Wss 117

WWW.WSSMAGAZINE.COM // KARWANSARAY PUBLISHERS no.
117
NOV / DEC 2021

US $11.75
CAD $12.99
1 7
THE GREAT KING'S ARMY MARCHES TO WAR FEATURES:

8
29074 72175
Strong Sikh resistance at Saragarhi

BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS OF THE ACHAEMENID PERSIAN EMPIRE
Operation Blücher: Dunkirk is finally
recovered by Allied forces
A short introduction to Achaemenid strategy // Darius I's invasion of Scythia Building Deadman's Corner
Fight your way through the Ionian Revolt // Persian versus Persian at Cunaxa Let's play The Silver Bayonet
0
THEME: THE ACHAEMENID PERSIANS AT WAR
34 DUST AND FIRE

Rise and fall of the Achaemenid Persians
38 THE OLDEST GRUDGE
Darius I's invasion of Scythia, 513 BC
Editor-in-chief: Jasper Oorthuys 46 THE REVOLT IN IONIA
Editor: Guy Bowers The nascency of the Greco-Persian Wars
Copy editor: Naomi Munts
Layout, design: Christianne C. Beall 52 CYRUS' GAMBLE
Maps: Rocío Espin Internal turmoil at the Battle of Cunaxa, 401 BC
© 2019 Karwansaray Publishers
56 THE ARMIES OF PERSEPOLIS
Contributors: Ian Beal, Steve Beckett, Joe Bilton, David Davies, Looking at the Achemenid Persian army
Mike Evans, David Frederick, Tony Harwood, Andreas Hen-
eborn, Jeff Jonas, Eoghan Kelly, Chris King, Martin Murray, James 60 BACKS AGAINST THE WALL
Oram, Rick Priestley, Jim Webster Persians on the beach at Marathon
Illustrations: Georgie Harman
https://www.facebook.com/redfoxillustrations
FEATURES
Print: Grafi Advies BV
18 EDINBURGH'S BURNING
Editorial office The 1544 English raid on Scotland's capital
PO Box 4082, 7200 BB Zutphen, The Netherlands
Phone: +31-848-392256 (European main office), 20 NO FEAR OF DEATH
+1-800-549-4742 (US answering service) The Battle of Saragarhi, 12 September 1897
Email: [email protected]
24 POINTS ON POINTS
Customer service A look at point values and tournaments
[email protected]
Website: www.wssmagazine.com 26 FORTRESS DUNKIRK
Operation Blücher, The Dunkirk Offensive 1945
Contributions in the form of articles, letters, reviews, news and
queries are welcomed. Please send to the above address or use 30 WEATHERING THE STORM
the contact form on www.wssmagazine.com Fighting naval actions in stormy weather
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or by mail. See above for the address. HOBBY
Distribution 66 STANDING LIKE A STONE WALL
Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy is sold through retailers, the in-
Scratch-built walls for the wargame table
ternet and by subscription. If you wish to become a sales outlet,
please contact us at [email protected] 68 THE HOUSE ON DEAD MAN'S CORNER
Creating and building an iconic location
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DEPARTMENTS
Copyright Karwansaray BV. All rights reserved. Nothing in this
publication may be reproduced in any form without prior writ-
ten consent of the publishers. Any individual providing material 6 MINIATURE REVIEWS
for publication must ensure that the correct permissions before Our usual roundup of new releases
submission to us. Every effort has been made to trace copyright
holders, but in a few cases this proves impossible. The editor 16 THIS GAMING LIFE
and publishers apologize for any unwitting cases of copyright More old toy soldiers
transgressions and would like to hear from any copyright holders
not acknowledged. Articles and the opinions expressed herein 64 THE IRREGULAR
do not necessarily represent the views of the editor and/or pub- Ferocious in battle, magnanimous in victory
lishers. Advertising in Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy does not
necessarily imply endorsement. 72 LET'S PLAY STRENGTH AND HONOUR
The small-scale big battle Ancients game
Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy is published every 74 LET'S PLAY THE SILVER BAYONET
two months by Karwansaray BV, Rotterdam, the
Netherlands.
A gothic horror game in the Napoleonic era
76 GAME REVIEWS
ISSN: 2211-503X
Flintlocks & Percussion Caps, Reign in Hell, and more
Printed in Slovakia. 80 BOOK REVIEWS
More books reviewed by the WS&S team
82 PARTING SHOTS
Tips, tricks and laughs for every wargamer
4 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

Editorial
“Soft countries breed soft men. For it is not possible for the same
land to bear both wonderful fruits and men who are good at war.”
— Cyrus the Great
This quote from the final paragraph of Herodotus' Histories has of-
ten been thought of as a last message. Though Herodotus put these
words in the mouth of the first Persian king as a lesson to his coun-
© Georgie Harman
trymen, it may well have been meant as a mirror for the Greeks:
you may just have defeated the Persians, but don't go soft! Cyrus
the Great carved out the largest Empire the world had seen, con-
quering the Medes, the Lydians, and the neo-Babylonian Empire.
His successors added Egypt, Lybia, Kush, Anatolia and the Hindu Kush. Thrace,
Macedon, and the Ionian states were also under Persian control at its height.
There is so much history to explore with the Persians. As wargamers, we tend

to focus on the Greco-Persian wars which is a shame. While these wars were
important from the Greek point of view, Achaemenid Persia was so much more
than its war with the Greeks on the far western edge of their empire.
A number of games make the Persians poor opponents or a ‘horde’ army. This is
unfair; they clearly had the power to conquer and hold a great empire for two
hundred and twenty years. Hopefully, this issue will make gamers think again
about the Achaemenid Persians and their amazing conquests.
In our next issue, we take a look at the Island of Sicily and the many conflicts
which have been fought over this important stepping-stone in the Mediterranean.
–– Guy Bowers
[email protected]
Now available online: And coming in the next issue:
THE BATTLE OF PELUSIUM SICILY THROUGH THE AGES

A rich prize for whoever could control it, Egypt inevitably became a This island off the coast of Italy has been a strategic bone of
target for the Persians. Could an ambitious pharaoh hold them off? contention for literally millenia. In this issue, we explore some of
(https://www.wssmagazine.com/wss117_extra) the many wars fought over its shores.
Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 5

MINIATURE REVIEWS A look at some of the newest miniatures, terrain
MINI REVIEWS
pieces, and more from across the wargaming world.
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Rarely does a set really Here’s another charming

Plastic French infantry impress me, but the new Horrible housemates set from Crooked Dice –
1916–1940 plastic French from Atlantic the horrible housemates!
Company: Crooked Dice
Company: Wargames Atlantic has. Not only do you get the Size: 30mm ‘foot to eye’ This set is a homage to a
Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ or helmets and weapons for or 34mm tall well-loved 1980s British
32mm tall in beret
the Great War (including Era: 1980s (modern) sitcom about four universi-
Era: World War I and Price: £4.00 each or £15.00
Lebel and Berthier rifles, ty students sharing squalid
early World War II for the set of four
Price: £25.00 for 35 miniatures
VB rifle grenade launcher, accommodation. There are
and Chauchat LMG), but www.crooked-dice.co.uk four of these young ones in
www.wargamesatlantic.com
the set also includes WWII the set. There’s the young
weapons such as the MAS- punk (reading medicine),
38 SMG and the FM 24/29 complete with baseball bat
LMG. There are two choices of backpack, plus canteens and beer can. Next is the wannabe anarchist (a sociology
and gasmask containers. The head count is staggering – 42 student) with the conceited attitude and the knack for bad
variants! This includes Adrian helmets, kepis, M2 and ARS poetry! Finally, there’s the paranoid hippy with a hole in his
gas masks, and Senegalese heads. The variety of heads al- shoe … vegetable rights and peace! The last housemate,
lows Foreign Legion, Senegalese Tirailleurs, and Harlem the Yuppie, was too cool to be seen in this line-up …! The
Hellfighters to be built too. You get five frames of infan- only thing missing from this set is a homicidal Glaswegian
try (with seven to the frame), plus six frames of additional hamster! The casting and sculpting are good, and the detail
heads and weapons. The assembly is numbered so is rela- is excellent. Each model comes with its own slotta base.
tively straightforward. I’ll be adding the weapons and the These will come as welcome reinforcements for 7TV and
odd Adrian helm to my Atlantic partisans too. This is a must similar games, perhaps as not-so-innocent bystanders or as
for any French Great War or WWII player. rather dangerous students!
Victorian sci-fi
Aphid-class airship
Company: Things from the
Basement/4Ground
Size: 28mm (L/W/H: 500 x1 70 x 300
mm from base to top of mast) 300 mm
Era: Victorian sci-fi/steampunk
Price: £52.75
www.thingsfromthebasement.com
This is easily one of the coolest and most fun HDF kits I’ve ever which go around both the main deck and the quarterdeck;
built. The design is a homage to Space: 1889; this model has the lines of these railings complement both the holy-stoned
enormous character and a huge range of potential uses. Best decks (which interlock very cleverly) and the contrasting col-
of all, it comes complete with well-made weapons as well as our bands and panels of the hull. Relatively easy to build (the
the magnets to mount them: a bow-chasing QF 4" deck gun railings are a little fiddly), the Aphid also includes a propeller,
and two gorgeous Nordenfelt guns on pedestal mountings which rotates, and a helm, which doesn’t (boooo!), a signal-
amidships. Beside its sheer scale and visual magnificence, ling light, a mast, and a sturdy acrylic upright. All in all, this is
one of the Aphid’s most striking features is its string railings, an amazing centrepiece for any steampunk captain!

