost unchanged
from the 3D renders I saw back in 2017. Go to
modiphius.net/collections/john-carter-of-mars
and see if they appeal to you: they certainly
do to me.
ROCKY!
Caves or maybe volcanic terrain mat
Deep-Cut Studio have a new Cave
game mat. It’s a dark, rocky, grey playing
surface with odd patches of green mossy
bits sprinkled over it but – irrespective of
that – the overall look is mostly a mottled,
dark grey. Although it is available in the
usual three mediums (cloth, PVC and
mousemat) and various sizes from 3x3,
they sent me that largest size (6x4 feet)
in the soft, fabric topped, neoprene
rubber. That size retails for €64.90 and
comes in a clear transport sleeve.
According to Deep-Cut, the mat’s
designed for a cave system and to
be stuffed absolutely full of hideous
The Leopard MBT (1/72) is
creatures, but what’s the best way to really just for scale to show the level
use it? That depends on what games of printed detail in the 6x4 foot
you play: it’s quite flexible. If you use it mousemat material ‘cloth’.
as a cave system, as intended, there are
really two approaches. Firstly there’s the The destructive method is to draw out products (like a Concrete mat I used to
non-destructive version: you use resin your cave and tunnel system in wipe-off make road strips) and it works well.
wall sections (or similar) or other items – pen, cramming in as many bits as you can Finally, if you don’t use the destructive
even suitable rocks or pieces of slate – to and using as much of the mat surface as version but keep the mat intact, it makes
delineate the cave walls, using the mat possible. Then, cut them all out with a a perfectly good, dark, stony plain –
as the cave floor. Obviously, that will be pair of scissors and voila! You then have a somewhat volcanic in style. This can then
infinitely configurable and – if you bought pile of rubber cave systems components be used for all sorts of games – not just
the PVC mat – you could even do the same
sort of thing with wipe off dry markers
(tunnels, caverns and so forth) which you
can lay down and use as and when you
caves – which is why my example has
a 1/72nd scale Leopard tank on it. That,
›
rather than physical walls (although getting need them. Obviously – if you do that – and I didn’t have any dungeon walls and I
them to show on the dark grey surface is you can’t really go back to a full sheet but it wanted to give readers a scale object! Go
going to be a little tough). is a system I’ve used with other Deep-Cut to deepcutstudio.com for more info.

YU JING The mat and a close up of an intersection

with some vehicles that I use for 1/100
Game mat for Infinity gaming (though – granted – they are both
rather large models in that scale).

Deep-Cut Studio have released another the left so – again – it makes me

official licensed game mat for the Infinity think ‘Japan’). But, here’s the
miniatures game by Corvus Belli. The Yu thing: when I place some vehicles
Jing mat is four feet square, printed on from my collection on the roads,
mousepad material, and comes shipped it fits perfectly with 1/100th scale
in their excellent clear-pvc, protective models. So: usable – obviously – with
storage bag which makes 32mm figures (with my ‘perspective
transportation and storage goggles’ on) or 15mm with the mat
just much easier. simply representing a flat city template
Now I’m a little confused and – with maybe a few buildings
by this mat: it’s very highly added (which, to avoid confusion
detailed, sporting a somewhat in the photographs, I didn’t do)
Manga feel with a future city- – that’ll really work well.
scape vibe and – as it’s designed for What this means is that
Infinity – I know it’s aimed at 32mm – for €54.90 – you can
figures. I guess it’s possible that what’s have a mat that will do
depicted is heavy perspective with roof two jobs which I see
tops and – way below – street scenes as a bargain. Go to
with roads and junctions with oriental deepcutstudio.com
symbols and road signs (and driving on for more info.

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 37

DARKER HORIZONS | FANTASY FACTS
BRIGADE 15mm and 6mm SF
Brigade sent some new 1/100th (15mm)
figures and 1/300th (6mm) buildings
for their SF ranges. Starting with the
larger chaps, there are three releases
for their Pacific Federation (PacFed)
range. They start with some Mortar
Teams with four different crew and two
small infantry mortars for £3. There’s
also some Snipers (four in two poses)
for £1.50 and an Armoured Brigadier for
50p. Not surprisingly, Brigade always
try to make a command figure – an
IN THE VANGUARD New 6mm SF
A recent release from a quite new
manufacturer called Vanguard
Miniatures arrived and it’s a very SF
looking aircraft though, to be honest, it
could easily be a space ship, especially
an atmosphere capable one. Designed
for a range called the Novan Elites, the
Wyvern Light Dropship comes in two
variants, either of which can be built
from a kit of parts. These are Wyvern A
(a dedicated troop carrier) with
an extra cargo ‘belly piece’ to
stick on; and Wyvern B which
replaces that extra passenger
pod in favour of an open cargo
bay with an attachment claw
to handle various (un-supplied) cargo
modules. The kit – all in very fine resin
– comes with a selection of turrets and
38 Miniature Wargames July 2019
eponymous Brigadier, of course – for all
of their forces and the fully armoured
PacFed (enclosed helmets and panelled
ABOVE
The Brigadier oversees
some mortars. PacFed
new recruits in 15mm.
RIGHT
6mm versions of
bunkers - including one
from the photo above!
wing-root weapons, a ‘roll bar’ for the top
rear and a cracking clear stand.
When assembled, the model is around
50mm long and around the same in width
with a canard wing arrangement. This is a
very, very detailed model and the fit of the
Two versions of the Wyvern.
body suits) have a bare headed chap in
charge (with an SF monocle!) to ring the
changes. Nice models.
In the smaller scale there is a selection
of SF Bunkers: these are scaled down
from their 15mm models with solid looking
pill boxes (in resin) with a variety of mostly
roof-mounted weapons and aerials in
metal. They come in square, hexagon and
octagonal formats along with a check-point
pair of buildings as well (sort of cubicles
with a weapon mount). These will be
priced at around £1 to £1.50 each.
Oh, and they’ve also made some
reduced versions of their Moonbase
Buildings – as released in 1/100th just a
couple of months ago – in this smaller
scale: they are small domes in resin,
again with metal doodads, and these are
destined to be priced in the £1 to £1.25
but – as they are very new – this isn’t
nailed down yet. For a picture of those,
look at the Fantasy Facts in issue 432 of
Miniature Wargames and just hold the
page further away from your eye-line... Or
go to brigademodels.co.uk for more info!
parts is impeccable. The resin is slightly
flexible and yet robust. This isn’t the first
model in a new range – there’s a larger version
called the Eagle – but it shows great promise!
The Wyvern is £10. Visit vanguardminiatures.
co.uk for more information.
BIG FOOT
And the Great Prince of Hell in 28mm
Antediluvian Miniatures sent me a pair
of Sasquatches. They are two different,
once piece castings with one raising
his (its?) hands in a classic, bellowing
pose, while the other one’s a little more
crouched over and trying to either move
– or maybe throw – a rock. Both come
with plastic slot bases and the upright
fella is 38mm to the top of the head so I
guess that makes them ideal for 28mm
but they’d probably work with 40mm
figures as well (it depends how tall you
think that bloke in the gorilla suit was on
that famous ‘Patterson video’ from Bluff
Creek!). The overwhelming scale related
question is “how big is your sasquatch...”
and that’s up to the individual. They are
well detailed sculpts and are £12 a pair.
And then there’s a sort of Owl bloke:
this is the very interesting addition to
their Medieval Demons range and is
Xxx
named Stolas: A Great Prince of hell.
It’s like a very long-legged, owl-like
creature with folded wings and wearing
a crown (well, he is a Great Prince...).
All of the other figures in this range are
based on period medieval illustrations
so I’m guessing Stolas is similarly
inspired. It’s £6, cast in metal with a
plastic base and is around 40mm tall
(or 35mm foot to the... er: beak). Go to
antediluvianminiatures.wordpress.com
for the latest information.
RIGHT
An example from the website: the Call to Arms
Stolas: A Great Prince
Dragonborn Triumphant.
of hell.
BELOW
a pair of Sasquatches..
ELDER
SCROLLS
Future releases from
Modiphius
Earlier I’ve covered a release from
Modiphius Entertainment that took two
and a half years to materialise. Their next
outing looks like it’s going to arrive rather
more quickly... I haven’t got my hands on
any actual releases yet but I’ve just seen
some news. For fans of their translation
of the computer game Fallout onto the
table top, their next project (based on a
version of the Fallout rules) is another
computer ‘franchise’. The Elder Scrolls:
Call to Arms puts the computer world of
Tamriel onto the tabletop and will feature
their now expected top-end 32mm
resin figures with scenic bases. These
will portray the fantasy stalwarts of the
computer game including fan favourite
heroes like Hadvar, Ralof, Yrsarald and
more. The player’s heroes lead groups of
followers on adventures inside Dwemer
Ruins, Draugr-infested Nord Tombs, and
through the frozen wilderness.
Follow the launch of this system at
modiphius.com/elder-scrolls.html
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 39
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 1

SHOW REPORT

BEING PARTIZAN
The Editor goes to the first of the Partizan 2019 shows
Words and photography by John Treadaway

3 4

42 Miniature Wargames July 2019


2 8 Another great looking 20mm WWII game with
I
will confess that it’s been a few
years since I’ve attended a Partizan
show. In fact, not since the hosts
– the Newark Irregulars club – held
their event at Kelham Hall. So I’ll
get straight to the point: the venue
that they’ve been at for a few years
now is the same one I’ve regularly
attended for the Hammerhead shows
(the Newark Show Ground) however
– unlike that show – Partizan utilises
just the main building rather than the
Cerdic Hall/Gamer’s Lounge that
Hammerhead also uses. However
everything else that’s good about
Hammerhead remains the same for
Partizan: a big open hall; pretty
5 8
1-2 Command groups can make or break a pretty game
and there are few better than this: some superb ones
on a Napoleonic game by the Dales Wargamers.
3-4 Superb 20mm action in the Siege of Oosterbeek
1944 by the Old Pikey’s Team.
5 British forces at the Battle of Mandara 1801 by The
Perry Twins.
6 One of a number of great little vignettes on the Battle
of Bauge game by the Lance and Longbow Society.
7 A 28mm Chain of Command WWII game by 1st Corps.
Normandy 1944 by Steve Jones.
much unlimited parking; decent
lighting; and good catering. Plus, it
costs only a fiver to get in (and you
get a free figure and a floorplan!).
So – as I’ve stated on many occasions
that Hammerhead is on my top three
shows list – that’s a good start.
As I’m looking at my return to
Partizan – and while I’m in the
›
confessional box – I’ll admit to
something else: I was under the
impression that the show was pretty
much comprised of ‘all historical
demo games’ and I was wrong about
that. Sure the number of non-historical
games was very small: within the 6
sixty or so games present on Sunday
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 43
SHOW REPORT | PARTIZAN 2019
19th of May there were a half a dozen
or so that were definitely fantasy and
SF (which pleased me on a balance
front) but it’s fair to say that – as
there were a good ten of just WWII
games (never mind all other periods) –
there was an obvious preponderance
of solid historical demos and party
games - which also demolishes my
second preconception. So there were
F&SF games, though not many.
Instead of the hall being separated
into different period zones (always
a bad idea in my opinion) the hosts
9 Peterborough Wargames Club.
11
44 Miniature Wargames July 2019
split the show into 24 Party Games at
one end and 34 or so Demonstration
Games at (largely) the other end of
the hall with a sliver called “The
Historical Zone” between them like
salami in a sandwich. That latter slot
had book signings, societies and a
couple of games. That’s a good idea!
WHO’S THERE?
I’m going to reduce what I write here to
leave more space for as many pictures
as possible of the great games that were 12
present. However: a word about the
10
9-10 Attack on the Abbey: a terrific looking WWI game
in 28mm with an A7V and attacks on trench systems by
the always impressive Earlswood Wargames Group.
11 A 19th century Colonial game in 28mm by the
12-13 Gods and Mortals : superb fantasy/Celtic Iron Age
fortifications, scenery and figures in 28mm (or there-
abouts) by James Morris and Lenton Gamers.
14 WWII close up action in 28mm by Blitzkrieg
Miniatures.
15 Whipping up a Typhoon: a 20mm Rapid Fire game by
the Derby Wargames Club.
16 Command and Colours: a board game translated
to 28mm (complete with hex tiles) with some great
painting by The Old Guard.
17 Sharp Practice: Like a Stonewall Wargames had
a plethora of well made, scratch built scenery in this
excellent 28mm game.
18 Mobile fortifications in 28mm by the League of
Augsberg.
 shopping options: there were over 40
traders with most of the big historical
names and that’s great but... what about
the games? Well I can’t just list ‘the good
ones’ as I can say, with hand on heart,
that there wasn’t a bad one in attendance.
In fact, picking out the best is going to
be very difficult indeed. James Morris
and The Lenton Gamers put on two non-
historical games: one Celtic themed with
a superb set of Iron-age style scenery
(with a circular fort and teddy bear fur
ground) and the other being a very tidy
Gods and Mortals game. The WWII
games were pretty much all stunning
but I’ll take my hat off to the Siege of
Oosterbeek 1944 in 20mm by the Old

