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.

DO YOU KNOW THE BISHOP OF NORWICH? • The dice spins haphazardly towards the enemy lines, rebounding from the roof of the Café Gondrée, and ricocheting from the frontal armour of a Panzer IV G lurking within shelter of its walls. Momentarily, the dice totters upon the edge of the tabletop before tumbling to the floor, bouncing across the carpet and coming to rest under a chair. ‘It's a six! A hit!’ The jubilant cry goes up amidst the desperate scramble to recover the rogue dice. ‘It rolled off the table! It doesn't count!’ comes a chorus of dissent from the opposing ranks; ‘Everyone knows that dice rolling off the table don't count!’

MONMOUTH'S FIRST REBELLION • After the Scottish Government's defeat at Drumclog on 1 June 1679 (see WS&S 138), the Covenanters were repulsed before Glasgow. The Scots army was reinforced by James, Duke of Monmouth, and desperate to prove himself in his first independent command, Monmouth set his sights on a decisive victory against the Covenanter encampment at Bothwell Brig.

LEARNING FROM THE BOERS • Most wargamers secretly believe that given the opportunity they could do better than their historical counterparts. Who has not considered how they could have led the French to victory in 1815, or overcome the Union Army at Gettysburg, for example? Wargamers have studied these battles in intimate detail, gaining a thorough understanding of the landscape, the disposition and capabilities of troops, and their leaders’ abilities; the benefit of hindsight perhaps allowing them to achieve a clearer understanding of such key factors than the participants. Hindsight, however, may lead us to overlook and under-appreciate the command challenges faced in reality.

BOER MARKSMANSHIP

IT'S NOT EASY BEING KING • It is the very last day of the Battle of Arnhem. XXX Corps south of the Rhine and Divisional Headquarters are preparing for the evacuation of what is left of 1st Airborne Division. Within the perimeter, the men are hanging on by their fingernails. Reinforcements have steadily been sent to the German side, and yesterday those reinforcements comprised a company of King Tigers. They're now about to head into the perimeter.

TWILIGHT OF THE REICH • In the years following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Red Army learned many lessons the hard way. By 1945, one of those was never to underestimate the threat of a German force counterattacking into an exposed flank — no matter how weak that force had become. As the Soviets advanced westwards, German forces had been cut off and isolated in East Prussia, but so long as they existed, they remained a threat to the Red Army's northern flank as they pushed towards Berlin. Stalin was taking no risks and ordered Marshal Rokossovsky to annihilate the units trapped there.

ENEMIES AT THE GATES • The city of Rome is truly remarkable. It started small just as countless other states in the...