BY GUY BOWERS AND CHRIS KING
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Fireforge Miniatures has Great Escape Games has

Spanish Christian infantry released Spanish infan- Blitzkrieg Germans released early war Ger-
Company: Fireforge Games try. The range consists of Company: Great Escape Games mans suitable from 1939
Size: 28mm 'foot to eye' or 31mm three leader models on Size: 27mm 'foot to eye' to 1942, from Poland to
tall. Cavalry are 45mm tall foot and on horseback or 29mm tall France and from Yugoslavia
Era: Medieval (El Cid, a Spanish leader, Era: Early World War II and Greece to the Russian
Price: € 24.00 for twelve and a monk), plus four Price: £16.00 for a squad of 10 steppes. The early war Ger-
infantry or six cavalry
packs of standard infantry www.greatescapegames.co.uk man uniform is distinctive
www.fireforge-games.com (heavy infantry, light infan- for the Stahlhelm helmet,
try with bows or javelins, Marschstiefel (jackboots),
light infantry with spears or and the gas cape bag car-
crossbows, and mounted ried on the chest of sol-
knights). Each pack is cast in a hard and durable plastic diers. The range currently consists of two unique metal
resin – which can be scored or filed like plastic. The mod- squads of ten men plus a command of four figures. Each
els come with separate legs, arms, heads, and torsos, so squad is armed with six rifles, an MG 34 LMG team of
you can build them in any combination you wish. After three men, and an NCO with an MP 40 SMG. The com-
I built one or two models, I got the hang of it for building mand section contains an officer, two NCOs, and a stretch-
the rest. The knights’ horses are the same as the excellent er bearer (priced at £8.00 for the four figures). The models
ones from the unarmoured Byzantine set. These models are themselves are well cast, with only a few pour line vents to
well detailed and fit together very well; some cleaning up be cleaned up on the base. Their equipment is accurate for
of pour lines will be necessary. I like these sets and they the period. Size wise, these are mid ranged so should be
should be useful for medieval Mediterranean players want- compatible with all but the largest miniatures. The full set
ing infantry that get away from the ‘classic’ Norman look. of two sections plus HQ is available at £35.00.
Bedford QLD 45
40
Company: Rubicon Models
Size: 1/56 35
Era: World War II 30

Price: £18.00 25
www.rubiconmodels.co.uk 20
15
10
British World War II commanders have received three tow vehicle for the 40mm Bofors, so Rubicon may re-
useful reinforcements of late from Rubicon Models. lease a conversion kit when their Bofors gun comes out.
We reviewed the Tilly HP10 in the last issue. This time, The kit is fairly easy to construct and all the parts fit per-
we are looking at the Bedford QL three-ton truck, over fectly. The instructions are very easy to follow and will
50,000 of which were produced from May 1941 to 1945. guide you through each section in turn. There is a gener-
Reviewed here is the QLD, the most common cargo ver- ous transfer sheet too. These trucks will be most useful
sion; a QLT troop transport with a longer cargo bed is for British forces and were seen in most theatres of war
also available. The chassis was also used in the QLB, a from the desert onwards.

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Heigh ho! Heigh ho! The Following on from its

Oathmark Dwarf Oathmark Dwarves now Plastic British Commandos plastic British and Cana-
light infantry have reinforcements. Join- dian set, Warlord Games
Company: Warlord Games
Company: North Star/Osprey ing the standard and Dwarf Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ has released British Com-
Size: 23mm ‘foot to eye’ heavies are a set of light or 31mm tall mandos. This replaces the
or 26mm tall
infantry in plastic. This set Era: World War II original plastics, now over
Era: Fantasy Price: £33.00 for 30 infantry
could almost be described a decade old. This new
Price: £25 for 25 miniatures
as Dwarf civilians, as some www.warlordgames.com set is based off the recent
www.northstarfigures.com look like they’ve picked up new British plastics, and
the nearest heavy tool and it has some parts in com-
marched out. The set con- mon – the torsos and the
sists of five frames of five bayoneted rifles and sup-
bodies with separate arms and heads. They are unarmoured port weapons (2" mortar and PIAT). The main difference
and have an excellent set of sixteen different heads to is the weapons (Thompson submachine guns and Vickers
choose from including capped, hooded, and helmeted op- ‘K’ LMG) and heads, plus the addition of the iconic Bergen
tions. Their armaments consist of hand weapons (a mixture rucksacks. The box contains five frames of plastic troops,
of swords, axes, and hammers), two-handed tools (picks, each with six torsos; it comes compete with bases and
shovels, hammers), mauls, and bows. The arm options allow transfers. The heads are all classic Commando with berets
left-handed and unarmed Dwarves to be built (I made one or woolly cap comforters, plus extras for customization,
an unarmed Dwarf runner). Square 25mm bases are provid- such as entrenching tools and Fairbairn-Sykes daggers.
ed as standard. The parts are compatible with the previous Parts can be swapped with the previous set for those want-
plastic Dwarven infantry sets, making dazzling conversion ing Commandos with Stens and Brens or Canadians with
possibilities. This set will be very useful for Oathmark, other Thompson SMGs. Size-wise, these are on the larger side of
fantasy wargamers, and role-players alike. 28mm so will be compatible with larger ranges.
House at Dead
Man’s Corner
Company: Warbases
Size: 28mm (length 243 mm; width
235 mm; height 192 mm)
192 mm
Era: 20th century
Price: £25.00 (no interior),
£30.00 (with interior)
www.warbases.co.uk
Warbases has produced a good copy of the iconic house Made from 2 mm-thick MDF, the building is sturdy and easily
at Dead Man’s Corner in Saint-Côme-Du-Mont Normandy, constructed – the instructions are on the Warbases website.
thanks to the help of Joe Bilton and the curators of Dead The kit comes with the exterior and an option to build the
Man’s Corner Museum. In the bitter fighting on the road to interior as well. What I particularly like is the fact the kit is
Carentan, an M5 Stuart tank was knocked out on the corner not a simple rectangle: there is a sloping driveway, it has an
by a Panzerfaust; the unfortunate commander’s body was left outhouse on the back, and the interior shows how the actual
hanging out of the top for hours while the area was made house is built on different levels. This kit is perfect for Nor-
safe. Thus the house and corner gained its rather grisly name. mandy or other Western European theatres.

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At last! The Greeks have Old Glory UK now stocks

Achaemenid Persian army a historical opponent to Hundred Years’ the latest releases from
fight in Ultracast! The lat- War command Blue Moon Manufactur-
Company: Plastic Soldier Company
Size: 15mm ‘foot to eye’ or 17mm est release for Mortem et Company: Blue Moon ing in 15mm. Blue Moon’s
tall; cavalry are 28mm tall Gloriam is a ‘Pacto’ start- Manufacturing latest releases are sets
Size: 15mm ‘foot to eye or 17mm
Era: Ancients (Greco-Persian Wars) er army for the Achaeme- suitable for the Hundred
tall; cavalry are 25mm tall
Price: £39.95 for 29 cavalry nid Persians. These are Years’ War, broken down
and 48 infantry Era: £11.00 for nine
cast in a flexible plastic mounted command into two separate periods
www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk resin – the boxed set con- Price: £35.00 for 35 infantry – the early war (Crecy and
tains three mounted gen- Poitiers) and the late war
www.oldgloryuk.com
erals, six satrapal cavalry, (Agincourt). There is quite
twelve Iranian cavalry, a bit of variety in these sets
and eight horse archers. In addition, there are four- – the fact they have correctly sculpted each set to suit the
teen Immortals, 28 sparabara infantry (spara shield and armour used in each period is impressive. Equally impres-
bow), and six command figures. The models are well sive is there being models for mounted and dismounted
sculpted and cast in Ultracast; the Persians are from the knights, archers and hobelars; while the English usually
Xyston range and produced under licence. These are fought in battle on foot, on chevauchée their entire army
much better cast than previous PSC Ancients; there’s a would typically be mounted. The range also includes
noticeable lack of mould lines on the samples we re- French (naturally!), German knights, Spanish (knights and
ceived. PSC, whatever you are doing, keep it up! There jinetes), and (of course) the auld enemy, the Scots. The
are still a few vent lines that will need cleaning up. models are well cast with only a few pour lines to clean
This set is excellent value and provides an interesting up on the base. Horse and rider are separate, so a little
mix for an Achaemenid Persian player for the numerous gluing is required. Overall this is a very welcome range
wars of the Persian Empire. for Hundred Years’ War afficionados like myself.
French mitrailleuse 45
40
Company: Perry Miniatures
Size: 28.5mm ‘foot to eye’ 35
or 34mm in cap 30
Era: Franco-Prussian War
25
(Victorian era)
20
Price: £9.50 for mitrailleuse
and four crew 15
www.perry-miniatures.com 10
Following on from the Perrys’ plastic Prussians, they have 125 rounds a minute. The weapon accurately (possibly too
released several packs in metal to support the new range. accurately) fired 13 mm projectiles, but while its heavy car-
The new packs include artillery for both sides, cavalry for the riage meant negligible recoil, it was heavy to manoeuvre,
Prussians, chasseurs à pied light infantry for the French, and being the same weight as a light artillery piece. The gun itself
the classic mitrailleuse. Designed in 1866, the Reffye mitrail- is easy to construct, although I had to check the Perrys’ web-
leuse was a volley gun designed for quick breech loading. Its site to work out which bits went where. The finished models
25 barrels could be fired as quickly as the hand crank would look great and intimidating. As with the previous Prussians,
allow and, with reloading, it had a practical rate of fire of these models are a little taller than their usual standard.