16

13 17

14

15 18

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 45

SHOW REPORT | PARTIZAN 2019
19 Strike the tent! The
Battle of Centia 1519 by
the Lincoln Miniature
Warfare Society.
20-21 A fine looking
20mm game using
B&B Miniatures: the
Battle of Brooklyn
1776 by the North Hull
Wargames Club.
Pikey’s group (see their work in 28mm
in the D-Day Ham and Jam article in this
issue). That was a stunning game and a
fitting tribute to the actions of the British
Paras on the day. In the same period a
Chain of Command 28mm WWII game
by 1st Corps; Normandy 1944 in 20mm
by Steve Jones and another 20mm Rapid
Fire game the Derby Wargames Club were
also very good, mind you.
In other periods, the Battle of
Mandara 1801 by The Perry Twins was
lovely; as was the Battle of Brooklyn
1776 in 20mm by the North Hull
Wargames Club; and the The Lion the
Bear and the Winged Hussar 1721 by the
Grimsby Wargames Society which was just
heaving with masses of great painted
figures. The Battle of Concarneau 1489
by the Chesterfield Old Boys; the Battle
20
46 Miniature Wargames July 2019
of Centia 1519 by the Lincoln Miniature
Warfare Society; and a superb outing
(complete with flying cannon balls)
by the League of Augsberg were all just
spiffing looking games.
...AND FINALLY
Last of the games I will mention –
though not by far the last of the ‘good
games’ – was the WWI Attack on the
Abbey game in 28mm by Earlswood
Wargames Group. This was simply a
great piece of modelling with trenches
and ruins in various states of repair
and damage with casualties portrayed
(though not in a gratuitous way) and
some colour amongst the well modelled
grim mud in the shape of a couple of
AFVs with a red Triplane hovering
overhead. It’s not easy to make a First
21
19
World War game look exciting but the
model work was – as usual from this
group – outstanding.
Such was my enjoyment of the games
that – although I was there for most of
the day with camera in hand – I barely
had any time to talk to traders, let alone
buy anything. I took over three hundred
and fifty shots on the day and the show
was hard to better as a showcase for
quality modelling and wargaming.
So my conclusion is that Partizan –
both of them I guess (remember they
have two shows a year) – is a great day
out and thoroughly recommended,
especially if you like Historical games
and shopping for them. So book a slot
for the 18th of August and get along to
the Other Partizan: same bat location,
same bat approach! ■

THE GREAT
EXPEDITION Drake’s Raids in the New World 1585 to 1586
Words by Chris Swan Photography by John Treadaway
he term, Combined Operations,
T may have been coined in the Second
World War but this style of military
attack goes back to the mists of antiquity
and can be traced to the Sea Peoples. In its
basic form it involves raiding coastal regions
by land forces arriving from naval vessels.
One example of this style of operation
which involved taking treasure back to
its instigators was the Great Expedition of
Sir Francis Drake made against Spanish
Colonies in the New World.
BACKGROUND
By the mid 1500s Catholic Spain was the
dominant power in Europe. Its colonies in
the Americas sent gold, silver and other
riches back to Europe to fund Spain’s
growing empire and when in 1580 King
Philip II of Spain seized the Portuguese
48 Miniature Wargames July 2019
throne the monies from Portugal’s New
World colonies was added to the wealth
of Spain. All of this was used to fund
Spain’s growing influence and maintain
its veteran armies. It also enabled Philip
to pursue his dream of a wholly Catholic
Europe. However, there were two clouds
in Spain’s otherwise blue sky - the revolt
by Dutch Protestants in what was then
known as the Low Countries and the so
called heretic Kingdom of England ruled
by Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1568 the northern, largely Protestant,
provinces of the Spanish Netherlands had
revolted against what they saw as the
oppressive and doctrinal rule of Spain. This
would spark a war which lasted for 80 years
eventually ending in Dutch Independence
but in the beginning it was unclear whether
it would succeed. England unofficially
Fighting off of the beach: English
Soldiers prepare to cross the
Spanish earthwork.
supported the Dutch but originally Queen
Elizabeth would not sanction official
support for fear that it might aggravate
Spain into a war which she thought
England was not prepared for.
However, when the French Catholic
League fighting for control of France
signed a treaty with Spain to destroy its
French Protestants opponents, she became
concerned that France would fall under
Spanish influence and decided to act.
In 1585, under the Treaty of Nonsuch,
Elizabeth I formally declared support for
the Dutch and sent English troops to the
Low Countries. This made war with Spain
all but inevitable.
In an attempt to delay any Spanish
attack on England, Queen Elizabeth’s
spymaster, Francis Walsingham, proposed
an expedition to raid Spain’s colonies along
the Spanish Main thus disrupting the low
of treasures from the New World to Spain
and hopefully disrupting its economy.
THE EXPEDITION
Sir Francis Drake was selected to lead
the raid. He had already led successful
raids across the Atlantic and into the
Paciic Ocean and had circumnavigated
the world. These raids had brought back
great wealth and as his expeditions had
inancial backers they had made huge
proits from them. Walsingham’s proposal
was backed by a number of secret but
noble investors, including the Queen,
who expected Drake to return with huge
amounts of Spanish treasure.
During the summer of 1585 Drake
gathered his ships and men in Plymouth. In
total his leet had 29 ships and around 2,300
men. Of these, about 1,600 were soldiers
under the command of Christopher Carleill.
Despite not being fully prepared, Drake
ordered his leet to sail on 14th September
1585, having been warned that the Queen
was having second thoughts and might
call off the raid. The speed of the departure
meant that not all of the leet’s supplies
had been loaded and Drake knew that
he needed to gather more supplies and
water before sailing for the New world. He
therefore decided to attack Vigo in Spain
arriving there on 27th September 1585. Due
to unfavourable winds he held the town
for two weeks ransoming the necessary
supplies before setting sail. He had hoped
to intercept the main Spanish Treasure leet
off the Portuguese coast but missed it by
less than a day, forcing him to sail onwards
towards his main targets.
In early November he reached the Cape
Verde Islands. The reason for attacking the
Islands seems unclear as it was not part of
the expedition’s original plans. Drake may
have wanted to use it to practise his tactics
including landing Carleill’s men but it is
more likely to have been revenge for what
was seen as a treacherous attack made 3
years earlier by the Island’s Governor on
English ships at anchor after being given
safe conduct.
Whatever the reason, on the evening
of 11th November 1585 Drake landed
Carleill with a 1,000 men 4 miles from
the town of Santiago then sailed on to the
town and opened ire from his ships. The
bombardment was returned by the Spanish
but their ire stopped when they ran out of
ammunition. Then at around 4am Carleill’s
men appeared to the East of the town and
on sighting them militia defending an
earth work fort broke and led. Soon all of
the town’s defenders and inhabitants had
abandoned it and by 4.30am the English lag
was lying over the town.
Drake and his men found little worth
taking but Drake stayed on the Islands until
the end of November trying to extort a
ransom from its Governor and sent Carleill
and his men to the Island’s Capital, Porto
Praia, to ind plunder. Again its inhabitants
led before Carleill’s men arrived and they
found little of value. Eventually Drake gave
up and, having burnt Santiago, the leet
sailed across the Atlantic. As well as what
little loot the expedition had gained, it also
To the shore! The English begin
landing.
took with it another gift from the Spanish,
fever. This was probably picked up from the
residents of the islands and by the time his
ships reached the New World Drake may
have lost well over 300 of his men, reducing
his numbers to below 2,000.
On New Year’s Day, 1586, they reached
Santo Domingo, the oldest Spanish city in
the New World, and the capital of the island
of Hispaniola. The City boasted supposedly
impressive defences but in reality its walls
were in poor repair and many of its cannons
were useless as their carriages had rotted
and they lacked powder and shot. Estimates
of the numbers defending Santo Domingo
give a total of 800 men, of whom 100
were classed as cavalry, but the Governor,
Cristóbal de Ovalle, estimated the numbers
could be boosted to 1,500 if necessary.
However, a Spanish writer described those
defending Santo Domingo as “a few residents
armed with pikes and lances they had inherited
from their fathers or grandfathers, conquerors
of the land, and a few harquebusiers, though
without gunpowder, bullets or shot”.
Drake landed Carleill’s men, again
numbering around 1,000 soldiers, over
night and at dawn sailed to the beaches off
shore from the city, where he proceeded to
›
bombard it and stage mock landings. At
noon when the city’s defenders’ attention
was focused on Drakes ships, Carleill’s force
marched out of the jungle and launched
an attack on the landward side of the
city. The governor sent out skirmishers to
delay them and in an attempt to break up
Carleill’s formation ordered a herd of cattle
to be stampeded into them. Neither tactic
worked. By 12.30 Carleill’s men had seized
a gate into the city and by 3.00pm they had
succeeded in capturing it. Drake’s men
plundered it, extorting a ransom of 25,000
ducats from the Governor and after a week
they set sail for their next target.
CARTAGENA
Drake’s next target was the treasure port
of Cartagena where emeralds and gold
were gathered for shipment to Spain, and
so Drake hoped for rich pickings. The City
and its harbour were strongly defended by
forts and gun batteries and the Governor,
Don Pedro Fernandez de Busto, had been
warned that Drake’s leet was coming. He
also knew that the only viable route for a
force of soldiers to take to attack the city was
along a spit of sand known as La Caleta. He
ordered an earth work to be built blocking
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 49
One of Drake’s
ships attacks
a Spanish
settlement.
it with a heavy battery of guns located at
its centre. He placed a garrison of 500 men,
including 200 Indians armed with bows
and poisoned arrows, to defend it and had
two galleys, the Santiago and the Ocasion
anchored on the harbour side of the spit to
provide addition ire power.
Drake landed Carleill’s soldiers on the
end of the spit in the early hours of 10th
January 1586. By 4pm his men were within
a few hundred yards of the earthwork
when they were inally spotted. The
Spanish opened ire and held Carleill’s men
off for a period of time. However, Carleill
had spotted a weakness in the defences.
Whilst the earthwork was built on the
solid ground of the spit, on the Caribbean
seaward side the fortiications ended with
a poorly built barricade made from barrels
illed with sand.
Carleill ordered an assault on the
earthwork and, whilst it defenders were
ighting, led men to attack the weak end of
the defences which were quickly breached.
The Spanish defenders led back to the
city pursued by the English and the town
quickly fell to their assault. Whilst the
ight had been going on Drake’s leet had
50 Miniature Wargames July 2019
“demonstrated” in front of the harbour
thus preventing the Spanish from sending
any reinforcement to aid the defenders of
the earthworks.
The city was occupied by the English
forces until 26th March 1586. Again the
town was plundered and held to ransom,
netting a treasure of around 110,000 ducats.
Drake then sought another target but felt
he had insuficient numbers to raid the
heavily defended city of Havana. So Drake
decided to raid the little Spanish colony of
St Augustine on the coast of Florida.
He landed his men near to the town on
28th May 1586 and set up camp. Overnight
Indians allied to the Spanish launched
a surprise attack on his camp which
ended after 20 minutes of skirmishing
and which caused no casualties. The next
day Drake led his men to the town but
found it abandoned. Whilst searching
for items of value they came under ire
from the garrison who were hidden in the
surrounding trees and Anthony Powell, one
of Carleill’s lieutenants, was killed before
they were driven off. Drake occupied the
town over night having found the garrison’s
pay chest containing 2,000 ducats. The next
day his men carried off tools and other
“useful” items before burning the town to
the ground and destroying the colonist’s
crops and orchards.
Drake then sailed to Sir Walter Raleigh’s
settlement at Roanoke on 9th June 1586.
He replenished the colonists’ supplies but
they asked to be taken back to England,
setting sail in Drake’s ships on 18th June
1586. (Ironically, Sir Richard Grenville
arrived with supplies and more colonists a
week later. These opted to stay in the now
abandoned settlement but when supply
ships arrived a year later they found the
colonists had disappeared. No trace was
ever found off them and their fate remains
a mystery.)
Drake’s leet reached England on 22nd
July 1586, sailing into Portsmouth after
an absence of just over 10 months to a
hero’s welcome.
THE OUTCOME
Apart from its inancial success for
Drake’s backers, the great expedition had
demonstrated the vulnerability of Spain’s
overseas possessions and within months of
the raids, Spain’s request to the Papacy and

