The 'new' Miniature Wargames

Today was the first opportunity that I have had to visit a newsagent ... and my first opportunity to look at the newly-revamped and re-launched MINIATURE WARGAMES magazine. I took one look, liked what I saw ... and bought a copy.


The articles included in this issue are:

• Briefing (i.e. the editorial) by Henry Hyde
• Forward observer by Neil Shuck
• Lofy ambitions: The continuing tales of a wargames widow by Diane Sutherland
• Little Wars for little money in little space by Arthur Harman
• Send three and four pence by Conrad Kinch
• The Great Armada: Part 1: the makings of a wargame by Jim Webster
• Opening Hells' Highway: Wargaming Operation Market Garden by Jon Sutherland
• Digital photography for wargamers by Henry Hyde
• Command challenge: An uncivil Roman war scenario by Steve Jones
• Dux Britanniarum: How one man fell in love with the Dark Ages by Chris Stoesen
• A Saladin for UNIT by Tony Harwood
• Zinnkrieg!: The allure of two-dimensional gaming by Harry Pearson
• Thoughts from an armchair by Mike Siggins
• Recce
• The Battlegames Combat Stress Appeal report by Henry Hyde

My first reaction to thorough look through this 'new' magazine was that I liked what I saw. Henry Hyde seems to have melded the best elements of the 'old' MINIATURE WARGAMES with those from BATTLEGAMES ... and in my opinion he has produced a winner. I like the very clean layout, the style of illustrations and photographs that have been used, and the use of category 'tags' (e.g. 'Editorial', 'Feature', 'Modelling') at the top of each page. I was also very impressed with the content, and the team of contributors featured in this issue is diverse, knowledgeable, and thought-provoking.

My second reaction was – to use text-speak – OMG! I and/or my blog get a mention in both Arthur Harman's article (which, by the way, is written in the style that is very reminiscent of that used by H G Wells in LITTLE WARS) and in Conrad Kinch's column. In addition, Joseph Morschauser's book HOW TO PLAY WAR GAMES IN MINIATURE – which I worked hard to get republished – is also mentioned in articles by Arthur Harman and Harry Pearson. My cup runneth over ... and if I had not already decided to subscribe to the magazine, this would have clinched it for me!

Soldiers of the Queen (SOTQ): Issue 152

The latest copy of SOTQ (Soldiers of the Queen, the quarterly journal of the Victorian Military Society) was delivered whilst I was away, and I have only just managed to look through it this morning.


The articles included in this issue are:

• Art and Artillery: Major-General John Booth Richardson (1838 - 1923) by Richard Voss
• Tel el-Kebir, 13 September 1882: Once Battle, Two Perspectives by Harold E Raugh, Jr.
• The Battle for Houtnek by Dr Andre Chissel
• Book Reviews
• About the VMS

As always this looks like being a very interesting issue, and I look forward to reading it more thoroughly over the next few days.

Nugget 261

The editor of THE NUGGET emailed the original of the latest issue (N261) to me yesterday, and I will be taking it to the printer this morning. I hope to collect it from the printer on Tuesday next week and post it out to members of Wargame Developments by Thursday at the latest.

If any of my regular blog readers would like to subscribe to THE NUGGET, they can do so via the link on the Wargame Developments website (click here).

Back to the cold and wet

As some of you have no doubt realised, I have not been around much over the last month or so.

In the aftermath of my father's funeral, my wife and I took a long holiday ... to the Caribbean and back! We got back yesterday ... having missed the warmest day of the year so far in the UK ... and we are both suffering from heavy colds, the result – no doubt – of the damp and fog we sailed though for the last few days of our cruise.

I will be writing several long blog entries about what we saw and did whilst we were away, and these will be appearing over the next week or so. In the meantime I have a mountain of paperwork to do (Corporation Tax and VAT returns, for example) before I can do anything else.

COW2008: Combat 300 (or the Battle of Knuston Box)

KNUSTON BOX was one of two memorable games put on at COW2008 by Ian Drury. The rules (COMBAT 300) were a development of those used in Ian's earlier BANDENKAMPF game. The scenario was set in 1942 and featured a German attack on a British brigade 'box' in the Western Desert.

Led by reconnaissance units, the Germans advance on the British positions.

The German force included a Panzer battalion and two motorised infantry battalions.

The attack begins!

A close-up of some of the German troops.

The Germans assault the British positions ...

... and manage to break through them.

COW2008: Redcoats and Rajahs (or the Battle of Sobraon)

The other memorable game put on by Ian Drury at COW2008 was a recreation of the BATTLE OF SOBRAON using his REDCOATS AND RAJAHS rules. The actual battle took place on 10th February 1846, and was fought between the army of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army. It was the decisive battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War, and resulted in the defeat of the Sikhs.

The battlefield of Sobraon.