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Victrix’s latest Dark Age re- Zebrano Models produces

Norman infantry lease is Norman infantry on French light tanks some interesting resin kits
Company: Victrix Limited foot, adding to its Anglo- Company: Zebrano Models in both 1/72 and 1/100
Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ Saxon and Viking plastics. Size: 1/100 (15mm) scale. The range is quite
or 32mm tall The set consists of a bag Era: World War II fantastic, covering the
Era: Late Dark Ages/early medieval with six infantry frames of Price: varies between €8 and €10 more unusual vehicles,
Price: £38.00 for 60 Normans eight models and two com- per vehicle depending on retailer. such as the up-armoured
www.victrixlimited.com mand frames of six models. www.zebrano-model.com Panzer 1F, the STZ-5 Sovi-
As we’ve come to expect, et tracked artillery tractor,
there’s a large variety of and the famous VK 45.01
options with this set, so do (P) Tiger prototype. In fact,
keep hold of the instruc- there are 51 unique vehi-
tions, as certain parts only fit with certain torsos. The Nor- cles covering Soviet, German, French, and a few Brit-
mans have a good selection of weaponry including spears, ish designs in 1/100. There are ten more kits coming,
axes, swords, and the odd mace. Accessories include tear- adding Japanese and Polish to the list. Reviewed here is
drop shields and scabbards. Half wear mail, the rest are a the French R35 tank and AMR 35 recce tank. The mod-
mix of unarmoured figures and those with padded armour. els are cast in a fine resin; the detail is pretty amazing.
The command frame adds chainmail-armoured leaders, Construction is easy: the tanks come as hull, turret, and
with standard and musician’s horn. The models have an tracks, which are designed so they can only be fitted one
excellent selection of headgear, including more enclosed way. There’s no chance you’ll accidentally get the tracks
helmets suitable for Sicilian Normans. The models them- the wrong way round! The base of the tank may need
selves are well sculpted and easy to assemble with good a little filing to remove the block left over from pour-
detail. Mould lines on this set were negligible. The models ing. This useful range will bring some of the more exotic
are on the more heroic side but are very well priced. WWII vehicles to the tabletop.
3D early medieval Spanish 45
40
Company: Caballero Miniatures/
Fenland Miniatures 35
Size: 28mm 'foot to eye' or 31mm 30

tall. Cavalry ar 47mm tall
25
Era: Early medieval
20
Price: £1 per infantry model,
£2 per cavalry model 15
www.fenlandminiatures.co.uk 10
3D printing is here to stay – companies are now offer- light cavalry, and Berber camelry. There are also named
ing prints from 3D artists at very reasonable prices. Fen- characters (for £2.50 each) such as Rodrigo Diaz (El Cid),
land Miniatures offers the range of miniatures from the Pero Bermudez, and King Alfonso VI – to name but a
Caballero Patreon. The miniatures are all early medieval few! Scenery and vignettes are also available. The models
Spanish, primarily for the eleventh century. Currently the come with their supports attached, so these will need to
range covers the Christian Kingdoms, but there are a few be put in very warm water and carefully removed. Once
Berber sculpts and more are promised. The current range done, the finished miniatures are quite amazing. The cast-
includes Spanish levy on foot, archers, armoured spear- ing – err, printing – is top notch with no striation visible.
men, cavalry, mounted and dismounted knights, Basque This will be a must for El Cid era players everywhere.

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The latest release for Piran’s Warriors is a new

ARVN Paratroops Empress’ Vietnam range 1859 Austrian Army company that special-
Company: Empress Miniatures is South Vietnamese or Company: Piran Miniatures izes in the Austrian army
Size: 26mm ‘foot to eye’ ARVN paratroops. The Vi- Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ of 1859. It is this army
or 29mm tall etnamese Airborne Divi- or 32mm tall that fought in the Second
Era: Vietnam sion were considered elite Era: Franco-Prussian War Italian Wars of Independ-
Price: £7.00 for four miniatures (Victorian era)
troops, fighting in some of ence in 1859 against the
Price: £25.00 for 24 infantry or
www.empressminiatures.com the Vietnam War’s hardest £3.00 per cavalry model
French and Piedmont-
engagements, such as the Sardinian army. There
www.piranswarriors.co.uk
retaking of Hue. As such, were several battles in
they were given the best this campaign, which
equipment (thus why they culminated in the Battle
have M16s). Currently, there are two packs for the para- of Solferino, the largest battle fought in Europe since
troops, a command pack with LMG and a rifle pack with Leipzig in 1813. There were a staggering 130,000 Aus-
M16s and an M79 ‘blooper’. Hopefully more of these trian troops against 140,000 allied troops. The slaugh-
cool miniatures will follow. These have been sculpted ter at this battle inspired the forming of the Red Cross.
as being deliberately shorter in stature than their Ameri- The current range includes Jäger and line infantry, plus
can counterparts (who are 28mm ‘foot to eye’). This is hussar, cuirassier, and uhlan cavalry. There are typi-
because the average foreigner is sizeably taller than the cally three to four variations per troop type. Mounted
poorly fed Vietnamese. The models are, as usual, very command and artillery are to follow shortly. The mod-
well sculpted and are well cast. The poses are very good. els are well cast and detailed. The models are in sum-
This range will definitely be a welcome addition for mer uniform, making them useful for some battles of
South Vietnam gamers, who have been lacking minia- the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. This is a fascinating
tures until very recently. Recommended. period and it is great seeing troops available for it.
Blunt’s Rifles personalities 45
40
Company: Tangent Miniatures
Size: 30mm ‘foot to eye’ 35
or 33mm tall 30
Era: Napoleonic
25
Price: £4.00 each or £38.00 for
20
the set of ten
15
www.tangentminiatures.com
10
Tangent Miniatures is a new company specializing in fa- a few other fellows from the dregs and slums of London.
miliar miniatures that pay homage to films and TV. The ec- The rest of the range features many familiar faces: the 'im-
lectic range includes sci-fi (with homages to Battlestars and mortal' Pigswill, a French master spy (Ducat?) and Spanish
Hitchhikers), escapees (from New York penitentiary), and Contessa alike. The models themselves are well sculpted
some familiar Great War miniatures (Woof!). This issue we and have tabs for ‘slotta’ bases. One model showed signs of
focus on Blundt’s Chosen Men and his enemies. Featured striation (presumably from the original 3D masters), but this
here is Blundt himself (who likes saying Bass-tad!) and four is a minor point. Size-wise these are definitely heroes and
of his chosen men. There's the Serjeant (with volley gun), are heroic scale. These will be ideal for Napoleonic skirmish
the rifleman who can read, the rifleman who can sing and games and for Osprey’s newly released The Silver Bayonet.

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59 mm
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Korhyl Miniatures is re- Blitzkrieg Miniatures has

Strength and leasing a range of units for 3D Seleucid released a range of 3D-
Honour units Strength and Honour, the phalanx regiment printed infantry under its
Company: Korhyl Miniatures new wargame from Reis- Company: Blitzkrieg Miniatures ‘Mighty Empires’ banner.
Size: 2mm witz Press. Currently Ko- Size: 27mm 'foot to eye' or This includes Romans
32mm tall to top of helmet
Era: Ancient rhyl offer armies for ancient (from Grenzer) and Seleu-
Era: Seleucid Successors
Price: €5.20 per base,€40.00 plus Spanish, Gallic, Numidian, cid Successors (sculpted
for an army Price: £35.00 for 35 infantry
Pontic, Parthian, Roman by Mario Kkounnous). This
www.korhylminiatures.bigcartel.com and Spartacus, plus scenery www.blitzkriegminiatures.com issue we review the Seleu-
items such as camps, farms, cid phalanx infantry and
and woods. Alternatively, thureophoroi – the range
players can pick and choose also includes Royal Guard,
the bases they want for their army, including skirmisher companion cavalry, a scythed chariot, and an armoured
screens. The models are cast from resin and have good de- elephant. The pack contains 32 standing pikemen (with
tail; while part of the Strength and Honour approach was to four variants in posing) plus three command figures. The
make up units ‘from scratch’, it is very convenient to have casting and detailing is very good, with no mould lines
the units already made up ready for the game. Just add some visible (these are good 3D prints). The models are well
paint and away you go. Each base represents a large group detailed; you’ll need to provide your own pikes for the
of men, a full legion in the case of Romans. With the bar- phalanx, but the thureophoroi come with javelins and
barians, they represent a ‘mob’ of hundreds to thousands. shields attached. Their style is a little heroic – these are a
Shown here is a legion base, arranged into ten cohorts, and well-fed phalanx! That said, they should be easy to paint
a barbarian cavalry base. While you can’t see the individual and will look excellent when finished. The price is also
models, the idea is to paint them as an entire unit, sort of pretty amazing, at £1 a miniature and £2.20 for a cavalry
like they would look from the air at a distance. These will be model. These are priced to compete with plastics and will
a useful addition to the new game. be welcome reinforcements to any Successor general.
Bar room brawl dwarves 45
40
Company: Little Soldier Company
Size: 23mm ‘foot to eye’ 35
or 28mm tall 30
Era: Fantasy
25
Price: £14.95 for three
20
dwarves and furniture
15
www.thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk
10
Now this must be one of the most curious and enter- sign for the Dozing Dragon! There are nine sets in total
taining sets that I have ever reviewed – a set of drunk and the full range is £70. The models are cast well and
dwarves either drinking, brawling, or throwing axes at a have tabs for slotta bases (bases not provided). Most sets
goblin unfortunate who ‘volunteered’ for target practice. come with some scenery and/or some (rather cute) dogs.
The range also includes a toilet mimic (beloved of sadis- These will be ideal for role players or wargamers want-
tic D&D Gamemasters everywhere), a sick dwarf, and a ing some unique vignettes to add to their Dwarven col-
pub landlord and bar lady looking on forlornly. There are lection. Blood Bowl players will also find use for these
accessories too, including plates, jugs, and even a pub Dwarven miscreants!