to major Florentine Bankers for a loan of
500,000 ducats was turned down.
However, whilst the raid may have been
a inancial success and a humiliation for the
Spanish, it now meant that Spain would
have to take decisive action to eliminate
the English threat. Thus the plan for the
Great Armada was formed. In fact, it can be
argued that the Great Expedition brought
about the very thing it sought to delay.
MEN, TACTICS & WEAPONS
Drake and his key captains, including his
Deputy Admiral, Martin Frobisher, were
all experienced seamen and privateers,
whilst Carleill and his chief lieutenants,
Anthony Powell, Matthew Morgan and
John Simpson, were all veteran soldiers.
The bulk of Drake’s seamen were seasoned
professionals who had undertaken similar
expeditions before, whilst Carleill’s troops
included veterans from warfare in the Low
Countries, Ireland and the many wars on
the Continent. Their ranks were boosted by
many “adventurers” who hoped to proit
from their share of any loot gathered.
The Governors they faced were
politicians, not military men and the bulk
of their opponents were not the veteran
Spanish soldiers of the Tercios but mainly
militia stiffened with soldiers from local
garrisons, civic volunteers, and town’s
people together in some cases with local
natives. These may have been experienced
in putting down revolts by slaves and local
tribes but they were hardly a match for the
troops led by Carleill.
Carleill’s men and their opponents were
armed and armoured in typical late 16th
century style, using pikes, bills or halberds
plus swords and axes for close combat
and harquebuses or muskets for missile
weapons, with some oficers carrying
wheelock pistols. Some of Carleill’s men
and some sailors used crossbows as they
were more suited to ighting at sea than
matchlock irearms.
Some would have worn a steel or
iron cap or helmet such as a burgonet or
morion. For body armour, the richest wore
a “half harness”, a front and back plate or
occasionally three quarter armour covering
their arms and thighs. The majority wore
light armour such as brigandines or jacks
(a type of sleeveless canvas doublet into
which small plates of steel were stitched) or
leather jerkins. Some may well have carried
small shields or bucklers from which the
SCENARIO | THE GREAT EXPEDITION
tem “Swash Buckler” derives. The Spanish
native allies primarily used bows iring
poisoned arrows as they preferred to ight
as skirmishers although they are likely
to have had some form of club or similar
weapon for close combat.
Contrary to Hollywood and historical
iction, raids such as those by Drake did not
usually involve ship to ship actions, although
this would have been the result had he
managed to intercept the Spanish Treasure
leet. Instead Drake’s ships were a means
to land Carleill’s troops near to their target
enabling them to attack the towns whilst the
ships stayed off shore and acted as loating
batteries or merely a diversion. The ships’
crews would then land to aid in looting the
towns and the captured treasure was then
taken back and loaded into the ships, which
became a vast mobile storage facility.
Thus these raids were primarily land
based attacks with the Spanish relying on
their walls, fortiications and artillery to
defend themselves plus the odd local tactic,
such as the use of stampeding cattle or
native allied skirmishers.
WHAT FIGURES TO USE
I know that there are many companies
which produce suitable igures in 15mm for
the late 1500s and so the campaign could
easily be played using these. However,
I will restrict my comments to 28mm as
these are what we used for the games.
The best igures for both sides are those
produced by Wargames Foundry who have
An English ship manoeuvres to fire.
an extensive range of Swashbucklers and
adventurers for the Elizabethan period, all
very colourful igures on foot However,
their mounted igures are more limited...
The Border Reiver igures (previously
produced by Graven Images and now
sold by Hoka Hey Wargaming marketed
as Timeline Miniatures) are also excellent
and usable. Redoubt Enterprises, now
owned by Andy Grubb of Grubby Tanks,
has an extensive range and equally useable
range of Renaissance igures. The Assault
Group also has a Renaissance range and
is beginning to produce igures for a range
of “Sea Beggars” – those Dutch seadogs
who were allies to the English in their war
against Spain.
It is not necessary to use ships for the
games but having one or more on the table
edge adds scenery – mine are converted
plastic pirate ships from an old board game
but even cardboard cut outs can be used –
whatever looks good. As for scenery, well a
table with water, either a suitable coloured
cloth or a designed mat with a beach and
some lat ground are all that is required.
On this, place a few palm trees and then
some buildings to represent the town being
attacked. Set these up on the far side of the
›
table away from the beach. Add whatever
other features you think will make a good
game and off you go!
So, in this campaign who will win - the
bold English Seadogs or the stout defenders
of the Spanish Main? Only the skill of the
players and Gods of the Dice will decide!
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 51
SCENARIO | THE GREAT EXPEDITION
FURTHER READING
There are a number of books about the
life of Sir Francis Drake but The Great
Expedition from Osprey in their Raid Series
gives more information. Elizabethan Sea
Dogs in their Elite Series also has some
information but many inspirational colour
plates. Another inspirational book is The
Sea Dogs, Privateers, Plunder and Piracy
in the Elizabethan Age by Neville Williams
published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
AN ALTERNATIVE SETTING
One of my favourite Science Fiction writers
is David Drake (no relation to Sir Francis...)
of Hammer’s Slammers and Tales from the
RCN fame (I can’t imagine why this drew my
attention! Ed.). David Drake envisaged Sir
Francis Drake’s raids transferred to the far
future and fought out in distance planets in
his space opera trilogy The Reaches.
In his re-imagined world mankind had
reached the stars before the collapse of the
Earth’s central Government which almost
wiped out civilization and the ability to
mass produce items has been lost. 1.000
years later Mankind has fallen back to
using traditional craft based methods to
make technology as well as seeking out
items and processes from a lost age. Thus
space travel beyond the Solar System is
52 Miniature Wargames July 2019
risky but profitable using vessels built
using processes similar to those used for
ship building of the 19th Century but with
adapted technology based on items and
plans from the past.
The Dictator of the North American
Federation rules Earth (the substitute for
Spain) and claims far space, The Reaches,
as its sole property. Items from the robotic
factories that still exist on some far planets
is beyond anything Earth is able to create,
especially micro-chips, and the Reaches also
provide a race of bi-pedal insectoids called
Molts who are used as servitors (or slaves
depending on your view) as they have
retained a generic racial memory of how
mass produced processes operated from a
time before mankind’s collapse and so can
still operate machinery and industrial plants
men have forgotten how to use. Thus micro
chips and Molts are “treasure” to be seized.
Opposed to Earth are the underground
towns and cities of Venus (the substitute for
England) whose traders are now exploring
far space and seek the wealth jealously
guarded and controlled by Earth’s forces.
In this setting star ships are armed with
Plasma Cannons which must be reloaded
after each shot and are fired through gun
ports along the side of ships which have to
be crewed by men wearing space suits.
Drake’s men clash with Spanish Militia Pikemen.
For planet side combat missile weapons
are mainly single shot breech loading rifles,
although repeaters and revolvers do exist
but are described as prone to jamming.
The most effective weapon is a single shot
shoulder arm which is in effect a mini-laser/
plasma gun called a “Flash Gun” which has
to have a new battery inserted after each
shot – these are in effect a small one man
portable artillery piece. Close combat is
conducted using chain swords as well as a
variety of edged or clubbed weapons, whilst
parts of “hardened space suits “ are worn as
either partial or full armoured suits.
Overall the books effectively transfer
Elizabethan England’s struggles with Spain
to a more modern setting with believable
characters and are a lot of fun (the books
also deal with combat stress and the
effect too much combat can have on any
individual but that’s another story).
So for an alternative take on Drake’s raids
why not look at the books and adapt my
campaign rules by using planets instead of
towns and use space ships instead of ships
that sail the seas of the Spanish Main! ■
Next Month: In part two of this article, Chris
will be providing his rules to game the Great
Expedition which will have a downloadable
component! Ed.
 New 28mm ranges for WWII including Italian Alpini and Greek
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Hungarian and Italian troops for the Eastern Front.

Above: Greek Mountain

Infantry Command

German Stalingrad
Veterans Winter
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Soviet F22
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WWW.GREATESCAPEGAMES.CO.UK
SLIGHTLY
UNBALANCED
An ad hoc WWII scenario mechanism for the Western Desert
Words by Dave Tuck Photography by Malc Johnston
his is hopefully not a description
T of me and my wargaming pals,
but a scenario mechanism we
used recently. It gave us such a good
game I thought I would share the story
and the mechanisms with you.
We regularly play World War Two
games, using Iron Cross rules by Great
Escape Games. Rob Cooper, a talented
modeller and painter in our group,
had some new additions to his Western
Desert British and Commonwealth and
Italian Forces and we all know that new
kit needs to be blooded... Rob’s stuff was
no exception to this! I was tasked with
setting up a scenario for four players.
We have a twelve foot by six foot
table at our disposal, and some nice
54 Miniature Wargames July 2019
two-by-two scenery boards and drop on
terrain pieces. The problem was, I didn’t
have an accurate list of what forces we
were going to be able to use: like most
wargamers, some items were being
finished for the game, and may – or may
not – be done on time!
DESERT SONG
The scenario I had chosen was based on
the battle for Tummar West, which took
place on December 6th, 1940. The British
hit the Italian Camp, with their arrival
being covered, and disrupted, by a
sandstorm. The Italians reinforced their
position with troops from Tummar East,
as well as from Point 90. These were two
other Italian Camps in the vicinity.
The Italian Camp was represented by
a pair of two foot boards with dugouts,
separated by a four foot gap which
contained a sandbagged supply dump.
A further two foot area of undulating
ground formed the outside edges of the
Italian defensive line.
The rest of the table was open
desert, covered in hills, scrub and a
small walled village, giving the British
and Commonwealth some good cover.
The Italians were given a good length
of barbed wire to place outside their
defences. In Iron Cross rules, tanks
can drive through this, with little
danger, but un-breached wire causes
infantry and wheeled transport a lot
of difficulty.
The Italians defend their trench.
 An L3/33 bravely moves to attack.

›
I knew a lot of Rob’s equipment This left the British and Commonwealth, number of troops and weapons deployed
was later than 1940 vintage, but from in command of the rest of the entry points, at the start, dug in, and protected, and
previous games I also knew that it was totalling 20 feet of table, or ten of our surrounded in part, by the barbed wire.
evenly matched. Problems to solve, I board edges. Consequentially, they had a Four companies of infantry, a couple of
thought, included: 10-sided dice, (D10) which was put on the Medium Machine gun teams, mortars
» The arrival of the attacking forces. British side of the table. and a howitzer and 65mm infantry gun
» The arrival of the defending The Italians had to have, a certain completed their weakly held positions.
reinforcements.
» The effect of the sandstorm on
both sides.
» How to give the British and
Commonwealth forces the element of
surprise, they would need.
The table had a perimeter of 36
feet, two 12 foot lengths and two 6
foot widths.

DEPLOYMENT
The Italians occupied two feet of the
tables six foot width, so I allowed their
reinforcements to arrive from either
lank of their positions or from their
own base line. Using our two foot
boards, that gave me eight random
locations, from which the defenders
support could arrive. An 8-sided dice,
(D8), was put on the Italian Players
A British 25 pounder in action.
brieing sheet.

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 55

SCENARIO MECHANISM | WWII – THE WESTERN DESERT
ARRIVALS
The Italian reinforcements were to
arrive at a maximum rate of two units
per turn, as they mobilised, surprised
and confused by the sandstorm and
unexpected attack.
The Allied forces, being the attackers,
were allowed a maximum rate of arrival
of up to four units per turn. In addition,
they were allowed double the units
employed by the Italians, on table, at the
start of the game. Around eight infantry
companies, some supports, a couple of
artillery pieces and an armoured car, did
the trick.
To account for the confusion caused
by the sandstorm, the arrival point was
diced for. On the British side, the D10
was rolled, and starting on the left lank,
each increment of one, moved the arrival
point one two foot square along it’s lank,
starting on the edge and up the other lank.
The Italians, having only sixteen feet
of usable table edge to arrive from, rolled
a D8. Each increment of one, moved
the arrivals two feet from the left lank,
across their start line, to the right lank.
Italian artillery and towing vehicle.
56 Miniature Wargames July 2019
I was not sure what forces we had
available, so I simply listed one to twelve
on a sheet of plain paper for both sides. On
game night, we took stock of the forces, and
made twelve command groups from them.
The Italians had a couple of Companies
of Askari and Bersagliari, a Company of
three L3/33 tankettes, a Company of three
M13/40 tanks amongst others.
The British and Commonwealth
players did the same. They were also
given a blank for each unit plus a stack
of dummy counters.
WHO’S WHO?
Each turn the British rolled four D12’s
and the Italians two. The unit on the list,
corresponding to the score, rolled a D10
for its arrival position and a blank was
placed on the appropriate spot. If the
score on the chart had been deployed
already, they took a dummy marker and
placed it, by dice roll in the same way.
We found this created the fog of war
admirably! Even to the point where the
British players forgot the real from the
imaginary units.
The Italians had up to two units
arriving each turn. Any numbers already
deployed were simply ignored. The
defender did not use blanks or dummies.
SPOTTING
The Italians automatically spotted the
British and Commonwealth blanks at
a range of 18 inches and could chose to
spend a command token, allocated to a
unit, in attempting to spot. They succeeded
on a roll of 4-6 on a D6. They could attempt
again, in the same turn, obeying all the
usual activation rules in Iron Cross.
As the Italians spotted automatically
at 18” range, the attacking players soon
realised the beneit of stacking reserve
blanks and dummies at the table edge.
Were these the main thrust? Or simply
an isolated LRDG patrol? The defenders
would have to spend valuable command
capital to ind out!
This tough decision making was
carried out by both sides. To ire on a
known target or spot an unknown one?
To declare a unit’s position – and make-
up – to distract the defenders... or not?

PLAYING THROUGH
Our game played very well. There was a
real element of confusion for both sides.
Each side was frustrated by the random
arrival points. All the British armour
arrived on their right lank. At one
point in the game, two British Infantry
Companies, attempting to outlank the
Italian right, were themselves caught in
the rear, by some newly arriving Italian
reinforcements.
The British had a break point of
twenty and the Italians ifteen. It was a
measure of the close nature of the game,
that when the Italians hit their limit,
the British only had a couple of points
to spare, before they too would have
broken.
COMING UP ROSES
I was very pleased with the way this
off-the-cuff idea developed and it set
me thinking about other periods to try
it with. For example, I have wanted
to ight the Wars of the Roses Battle
of Barnet, 14th April,1471, for some
time. This was fought in a mist, by two
armies that had deployed the previous
night after darkness fell. I felt some
of the ideas from our Desert WWII
ABOVE The Italians
deploy from a trench.
LEFT Truck borne
artillery was a favourite
of the Italians.
game earlier could help to achieve this.
Blanks and dummies could be used
to represent each unit in a battle. Both
sides would then deploy the blanks and
dummies, in each of the three battles, as
they saw it.
In the actual battle, the sides did not
face up, as in most Wars of the Roses
battles. They were each overlapped
on their respective left lanks. To
represent this, I think I will allow the
players to match up, then let them
each roll a D10, (or an appropriate
dice, depending upon igure scale and
movement rates). Then they would
move each complete army that many
inches (as rolled on the dice) to its
left. This is with the army still being
represented by blanks and dummies,
so it should not be a long task.
To add to the confusion, my idea
would be to only replace the blanks and
dummies once a unit ires, or is within
two normal moves of the enemy or,
perhaps, if the player chooses to show
his hand. This doesn’t mean the enemy
have suddenly developed x-ray eyes,
but more, the fact the troops showing
themselves would have let out a mighty
war cry!
CONCLUSION
We are still in the process of revamping
our Wars of the Roses armies, and we
intend to develop the idea of ighting
in the fog, in this period. We will also
try it for Napoleonic’s, Thirty Years War
and ACW. All of these have well known
battles where fog played an important
role in the proceedings. With the editors
blessing I will write about our progress
with this in a future article.
Weather was – and is – a vital
ingredient in combat. This is probably
truer the further back in time you go.
Even today though, it has the ability, to
cause problems: Swollen rivers, burst
banks and looded ields are not easy
things to overcome, in any situation
and they are all caused by heavy rain.
Dust – caused by drought has equally
unfortunate consequences to visibility
and concealment.
We should all take weather into
account in our wargames, far more than
we currently do. For another example,
I have rarely – if ever – seen the effect
wind strength and direction has on
the swathes of black powder smoke
generated by massed musket ire.
Napoleonic artillery ranges were quite
long, but this should count for nothing,
if a target cannot be identiied. Just look
at any of the classic battle-paintings of
the era to see this in action.
I started off this article with some,
(hopefully), simple but effective,
scenario generation tweaks. I have
ended it sounding like an advert for the
Met’ ofice! Winter is coming! ■
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 57
Wargames Fantasy and
Sci-Fi figures always
sought for cash, part
exchange or swaps.

