Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

Wargaming is a big hobby with many diverse factions and perspectives: striking a balance that pleases everyone can be truly challenging! We like to think what sets Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy apart from other historical wargaming magazines is its focus on having fun, no matter what kind of wargamer you are or what your background is. WS&S is a light-hearted publication, that pays particular attention to games themselves and how to play them: it doesn’t get bogged down in lengthy historical expositions or recycle content you can read yourself in any history book. While popular periods like WWII, the Napoleonic era, and the ancient world get frequent coverage, we also try to feature the unexpected, with articles on spies, monsters and gangsters to name but a few.

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

Editorial

MINIATURE REVIEWS • A look at some of the newest miniatures, terrain pieces, and more from across the wargaming world.

OPPORTUNITY OF CHOICE • One of the very few advantages of getting older is that whilst the future is increasingly uncertain, you do have lots to look back on. Lasting friendships, a lifetime of great games, and, if you’re lucky, some knowledge has been picked up along the way and, for now at least, you might still retain some of it. My wargaming life began with Don Featherstone’s books in the school library, but since then it has been going through a series of reinventions and rebirth as different things have caught my eye, and often I have stumbled in search of the new and shiny.

RETURN TO THE HOT GATES • Following a string of successful campaigns to secure the wider borders of his empire, Antiochus III, king of the Seleucid Empire, turned his attention westwards towards the Mediterranean. The opportunity to gain that foothold occurred after the defeat of Macedonia by Rome in the Second Macedonian War. In the peace treaty that followed, Aetolia felt that it had been poorly treated in the peace deal and asked for Seleucid assistance to liberate them from Roman influence.

GAMING ON THE MARGINS • Last issue, I wrote about collecting an early Tudor army in which I introduced my good friend Oli Green. Our games have predominantly been based around real events that occurred in skirmishes and campaigns of the Tudor Wars using Hall’s Chronicle as the main source of contemporary information.

WELLINGTON AT BAY • My passion is to bring smaller or lesser-known actions to life using quality research, and I was planning this game for Salute 2020 in support of the publication by Helion of my then new book, Wellington at Bay (reviewed by James Oram in WS&S 113). The book describes the Battle of Villamuriel on 25 October 1812. This battle, while small, was the largest engagement of Wellington’s retreat from Burgos and involved twice as many men as the better-known Battle of Villadrigo/Venta del Pozo two days before.

BEWEGUNGSKRIEG • Germany’s success in the 1940s campaign was, on paper, near miraculous. The Allies evenly matched the German forces and had a slight advantage in tanks. Their equipment and armour was on a par if not superior. So how was it possible for the Germans to win? The Allies were expecting a repeat of the Great War.

DE GAULLE AT ABBEVILLE, 1940 • On 20 May 1940, the 2nd Panzer Division had captured the town of Abbeville, a vitally important location on the River Somme. Over the following days a Franco-British combined force attempted to attack and reduce the bridgehead that the German army had created. The ensuing Battle of Abbeville would be a brutal encounter.

MIND THE GAP • With Allied forces confused and retreating towards Dunkirk, the Wehrmacht identified an opportunity to cut off the retreat of several British divisions. The defenders of the Ypres-Comines Canal would need to hold fast to prevent a disaster!

A FIGHTING WITHDRAWAL • In May...