Wargames Illustrated #316

I picked up the latest issue of Wargames Illustrated the other day on my way back from a meeting in Reigate.

Usually their issues are themed around a particular era or battle which can make it a very hit or miss affair (although I usually end up buying it anyway) but they seem to have gone for a change of direction this month.  The latest issue is themed around 'Assaults from the Sea' in a range of eras.

So the Raid articles include a Saxon Coastal raid in the 11th century,  Barbary pirates attacking a Cornish village and a Napoleonic naval battle at Brest which features absolutely humongous ships!

There are also articles on...

ACW uniforms.... leaves me a bit cold...I really try to be interested in the ACW but tend to drift off...

Hobarts Funnies in WW2... interesting article

A view of a new set of ACW rule, 'A Firebell in the Night'... hmmm...ACW again...

The seemingly never ending series of articles on 19th century games, Savage Wars of Peace...it seems to have been going on for ever but looks like it's finally over!  I love this era but the articles seemed to have overstayed their welcome and there's only so much cod-Victorian talk I can take.  Admittedly there were some useful points in there but I tended to gloss over them after a while.

A report on Warfare in Reading

The obligatory Flames of War article...these often seem to draw criticism ever since WI was taken over by Battlefront.  I don't know why...after all they paid good money for the mag and I think they generally strike a really good balance between FoW and other periods.

An interesting interview with the writers of of the recent Zulu supplement for Black Powder...I got this at Xmas and really must put up a review at some point.

Finally there's an overview of the Dust Weird WW2 game with a free set of starter rules in next months issue...I sense a connection somewhere...
I've never played much in this genre...my son and I once got roped into a Demonstration game at a show (Cavalier I think) of Secrets of the Third Reich in which it took the club members who were putting it on half an hour to make a move...we wandered off..I don't think they ever noticed!

Despite this experience and my general disinterest in anything featuring Zombies (don't know why, but they just leave me cold) these did look quite interesting... I think someone at the club has this game so I may need to persuade him to give me a game.

Despite my moans about ACW, I thought this was an excellent issue and well worth picking up.