Website updated
RECCE
Book reviews for the discerning wargamer’s library shelves and coffee tables.
D-DAY COVER UP AT POINTE DU HOC
(TWO VOLUMES)
Gary Sterne | Pen and Sword | 2019 | £35
and £40 | hardback | 502 and 663 pages |
ISBN:9781526752222 and 9781473823747
| pen-and-sword.co.uk

In fifty years of reading a map showing

military history, I have
never seen such an
extraordinarily detailed account of one
small operation by two small battalions....
These twelve hundred pages were
driven primarily by the author’s desire to
prove the existence of a German battery at
Maisy (near the famous cliff formation at
Pointe du Hoc) and its impact on the D-Day
actions of 2nd and 5th US Ranger battalions.
The result is a meticulous description of
everything you could conceivably imagine
– training, equipment, actions, intelligence
reports, hundreds of memoranda and
charts, scores of maps, and plenty of
photographs. Around 900 (?) pages are
scanned copies of material from the
period, some of which will require a
magnifying glass but which are crammed
with information. A few examples to whet
your appetite: naval and air bombardment
charts; beach assault plans; detailed maps
of German defences; a table of exact
medical supplies carried by a battalion;
hedgerow heights;
after-action reports by
all three services....
Some of the material
appears superfluous –
for example, the clothing
and maintenance
allowances of US
officers in England (!) –
but these two volumes
provide a unique insight
into the development of planning from
operational to intensely tactical levels. In
the course of proving his case, the author
provides ample detail on the whole picture
across the Omaha sector (for example, the
assault pattern of all landing craft and units
on Omaha beach).
If you try reading all this, you’ll go mad.
My advice would be to note on separate
sheets all the key items plus page
numbers, so that you can re-find any piece
of information you want on any aspect
of this sort of combined operation: there
must be dozens of suitable amphibious
wargame operations or scenarios that
will benefit from the information in these
pages. Another reason for making notes is
that there is no index (hardly surprisingly),
›
and material is largely treated in date order
rather than subject order – for example,
there is a seven-page early memorandum
describing in great detail the coastal
terrain, on pages 21-27 of Volume One, but
of course later complementary documents
are spread throughout both volumes.
At one level, this seems a somewhat
oddball venture – how many people would
produce 1,200 pages to argue the case
for an artillery battery? But we are the
beneficiaries of the most detailed exposition
of an operation that we’ll ever read.
I hope the Editor can award these
titles the MW Medal, for sheer
endeavour and for ‘services to WWII
combined services operations’.
Chris Jarvis

THE CHANNEL ISLANDS IN THE GREAT WAR

Stephen Wynn | Pen and Sword | 2019 | £14.99 | softback |
192 pages | ISBN:9781783463305 | pen-and-sword.co.uk

The bulk of this book comprises accounts of individuals who served in various roles
(men and women): a staggering 817 died as a result of WWI. Whilst this book will be of
little use in wargaming terms, it is a fitting tribute, written by a father whose own sons
were wounded serving in Afghanistan.
Chris Jarvis

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 59

WHAT’S NEW | BOOKS FOR WARGAMERS
OPERATION
KINETIC:
STABILIZING
KOSOVO
Sean M Maloney |
Potomac Books |
2018 | £32 | softback |
512 pages | ISBN
9781612349640 |
nebraskapress.unl.
edu/potomac/
THE BATTLE OF GLENSHIEL
Jonathan Worton | Helion | 2018 | £25 | softback |
224 pages | ISBN:9781912174973 | helion.co.uk
As is common with many titles in
this series, the author spends much
of the book in providing the political,
strategic, and military background
to what was effectively a one-battle
campaign in 1719 – the battle itself
occupies a 30-page chapter. Thanks
to a good writing style and choice of
material, this works really well here:
you need the wider information to
understand the dynamics within which
the battle took place.
Maps and photographs are well
chosen: the black and white photos
somehow highlight the forbidding nature
of the terrain for the Government troops,
who would have been well aware of
the shock tactics and ferocity of the
Highland charge. Other than the painting
60 Miniature Wargames July 2019
There is as yet no readable history of
the Kosovo War on 1999. This book was
written soon after the conflict but by
then the focus had shifted to Iraq and
Afghanistan. As the world emerges,
bruised, from those wars, the spotlight
is back on the Balkans. So this account is
quite timely.
There are many aspects which will
attract the modern wargamer. The initial
Canadian contingent was built around
a reconnaissance unit equipped with
the Coyote eight-wheeled armoured
car, mounting a telescopic mast with a
radar, a thermal imaging system, a TV
camera and a laser rangefinder (and a
gun!). The addition of such a capability
was a real force multiplier and the book
describes how the unit was in great
demand throughout KFOR once its unique
capabilities were recognised (although,
such is the pace of development, that it is
in the process of being ‘retired’).
The other insightful area is CIMIC,
civil-military cooperation operations. The
Canadians invested a lot of effort into
this under-reported but vital process,
particularly in reconstruction of destroyed
infrastructure. There is usually a huge
mismatch between the international aid
agencies, who have a timeframe of years,
and the military, who are under pressure
to achieve results in weeks so that they
shown on the cover, there are no colour
illustrations of the troops, but ample
websites will show any level of detail
you want. Scots fought on both sides,
to which can be added English, Dutch,
and even a small Spanish contingent: the
whole venture was originally intended as
a diversion to draw English forces north,
away from a Spanish main force landing in
southern England.
Scottish battles of this period (from
1689 to 1746) are certainly a challenge in
wargame terms, with the normal lengthy
European battle compressed into a few
wild moves in which ‘the charge’ makes
or breaks your generalship. At least it
gives me an excuse for my usual dismal
command style...
Chris Jarvis
can ‘declare victory’ and be withdrawn. So
this account is a rare text book example of
how to do it properly.
Even less well known is the issue of
National Caveats, where the Government
sending the contingent declares ‘red lines’
of things that their contingent isn’t allowed
to do. These caveats started in the early
days in the Balkans, when the Canadians
had so many restrictions that the Canadian
Battalion, CANBAT, was known within
NATO as Can’tBAT. Such restrictions
multiplied exponentially when the other
contingents turned up, so that they are
now a constant factor. Whereas the
Coyote was a ‘force multiplier’, caveats are
a ‘force diminisher’. I have yet to see such
caveats in a wargame but they would be a
rich ground for a resourceful umpire. Just
as well they didn’t exist in June 1944!
There is far more in this book, which
ranges from National Policy at Toronto down
to what individuals were doing as situations
flared up. There are countless nuggets of
common sense, far too many to list in a
short review. Overall it is an excellent book
at many levels, which pays tribute to the
fine conduct of the Canadian troops on the
ground. It reads well for the general reader
and rings true for the participant who was
involved as the ‘jam in the sandwich’ on the
ground. I thoroughly recommend it.
John Drewienkiewicz
 ALLIED COASTAL FORCES OF WORLD WAR II VOL 1
John Lambert & Al Ross | Seaforth Publishing | 2018 | £40 | hardback |
256 pages | ISBN: 978 1 5267 4449 4 | seaforthpublishing.com
This book (sub titled Fairmile Designs &
US Submarine Chasers) is an in-depth
look at Allied coastal forces starting in
this volume with the extensive range of
wooden ships produced by the Fairmile
Marine Company of Cobham, Surrey. It is
a fascinating story which describes how
Noel Macklin identified a requirement
for a coastal anti submarine vessel well
before the Admiralty in the late 1930s
and started to design privately a motor
launch to fulfil that requirement, founding
the Fairmile Company in the process.
Maklin himself is an interesting character
who served in both the Army, as a
captain in the Royal Horse Artillery up
until 1915 and then with the Dover Patrol
as a Lieutenant with the RNVR during the
Great War.
The Fairmile family of wooden coastal
craft ranged from the Fairmile A to the
Fairmile H and this book looks at each of
them in an unsurpassed depth of detail.
It includes line drawings of the ships,
the weapons, the engines and other
equipment and descriptions of history
and development. It also describes, in
the same depth of detail, the 72 foot
Harbour defence motor launch and the
US SC 497 sub chaser.
If you have purchased, or are thinking
of purchasing, the new Warlord Games
Cruel Seas, this book is a must. It
contains anecdotes and detail on how the
ships performed, where they were built
and even the common paint schemes
employed; very useful for modellers.
Towards the end there are extensive
descriptions of the weapons systems
and in some cases the development of
those systems such as the depth charge.
Radar is also covered. There is everything
needed here to understand the design,
development, operation and manning of
these crucial vessels which took on the
German E-Boats so successfully during
the Second World War. Throughout, the
book contains photographs of individual
ships which illustrate the various classes
of ships described.
This is a great book! It shows how
small boat building shipyards and facilities
around the UK and across the Empire
were employed to increase the reach and
power of the Royal Navy through these
small coastal craft. The boats were often
built from kits and shipped to a place to
be assembled. Many were purchased
by foreign navies after the war. The book
is strongly recommended for the expert
and the general reader alike and any who
have an interest in Coastal Forces during
the Second World War.
Martin Pike
BETWEEN SCYLLA
AND CHARYBDIS
Marco Pagan | Helion | 2018 |
£19.95 | softback | 103 pages |
ISBN:9781912174898 | helion.co.uk
A charming Preface describes how the author,
as a young boy, used to watch his mother paint
Meissen porcelain figures, at the same time
as she taught him about Saxon history and
culture. In the period covered by this book, the
Saxon love of the arts was matched by an equal
distaste for military aggression, making them
an unfortunate target for Prussia....
And so this book is in two parts. The first part ›
describes the major campaigns and actions in
enough detail to get a feel for the Saxon army’s
military performance, from the siege of Danzig
in 1734 to the battle of Kesselsdorf in 1745 (plus
a skim through the subsequent war). There
are a few maps. Part Two covers the uniforms,
outline organisation, and a brief synopsis of
each mounted regiment. There are eight pages
of colour artwork of the uniforms: the author
modestly describes his text as ‘aiming to
accompany the artwork’. This is another elegant
volume in this series.
Chris Jarvis

ARMIES OF THE BALTIC INDEPENDENCE WARS 1918-20

Boltowsky and Thomas | Osprey | 2019 | £12.99 | softback |
64 pages | ISBN:9781472830777 | ospreypublishing.com

On one level, this title works well in describing the multi-state chaos and complexity of this
conflict, with six main forces (Red Army, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and White Russia)
and 13 protagonists in all. The downside is that this is a lot to cover within the standard 64 pages
for this series, and the text is largely limited to a listing of the main formations and the ‘uniforms’
themselves, accompanied by a potted history. The photographs are virtually all of posed groups
or individuals, and there is nothing significant (text or photo) on arms or equipment.
Chris Jarvis
WHAT’S NEW | BOOKS FOR WARGAMERS

HEROIC HORSES: TALES OF EQUINE COURAGE

Readers will probably already be familiar
with Wellington’s Copenhagen, to whom
the first chapter of this book is devoted;
Lord Cardigan’s Ronald; Robert E. Lee’s
Traveller; Myles Keogh’s Comanche,
who survived the Little Big Horn, and
FROM WATERLOO TO KOREA
Duncan Forer | Helion | 2019 | £19.95 | softback | 206 pages |
ISBN: 978-1-911628-80-4 | helion.co.uk
General Jack Seeley’s Warrior. The
author’s decision to commence with the
Napoleonic Wars means that Alexander’s
Bucephalus (surely the epitome of a
heroic horse?) and Warwick’s Black
Saladin are not mentioned.
In its pages they will also be introduced
to such other equine heroes as General
George Meade’s Baldy; Trooper Mossop’s
Basuto pony Warrior; Major-General
Frederick Roberts’ Volonel; ‘Scotty’
Bolton’s Waler, Monty, and Reckless, a
Mongolian mare who carried ammunition
during the Korean War and was awarded
the rank of sergeant.
More knowledgeable readers, such as
most wargamers, will find no new insights
into strategy or tactics, but may develop a
greater appreciation of the qualities of the
different breeds of horse and their suitability
for military service. It seems unlikely,
however, that they will find much inspiration
for tabletop scenarios in these pages.
Eight pages, containing sixteen half-page
black and white reproductions of paintings,
prints and photographs, are bound in near the
centre of the book. One of the photographs
depicts the author on his Appaloosa,
Sylvanner, but since this mount has never
seen active service, his rider being a Royal
Navy officer, its inclusion seems somewhat
inappropriate. A seven-page bibliography and
a six-page index conclude the book.
The figures quoted for the losses of
horses on campaign and the fates of
the surviving mounts at the cessation of
hostilities can only make the reader glad
that horses are no longer used in battle,
but only appear on ceremonial parades.
Duncan Forer is clearly a great admirer of
horses and has written an entertaining book
which might make an excellent present
for a young horse enthusiast in whom the
giver hoped to stimulate an equal interest in
military history.
Arthur Harman

SEPTEMBER MOURN: THE DUNKER CHURCH OF

ANTIETAM BATTLEFIELD
Alann Schmidt and Terry Barkley | Casemate | 2018 | £15.50 | hardback |
156 pages | ISBN: 9781611214017 | casematepublishing.co.uk

This is a slight variation on the usual book
about the American Civil War Antietam
battlefield as it does not cover the whole
battlefield nor the campaign in general. As
the title suggests, it is a book about the
Dunkers and the Dunker Church which
saw so much of the fighting in 1862. It
describes who the Dunkers were, where
they came from and when they arrived in
the Antietam valley and the Sharpsburg
area in particular. It describes the building
of the church (it was only erected in 1853)
and who donated the land on which it
stands. It informs the reader about the
brethren of the church and their services
and the local Dunker church organisation
which is more interesting to the wargamer
than it actually might at first appear!
The authors give an overview of the
battle in the main body of the book and, in
an annex, cover in more detail, the battles
around the church including which units
were involved down to regimental level on
the accompanying maps. There are many
black and white photographs throughout
the book including some notable ones by
Alexander Gardner. He took pictures around
the church two days after the battle showing
the casualties from Captain Parker’s Virginia
battery. It is this detail which wargamers
might, using some imagination, find of
interest in constructing small scenarios with
the church as the center piece of the battle. It
also covers the colours of the church; useful
for modellers!
After the battle, the church was used as
a temporary hospital but eventually, the
church fell out of use, and into disrepair
until it was blown down in a storm in 1921;
the structure having been weekend by
souvenir hunters! The book then describes
how it was acquired by the National Park of the Dunkers in general. It is a bit different
Service and, in conjunction with many from the usual military history book! It is
others, rebuilt. In itself a fascinating story! thoroughly recommended for both the
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well general reader and the expert alike.
written and easy to read book and the story Martin Pike