Part of the army of the British East India Company.

The right flank of the Sikh Army.

The British East India Company's artillery ... which is drawn by bullocks.

The centre of the Sikh defences.

The Sikh defeat began when units of the British East India Company's army broke through the left flank of the Sikh defences.

At the same time other units of the British East India Company attacked the right hand flank of the Sikh defences.

With their defences collapsing, the Sikhs began to fall back.

COW2007: Airsoft

There was a follow-up to the COW2006 Airsoft session at COW2007. We were able to use a much larger area (a field next door to the conference venue that had been previously used a grazing for cattle) that was a mixture of open grass intermixed with a few clumps of trees and the remains of a large stack of hay bales.

In the intervening period the amount and quality of 'kit' we had available had improved, and we looked a lot less like an armed rabble.


The tall grass proved to be an interesting challenge. Not only was it possible to lie down and not be seen unless an opponent was almost walking on top of you, it also made it almost impossible to move at any speed without falling over. Most of the participants were wearing some form of camouflage, and it was interesting to see how effective it could be.

British DPM camouflage blends in very well with the surrounding vegetation.

Another example of British DPM camouflage. In some places the grass was as tall as it looks in this photograph.

We all discovered that trying to fire lying down in grass was very inaccurate, and we all had to resort to kneeling if we wanted to stand any chance of hitting our targets.

Tall grass can provide quite good concealment ...

... but does make speedy movement difficult.

Although the land we were using was private, we did take the precaution of informing the local police that we were running the Airsoft session on that field. This proved to be a wise precaution as one dog-walker did seem to be a little surprised to be confronted by a group of apparently heavily-armed men carrying out manoeuvres when he decided to cut across the field with his dog!

COW2006: Airsoft

Not all sessions at the Conference of Wargames are based indoors, and in 2006 we ran our first Airsoft session in the grounds of the venue. (The grounds are private property and therefore no members of the public could see what was taking place. We did, however, make sure that the local police were informed ... just in case!)

This was a rather experimental session as very few of us had any proper 'kit' ... and that included the Airsoft guns that we were using. As a result we ended up looking like a rather motely group ...


We did learn some useful lessons from the session, and for those who had even the most basic military training it was a practical reminder of some fieldcraft we were supposed to have learned (e.g. even a dip of less that 12" can give a lot of cover when one is being fired at).

COW2006: Bandenkampf (or fighting partisans in Yugoslavia))

BANDENKAMPF was Ian Drury's figure game about fighting partisans in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. It provided an opportunity for all sorts of 'odds and sods' to appear of the tabletop, including members of the 13.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS 'Handschar' (kroat.Nr.1) (Muslims specially recruited by the Germans to fight the Yugoslav partisans) and Panzerbrigade 'Artur Daley', with its eclectic collection of second-hand armoured vehicles.

Somewhere in Yugoslavia ...

The Germans, led by the elements of Panzerbrigade 'Artur Daley', attack the partisans. 

A close-up of the action. The poker chips indicate where artillery fire has landed.

Another view of the attack.

Reconnaissance troops from Panzerbrigade 'Artur Daley'.

The armoured fighting vehicles used by Panzerbrigade 'Artur Daley' included a French Hotchkiss Char Leger H-39 (Panzerkampfwagen 39H 735(f)), ...

... an Italian Carro Armato L6/40 (Panzerkampfwagen L6/40 733(i)), ...

... and a SdKfz. 221 light armoured car.

The reconnaissance troops also had a motorcycle and sidecar combination. 

A member of the Feldgendarmerie or Military Police, who were also nicknamed 'chaindogs' because of the gorgets they wore on chains around their neck.

A German 150mm s.I.G.33 L/11 Infantry Gun.

SALUTE 2006: Red Flags & Iron Crosses

During 2006 I worked on a set of World War II rules that were designed so that it was possible to fight small World War II Ostfront battles between Axis and Soviet forces. The title of the rules was RED FLAGS & IRON CROSSES.

The duration of the sort of action they were supposed to portray was about an hour or so, and that was roughly how long the games took to play. They were designed to be used with 20mm scale figures and vehicles, and made use of my (then) newly-acquired Hexon II terrain. I demonstrated the draft version of the rules at SALUTE 2006, and a more polished and complete version at COW2006.

The following photographs were taken at SALUTE 2006.

Soviet infantry and armour move forward. 

The Soviets have already run into trouble. The Commander has been 'disrupted' and this will affect his ability to move and fight.

The Soviet attackers have overwhelming firepower but are having problems dislodging their German opponents.

The Soviet troops attempted to outflank the German defences.

The Soviets lost one of their T-34/85s during the fighting.

The Germans have been pushed back and both their tanks have been 'disrupted'.

In the end sheer weight of numbers prevailed ... but the Soviet victory was not achieved without losses.