THIS GAMING LIFE
COLUMN
n
a
arm
© Georg
ie H MORE OLD TOY SOLDIERS
Ebay yielded a nice batch of old Minifigs the other day. I duly set about
stripping and repainting. For the most part the models were the mid-
’70s, or first ‘PB’ range: Carthaginians based on the illustrations in Phil
Barker’s Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, published by the
Wargames Research Group (WRG). Minifigs – Miniature Figurines Lim-
ited of Southampton – was not the only manufacturer to take advan-
tage of these popular source books on ancient armies, but it was cer-
By Rick Priestley tainly quick to accommodate a growing interest in ancient wargaming.
E
ven the product codes were based on the produced ranges covering all the popular wargam-
reference numbers for the book illustrations, ing periods, although at the time my real passion
something that serves as a great aid to identi- was for the ancient world – as it remains to this day.
fication for those of us who continue to col-
lect and cherish these old wargames figures. Having stripped a batch of spearmen, a quick inspec-
tion of the castings revealed that every single figure
And ‘wargames figures’ is what they surely are. They was what we’d now consider to be miscast! The right-
are not the super-detailed or dynamic models that we hand side of the face was obscured by an extra chunk
see today – nor are they especially large! I would say of metal. Very odd – it looked for all the world like
they were ‘25mm’ when that meant an inch tall, give a massive tear in the rubber mould but identical for
or take a bit. Even when my Carthaginians were brand every figure. Rubber moulds usually have multiple
new they were obliged to face opponents a head tall- cavities for the same figure, so amongst a batch you
er if nominally also ‘25mm’. The three big names in often find slight differences and even the odd imper-
wargames figures of the early- to mid-’70s were Min- fection, but in my case every model bore the same
ifigs, Hinchliffe, and Garrison. It tells you something defect. I can only assume that the problem was with
about the rate of production when you consider that the initial ‘master’ moulding, the original reproduc-
the output of each company was largely the work tion rather than the production casting. It’s possible
of a single man. In the case of Minifigs this was the that every cavity in the production mould might wear
legendary Dick Higgs, engagingly described in the out in the same way creating the same identical mis-
company’s adverts as the ‘Poor man’s Michelangelo’. cast, but I think it unlikely. Whatever the cause, it’s in-
Hinchcliffe’s offerings were the output of the widely teresting that the ‘mistake’ survived the process of be-
celebrated Peter Gilder, whilst Garrison models were ing remoulded, cast, and presumably despatched to
created by the talented John Braithwaite. It’s hard to customers without anyone considering that the result
imagine ’70s wargaming without the contribution of wasn’t up to scratch. Similarly, whoever put the army
these three industrious souls. together had painted the figures seemingly without
either complaint or any attempt to rectify the issue.
Each made figures in a fashion that was their own Such was the way. Just goes to show, what we were
and which became a ‘house style’ for their respec- dealing with were ‘wargames figures’ made with a
tive companies, even if other hands would go on to specific aim in mind – to battle!
contribute over time. Minifigs tended to be slighter
than the others and were usually posed rather for- I set about re-carving faces as part of the process of re-
mally and predictably – not a bad thing when it was furbishing the models. A certain amount of work is al-
common to mail-order armies unseen. ‘You know ways required when dealing with old models. Mould
what you’ll get with Minifigs’ was the word down lines and flash are common, broken spears and other
the club, and it was mostly true. Peter Gilder’s weapons an inevitability, whilst the occasional bit of
models were larger – more like 30mm – and rather remodelling and pinning of snapped limbs is to be
gangly and often vigorously animated, especially expected. As I worked away it really struck me how
the cavalry, which could be spectacular and dash- far the modest wargames figure has come in the dec-
ing! Garrison models were also somewhat over the ades since my chaps were first cast. Today our models
25mm in height, chunkier in appearance than their are much more carefully and painstakingly designed.
rivals, with fine detailing that looks like it was en- Even the most prolific of modern sculptors could not
graved rather than carved. All three manufacturers hope to match the sheer output of their predecessors,

the work now required is far too exacting. Manufac- by regimental basing. Models are not simply taller,
turing standards have improved too, and customers’ but they are altogether more robust and often vigor-
expectations have risen immeasurably; it’s hard to be- ously animated. It is the overall width and mass of
lieve my misshapen spearmen would have got past the average model that pushes at the natural con-
any of the stages in production today, let alone made straint of ‘frontage = half model height’ (i.e. three
it into the hands of a customer. Contemporary trends feet of frontage for a man). Having been somewhat
in model design – bigger, more detailed, greater vari- tempered by the emergence of plastic figures,
ety of poses, and higher quality of production – all fol- which imposed a more standard anatomy, the fash-
low the same direction of travel. Yes, today’s models ion for super-chunky models seems to be on the
may be works of art – and they often are – but for the rise again. Some of the latest plastic warriors look
most part they are not wargames figures! Nope. They as if they’ve eaten a few pies too many if you ask
are something else. me. They struggle to fit onto 20 mm bases let alone
15 mm ones! I suppose it’s fair to say that a 20 mm
The difference between an old-fashioned ‘wargames frontage is now usual for games that use ranked
figure’ and the modern ‘game miniature’ – the two units, so please take my pie comment with a pinch
expressions being commonly applied during their re- of salt (and a dollop of brown sauce), but before
spective times – tells us a great deal about the way you do, first consider that height/frontage ratio.
our hobby has changed too. The older wargames fig-
ures were primarily created with the sole purpose of A scale of 20 mm = 3 foot of frontage implies a
fighting battles with forces represented by battalions model height of 35–40mm, and even our larger
of troops (or whatever the nomenclature of the age), ‘28mm’-sized models struggle to reach that. To me
i.e. typically military formations of about 500 men at least, the result is that supposedly massed units
apiece. You can watch two of our heroes, Gilder and don’t look quite right for all that they are beauti-
Braithwaite, engaged in such an affair on YouTube fully rendered and painted, with too few models
(search for Battleground series “Waterloo” presented spaced too far apart. That sculptors feel encour-
by Edward Woodward). The wargame is about these aged to make models waving their weapons about
units rather than individual models. Units must ‘look to no apparent purpose furthers the look of a loose
right’, and that means that the troops have to stand bunch of individuals rather than a formation. I
shoulder to shoulder in ranks, as a real battalion confess this does suit games that use relatively few
might, together with their standards and officers. In models, or which focus on skirmishes and small
general, a space of three feet is what was allowed for actions rather than the massed battle affairs that
an individual in a ‘massed’ formation, which roughly inspired generations past. Thus our models and
speaking translates as about half of a tall man’s height games march in step, even if they are obliged to
- let’s say 15 mm where our models are in the 25- do so in dispersed formation.
30mm range. Within these parameters models with
shields ‘look right’, a rank of Hoplites looks like a for- By way of an expanded footnote, I feel it necessary
mation, and similarly a row of marching musketeers to explain that when I say a figure is 25mm high,
looks like its actual counterpart. 28mm tall, or whatever nominal ‘size’ it is, I refer
to the height the figure would be were it stood erect
Wargames figures of old were designed to give us and measured, as it were, by a field doctor. In other
‘units’ of satisfying visual appearance with a total words, the same way that you or I would be meas-
frontage of about a foot (300 mm). This in turn enabled ured were we to turn up to our local GP surgery,
us to field about six units across a typical table front- from the soles of our feet to the top of our head. At
age. Six is a magical number in tabletop wargames no point does my doctor attempt to measure how
design. As a rule of thumb it is the number of play- far from the ground my eyes are, and those who
ing elements that can be manipulated to purpose at insist on measuring toy soldiers in this fashion are
one time whilst allowing for variety of type. Hence, surely no more justified in doing so than were they
the traditional 25mm wargames figure easily satisfied to render dimensions in terms of inside leg meas-
the requirements placed upon it to fight those kinds of urement or shoe size. The argument that the top of
battles. The fact that classic ranges offered but a sin- the model’s head is obscured by headgear is falla-
gle pose was entirely in keeping with the way units cious – a person does not become physically taller
were represented and allowed the models to be easily by wearing a hat; were it otherwise I would surely
‘based’ to complement the game. Although the height have tried it. Similarly, the pose of a model may
of figures may have grown over the years – and 25mm well make ‘to the eye’ sizes inconstant – how tall
ranges always varied in this way – models still function is a model that is lying down or sitting thus to be
as ‘wargames figures’ so long as they fit within that measured? Although I have beseeched our other-
nominal three feet of space: 15 mm. wise sensible editor to cease giving measurements
of models in this egregious fashion I have so far
The modern game miniature has, in many cases, failed to convince him and can only call upon the
abandoned any restraint on size and pose dictated readership to demand a return to sanity. WS&S