62 Miniature Wargames July 2019


SHERMAN LEAD
Gaillard Peck | Osprey | 2019
| £25 | hardback | 304 pages
| ISBN:9781472829375 |
ospreypublishing.com
RUSSIAN SOLDIER VERSUS JAPANESE SOLDIER
David Campbell | Osprey | 2019 | £13.99 | softback | 80 pages |
ISBN:9781472828125 | ospreypublishing.com
These titles in the Osprey ‘Combat’
series seem to strike just the right note
in combining a background chapter
(tactics, equipment, leadership, logistics,
etc) with 12-15 pages on each of three
major actions – in this case, in Manchuria
in 1904-05, the Yalu River assault
crossing, the operational-level Japanese
attacks on the Russian defences around
Liaoyang, and finally the grim reaper’s
story of the seizure of 203 Metre Hill at
Port Arthur.
Maps are clear, writing style is good,
and the photographs give a strong
feel for ground, men and weapons.
The author moves easily between the
strategic and the tactical, and with a
useful appendix on army organisations
down to battalion level.
Other battles (such as Omdurman)
presaged the power of modern
weaponry, but this was the first war
in which both sides were broadly
matched in terms of battlefield
I know very little about air warfare, but
the Phantom fighter has to be one of
the most iconic post-war aircraft?
The author flew Phantoms in
Vietnam, and provides an engaging
commentary on the men, the
machines, and the environment of
varying combat missions within
Operations Rolling Thunder, Steel Tiger
and Barrel Roll (the latter two being
over Laos).
This will certainly be a boon to ex- or
serving airmen, with details ranging
from attack profiles to cockpit heating
arrangements. Particular challenges
included target identification and the
need to adapt rapidly from an attack
mission to a rescue mission when
a fellow pilot was shot down. The
author provides considerable technical
detail on radar usage and bombing
techniques, but clearly explained for
the layman.
Atmospheric, well written and
informative – and my relative ignorance
probably hasn’t done it full justice.
Chris Jarvis
capability, and it should have provided
more of a lesson for events just ten
years later in Europe....
Chris Jarvis
ARRAS COUNTER-
ATTACK 1940
Tim Saunders | Pen and
Sword | 2018 | £12.99
| softback | 212 pages |
ISBN:9781473889125 |
pen-and-sword.co.uk
This was the battle in which
two British columns – each comprising an
all-arms force of an ‘infantry tank’ battalion,
an infantry battalion, anti-tank and field gun
batteries, and some recce elements – struck
the north flank of two westward-driving
German formations, one of which was
Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division. The result was
mayhem for the Germans, only resolved
when hastily-constructed gunlines (88mm
and 105 mm) halted the British tanks.
The British assault was launched in haste,
with totally inadequate liaison between
the component forces, let alone with
the neighbouring French armoured unit.
However, the tanks were so well armoured
that the standard German 37mm guns had
no effect, and the British initially ran riot.
The author has provided an ideal mix
of strategic background and build-up, plus
detailed analysis and personal accounts
supported by excellent maps at roughly one
inch to the mile, including contours. The
book continues with the withdrawal and
immediate after-effects, and concludes with
a tour guide for the modern visitor.
This has always struck me as a fine little
action to refight, using both columns or even
just one – David versus Goliath, but David
for once having the armour! Mr Saunders
is a fine author and a great reason to invest
in a handful of Matilda Mk I and Mk II tanks
plus some Pz 38(t)s to add to your existing
British and German early-war units.
Chris Jarvis
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 63
COMPARE &
CONTRAST Trying out Games Workshop’s Citadel Contrast
he prospect of putting down a
T fully painted army on the tabletop
is the ambition – nay, I dare say
the obsession – of many a wargamer. But
Father Time is a stingy bugger and there
never seems to be enough hours in the
day to make as much hobby progress as
one would like. How many armies, one
wonders, have languished on a shelf
for years, gathering dust on unpainted
plastic and pewter like statues in a
forgotten tomb? With this lamentable
fact in mind, enter Citadel Contrast.
Contrast is a new range of paints
designed with the express intention of
getting miniatures painted fast. Those
who follow Games Workshop will know
that it’s spared no expense in building
up hype for the line, going so far as to
produce trailers parodying The Matrix
and 50 Shades of Grey. I’m pleased to say
that – for the most part – the end result
lives up to the hype.
WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
Most painting styles revolve – more or
less – around a fairly standard three-
or four-step method: a base layer, a
wash and a highlight (and possibly an
extreme highlight as well). Up until
64 Miniature Wargames July 2019
Words by James Winspear
now Games Workshop’s own range Using Contrast paint is different to
has formalised this system with four
paint types – Citadel Base, Citadel
Wash, Citadel Dry and Citadel Layer.
using standard acrylics in several ways.
In terms of consistency, Contrast feels
more like a thick-ish medium (think
something like Vallejo’s matt medium),
although it operates very similarly to
a wash insofar as pooling in recesses
is concerned. However, Contrast can
pool on flat surfaces as well, making it
slightly difficult to achieve a uniform
coverage. When I used them on large
areas – specifically armour plates and
capes – I found that the end result was
somewhat blotchy.
The Citadel paint system
The Contrast line aims to combine the
base-wash-highlight method into one
paint, significantly reducing the time
it takes to get a figure painted. They
do this by running off of raised edges
and pooling in recesses like a wash,
whilst still giving solid overall colour
coverage. Your reviewer got a chance
to test several of these paints, which
came in 18ml pots compared to Games Large, smooth areas like these cloaks can end up
Workshop’s standard 12ml. looking blotchy if you’re not careful
 Although I’m sure it’s possible to get
a smooth, even coat – I’ve seen it done
elsewhere – there’s definitely a degree
of technique here. Where I found
Contrast to really excel was organic
details. One of the sample paints was
‘Plaguebearer Flesh’, a browny-yellow
colour, which I applied to a couple of
zombies and – aptly – a Warhammer
Plaguebearer. The paint worked exactly
as intended, creating in a few minutes
work a rotten flesh effect that would
have otherwise taken a couple of coats.
Likewise, I found that Contrast worked
very well on clothing or soft textures
with a lot of folds.
A disgusting demon of Nurgle. Contrast paints
were used to paint the flesh and bandages, and as
a wash on the blade.
A few other things worth noting are
that models painted with Contrast
absolutely need to be varnished,
as the paint’s composition leaves
it extremely susceptible to rubbing
off. Games Workshop has released
a Citadel Technical paint called
Stormshield for this purpose, which
seems to be just a standard matte
varnish. Secondly, whilst Contrast can
be used in airbrush, there’s little point
in doing so as the paint loses all its
unique flow properties when applied
this way.
LIGHT UP MY WORLD
Perhaps the most fundamental
difference between Contrast and acrylic
paint is how they approach light and
dark tones. With acrylics you typically
build up to lighter colours from a dark
base whilst with Contrast the process
is reversed. To this effect, Games
Workshop has released two new primers
to accompany the Contrast range – a
very light beige called Wraithbone and
an off-white called Grey Seer.
This is because the philosophy of ease
of use that underpins the Contrast range
extends to the primer as well. Since pure
white sprays are often prone to creating
a spotty finish (due to the size of the
titanium dioxide molecules used to
create the white colour), creating a near-
white colour produces a similar effect
that’s more user-friendly. You can use
a white spray, of course, but the other
two colours are there if you need them.
The difference in results isn’t negligible
either, as a Contrast paint can look very
different depending on what it’s painted
over. Wraithbone gives a softer, more
organic feel, whilst Grey Seer is darker
and colder. Personally, I preferred
Wraithbone, mainly because I felt that
it gave a more solid coverage than Grey
Seer, although that may just be me.
Plaguebearer flesh painted over Grey Seer
and Wraithbone
The main downside of working
from light to dark is that it’s somewhat
unforgiving when it comes to
corrections. The ramification of a
having a paint that reflects the colour
underneath is that you can’t simply
paint over any mistakes or overspills
with a Contrast paint. Instead, you’d
have to paint a light base over the area,
and then apply the Contrast paint again.
As successive layers darken the model,
if you didn’t like how the first coat
turned out you likewise have to start
from the beginning.
IN SUMMARY
The key to understanding Contrast
paints is Games Workshop’s
description of them creating ‘battle
ready’ miniatures. If you’re expecting a
paint that can deliver Golden Demon-
winning quality in a single stroke
you’re going to be disappointed, but
that’s not what this range is intended
for. What Contrast does – and does
pretty well – is provide a method of
painting models to a tabletop standard
in a short period of time.
A couple of miniatures painted using Contrast and
ordinary acrylics
Difficulties in correcting mistakes
notwithstanding, Contrast paints are
easy to use and deliver very acceptable
results. They won’t replace ordinary
acrylics but nor were they designed
to. Instead, they’re a useful tool in the
wargamer’s arsenal that makes life
much easier when you’re batch painting
or don’t have much hobby time to
spare. For this reason, I can certainly
recommend the Contrast range,
especially to anyone who wants to
finally tackle their growing lead pile. ■
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 65
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 HOW TO

BUILD A
ith the release of Conquest

W this month (full story pp.

30- 34), now seemed like the
perfect time to get our modelling groove
on and construct some fantasy terrain.

FANTASY
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through
how we made this two-story house for
use with a wide range of fantasy games.
Here, we’ll be focusing on creating the
house itself; in next month’s article, we’ll
show you how to paint it and make a base

HOUSE
Architecture in miniature!
PART
ONE
to mount it on.

YOU’LL NEED:
»
»
»
»
3mm Foamex sheets
2cm Extruded Polystyrene Styrofoam
Thin card
Industrial-grade superglue
Words and photography by James Winspear
» Stanley knife
» Scissors
» Clippers
» Cutting board
» Safety glasses
» PVA glue
» Hot glue gun and/or foam-friendly
contact cement
» Hot-wire cutter
»
»
Wooden coffee stirrers
All-purpose filler
›
» Hobby mesh/ grating
» A pen
» A ruler
» Old brushes

WHERE TO START
When you’re making a wargaming
building it’s always a good idea to plan
ahead before diving straight in, so we
started with a couple of basic sketches
of the sort of house we wanted to make.
Since we wanted to create something
that could be used for many different
fantasy games, we went the fairly
‘standard’ fantasy look of a Tudor-like
building, and decided to give it two
stories and a raised stone foundation.
With the general look established,
we then tackled the all-important
question of size. The house is designed
for use with 28mm miniatures, and
a figure of that scale was used as a
reference for the dimensions.Not only
was this useful for figuring out the
proportions for the doors and windows,
but it also gave us a sense of how big
the building as a whole should be. After
all, we wanted to make something that
someone could conceivably live in!

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 67

TUTORIAL | FANTASY HOUSE
THE MAIN BUILDING
We used 3mm thick Foamex for the
walls of the building, also known as PVC
foam board. This is an invaluable tool for
wargamers as it’s durable, can be cut with
a Stanley knife and won’t warp over time
like cardboard. Whilst you can buy it online
or from craft stores, it’s also worth seeing
if your place of work has any lying around,
as it’s often used to make signs and
display panels.
The first step is to take your foam board
and draw each wall and floor section onto
it using a ruler and pencil. Make sure to be
extra careful in your measurements here,
as if the lines are off it will cause problems
later on. It’s also very important to make
allowance in your measurements for the
thickness of the card itself.
For our building, the ground floor is 10 x
10 x 46cm, whilst the first floor (excluding
the roof) is 11 x 11 x 6cm. Draw 10x10cm
and 11x11cm squares onto the foam
board and cut them out using your ruler
to guide your knife. Foam board is pretty
dense so it will probably take more than
one pass to cut straight through. You now
have floors for each level. Next, cut out
the wall sections. For each floor two of
145
60
X2
110
60
X2
100
68 Miniature Wargames July 2019
the walls need to be 0.6cm (3mm x 2)
shorter in length that the other two to
account for the foam card’s thickness. For
the first floor, we found it easiest to make
the two wall sections without the roof part
on them the shorter of the four. See the
diagram below for all measurements.
Glue the wall sections together with
superglue. The easiest way to do this is
to glue the slightly longer wall sections to
the base (not the sides) of the floor section
opposite one another. Then apply glue to
three sides of the shorter wall sections
and wedge them into place. Finally, glue
the top of the ground floor to the base of
the first floor.
THE ROOF
Making the roof is very simple. First, cut
out a piece of thin card (cereal boxes are
perfect for this) measuring 21 x 11cm and
score it with your knife down the centre. process, however, and isn’t strictly
Glue this to the roof section with superglue. necessary. Use PVA glue to stick down the
The tiles are made of strips of card about strips, making sure that each one slightly
1.5cm high, cut at regular intervals with a overlaps the one below it. When you get to
pair of scissors. Tiles add a lot of character the top, score a strip along the centre and
to the building; the more uneven and cut it into squares. Bend these down the
mismatched you make them look, the same side you scored the card and glue to
better! Doing so can be a time-consuming the top of the roof.
DRAWINGS
All measurements in mm
1ST FLOOR
60
THE CHIMNEY
X2 Adding a chimney to your fantasy house
104 looks great and is really easy to achieve.
Cut a rectangle of Styrofoam to get the
GROUND FLOOR basic chimney. Then cut a wedge off
of one end matching the gradient of
the roof. Stick it on either using foam-
friendly contact cement or your glue gun
(superglue will melt the foam). Simply grab
60
a pen and start ‘drawing’ into the foam
to give the impression of bricks. Hollow
X2 out the top using a knife and clippers (it
94 doesn’t have to be neat as it’ll be painted
black anyway) and you’re done!
 THE DOORS
The doors on the building were made
from a piece of card with several coffee
stirrers glued on in a row. Card was
used for the boards, with the hinges,
bolts and door handles made out from
thin slices of a section of plastic sprue.

