The latest Wargames- Soldiers ans Strategy dropped on my mat yesterday and it is a good issue.
Personally I don't have great deal of interest in Russian Napoleonics- not I hasten to add no interest just not that much. This mag went a little way to changing that. In terms of style it falls between WI and MW but with enough differences to be distinct from both. Articles are fairly short but the pictures do not overwhelm the text and the format is much quieter than WI.
There are 4 modelling articles- all by different chaps and all in different periods but the end results are- stylistically speaking almost identical- the "stock look" of today received wisdom when it comes to the painting and modelling side- does no-one have any different painting styles any more?
However there are several articles on the Napoleonic period featuring the Russians and their enemies- and barely a Frenchman in sight! so we get stuff on the Russo- Swedish war in Finland and the Russian Persian war both conflict of which I knew comparatively little- especially the Persian war. I quite fancy the Russo-Swedish war- done in 15mm using Blue Moon . Ah well maybe one day.
If I had a complaint at this point it would be that the mag is "rules orientated"- often for comparatively few sets- those that are in fashion this week- though some efforts are made to widen the scope. I've never really understood the modern obsession with rules often to the exclusion of all else The current buizzwords do my head in as well " enjoyable narrative gaming experience" was one thatcaught my eye- in the review of Helions new ECW set- which I may have to buy. Hyperbole or what?? Especially when the reviewer never mentions if the rules follow ECW unit structure but simply drones on about bloody games mechanisms. Now this may be a good and accurate set - but all I got from the review was that is was "fun" . Oh dearie me the F word again . The only reason I bang on about this in particular is because I know the ECW and this review told me very little about how the rules fit the period but an awful lot about how to pull dice out of a bag !!! .
Of the columns Richard Clarke's had me nodding in agreement. I've tried all of my wargaming life to make historical plausibility a cornerstone of my games. My surprise frankly was that , once again, something so basic needed repeating. These days it seems such basic stuff is not to the point any longer- perhaps we are all supposed to fiddle with Dwarfs instead don't need plausibility for that !
Nevertheless a good mag- perhaps the best of this month's crop.
Nice one Guy!!
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