THE 1544 ENGLISH RAID ON SCOTLAND’S CAPITAL
FEATURE
EDINBURGH’S
BURNING
The history of England and Scotland in the Tudor period had been
far from smooth. After a relative period of calm for Scotland while
England was distracted in the civil war known as the Wars of the
Roses, the Tudor and Stuart dynasties did strive for peace, even
though James IV had supported the usurper Perkin Warbeck.
By David Davies
into the Firth of Forth, and
T
he Treaty of Perpetual Peace Put all to fire and sword, burn anchored at Inchkeith island,
(1502) lasted eleven years be- Edinburgh, so razed and three miles north of Leith.
fore it was broken by James defaced when you have On the 4th, the English army
IV. He and his successor sacked and gotten what ye proceeded towards Leith in three
fought England off and on for can of it, as there may remain ‘battles’, with Lord Admiral John
the next three decades, until James forever a perpetual memory of Dudley leading the vanguard, the
V died with his newly born daughter the vengeance of God lightened Earl of Shrewsbury the rearguard,
Mary (later Queen of Scots) as his heir. upon them for their falsehood and Lord Hertford the main body.
and disloyalty. On the road to Leith, the Scots were
The English crown wanted Mary’s waiting for them.
daughter to marry Henry VIII’s son, Edward Seymour (then Lord Hertford)
Prince Edward. This was at first agreed, was commanded to lead the expedi- THE BATTLE FOR THE FORD
discord soon broke out, and in 1544 tion. A fleet of some 200 ships were As the English vanguard approached
the Scottish government renounced the brought together and sailed from Tyne- Leith, the Scots had formed up a
treaty and broke off the engagement. mouth on 1 May 1544, having been defence line guarding a ford, with
delayed waiting for favourable winds. (according to the English accounts)
King Henry VIII was furious and de- Three days later, the fleet sailed 5000 horsemen, a ‘good number’ of
manded vengeance. The king footmen, and light cannon.
instructed:
PLAYING THE BATTLE OF THE FORD
For this battle, we used a mixture
of Lion Rampant and Pikeman’s La-
ment. Use the leadership rules from
Rampant and the rules for pike (page
20) and artillery (treat as a regimen-
tal gun, page 24) from Lament.
We have good evidence for what the

English raiders were armed with,
judging by the manifest of supplies,
which gives longbows and bills as
the standard armament. The Scots’
arms are more conjectural, but we
Richard Lee's 1544 sketch
x
18 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 of Edinburgh shows Eng-

lish forces storming into
Holyrood Palace.
© Public domain
• 2x bidowers @ 4 points
• 1x regimental gun @ 4 points
HISTORICAL OUTCOME
After an exchange of artillery fire
and a number of casualties, the
Scots suddenly retreated, leaving
their guns behind. A second stand
was made at Leith, but this too was
unsuccessful. The Scots retreated to
Canongate, but this was also breached
and they fell back to Edinburgh Castle.
The fortifications of the castle proved
too well defended for the English, with
the Scots firing their artillery down the
Royal Mile. Their ambitions frustrated,
Lord Hertford ordered the English
troops to set fire to the city. The expe-
dition raided the surrounding country-
side and then returned to their ships.
While the expedition brought back

two ships and loot from Edinburgh
Hell hath no fury like a king scorned! Henry VIII’s army under Lord Hertford is seeking vengeance. and Leith (whatever the inhabitants
couldn’t easily take with them) estimat-
know they were using pike from Flod- The Scottish defenders ed at £10,000, this would barely have
den. Neither side had arquebusiers The defenders would have been covered the costs of the expedition. It
and each a few cannon at most (here thrown together to defend the capital. did not end the ‘Rough Wooing’, and
represented by a single model). The Scots were known to have adopted burning the capital did nothing to en-
pike at Flodden, but these can be treat- dear the Scots to the English cause.
Use a standard pitched battle setup, ed as spear-armed militia.
with both sides setting up on the long The Scots would have their revenge on
edges of the table. There is a river cross- Led by Cardinal Beaton. He has the Ancrum Moor in the following year …
ing from left to right through the mid- Sly leader skill. but that is another story … WS&S
dle of the table (for Lion Rampant, use • 3x mounted yeomen with jave-
Scenario 1, Bloodbath). The river has lins @ 9 points WS&S is grateful for the help of Stu-
two fords, which are crossable with- • 1x expert foot serjeants* @ 6 points art Mulligan and the Army Royal Fa-
out penalty. Troops may cross the river • 3x raw pike @ 9 points cebook Group.
elsewhere but count it as rough terrain.
The English vanguard

According to the cargo manifest,
the English brought 3000 longbows,
3000 bills, and a few cannon, which
would suggest the majority were so
armed. The vanguard consists of the
following:
Led by John Dudley. He
has the Commanding
leader skill.
• 2x expert archers @
12 points
• 1x foot men-at-arms*
@ 6 points
• 2x expert foot serjeants
@12 points
• 1x regimental gun @ 4 Scottish and English armies meet at a ford crossing the waters of Leith - another failed stand.
points

THE BATTLE OF SARAGARHI, 12 SEPTEMBER 1897
FEATURE
NO FEAR OF DEATH
The North-West Frontier had always been an invasion route
through the Khyber and Bolan passes and into the Indian sub-
continent. Local Afghan and Pashtun tribesmen often raided
across this border. A series of forts were built in the days of
the Sikh Empire. These were reinforced by the British Raj and
new forts built to better seal off the border. As an added safe-
guard, the British paid the local tribesmen to watch the passes.
By Eoghan Kelly
T
he British garrisoned forts In late August 1897, a general uprising
spread across the Hindu Kush of the Afridi and Orakzai tribesmen
with Fort Lockhart on the overthrew the guard stations in the
Samana Range and Fort Gu- Khyber region manned by their fellow
listan in the Sulaiman Range countrymen. These outposts were de-
(both originally built by Maharaja stroyed one by one and officials loyal could, while he found troops to help
Ranjit Singh). By an error of geog- to the British were attacked. lift the siege. Ishtar Singh made almost
raphy, these two forts could not see continuous use of the heliograph to
each other, and so a new fortlet was Soon they had captured the Changru
keep Haughton updated about what
built to allow communication by Kotal pass, but the Afridis knew they
was happening. This allowed Haugh-
heliograph. The new fort, Saragarhi, would need to destroy the garrison
ton to direct the actions of the garrison.
was built on a rocky ridge with com- forts to control it. The main force
manding views across the surround- headed westward and made several
‘The fear of death will kill a per-
ing valleys. It was a small block attempts to capture Fort Gulistan.
son before they die.’
house with loopholed firing steps on
– Attributed to Havildar Ishtar Singh
the ramparts and a signalling tower. At 0900 on 12 September, the garri-
This fort was a key part of the defen- son at Saragarhi reported the approach Haughton had immediately acted
sive line as not only was it the com- of between 6000 and 10,000 Afghan and, working with Major-General
munication connection between tribesmen. The garrison signalled their Yeatman-Biggs, a relief column would
the two larger forts, but at nearly commanding officer Lieutenant-Colo- be dispatched from Hangu, a garri-
2,000 m above sea level it also had nel John Haughton at Fort Lockhart son town approximately three days’
a commanding view across neigh- to notify that they were under attack. march from the forts.
bouring valleys Haughton notified them that rein-
and approaches. forcements were not im- The Sikh garrison declined to surrender
mediately available and and vowed to fight to the death.
to hold out as best they
THE GAME
We have used The Men Who Would
Be Kings rules to simulate this battle,
using the half-sized units on page 36.
There are several decent skirmish sets
for this period that could be used in-
stead, so this scenario can be adapted
easily enough, as long as the following
points are taken into consideration:
The Sikhs under Ishar Singh have sworn

to fight to the death. They will never test
morale and will fight to the last man.
A photo of Saragarhi taken after
20
x
Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 the battle, with Sikh soldiers
standing on the walls. The fort
was left in complete ruins.
© Public domain
Bitter fighting inside the fort as the Afridis surge across the defences.
The fort of Saragarhi is swarmed by hoards of enemy tribesmen. Miniatures by North Star. A first attack on the blockhouse is beaten off by the 36th Sikh Infantry.
Saraghari fort offers clear fields of fire other half tribal infantry. The following The fort
and excellent protection. In TMW- turn, another six enter with the same The fort walls count as hard cover but
WBK’s terms, it offers hard cover. Units split (half irregular infantry, half tribal they are brittle in close assault. Every
inside cannot be engaged in melee un- infantry). The maximum number of six wounds inflicted on the same sec-
til the walls have been breached. tribal units on the board at any stage is tion of wall will create a hole big
twelve. If one or more are eliminated, enough for one figure to enter the fort.
The garrison then a new full-strength replacement Discount the first two wounds inflicted
36th Sikh Infantry unit of the type destroyed may march each round. The gates have six wounds;
Commander: Havildar (Sergeant) onto the board to replace it. once breached, three figures can leave
Ishar Singh (Hero of the Empire, or enter via the gate. Units attacking the
Leadership 4+, Fine Swordsman) The Afridis have two leaders who wall must survive defensive fire before
Second-in-command: Naik (Corpo- have a leadership value of 7+. They they can attack the wall; if pinned etc
ral) Lal Singh (Brave) have no leadership traits. then they cannot affect the wall.
Third-in-command: Lance Naik
(Lance Corporal) Chanda Singh © Rocío Espin
Each of these men counts for two mod-

els for shooting purposes and for close
combat. Each takes two wounds before
he is removed. They may join a sepoy
unit or fight individually.
The remaining sepoys are deployed

in three units of six figures. The Sikhs
count as fierce elite sharpshooters with
modern rifles. The sepoys can amal-
gamate units that have taken casualties.
Attackers
Pashtun/Afridi Afghans
On the first turn, six Afridi units
enter the board. Half are irregu-
lar infantry armed with o b s o -
lete rifles and the

of the defenders died. The last defend-
er was Sepoy Gurmukh Singh, who
was manning the heliograph. His
last signal was to request permis-
sion to pick up his rifle and to finish
what his comrades had started. Pash-
tun reports said he charged into
melee shouting “Bole So Nihal,
Sat Sri Akal!”, the Sikh battle cry.
By the end of the day’s fighting, the