CLADDING AND WINDOWS A stone pattern was then drawn into the
The cladding was made from wooden stairs and foundation using the same
coffee stirrers cut down to an appropriate method as the chimney.
size using a pair of clippers and glued
onto the building with superglue. The TEXTURING AND PRIMING
internet is your friend when it comes to
reference material for Tudor styles.
There are a number of different methods
for creating windows. The easiest method
is to simply construct the outer frame
using card strips or thin coffee stirrers
and paint the inside space later on.
Alternatively, you can cut out a design on
The roof window was made using all
a piece of card. Plastic hobby mesh was
the techniques already described, using
used to create lattice.
Foamex for the walls and card for the
roof.
THE FOUNDATION AND STAIRS
These were both created from Styrofoam.
The foundation is 9 x 9 x 3.5cm and was The final step at this stage is to prime the
built from two 5cm long pieces and two model for painting and apply texture to
9cm long pieces. The stairs were cut to the walls. Aerosol primers will melt the
the correct shape using a hot wire cutter. Styrofoam, so avoid using them – there’s
Glue everything together and attach to nothing worse than seeing all your hard work
the building. The final detail was to add a destroyed! Instead, coat the entire model in
semi-circular hole on one side for a grate. a few washes of watered-down PVA with a
The bars will be added in the next part. couple of old brushes you don’t mind getting
dirty. This will help paint adhere to the model
when it comes to painting it. To add texture
and make the walls appear as though they’re
made of wattle and daub mix some PVA,
all-purpose filler and water together and apply
it with a brush. Give this another thin wash of
The bay window was made in the same
watery PVA when dry. Congratulations! You’ve
way as the chimney, and was glued to
now finished building your fantasy house. ■
the main building using contact cement.
Roof tile strips were then glued to it
Join us next month for Part 2:
with a hot glue gun.
Painting and Basing

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 69

 Choice of fir,
deciduous,
and poplar,
plus hedges
Fully finished, ready to plant

Bases also available

for all types of trees

40th s t r i c t Wa r g Year
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Image from the irst Attack! poster in 1979

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D ev i z

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MOULT FREE
THE CONTINUING TALES OF A WARGAMES WIDOW
Diane Sutherland is on the prowl for tree-mendous terrain...
Words and photography Diane Sutherland
S
ome people spend their lives hunting
for the Holy Grail, a pitch-perfect
rendition of their favourite tune, buried
pirate treasure or even the most delicately
balanced gin and tonic. Other people spend
their time on equally frivolous and implausible
past-times. In my wargamer’s case, it’s the
moult free, perfect model tree.
Let me tell you, I’ve seen it all.
Plastic trees that wobbled and did fall
A finished tree with a Mutineer Miniatures
horseman posing for scale purposes.
down (Google “Weebles”); perfectly
formed (straight out of an IKEA factory)
commercial “bottle brush” trees (impaled
into his polystyrene base boards); and
latterly, a host of home-grown attempts.
Yes, we’ve been through the coconut
fibre, the teased sisal string, sponge foam
(square pants? Ed.); Woodland Scenics
clump foliage and the rubberised horsehair.
We’ve dunked and sprayed, scattered
and submerged, but ultimately – like
my wargamer’s head – the shedding is
inevitable and, every time you touch the
tree, it gets a little balder. Coats of varnish
and maximum hold hair spray can do
nothing to arrest the gradual “drop”. My
wargamer, just like Elton John and Wayne
Rooney with their cranial reupholstering,
has gone to great lengths to return the
luxuriant growth to his trees. At some
point you have to say no more. There has
to be a better way…
I don’t necessarily claim that this is the
solution, but it is a major step forward.
In the past, there has been too much
glue or too much flock. There have been
bases that were incapable of holding up
›
the tree and those too large to look right.
I think that finally, perhaps, maybe, with
a fair wind, we might be moving in the
right direction.
WANTS & NEEDS
So what do you want from your trees? In
scale: yes. But have you seen just how big
a mature oak tree can grow? So as long as
you aren’t using two foot twigs for trunks
and restrict it to say, 6-9” maximum, you
are in the right ballpark.
Stability is the other major thing:
I’ve long since tired of patrolling a
table top game at a show, or even in
the wargamer’s eyrie at the top of the
house, for felled specimens. Remember
that – unlike a real – tree a lot of the
actual weight of the model tree is in
the foliage. This makes them inherently
top-heavy and unsteady. A rough rule
of thumb is to ensure that the base you
cut for them is equal to, or slightly larger
than, the width of the canopy you are
putting on it.
Ah, you might say, that’s easier said than
done when you cut the base first to mount
the twig. Ah! (I reply): that’s what a pair of
scissors is for!
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 71
HOW TO | MODELLING GUIDE
1 Tease the ball of horsehair out into an irregular and
more natural shape.
2 Use your scissors to trim and shape the
horsehair, paying particular attention to the bottom
of the foliage.
3 Make sure you are outside when you give the
horsehair a thorough coat of the trim adhesive.
4 Apply the green paint/PVA mix to the horsehair
shape on the tree, work around the tree and make
sure all of the outer parts of the horsehair are
covered.
5 Gently and sparingly sprinkle the flock over the wet
green paint/PVA. Just look at my poor nails!
TWIGGY
So let’s get started. I prefer to use real
twigs for my tree trunks. The Woodland
Scenics tree armatures are okay: you can
base them, manipulate them and festoon
them with clump foliage or moss. If you
don’t have access to twigs (but frankly
nearly all of us can get to a park after a
strong wind), you can apply much of what I
recount here to the armatures.
For my version you will need:
» Twigs: I like to use short sections about
4” to 9” long (the shorter ones are ideal
for orchard trees). Ideally, you want a
“trunk” of 2” to 4”, then a “branch” or
two jutting out from the top of the trunk.
This will help a lot when you attach the
horsehair.
» Horsehair: I go for 80/20 hair - 80% hog
hair 20% horse hair. This is designed
to be used as quality upholstery filling.
If you are a bit squeamish about using
the real thing, then there are black
(recommended) or ginger coir options.
I get mine in a 1 kg bale (£14.99)
from www.ebay.co.uk/str/diy-foam-
upholstery-supplies. The supplier is
highly recommended and reliable.
» Cardboard: for the bases. My wargamer
habitually hoards cardboard from any
72 Miniature Wargames July 2019
1 2
purchase he has made. You want fairly
rigid card, ideally coated on one side. You
can use mounting board, but beware of
warping. You can also buy ready cut MDF
bases for scenery or just cut your own.
» Spray Adhesive: I use Trim Fix 500ml
High Temperature Spray Adhesive (you
can pick these up from about £4-5 per
can (less if you buy lots of them) from
various sellers on Ebay. Watch out for
restrictions on posting these to overseas
locations. This is not actually used as an
adhesive in the project, more to harden
up the horsehair.
» Paint/Glue: A runny mix of green paint
and PVA – I use cheap craft paints and
builders PVA. Mix it about 50/50 and
keep a tub handy. This will be applied to
the hardened horsehair to fix the flock.
» Flock: there are dozens of options here
and it really is up to you. The easiest
option is to pop into a railway model shop
and browse the extensive collections of
flock and foliage. Woodland Scenics,
Faller, Hornby, Javis and Army Painter.
I also like the look of the 1 Litre Ground
Scatter Tubs sold by Serious Play (www.
serious-play.co.uk), plenty of colours and
good value too. I make my own from
fine saw dust pet bedding (buy a cheap
bucket, fill it up to a third with water,
pour in a cold dye sachet, mix and then
add the saw dust – leave for two or three
days, mixing every ten or twelve hours –
then scatter onto a seed tray and leave it
in the sun to dry off).
» Basing texture: you could go the route of
Basetex here, a good reliable product. I
make my own from cheap brown craft paint
and play sand. I always keep a big tub of it.
» Top Coat: Optionally, you might want
some additional fixative in the form of
matt varnish or strong hold hair spray
(visit Poundland to get yours!)
That might seem like quite a lot of
preparation. Well it is, but why not make
some with your club members? Perhaps
you could make a batch of trees with your
regular opponents?
There is some drying time involved and
some steps are best undertaken outside
and with a gloves and a mask.
BACK TO BASES
The first thing to do is to cut your bases.
I prefer slightly bevelled edges as I think
they blend in better with the terrain
surface. I cut several from a single
cardboard box and have them “in stock”
and ready for action. A variety of different
sizes is a good approach as this can help
you match the twig to the right sized base.
 3 4
Make sure that the twigs you have cut
have a nice flat bottom. You want the twig
to be cleanly attached to the base and
fairly upright. Have a piece of sand paper
handy to make sure that the bottom of the
twig is ready for the hot glue.
Squeeze a generous blob of hot glue
onto the centre of the base. Place the
twig in the centre of the blob, press down
and gently turn the twig 360 degrees. I
know this might seem weird, but from
experience it seems to help the glue bond
to the twig and in those vital few seconds,
the glue starts to harden. This is a much
better approach than having to watch the
trees slowly fall over because the glue
hasn’t done its job!
You can now either fix on the horsehair
or tackle the bases. I went for the latter:
you are never going to have a clearer
run at the bases than you have now!
Apply your brown paint and sand mix to
the bases. Be generous. I used a knife
rather than a brush. You can trowel it on,
smooth it down and make sure that you
have gone over the edges of the card to
hide any corrugation. This is also the first
opportunity for a well-earned cup of tea
(or something stronger): ideally you should
leave it here and give the paint and sand a
few hours to harden off.
HAIRY HORSE PLAY
Next session you need to break out
the scissors, hot glue gun and get the
horsehair ready. Pull out some golf ball
sized balls from the bale of horsehair.
Tease the horsehair into something that
does not resemble topiary and set aside.
Now look at the twig you are going to
use: it should suggest to you where you
need to squirt the glue and how many
balls of horsehair you will need. I found
that anything from 2-5 balls were needed.
Natural trees are not symmetrical, so
– within reason – nothing is wrong. One
thing to bear in mind is that you don’t really
want the horsehair to overhang the base
too much: it will make the whole structure
unstable on the battlefield.
Squirt a generous blob of hot glue onto
the end of one of the branches. Carefully
arrange one of the horsehair shapes onto
it. Pull the horsehair over the branch and
add more glue if needed. Repeat the
procedure until you have covered all of
the branches extending from the trunk. If
there is big gap between the branches,
then put a little glue on the inside of each
branch and stick another piece of horsehair
in place.
Now set the piece aside and have a
really good look at it. Does it look natural?
5
Is it top heavy? Is it lumpy on one side
and bald on the other? If so, you need
›
to add more pieces of horsehair and
remedy the situation. Now take the
scissors and begin by trimming off all of
the straggling horsehair underneath the
tree up to a height of around 2” to 3”.
Most trees don’t have foliage that trails
onto the ground so use the scissors to
work around the horsehair and trim off
straggly bits, clumpy places and anything
that doesn’t look right. Keep turning and
cutting the tree until you are happy. Set it
aside again and have another look later to
make sure you are happy.
STICKY STUFF
You can now move on to the next stage
and deploy the spray adhesive. Give the
can a good shake and make sure you do
this outside. Wear a mask and put on a
disposable glove (remember that they
usually have them for ‘free’ in garages
where they sell diesel. Ed.) onto the
hand that will be holding the tree. Hold
the tree away from you and give it a
burst of the adhesive, rotate and repeat
until you have covered the horsehair. Set
the tree aside and repeat with the rest
of the batch of trees. I use this step to
harden off the horsehair. You can buy
July 2019 Miniature Wargames 73
HOW TO | MODELLING GUIDE

6 The green paint and

PVA will soak into the
flock so you will need to
work around the foliage
two or three times to
make sure you have a
good coverage.

7 My new holy trinity

for tree trunks Nutmeg
Spice, Earthy Hue and
Velvet Mocha all tester
pots from Wilkinson
(check their website for
a colour match if you
haven’t got a store near
you).

6 8 8 I covered most of the

tree trunk and exposed
branches with a good
coat of Nutmeg Spice.

9 Highlight the trunk

with the other two
colours of the “tree
trunk trinity”.

7 9

rubberised horsehair but it comes in
mats 1-2” thick, it works fine for hedges,
but isn’t ideal for trees. The adhesive will
remain tacky for a couple of hours, so
another break is appropriate.
The next job is quite messy. You will
be applying the green paint/PVA mix
to the now hardened off horsehair. In
the past I’ve dunked the top of the tree
into a bucket of the stuff and that’s a
bad mistake: no matter how much you
squeeze the horsehair there’s still masses
of paint just waiting to drip down the trunk,
over the base and be more than happy to
pool all over the worktop.
You best off with a 2-3 inch, soft bristle
brush to apply the mix. Run the brush
across the surface of the horsehair. It
should be reasonably resilient, but it isn’t
a solid object so be gentle and... there will
be drips! Work around the horsehair and
try and give the whole outer surface of the
horsehair a coat of paint. Remember we
are going to be using the paint/PVA as a
coloured adhesive.
MESSING ABOUT
I did warn you about the mess. Holding
the tree by the base in one hand, sprinkle
some of your flock onto the horsehair.
Apply the flock sparingly, rotating the tree,
and angle the tree to get underneath and
on top. Go around once, shake off the
loose stuff and repeat the process. You are
aiming to fix the flock to all of the paint
and PVA on the horsehair. If you come
across bald patches, add another dab of
paint and PVA and then the flock. Give it a
final shake and set aside to dry. If you have
not over-flocked the tree then the loose
material should be minimal.
Give the tree ten or twelve hours to really
harden off. Turn it upside-down and give it a
shake (not too vigorous). If there are still bald
patches reapply the green paint/PVA and
flock. If some straggly bits of horsehair have
emerged, snip them off with your scissors.
TRUNKTASTIC
Now you can give the bare trunk some
attention. There are two reasons for this.
Firstly, you might have some adhesive
or green paint on the trunk. Secondly,
painting the real twig to actually look like
a twig might seem odd, but... for some
reason leaving it natural doesn’t look
right. I found a nice triad of tester pots
from Wilkinsons for the trunk: Nutmeg
Spice, Earthy Hue and Velvet Mocha.
The three colours give you a nice worn
look. I pretty much coated the trunk in
the first colour, gave it a heavy dry brush
with the mid-tone and a light dry brush
with the highlight.
I gave the tree bases a dry brush of
Ochre and Naples Yellow to match the
terrain. Your last job is to spray varnish or
hair spray the tree. Focus on the foliage
rather than the trunk and base.
This might not be the Holy Grail of
wargame trees, but at least it’s a step
forward. The proof of the pudding, as they
say, will be in the eating. No doubt the
wargamer has rigorous road tests in mind
as he’s dug out his French and Indian Wars
collection and is hunting for his log forts! ■

