Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy issue 66

The latest issue of WS&S happens to be American Civil War themed, which was a lucky coincidence since my buddy Thomas lured med into the period (and 6mm) so getting a better understanding of the armies outside the basic knowledge I had and being able to read a very nice mini campaign was great.

The mini campaign in the book is was played using Black Powder and Fire & Fury, but me and Thomas intend to play "Longstreet" once those rules are released. I don't think we should have any problems replaying this campaign since it is very open ended as to which rules you pick and only provides scenario objectives and detailed information about the battles and force charts.

Rick Priestley's column talks about how rules these days feel forced to support themselves with official miniatures to be taken seriously. I agree to some extent, but I also know that players tend to use miniatures from other sources if they are of at least equal quality and cheaper than those official miniatures - an example of that would be the thousands of tanks from Plastic Soldier Company that have made their way onto Flames of War tables, and there are other manufacturers such as Peter Pig, Forged in Battle, QRF etc that offer miniatures that are either cheaper or of units which aren't produced by Battlefront. But in general, yes, players get anxious if they aren't offered a "starting alternative" of miniatures, especially if they come straight from a Games Workshop background with little knowledge of alternative manufacturers and the hundreds of various wargaming companies out there.

Richard Clarke makes the wargamer within me cry out in terror when he writes about throwing old miniatures away, but other than that he also makes a good and interesting point about miniature ranges these days not going anywhere. I can think of a couple of ranges that have changed owner over the last couple of year and production have been maintained and even expanded upon. I can't even imagine how harsh it must have been "back in the days" with ranges popping up and then vanishing.

Apart from all other quality content you will also find my ramblings in one column about how I think the internet has served our hobby well, and my review of the excellent boardgame "Spartacus".

The best wargaming magazine on the market continues with its high quality. If you aren't already subscribing it is well worth the money.