21 defenders were dead, along with
over 450 Pashtuns and many times
that number wounded. The bravery
of the Sikhs at Saragarhi gave the
rebels enough of a bloody nose that
they stopped advancing. Two days
later, British relieving forces arrived
Another wave of attackers charges at the fort. Sooner or later, the small but heroic garrison must fall. after an incredible forced march
through a region almost devoid of
Objectives weight of numbers began to tell and water, managing to cut an entire day
Defenders defenders were beginning to be killed. off their journey. These fresh forces
The objective of the defenders is to kill drove the Pashtuns back over the
as many Afridis as possible, while keep- Major Charles des Voeux, command- border and crushed the remainder
ing their commanding officer updated. ing the garrison at Fort Gulistan, de- of the rebellion. All 21 of the Sikh
One unit of sepoys (or one of the three spite also being under attack, tried defenders were posthumously deco-
NCOs) must crew the heliograph every to send some reinforcements to help rated with the Indian Order of Merit
turn in order to gain its rewards. For the defenders of Saragarhi. He could medal, and when news of their hero-
every turn they do so, they can send only spare thirteen soldiers from the ic last stand reached London, Mem-
an update to their commander. When Royal Irish Rifles, but these could not bers of Parliament stood and gave
they do so, they gain a ‘Legend Point’. make a realistic attempt at breaking 21 cheers in their honour. Newspa-
through, especially when faced with pers reported the battle as a shining
Other points are gained as follows: the Pashtun ‘jezail’ rifles which out- example of the martial tradition as
• 1 per turn the fort has no en- ranged their own rifles. demonstrated by the Sikh nation.
emy on top or inside it
• 1 per enemy unit eliminated In the final phases of the fighting it To this day, on 12 September, the
came to close combat in the inner part Indian Army’s Forth Battalion of the
The aim is to get as many Legend Points
of the fort, and it Sikh Regiment commemorates the
as you can, and live on in song!
was here that most battle as Saragarhi Day. WS&S
Attackers
Eliminate the garrison by turn 10.
For every turn sooner that you
achieve this, deduct a Legend Point
from the defenders’ total.
Balancing the scenario

If you find the Afghans are too
powerful, then make them ‘unen-
thusiastic’. If you feel the defenders
accumulate points too quickly, then
increase the turn number to 12 for
killing the defenders.
HISTORICAL OUTCOME
The Pashtuns made repeated attempts
to rush the fort, attempting to breach
both the walls and the gates. When
these failed, they attempted to buy
Pashtun tribesmen on the rampage in the Hindu Kush. Miniatures painted by Artmaster Studios.
off the garrison, and eventually their

GAMING IDEAS
A LOOK AT POINT VALUES AND TOURNAMENTS
POINTS ON POINTS
Points values in games can be problematic, to say the least. While
we might strive for ‘equal’ and ‘fair’ games, they might lead to
squeezing every advantage from every point in a list. So, let us
look at some alternatives, particularly for the tournament scene
– what if our armies and lists were already provided for us?
By James Oram
A
s you may have guessed, I’m SCENARIO-BASED GAMES
not a massive fan of the typical Some of the best games I
wargames tournament, nor have played in have been
the typical club pick-up game asymmetrical, in which the
where gamers select their outgunned player may just need
forces to a given points value. Com- to stage a decent fighting retreat
manders of real armies have rarely had or heroic defence to win the
the ability to summon the ideal force game, so I read Tony Con-
needed for the task in hand, but rather cach's article in WS&S 114 handicap system meant that new
they have to deal with their mission with interest. In such games I generally players had a fairly easy introduction
with the resources at their disposal. To prefer to be on the weaker side – if only to the system while the more experi-
put it another way, Wellington never for bragging rights should my side pull enced players had additional in-game
asked Napoleon how many points he off a seemingly impossible victory. problems to deal with.
was bringing to Waterloo …
I’ve been lucky to play at several events However, organizing such games takes
There will be those who regard list where I have been given command of a lot of preparation for the organizers.
composition as an integral part of their a force pre-selected for me by the or- If time and other resources allow, this
wargaming experience; this isn’t for me. ganizer. Memorably, there was a multi- way of gaming is great, but ideally it
My own feelings are that every player player game of Warlord Games’ Black requires the organizer to know the
should have a reasonable chance of Powder where experienced players players and what each of them is look-
fulfilling their objectives when the ac- were given command of the unreliable ing for in their wargames experience.
tual tabletop game commences, oth- and irregular parts of the army while Recently I have been introduced to a
erwise there is little point in removing new players were given command different way of doing things dubbed
our miniatures from their cases. of the veteran elements. This simple ‘the Ironman’, combining the fun of
competitive play and the additional
challenges created by not having the
ability to select your ideal force.
THE SAGA IRONMAN CONCEPT

Just before the lockdown, I joined a new
online wargames discussion group, the
Light Blue Wargames Club. Due to the
lockdown, we were only able to meet
for our inaugural meeting in August
this year and immediately came across
the usual problem at all clubs (i.e. what
to play!). Thankfully, one of our group
(Richard Keenan) runs demonstration
games of SAGA and was able to supply
everything needed for eight players to
SAGA Age of Magic – Undead warriors fight Norse shieldmaidens across the cold and wintry plains.
play several games of these rules.

of their first warbands. For me, the
event reawakened my interest in
the SAGA system and I have sub-
sequently purchased a new warband.
The ‘Ironman’ concept does re-

quire some investment. Richard
provides all the armies, dice, and
battle-boards to run the events,
including scenery, which is quite an
undertaking. However, the equality it
brings is very refreshing; no one player
really has an advantage as, like our his-
torical generals, he or she plays with
whatever forces are available.
Will this ‘Ironman’ format work for

every system? Probably not; it is de-
signed to get new players to complete
each game within two hours, and this
won’t be feasible for all rules or those
that require more than a few dozen fig-
ures. The advantage of SAGA for events
such as this is that the core rules are
A battle of 'classic' SAGA: Saxon and Viking warbands meet and clash somewhere in the British Isles. very quick to pick up and virtually eve-
rything else the player needs is set out
The format is simple: four tables were to experiment with a new system with- on the battle board for their faction.
set up and each player allocated a force out having to invest their time and
to command. Each force came com- money into a new project. If you have a favourite set of wargames
plete with painted army, SAGA dice, rules and wish to attract new players,
and the battle-board. On completion Over the course of a single day, I com- I cannot recommend this format of
of each game, the players would then manded the Saxons against the Welsh, event highly enough. Even if you can’t
rotate and be allocated a new table, a the Carthaginians against the Romans, fill several tables with prepared armies,
new force, and a new opponent. By and the Byzantines against the Mon- you can still replicate the effect of an
the end, each player would have had gols. Before the event I had only ever ‘Ironman’ event on a smaller scale. If
the experience of using different ar- played SAGA using my Vikings, and I you are particularly interested in a less-
mies and the pleasure of playing three relished the opportunity to play with often-represented historical period,
different opponents. We used two dif- different armies and experience the dif- why not consider collecting both of the
ferent SAGA supplements, meaning ferent play styles of the various factions. opposing forces involved and lend the
that even existing players would get Both new players were especially inter- stronger force to a new player? Who
something new to play with. ested to see how the different factions knows, you may even find yourself
worked, and it inspired the purchase with a new regular opponent … WS&S
As this was an organized event, new
players could be given the easier SAGA
factions to command while trickier
warbands were allocated to those play-
ers with more experience. Still, I had
some initial hesitation over the event
format, given it would seem to ben-
efit experienced players with knowl-
edge of the strengths and weaknesses
of all factions. I am happy to say that I
was proved wrong; a player who had
never played a game of SAGA before
the event emerged as the overall event
champion (knocking yours truly to
second place)! Indeed, as every-
thing needed to play was pro-
vided by the event organizers,
Who wins the Ironman? Who cares if you've had a good challenge and a fun time?
it was ideal for the newcomer

OPERATION BLÜCHER, THE DUNKIRK OFFENSIVE 1945
FEATURE
FORTRESS DUNKIRK
The Normandy invasion and the rapid advances made by Allied troops
stretched supply lines almost to breaking point. The construction of
the artificial ‘Mulberry’ harbour at Armomanches helped, but the Al-
lied planners knew what they really needed was an actual harbour.
By Chris King
T
here were several desperate by rivers and canals, each of which
battles to capture harbours, could be readily defended. The sur-
all of which were pyrrhic vic- rounding fields could be easily flooded
tories with large military and and the approaches involved straight
civilian casualties only to find roads, perfect for antitank gunners. Fi-
the Germans had wrecked the port nally, the area was completely flat with
facilities. This pattern was repeated no high ground apart from buildings.
time and again. Finally, the port of Commanded by Vizeadmiral Friedrich
Antwerp was captured mostly intact, Frisius, the garrison had recently been
but it still required the clearing of reinforced by the remains of five infan-
Walcheren island, which was done in try divisions and part of an SS infantry pany to platoon strength, but the Ger-
the Battle of the Scheldt (Nov 1944). unit; in total there were some 15,000 mans suddenly withdrew on the 9th.
Taking the ports was costly with little troops in the Dunkirk pocket. While
benefit, so the Allied supplies kept they lacked armour and fuel, they had Other outlying villages such as Bergues
coming through Normandy until Ant- plenty of artillery and AA guns with a fell on the 12th, with Bray Dunes and
werp finally opened in late 1944. very good stock of ammunition. the adjacent Ghyvelde taken on 15
September. Reducing the perimeter of
In the rapid Allied advances made An attempt to take Dunkirk had been the Dunkirk defences had been very
in 1944, many German garrisons made in September 1944. The Fifth costly for the Allied units involved, and
were simply ignored. These Festun- Canadian Infantry Brigade took Bour- the town itself was still well protected.
gen could be cordoned off by Allied bourg on 7–8 September; simulta-
troops and left alone, effectively neu- neously, the Calgary Highlanders Allied units were rotated around the
tralizing each one. This was done at attacked Loon-Plage to the west of Dunkirk Festung, something the Ger-
several locations in France, including Dunkirk on the dawn of 8 September. man defenders took advantage of:
St Nazaire, Quiberon, Lorient, the They attempted to attack the west flank when one unit withdrew, they would
Channel Islands, and Dunkirk. but met with machine gun fire from often launch raids before the new unit
a fortified farmhouse and were hit by had opportunity to man the defences.
The Dunkirk Festung, though, was accurate artillery support from the Fes- When the Fifth Canadian Infantry Bri-
proving particularly troublesome: the tung. The fighting was attempted with- gade withdrew and the 154th British
nature of the terrain was ideal for a out Allied armour or air support (which infantry brigade (including the High-
defender. The town was surrounded was busy elsewhere), landers and Black Watch) took over on
and the Canadian 26 September, the Germans launched
units were re- assaults at Ghyvelde and at Bray
duced from com- Dunes, capturing the HQ of the Sev-
enth Battalion of the Argyll and Suther-
land Highlanders.
In early October, a truce was arranged