74 Miniature Wargames July 2019

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CHESHIRE GAMING CLUB STEVENAGE BATTLEGROUP
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NORTH AYRSHIRE WARGAMING CLUB GAMES GROUP GAMES COLLECTIVE
WARGAMES CLUB Altrincham, WA14 4PG Cullompton, EX15 1JX Saffron Walden, CB10 1HQ GARY DONALDSON THOR’S HAMMER
Irvine, KA12 0BA Waterlooville, PO8 8RG GAMING CLUB
CHEADLE BOARD ROOM DARK STAR GAMING SOUTHEND-ON-SEA Borehamwood, WD6 5PR
BEDFORDSHIRE Cheadle, SK8 1DW Plymouth, PL4 0AL ROLEPLAYING SOCIETY MUSKETBALLS 1812
AMPTHILL ON BOARD Southend-on-Sea, WAR GAMING TRING WARGAMES CLUB
Bedford, MK45 2JS CHESHIRE GAMERS DEVON WARGAMES GROUP SS1 1BD Southampton, SO15 3FQ Tring, HP23 6BA
Crewe, CW1 4NJ Exeter, EX4 8AW
BEDFORD BOARD GAMING THE HORNCHURCH PHOENIX BOARD GAMERS WARLORDS WARGAMING
Bedford, MK40 2SX CONGLETON AND DISTRICT EAST DEVON TABLETOP WARGAMES CLUB Bordon, GU35 0LR ST ALBANS
LIGHT BOARD GAMES GROUP & RPG GROUP Romford, RM3 9LB St. Albans, AL3 4DJ
BEDFORD GLADIATORS Congleton, CW12 1AH Honiton, EX14 1HR PORTSMOUTH ON BOARD
Bedford, MK41 7TW THE OVERLORDS Portsmouth, PO1 1PT WATFORD WARGAMES CLUB
ELEMENT GAMES NORTH EXMOUTH IMPERIAL Dagenham, RM8 2HQ Watford, WD17 4PN
LEIGHTON BUZZARD WEST GAMING CENTRE WARGAMES CLUB RINGWOOD ASSOCIATION
BOARDGAMES CLUB Stockport, SK2 6PT Exmouth, EX8 4SW THE PHOENIX GAMES CLUB OF WARGAMERS WELWYN WARGAMERS
Leighton Buzzard, LU7 2NR London, E13 0AD Ringwood, BH24 1DW Welwyn Garden City,
GUARDIANS OF THE GAMES MONDAY NIGHT AL8 6PS
LEIGHTON BUZZARD (TABLETOP GROUP) GAMING; PLYMOUTH FIFE SOLENT WARGAMERS CLUB
GAMING CLUB Macclesfield, SK11 6UB Plymouth, PL4 0DN DUNFERMLINE WARGAMING Portsmouth, PO1 1PT INVERNESS-SHIRE
Leighton Buzzard, LU7 1ES AND ROLEPLAYING INVERNESS TABLETOP
MUG AND GAME NEO TIVERTON GAMING CLUB FELLOWSHIP SOUTHAMPTON SLUGGAZ GAMERS
SAXON GAMES & CRAFTS Congleton, CW12 1PG Tiverton, EX16 5JJ Dunfermline, KY12 7DS Southampton, SO17 2JZ Inverness, IV1 1LU
Bedford, MK40 4FU
POYNTON BOARD GAME DAY PLYMOUTH ASSOCIATION EAST NEUK TABLETOP THE SOUTHAMPTON ISLE OF MAN
VINTAGE & MODERN Stockport, SK12 1RB OF WARGAMERS GAMES GUILD OF ROLEPLAYERS KB TABLETOP GAMING
BOARD GAMES CLUB Plymouth, PL3 5TB Anstruther, KY10 3DJ Southampton, SO14 0LH - ISLE OF MAN
Dunstable, LU6 2PJ VARIABLE MAGERS Isle of Man, IM4 4LA
Stockport, SK4 3BS TORQUAY BOARD KIRKCALDY MEEPLE CLUB THE THIRD COALITION
BERKSHIRE GAME CLUB Kirkcaldy, KY2 6LF WARGAMES CLUB KENT
BROAD STREET GAMERS WARRINGTON BOARD Torquay, TQ2 7AD New Milton, BH25 5BT ALL AROUND THE BOARD
Wokingham, RG40 3AQ GAMES CLUB FLINTSHIRE Westgate-on-Sea, CT8 8RE
Warrington, WA1 2SX DORSET DEESIDE DEFENDERS WATERLOO TABLE
NEWBURY & READING SOUTHBOURNE TABLETOP Chester, CH4 0DR TOP GAMERS ASHFORD (KENT)
WARGAMES ASSOCIATION WINSFORD WARHAWKS & BOARDGAMERS Waterlooville, PO8 8RG BOARDGAMES CLUB
Newbury, RG14 2RA WARGAMING CLUB Bournemouth, BH6 3AA FGC FLINTSHIRE Ashford, TN24 9AJ
Winsford, CW7 4AT GAMING CLUB WESSEX WARGAMES
NEWBURY & READING WESSEX WYVERNS Mold, CH7 6SZ WINCHESTER BEXLEY REAPERS
WARGAMES ASSOCIATION CLEVELAND WARGAMES CLUB Winchester, SO22 4QB WARGAMING CLUB
Newbury, RG1 4PS HARTLEPOOL Ferndown, BH22 9AN GLASGOW Bexley, DA5 1AA
WARGAMES SOCIETY ANTONINE BOARD GAMERS WESSEX WYVERNS
THATCHAM TABLETOPS Hartlepool, TS24 7DH WEYMOUTH Glasgow, G64 4EN GAMING CLUB BROMLEY BOARD GAMERS
Reading, RG7 6QH LEVELLERS CLUB Ringwood, BH24 2NP Bromley, BR1 1TS
REDCAR IRONBEARDS Weymouth, DT4 0AR GLASGOW GAMES
THE READING Redcar, TS10 1RH GROUP (G3) HEREFORDSHIRE CANTERBURY CRUSADERS
BOARDGAMES SOCIAL WORLDS AWAY Glasgow, G20 7QE DICE AND DECKS Canterbury, CT1 1RT
Reading, RG1 5DE CO ANTRIM Bournemouth, BH2 5RQ Ross-on-Wye, HR9 5HR
DRAGONSLAYERS UNPLUGGED GAMES CLUB CANTERBURY DRAGONS
WARFIELD BOARD GAMERS Belfast, BT7 1NN DUMFRIESSHIRE Glasgow, G41 3AB HEREFORDSHIRE Canterbury, CT1 2DR
Bracknell, RG42 2DD ANNAN GAMING CLUB BOARDGAMERS
LISBURN GAMING CLUB Annan, DG12 6EF GLOUCESTERSHIRE Hereford, HR4 9EA DICE ON THE HILL
WARGAMES ASSOCIATION Lisburn, BT28 1NY GLOUCESTER TABLETOP London, SE18 3EG
OF READING THE FIVE ARCHES GAMING COMMUNITY HERTFORDSHIRE
Wokingham, RG41 5DU QUB DRAGONSLAYERS GAMING CLUB Gloucester, GL2 5AS BISHOP’S STORTFORD GOLDCHEST GAMING CLUB
Belfast, BT7 1NN Dumfries, DG1 3JR TABLETOP Dartford, DA12DX
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GLOUCESTERSHIRE Bishop’s Stortford,
AYLESBURY CO CORK DUNBARTONSHIRE GAMES BUNKER CM23 3BQ GRAVESHAM WARGAMING
BOARDGAME CLUB BRETHREN DUMBARTON Cheltenham, GL51 4XA AND TABLETOP
Aylesbury, HP19 8SR WARGAMING CLUB WARGAMES CLUB BLACK WOLF GAMING CLUB
West Cork, T23 F577 Dumbarton, G82 1QQ IWARPUK WARGAMES CLUB Gravesend, DA11 9EU
MILTON KEYNES Gloucester, GL2 9EB Hitchin, SG5 1XL
WARGAMES SOCIETY CO DURHAM DURHAM GREENWICH &
Milton Keynes, MK11 1JQ DARLINGTON`S DWG LECHLADE BOARD CALAMITY COMICS BLACKHEATH BOARD
DOGS OF WAR Durham, DH1 1QG GAMES CLUB HATFIELD GAMES AND BEER CLUB
NEWPORT PAGNELL Darlington, DL3 7LX Lechlade, GL7 3HA Hatfield, AL10 0JJ London, SE3 7JQ
BOARD GAMES CLUB DYFED
Newport Pagnell, DURHAM RAIDERS CARMARTHEN OLD GUARD LINCOMBE BARN CHESHUNT MAIDSTONE WARGAMES
MK16 8AN Croxdale, DH6 5HJ Carmarthen, SA31 3JS WARGAMES SOCIETY WARGAMES CLUB SOCIETY
Bristol, BS16 2RW Waltham Cross, EN7 5EG Maidstone, ME17 4AW
WYCOMBE WARBAND GAMERS@HART GAMEPARK GAMING
Beaconsfield, HP9 1LG Hartlepool, TS26 9DE Aberystwyth, SY23 2JS PORK CHOP GAMING FINCHLEY GAMES CLUB MEDWAY AREA
Cheltenham, GL50 3HA London, N12 7JE BOARDGAMERS
WYRMBERG GAMES CO LONDONDERRY WELSH WEYR Maidstone, ME14 1ED
Aylesbury, HP21 9DT THE SIEGE BUNKER GAMING GROUP QUICK FIRE GAMES CLUB. FRIIDAY NIGHT GAMING
Londonderry, BT48 7JL Ammanford, SA18 1DX Bristol, BS5 7RF Letchworth Garden City, MILTON HUNDRED
CAITHNESS SG6 1FP WARGAMES CLUB
NORTHERN KNIGHTS CORNWALL EAST SUSSEX THORNBURY BOARD Sittingbourne, ME10 4BX
WARGAMES CORNWALL MINIATURE 1066 WARGAMING CLUB GAME GROUP GAMES CAFE CLUB
Thurso, KW14 8HN WARGAMES ASSOCIATION St. Leonards-on-Sea, Bristol, BS35 2EG St. Albans, AL3 4BL SEVENOAKS & TONBRIDGE
Newquay, TR8 4LA TN38 8BL ASSOCIATION OF
CAMBRIDGESHIRE GREATER MANCHESTER HEMEL HEMPSTEAD GAMERS (STAG)
2D6 LODGE SMIPHEES GAMES CLUB FAMOUS COLLECTABLES TABLETOP MANCHESTER WARGAMING CLUB Sevenoaks, TN15 9HA
Cambridge, CB1 8NN Callington, PL17 7AN Bexhill-on-Sea, TN40 1DU Cheadle Hulme, M15 4ST Hemel Hempstead,
HP1 1LD TUNBRIDGE WELLS
FENLAND RPG CLUB THE DICE AND DAGGER UCKFIELD TABLETOP GWENT WARGAMES SOCIETY
Ely, CB7 5NG GAMING CLUB GAMERS GWENT REAVERS HERTFORD BEER & Tunbridge Wells, TN3 0PR
Bude, EX23 9BL Uckfield, TN22 5DT TABLETOP GAMING CLUB BOARDGAMES
HEFFERS GAMES - Abertillery, NP13 3DJ Hertford, SG14 1HH WHITSTABLETOP
BOARDGAMES AT WEDNESDAY NIGHT GAMING WADHURST WARGAMERS Whitstable, CT5 1DA
THE BOOKSHOP Redruth, TR15 3QY & ROLEPLAYERS GWYNEDD HITCHIN HERETICS
Cambridge, CB2 1TY Wadhurst, TN5 6UL CONWY WARGAMES CLUB Hitchin, SG5 1XL LANARKSHIRE
COUNTY TYRONE Llandudno, LL30 3LB CARLUKE WARGAMES CLUB
NEWMARKET KNIGHTS OMAGH WARGAMES CLUB EAST YORKSHIRE LOST ARK GAMES Carluke, ML8 5JQ
GAMES CLUB Omagh, BT78 1HL WOLDS WARGAMERS HAMPSHIRE RPG CLUB
Ely, CB7 5HS Driffield, YO25 6SS ARBBL Stevenage, SG1 1EE GLASGOW BOARD GAMERS
CUMBRIA Andover, SP10 1DQ Glasgow, G2 5AP
PETERBOROUGH THE WIZARDS OF ESSEX LOST LEGION
WARGAMES CLUB WINDERMERE BASILDON WARBOYZ BLACK HOLE WARGAMERS WARGAMING CLUB LANARKSHIRE GAMERS
Peterborough, PE1 1NA Windermere, LA23 1DY Basildon, SS16 4NW Petersfield, GU32 3HS Hitchin, SG5 2PG Motherwell, ML1 1BS

