Issue The 13th WINTER 2011

␣ ␣ ␣ ␣

ISSUE THE 13TH

£4.25 Winter 2011

␣␣ ␣ ␣ ␣ ␣

␣ ␣

1

0266-3228 2

ISSN

322116

770266

9

ISSN 0266-3228

Publisher: Trevor Ridley

Editor: Andrew Hubback 1 Carrara House, Cemetery Road, Nottingham, NG9 8AP Email: andrew@miniwargames.com Tel: 0115 837 9092

Advertising: Gareth Macfarlane Tel: 0845 226 0477, Fax: 0845 226 0377 Email: garethm@media-shed.co.uk

Subscriptions: UK & BFPO £46.75, Europe Air Mail £63, Air Mail outside Europe £75. Miniature Wargames Subscriptions, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH. Tel: 01778 392494 or order securely online: www.atlanticpublishers.com Distributors: UK: News Trade, Warners Distribution – Tel: 01778 392417 Model Trade, Warners Trade Sales – Tel: 01778 395002 Australia: Mainly Medieval, PO Box 189, St Peters, NSW 2044. Tel: (02) 9519 2131. www.mainlymedieval.com Denmark: Models & Hobby, Frederiksborggade 23 DK1360, Kobenhavn K. Tel: 3314 3310. Italy: Strategia e Tactica, Via Cavour, 250, 00154 Roma. United States: On Military Matters, 31 West Broad Street, Hopewell NJ, 08525. Tel: 609 466 2329, Fax: 609 466 4174. www.onmilitarymatters.com. Other territories: Representation invited. Submissions: The editor welcomes ideas for articles. In the first instance, please call, write or email for a copy of our Notes for Contributors guidelines. Please note that, while every care is taken with material submitted, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage that may occur. Back/Missing issues: Atlantic Editions Limited, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH Tel:01778 392032 Email: subsaccexecteam@warnersgroup.co.uk Reviews: Manufacturers and publishers are invited to send figures, kits, books and rules for review to the editorial office. Design: Neil Sayer Production: Juliet Arthur Administration: Tony Read Email: tonyr@atlanticpublishers.com Photographs: Bo Penstoft, Karl Perrotton, Steve Eardley, Andrew Hubback, John Treadaway, Kevin Dallimore, Black Pyramid Gaming, Noam Izenberg, Randy Wolfmeyer, Bob Cockayne.

Printed by: Warners Midlands plc Published by: Atlantic Publishers December Issue 344 on sale 26 November 2011

All articles and illustrations published in Miniature Wargames are strictly copyright and may not be reproduced without written permission. Opinions expressed in Miniature Wargames are those of the authors alone and should not be construed to represent the opinion of the publisher. © 2011 Atlantic Editions Ltd.

ROLL CALL

Capsule

5

View From The Bridge 6 Gary Mitchell’s personal perspective on the hobby

Cover: The Orc boss comes out swinging. Image courtesy of Mantic Games.

Sensor Report 8 Product launches, news and events

In Rude Elf

Bo Penstoft unveils this definitive guide to painting an Elven army

12

You Only Live Dice 18 Battle report on a fast-paced, James Bond-style game by Karl Perrotton played using the new 7TV rules

Operation Night Crow 25 John Treadaway presents a scenario and optional new rules for Hammer’s Slammers: The Crucible and Kevin Dallimore contributes a sci-fi vehicle painting guide

The Battle of Bywater 34 Stephen Maggs presents an original scenario for the popular Lord of the Rings figures and rules

The Wargame That Time Forgot 38 Pit Victorian adventurers against dinosaurs in this VSF lost worlds game using simple rules by Guy Roberts

Atlam Convoy 42 Suit up as you run your convoy of spaceships through hostile inter-stellar territory to relieve a besieged planet in this scenario from Gary Mitchell

Return of Them 44 Bob Cockayne puts a new spin on a classic B-movie with comprehensive rules and scenario ideas for battling giant ants

Reviews

Tomorrow’s War put under the microscope

54

Miniature Wargames supports:

Combat Stress. Donate to the Battlegames Combat Stress appeal at www.justgiving.com/battlegames

The Battlefields Trust. MW readers are eligible for membership of The Battlefields Trust at the concessionary rate of £15 (normally £20). CAPSULE

Welcome to Darker Horizons - this special sci-fant gamingthemed edition of Miniature Wargames. As this is something of a milestone in wargames publishing, let’s cast our mind back to the history of the genre’s coverage in the UK hobby press.

In the beginning, there was White Dwarf – until it became a shop window for Games Workshop (not that there’s anything wrong with that) – and a few years ago saw the launch of The Ancible – so a tip of the editorial homburg to Kenny Robb for blazing the trail – but that title has now gone to free-to-download-pdf (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Miniature Wargames came on the scene way back in 1983 and – blowing the dust off the archives – I can see that a hex map for space campaigns appeared in the very first issue. However, it wasn’t until 10 years later that my predecessor, Iain Dickie, launched a dedicated Fantasy section in the magazine and sci-fi was added to the mix a few issues later. MW has covered sci-fi and fantasy faithfully since then, and was even responsible for getting the Hammer’s Slammers rules into print in the early years of this century. In 2009, I took another step forward by giving Gary Mitchell his own monthly column in the magazine and I long dreamed that one day it would grow up into a standalone title.

So, we are boldly going into new territory here. I hope that whether you are a passionate sci-fant gamer or just have a passing interest you will find something to fire your imagination here. If you like this issue, tell us, and, you never know, we might take the concept further.

FOREWORD By Dave Clubmember

Welcome to this Darker Horizons special. Since this section of MW began in 2009, the concept of making sci-fant gaming more mainstream and accessible has gone from strength to strength. Credit should go to editor Andrew Hubback for boldly initiating what they said could not be done, and to Gary Mitchell for tirelessly penning the column. It seems like only yesterday my wife Gloria and I had to fantasy game covertly for fear of social ostracism; the bad old days when to use Celts as Martians was considered ‘unhistoric’. Then came the original White Dwarf in the 1980s and growing respectability; nowadays one can freely play with elves and space orcs without antagonising most gamers. There are RPG, computer simulation, alternative history, spy-fi and WWII extended into weird science and Nazi zombies on ice. No sooner has a film or TV series come to our screens than its being gamed by someone, somewhere. The internet has revolutionised our choice of, and access to, miniatures and web fora allow likeminded individuals to keep in touch without the neighbours ever suspecting. Indeed, my own children can disappear for days to our local branch of Games Workshop on the campus of Felphersham University and come back happy for food and fresh laundry. So, let’s not forget this valuable childcare service or their contribution to the growth of the hobby. Let’s also thank Atlantic Publishers for backing this premier expansion, for their belief that gamers of all strands - both historical and sci-fant - can co-exist in peace and harmony like the black and white keys on a piano, to meet and exchange top tips and ideas, to metaphorically embrace each other as brothers in the broad church of miniature gaming. Long live Darker Horizons! K’Pla!

Dave Clubmember is Chairman of The Borchester Irregulars and in the 1970s helped raise the profile of sci-fant gaming by organising a series of protest all-night gaming sessions across the Midlands of England.

Futuristic warrior from Tomorrow’s War, the new sci-fi rules by Osprey Publishing and Ambush Alley Games. Full review elsewhere in this issue.

www.atlanticpublishers.com

5