and some 15,000 French civilians were
evacuated. This suited Frisius’ plans as
this would give him time to repair the
defences and the removal of the ci-
vilians improved the Germans’ re-
maining food stocks significantly.
German soldiers man a
26
x
26 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 flak gun along the Atlan-
tic Wall outside Dunkirk
in 1943/1944.
© Bild 101I-298-1777-19 / Bundesarchiv
A squad of Canadian infantry cautiously approaches the walled churchyard in Loon-Plage. The long siege, from September 1944 to May 1945, has taken its toll.
At Loon-Plage, a 25-pounder bat- Germans advances on so many fronts SCENARIO: RETAKING LOON-PLAGE
tery was set up to defend the Allied alarmed Allied high command. Soon, This scenario is written for Bolt Ac-
perimeter, and from 9 October, the Canadian reinforcements were sent to tion, but the framework can read-
First Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade stem the tide with the aim of contain- ily be adapted for other rulesets and
occupied the perimeter with sup- ing the German progress, using their scales. Any references to special rules
port from Canadian and Free French air support to good advantage. While in italics refer to rules in the Bolt Ac-
units. Some successful raids were the German advances were checked, tion Second Edition main rulebook.
launched by the Czechs, but as the they simply dug in and awaited the Al- It is designed to provide each player
winter weather set in and the fields lied response. with a different, enjoyable challenge:
surrounding Dunkirk became even the defender has to secretly antici-
more flooded, it became impractical Fighting continued until 4 May. pate his foe’s plan and deploy any
for either side to launch assaults. Germany surrendered on 8 May ambushes wisely; the attacker has to
and Frisius surrendered on the work out the safest way of once again
The war continued through the win- 9th, bringing the story of ‘Festung liberating the village and driving the
ter of 1944–1945 with ‘Festung Dünkirchen’ to a close. enemy back to the sea.
Dünkirchen’ becoming a backwa-
© Rocío Espin
ter. The town remained under siege,

although the Germans managed to
smuggle some supplies in by midget
submarine. As spring returned and the
fields began to dry out, the opportu-
nity for offensive action reopened. The
Germans were the first to act, launch-
ing Operation Blücher, one of the last
German offensives of World War II.
Frisius had organized his Heer, SS, and
Kriegsmarine into four ad-hoc Kampf-
gruppen. The attack was launched on
5 April 1945, and with strong artillery
support it successfully retook several
of the surrounding villages that had
been lost the previous September.
The attacks against the unsuspecting
Czechs were very effective and the

SUGGESTED FORCES order to include the other end of the
All troops are regular. Dunkirk–Gravelines road.
Allies A brief sketch map should at this
• A troop of three M4 Sherman 75 mm point be drawn up by the defending
• A full late-War platoon consisting of officer, medium machine gun German player, stating where his ini-
team, PIAT team, and 2" mortar, plus three sections of ten men. Each tial units are placed.
section has eight rifles, a Bren gunner, and an NCO with SMG. All are
mounted in trucks. Deployment and reserves
• A reconnaissance vehicle such as a Daimler Dingo or a Canadian Without physically placing them on
Scout recce patrol (see page 144 of the British and Canadian Sectors the table, the defender then marks on
campaign book) his sketch map where each of his start-
• An artillery or air observer. (The Canadians can swap their free artillery ing units is deployed. They can be any-
observer for an air observer instead.) where within his deployment zone: the
only stipulation is that each unit must
Axis be deployed in cover. Defending units
• An experienced officer commanding a platoon consisting of: ought also to be deployed as hidden.
• Three sections of eight men with SMG, LMG, and four Panzerfausts.
• Two sections of Strafbataillon soldiers of eight men with SMG, LMG, Either side may leave up to half of
and two Panzerfausts.
their units in reserve, but when they
• Two medium machine gun teams.
arrive, they will do so from the
• Pak 38 with horse tow.
players’ own edges: there is no
• Medium mortar team with observer.
outflanking in this scenario.
• Panzerschreck team.
Special rules
The following scenario uses hidden Set-up Preliminary bombardment: By this
troops; as such, a certain amount of The mission is played on a 6' x 4' point in 1945, the brave Canadians’
honesty is expected from the Axis table, set up in an approximation of efforts sometimes suffered from being
player. the scenario map. The defender’s de- so far behind the main Allied thrust
ployment zone comprises the main into Germany, and their needs were
The forces area of the village, extending 24" not always considered enough of
The Canadian attackers should have along the short east edge (including a priority: nearby artillery might be
a 50% points advantage over the the Dunkirk–Gravelines road) and available to support the attack, but
German defenders – for example, 48" along the long north edge. The there is no guarantee, so only on a roll
1500 pts against 1000. It’s probably attacker’s table edges are diagonally of 5+ will the attacker get to resolve a
more fun if the two players do not opposite to this, running 36" along preliminary bombardment against all
reveal to each other the units they the south edge to the south-west of the defender’s starting units. Given
are fielding; we have included a sug- corner, and as far along the west that the attacker does not know what
gested force for each side. toward the north edge as needed in or where the defender’s units are, it
is best if he rolls the dice for this as
normal but the defender applies and
records the results secretly (using his
best poker face, of course!).
Hidden units: The rules for spotting

and targeting hidden troops are ap-
plied just as in the main rules, but
bear in mind that none of the defend-
er’s starting troops are actually de-
ployed on the table. This means that
the Axis player will have to monitor
the positions and movements of at-
tacking units in order to declare when
a defending unit is within range and
line of sight of an enemy able
to spot them. When defending
units are spotted, they must be
placed on the table, but they need
not be given an order dice. Like-
The German defenders of Dunkirk have already held out for months, and won't give in without a fight now! wise, hidden units may receive

All seems quiet, but a Kangaroo has already been taken out by a Panzerfaust. Clearly the enemy is present.
order dice whilst still being off-table Mission duration he has a non-vehicular unit within it
without losing their hidden status, The game plays for seven turns, unless and the enemy does not. If one side
subject to the normal rules. occupies just one more building than
a 4+ is rolled on a D6, in which case
the other, that player may claim a mi-
an eighth and final turn is played.
Objectives nor victory; if the difference is two or
If they can gain a foothold in the vil- more, the result is a clear win – al-
Victory! though as the situation in Berlin gets
lage, the Allies are one step closer
The winner is the player whose forces ever more desperate in April ‘45,
to recapturing the strategic port of
have occupied the majority of the vil- things are bound to change signifi-
Dunkirk. The Canadian commander
lage’s intact buildings, including the cantly soon … WS&S
has to advance into the centre of Loon-
church, which should count as con-
Plage in order to boot the Germans out
once more and consolidate his forces trolling two buildings. A player has WS&S wishes to thank Alan Sheward
there as a base to keep up the pressure successfully occupied a building if for his cooperation with this scenario.
on Dunkirk. The German player has to
stop the Allies.
First turn
The battle begins. During Turn 1,
the attacker must bring his force
onto the table – probably with some
sense of trepidation! Canadian units
can enter at any point on their side’s
two table edges on an advance or
run order following the usual rules
for moving through terrain or along
roads. They need not make an order
test to enter on Turn 1.
From Turn 2 onwards, any reserve

units arriving may enter along their
table edges on a successful order
test as normal. No unit may
A Canadian patrol carefully moves through the ruined outskirts of Loon-Plage.
outflank in this scenario.