76 Miniature Wargames July 2019

ML2 GAMERS LONDON ON BOARD NORTHUMBERLAND STEEL CITY WARGAMING STAY ON TARGET PENNINE RAIDERS
Hamilton, ML3 6BU London, W1F 9LD BOARD TO DEATH Sheffield, S13 7LL Woking, GU21 5BG Halifax, HX3 6AW
Alnwick, NE66 3NP
LANCASHIRE SELWG VAULT 14 SURREY GIRL GAMERS PUDSEY BOARD
BLACK TOWER WARGAMING London, SE6 2TS NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Doncaster, DN1 3JU Woking, GU21 4AL GAME CLUB
Blackpool, FY4 4ND K.I.A GAMES CLUB Pudsey, LS28 6AT
TANELORN WAR Nottingham, NG17 8LA ZONE OUT GAMES CLUB SUTTON GAMES CLUB
BOLTON GNOME’S GAMING CLUB Doncaster, DN1 2PX Sutton, SM1 1DT WILTSHIRE
Bolton, BL1 5QD London, E11 3DB NOTTINGHAM BOARD BOSCOMBE DOWN
& WARGAMES CLUB SOUTHWARK SUTTON GAMING CLUB & AMESBURY
BURNLEY BOARD GAMERS THE ROLE PLAY HAVEN Nottingham, NG2 1NB DICE CULT Sutton, SM1 4DP WARGAMES CLUB
Burnley, BB10 3LF London, E15 2HU London, SE1 4GZ Salisbury, SP4 7LN
THE CLUB WITH NO NAME SWIGGERS
BURNLEY WARGAMES CLUB THE ROLE PLAY HAVEN Nottingham, NG2 1NB STAFFORDSHIRE London, SE1 2TF CHIPPENHAM BOARD
Burnley, BB10 3EU London, SE13 6LH ALL ABOARD GAMING CLUB GAMES CLUB
WAR & PEACE GAMES CLUB Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1JB THE SOUTH LONDON Chippenham, SN15 3WL
DECKS & DICE MERSEYSIDE Nottingham, NG10 5BD WARLORDS
Manchester, M25 1AW FORGEMASTERS CHASE WARGAMES CLUB London, SE21 7BT DEVIZES & DISTRICT
GAMING CLUB WILDSIDE GAMING Burntwood, WS7 0JL WARGAMES GROUP
DICED TEA Wirral, CH63 6HD Newark, NG24 1ER THE WOKING Devizes, SN10 5AD
Oldham, OL1 2DB GAMING POTION WEIRD BOYZ
LIVERPOOL LION OXFORDSHIRE Stoke-on-Trent, ST10 4JY Woking, GU22 7TA SALISBURY ROLE
DUNGEONS & FLAGONS BOARDGAMERS ABINGDON WARGAMES CLUB PLAY GROUP
Manchester, M1 7HL Liverpool, L3 9NS Abingdon, OX14 5AG LICHFIELD GAMERS TOLWORTH Salisbury, SP2 8HB
AND RPG 1ST FOUNDING
ELWA: EAST LANCASHIRE MUTANT DICE GAMES AMBROSDEN GAMING CLUB Lichfield, WS13 6EB Chessington, KT9 1PF WEDNESDAY
WARGAMES ASSOCIATION GAMING GROUP Bicester, OX25 2LZ KNIGHT GAMERS
Blackburn, BB6 7DD St. Helens, WA9 4TR STAFFORDSHIRE SUSSEX Salisbury, SP1 3TA
BICESTER BOARD GAMERS WARGAMING GUILD BRIGHTON WARLORDS
FAN BOY THREE SOUTHPORT BOARD Bicester, OX26 3HA Stone, ST15 8TG Brighton, BN1 1UB WORCESTERSHIRE
BOARDGAME NIGHT GAMES GROUP BROMSGROVE
Manchester, M1 1EL Southport, PR8 1NH NORTH OXFORDSHIRE TAMWORTH GAMES CLUB WARWICKSHIRE BOARD GAMERS
WARGAMING CLUB Tamworth, B79 7DJ AFTERNOON PLAY Bromsgrove, B60 2DZ
GECKO GAMES CLUB ST. HELENS BOARDGAMES, Banbury, OX16 9AF Birmingham, B15 1AY
Accrington, BB5 3QW ROLEPLAYING TAMWORTH LIBERATORS KIDDERMINSTER AND
GAMES (B.O.R.G.) OXFORD GAMING CLUB GAMING CLUB BOARD GAME CAFE AREA ROLEPLAYERS
HARLEQUINS BLACKPOOL St. Helens, WA10 5BF Oxford, OX2 7DP Tamworth, B77 3AE SUMMERFIELD Kidderminster, DY11 5QA
Blackpool, FY1 3QA Birmingham, B16 0EZ
MID GLAMORGAN OXFORD ON BOARD THE ARTISANS’ GALLERY PERSHORE GAMING
HOUSE LANCASTER CAERPHILLY BOARD GAMERS Oxford, OX4 1EA GAMING CLUB BRAVO ONE GAMING Pershore, WR10 1EQ
GAMING GROUP Caerphilly, CF83 1AP Stoke-on-Trent, ST8 6AP Birmingham, B1 1QP
Lancaster, LA1 1EE OXFORD OUTRIDERS POSTAL ORDER
CASTLE GAMERS BRIDGEND Oxford, OX1 2AU THE VINE INN GAMERS COCKED DICE GAMING GEEK MEET
LYTHAM ST ANNES GAMERS Bridgend, CF35 6AU Rugeley, WS15 2AT Coventry, CV5 9EQ Worcester, WR1 1DN
Lytham St. Annes, FY8 4BX RENFREWSHIRE
MIDDLESEX GLASGOW AND DISTRICT TRITEX GAMES DREAMDEALERS REDDITCH WARGAMING
PRESTON’S GAMERS GUILD BATTLEUX WARGAMES CLUB WARGAMING SOCIETY Stafford, ST16 1BG GAMING CLUB SOCIETY
Preston, PR1 7DP Uxbridge, UB10 0RY Glasgow, G41 4AD Coventry, CV6 4FE Redditch, B97 5YE
STIRLINGSHIRE
SALFORD AND MANCHESTER DICE CLUB SHROPSHIRE FALKIRK DISTRICT GRANGE LIVE GAMING WORCESTER BOARD
GAMING HAVEN Uxbridge, UB10 0RY BIG ORBIT GAMES WARGAMES CLUB Birmingham, B1 1QP GAMERS (WOBOG)
Salford, M8 0TW SHREWSBURY Grangemouth, FK3 8QR Worcester, WR1 2DP
HESTON AND EALING Shrewsbury, SY1 1PH NUNEATON ALTERNATIVE
THE HUNGRY DRAGON WARGAMERS STIRLING WARGAMERS GAMES ASSOCIATION WYRE FOREST GAMERS
GAMES NIGHT London, W13 9SS E-COLLECTICA GAMES Stirling, FK8 1QJ Nuneaton, CV10 8LJ Kidderminster, DY10 1RP
Manchester, M21 0AE Shrewsbury, SY1 2DT
LONDON WARGAMING GUILD SUFFOLK OCTOBER WARGAMES YORKSHIRE
THE LIVERPOOL WARGAMES London, WC2H 9LA GAMES @THE BIRD BECCLES BOARD GAMERS ASSOCIATION AIREBOROUGH
ASSOCIATION (LWA) Shrewsbury, SY1 2DT Beccles, NR34 9AB Birmingham, B16 8SY COMMUNITY GAMERS
Liverpool, L1 6HB TABLETOP TUESDAYS Leeds, LS19 6AS
London, N16 8BX STAGS TELFORD BURY ST EDMUNDS SCIMITAR
THE NEGG ( NORTH OF WARGAMING SOCIETY BOARD GAMING GROUP WARGAMES GROUP BEYOND MONOPOLY
ENGLAND GAMING GROUP ) THE GAMES CLUB Telford, TF1 1LU Bury St. Edmunds, Coventry, CV3 5GT York, YO24 1AQ
Accrington, BB5 3EE London, NW1 2JU IP30 9LH
TELFORD WEST MIDLANDS EAST LEEDS
THURSDAY SCYTHE MIDLOTHIAN BOARDGAMERS CLUB HAVERHILL AREA BOARD BIRMINGHAM Leeds, LS25 2HD
BOARD GAMERS EDINBURGH LEAGUE Telford, TF1 2BW GAME GROUP WARGAMES AND
Liverpool, L3 8HE OF GAMERS Haverhill, CB9 8AU BOARDGAMES CLUB EAST LEEDS
Edinburgh, EH7 5EA SOMERSET AKA DRAGOON’S DEN MILITARIA SOCIETY
LEICESTERSHIRE ABBEYWOOD IRREGULARS HAVERHILL WAR Birmingham, B13 9EA WARGAMES CLUB
CHARNWOOD ROLE SOUTH EAST SCOTLAND Frome, BA11 1PU GAMES CLUB Leeds, LS25 2HD
PLAYERS GAMING CLUB WARGAMES CLUB Haverhill, CB9 9JE DUDLEY DARKLORDS
Loughborough, LE12 8DT Edinburgh, EH7 4EW BATH GAMING GROUP Kingswinford, DY6 8AP HEADINGLEY
Bath, BA2 6AA IPSWICH BOARD GAMERS GAMES CLUB
LEICESTER ALL SCARS NORFOLK Ipswich, IP3 0FS PLAY MORE GAMES! Leeds, LS6 3HN
Leicester, LE1 3JR AFTERMATH GAMING CLUB MID SOMERSET Solihull, B90 3GG
Norwich, NR3 4HX WARGAMES CLUB IPSWICH COUNTY LIBRARY HOLMFIRTH
LEICESTER PHAT KATZ Wells, BA5 2PU BOARD GAMES LIBRARY WEST SUSSEX GAMING CENTRE
Leicester, LE3 0QY KINGS LYNN RPG & Ipswich, IP1 3DE BOGNOR REGIS GAMING Holmfirth, HD9 7HP
WARGAMES CLUB PIGMAR WARGAMING CLUB ASSOCIATION
MARKET HARBOROUGH King’s Lynn, PE30 4DN Bath, BA1 6AB MID SUFFOLK GAMING CLUB Bognor Regis, PO21 5EU HULL’S ANGELS
WARGAMES CLUB Stowmarket, IP14 4SH Hull, HU1 3HG
Market Harborough, NORWICH BOARD GAMERS THE ESCAPE COMMITTEE BOGNOR REGIS MILITARY
LE16 7JU Norwich, NR2 4AL WARGAMES CLUB SKYWARD FIRE GAMES MODELLING AND IRELAND WOOD
Burnham-on-Sea, TA8 2ET Lowestoft, NR32 1TY WARGAMING SOCIETY GAMES COMMUNITY
SECTION 31 TAS GAMING CLUB Bognor Regis, PO21 5SB Leeds, LS16 6BS
Leicester, LE1 1PA King’s Lynn, PE34 4SJ THE FROME BOARD WHITE EAGLES
GAMES CLUB WARGAMES CLUB CRAWLEY LEEDS GAMING
SONS OF SIMON NORTH SOMERSET Frome, BA11 1PU Ipswich, IP2 0RG GAMING CLUB Leeds, LS1 3DL
DE MONTFORT POSSETT GAMING CLUB Crawley, RH10 5DF
Loughborough, LE12 8TX Bristol, BS20 7AN TRINITY WARGAMING CLUB SURREY LEEDS NIGHT OWLS
Taunton, TA1 3JG BELLUM KNIGHTS DUNGEON CRAWL-EY Leeds, LS6 1LJ
THE LEICESTER WARGAMES NORTH YORKSHIRE Surbiton, KT6 5NJ GAMES CLUB
AND FANTASY GROUP BOARDED UP WARGAMING @ RADSTOCK Crawley, RH11 7QG SHEFFIELD AND ROTHERHAM
Leicester, LE3 0QU Selby, YO8 8QE Radstock, BA3 4BD CROSS GAMING CLUB WARGAMES CLUB
London, SE1 7RW MID SUSSEX MEEPLES Sheffield, S2 2TP
LINCOLNSHIRE SCARBOROUGH WESTON WARGAMERS CLUB Burgess Hill, RH15 8DX
BOSTON TABLETOP GAMERS GAMES SOCIETY Weston-super-Mare, CROYDON BOARD GAMERS SHEFFIELD BOARD GAMES
Boston, PE21 6QQ Scarborough, YO12 7BY BS23 1NF Croydon, CR0 1DP SOUTH DOWNS Sheffield, S3 7HG
SIEGEBREAKERS
GRANTHAM FRIENDLY YORK GARRISON WSM BOARD GAMING CLUB EAGLE GAMING CLUB Pulborough, RH20 4DR SHEFFIELD
GAMERS WARGAMING CLUB Weston super Mare, London, SW18 2PT WARGAMES SOCIETY
Grantham, NG31 6LJ York, YO32 4AQ BS22 8PD WEST YORKSHIRE Sheffield, S8 0PS
GUILDFORD BOARD BOARD IN THE VILLAGE
GRIMSBY WARGAMES NORTHAMPTONSHIRE SOUTH HUMBERSIDE GAMES CLUB Bradford, BD14 6RE
SOCIETY BATTLEFIELD HOBBIES SCUNTHORPE Guildford, GU1 4LH
Grimsby, DN32 9HT Daventry, NN11 8RB TABLETOP GAMERS GAMING CLUB BRADFORD
Scunthorpe, DN16 1DQ HAMPTON COURT Bradford, BD1 2DX
LINCOLN BOARD GAME GROUP DESBOROUGH ROLEPLAYING GAMES CLUB
Lincoln, LN1 3BJ AND WARGAMES CLUB SOUTH YORKSHIRE East Molesey, KT8 0BT HALIFAX BOARD GAMERS
Kettering, NN14 2NQ MALTBY AND DISTRICT Halifax, HX1 1SJ List your club for
LOUTH STRATEGY WARGAMES CLUB KINGSTON GAMES GROUP
GAMES CLUB PHOENIX GAMING CLUB Rotherham, S66 8JB Kingston upon Thames, KEIGHLEY free and see full
Louth, LN11 8DB Rushden, NN10 9YE KT2 6LN TABLETOP COMBAT club details online
ROTHERHAM
WARGAMES CLUB
Keighley, BD20 6EB
tabletopgaming.co.uk at
SPALDING WARGAMES CLUB THE BRACKLEY & REIGATE WARGAMES GROUP
Spalding, PE11 2RA DISTRICT GAMERS Rotherham, S60 1JE Reigate, RH2 0NA MIDLIFE DICES
Brackley, NN13 6LF Shipley, BD18 4SJ
LONDON ROTHERHAM STAINES WARGAMES
CROSS GAMING CLUB THE PIT GAMING CLUB WARGAMES SOCIETY ASSOCIATION OTLEY BOARD GAMERS
London, SE1 1DX Wellingborough, NN9 5TU Rotherham, S60 1JE Egham, TW20 0QT Otley, LS21 2AU

July 2019 Miniature Wargames 77

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