FIGHTING NAVAL ACTIONS IN STORMY WEATHER
FEATURE
WEATHERING THE STORM

In the normal course of events, a frigate would not dare take on a ship
of the line. They are simply outgunned and outclassed by the larger
foe – the classic example being USS Randolph versus HMS Yarmouth
in 1777, which did not end well for the Randolph. However, in the
right weather conditions, two frigates did once take on a capital ship.
By Guy Bowers
S
hips of the line had one main were unable to sail the fleet stationed
disadvantage: during a swell at Plymouth, as all five capital ships
with heavy waves they had to had been damaged, either directly by
close their lower gunports or the storm or by collisions. The French
be at severe risk of flooding fleet arrived off the Irish coast on 21
the ship. Likewise, they had to per- December, but as the weather wors-
form shallower turns in case the wash ened, they simply could not offload
of turning caused similar flooding. any soldiers safely. After several days
Any trained sea captain would know and the wrecking of a number of ships,
the risk, and a cunning captain would the French were forced to abandon the Indefatigable (44-gun) and HMS Ama-
know to use it against the bigger ship. invasion and head back home. A quar- zon (36-gun). Seeing the enemy ship
at disadvantage in the stormy seas, the
ter of the fleet had been lost and most
THE IRISH EXPEDITION commander of HMS Indefatigable, Sir
of the ships had been scattered.
Edward Pellew, chose to attack.
In 1796, the French Directory drew up
plans to assist Irish rebels by sending INTERCEPTING LE DROITS DE L’HOMME PLAYING THE ACTION OF 13 JANUARY
a 15,000-strong expeditionary force. Separated from the rest of the fleet on
However, delays meant the planned This scenario is designed for Black Seas
the journey home, the 74-gun third-
August deadline slipped until 15 De- but can be adapted easily to other na-
rate Le Droits de l’Homme battled val systems. Use the chance encounter
cember, and the fleet of 44 ships sailed
the weather and sailed south-east for scenario (page 40) – set the ships up
into the worst weather in almost a cen-
Brest. On 13 January 1797 on the re- opposing each other (north and south)
tury. The British were warned of the
turn voyage, she was intercepted by with the wind blowing from the west.
expedition by the British frigate patrol
two British ships:
off Ushant (near Brest harbour) but
the razee HMS Weather
Due to the stormy weather, Le
Droits de l’Homme cannot use any
of her lower gunports or any of her
36-pounders. Her profile is thus re-
duced by two heavy guns per broad-
side. The French vessel counts as
a regular in combat but veteran if
boarded, due to the extra comple-
ment of men aboard.
Special rules
Foul weather – apart from
reducing the Droits de
l’Homme’s guns, the gale gives
a -1 penalty to all shooting
and only battle sails can
be used. No ship
dares risk full sails
in such a maelstrom.
The Droits de l'Homme is
30
30 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 attacked by the HMS Inde-
x
fatigable and Amazon in this

18th-century British etching.
© Trustees of the British Museum
mum of battle sails only). The Brit-
ish start with battle sails and with
the wind behind them.
There are two British squad-

rons. That out of Plym-
outh is led by a 100-
gun first rate, with
three 98-gun sec-
ond rates and an
80-gun third rate. The
Ushant patrol consists of a 44-
gun razee fifth-rate, a 40-gun fifth
rate, two 36-gun fifth rates and an
8-gun lugger (treat as a schooner).
Facing them would have been the

scattered French fleet, which consist-
ed of eleven 74-gun third-rates.
All the French ships should count

as veteran if boarded and have the
Trained Marines upgrade, as they
are loaded with infantry. However,
Achilles and Indefatigable close on the Droits de l'Homme in stormy weather. Ships by Warlord Games.
each should start anchored with no
sail, and each ship will have suffered
The British ships are mostly unaffect- WHAT IF? damage due to the storm (2D6 points
ed by the storm. HMS Indefatigable The British response to the French ex-
counts as a veteran and HMS Ama- if using Black Seas).
pedition was abysmal, but that was
zon as a regular. mostly due to the stormy conditions. Offloading the men
Had the weather been milder, the Brit- The French player must decide
Victory conditions ish would have had a better response to
The ships will fight on until either the which ships will continue offloading
the invading armada (there again, the men and which are to sail to combat
Indefatigable is sunk or the Droits de
French fleet would have been able to the British. As such, the French play-
l’Homme strikes its colours. Alternate-
start landing operations). Most of the er must choose four ships to offload
ly, play for twelve turns and check the
British fleet was wintering at Spithead, troops onto the shore, while the rest
state of the ships – any vessel that has
so the nearest ships would have been may take action. The chosen ships
mast damage will have to make a skill
the capital ships stationed at Plymouth will have their broadsides reduced
check not to be shipwrecked.
plus the ships from the Brest cordon. by half – their crews are offloading
soldiers, not concentrating on firing.
HISTORICAL OUTCOME Use the landing expedition scenario
The ships battled off the coast of Brit- from page 46 of the Black Seas rule- Victory conditions
tany for thirteen hours throughout the
book. All British ships count as veteran Use the victory conditions from the
night. At first light, land was spotted
and all French ships as regular (un- scenario. Each ship has two troop to-
and all the ships were in danger of
less boarded; see below). The weather kens. Roll for each token as it goes
being washed ashore. HMS Indefati-
should be rough seas, so treat as gale ashore; on an 8–10, it is lost to the
gable managed to tack and wear out
conditions (-1 to shooting and a maxi- waves. WS&S
of danger, despite the damage to her
rigging. HMS Amazon was less lucky French ships Size Broadsides Stern Bow Ship Turn Rate of Break
and struck a sandbank – all but eight Points angle knots value
of her crew survived but they were Droits de l'Homme L 1H-3L-2C 1L 1H 74 Red 4 25
all taken into captivity. The Droits de
l’Homme was unable to manoeuvre Trained Marines upgrade
due to losing the mainmast

British ships Size Broadsides Stern Bow Ship Turn Rate of Break
and she struck the shore, heel- Points angle knots value
ing over to one side. Only
Indefatigable M 2H-2L-1C - 1L 44 Red 4 0
some 400 were rescued from
the complement of The ship may reroll one skill check per turn. Sir Edward Pellew will not raise the colours.
1300 crew and pas- Amazon M 2H-1L-1C - 1L 36 Red 5 12
sengers.

RISE AND FALL OF THE ACHAEMENID PERSIANS
THEME
DUST AND FIRE

When the myriads of Achaemenid Persian archers marched
out of the desert dust in the mid-500s BC, they were com-
manded by a military genius named Cyrus the Great. The
Persians overran the ancient realms of the Middle East
and eventually marched west to Libya, northwest into
Asia Minor, and east to the ends of the earth in India.
The Achaemenid Persian dominance is often diminished
by the biases of the clash of culture between Persian
east and the Greek west. Despite the bias, the Athenians
admitted that all Greece once “feared the Persian robes”.
Fragment of a limestone relief from the Apadana
Palace in Persepolis, Iran. Probably dating from
either the reign of Darius I or Xerxes I, it depicts
a guardsman carrying a spear and a strung bow
By Jeff Jonas
T
over his left shoulder.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
he Achaemenid Persian min- at Gaugamela. Luckily many of the
iature army is certainly a levies, chariots, and native auxilia-
challenge to collect. Not only ries are easily shared in both armies.
are the troops numerous, but The other feature of the Persian host
they are also often highly is the diversity of the regional units,
decorated figures with some incred- often equipped with their own eth-
ible striping and piping on even the nic gear and weapons. Egyptian
lowliest archers. The pursuit is further spearmen operated next to Median
Darius says: challenged by the notion that Per- archers, and these could be next to
sians were terrible soldiers and their troops from the Indus River – defi-
WELL, SHOOT! armies were huge but awful. This is nitely a colourful army of nations.
Treat your enemies kindly, let mostly based on Greek source bias, Once the timeframe is chosen, then
them fight in the shade of your but it does not take into account the one will have a force that looks
arrows! Persians have access to a century of conquest and the victories great on the tabletop; but how to
wonderful variety of ranged units. that honed the army. The real prob- win with it?
Don't let an advancing enemy lem the Persians had was with their
close on your lines before they've leadership, which often betrayed the The Persian commander has to recog-
sustained heavy missile fire. bravery of their troops. The armies nize that the army has many
often were cobbled together and had decent units but few real
little time to develop the tactical co- power punchers. In the
ordination that would have served earlier army, the massed
Darius says: them better against the well-oiled firepower often is the deci-
Macedonian machine. sive factor, especially with
FOREIGN FIGHTERS the Immortals raining ar-
Use your enemy’s hand to catch The next step is pinpointing the rows down and darkening
a snake. As the Greeks are good style of Persian force one desires. the sun. The early armies
fighters, they make good mer- Over 200 years the army switched depended on swift cav-
cenaries to fight against your from light horse archers to heavy alry to envelop the enemy
rebellious Satraps. The Greeks shock cavalry, and Persian heavy in- flanks. Scythed chariots
appreciate gold and have no fantry became less common as they and heavy Immortals
qualms in following your orders were replaced by Greek hoplite would then drop their
to the letter — so make good use mercenaries. The early Achae-
menid forces of Thymbra are Dating from the fifth to
of them in your army. foruth century BC, this
x
not the same as the later army sword with an Achae-

menid hilt was found in
a Scythian burial. The
34 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 blade was later replaced
with a local-type blade.
© The State Hermitage Museum
Immortalized in the Anabasis by Xenophon, the host of
Greek mercenaries known as the Ten Thousand ended up
fighting in many battles as they attempted to escape from
Achaemenid territory and make their way back home to
Greece. Here they are dealing with a mix of Persian units,
including archers, spearmen, and cavalry.
© Mikel Olabazal

spara shields and charge a demoral- by Greek mercenaries. New forma-
ized foe. If faced by better infantry, the tions of infantry called Cardaces (or
Immortals should stand back and force Kardakes) were raised from the un-
the enemy to cross the ‘beaten zone’. incorporated regions within the em-
Some games offer the opportunity to pire. These could be equipped and
field the mobile war towers of Cyrus. trained as hoplites, peltasts, or mis-
These can be an interesting tactic to sile troops. Unfortunately the term
break up the usual game momentum, is hard to pin down because our
as the war towers can rumble forward sources are contradictory. It seems
and will seriously mess up your oppo- the Cardaces were effective enough
nent’s plans. Missile fire and manoeu- against local forces but they failed to
vre need to be carefully managed, stop Alexander’s wild charge at Issus.
and if done deftly, the Persian wall of
shields is a tough nut to crack. NOT-SO-SPECIAL WEAPONS
Around 401 BC, scythed chariots
LATER, BUT ARE THEY GREATER? were back in vogue, and in smaller
The later Achaemenid armies had actions these were effective. In large
important differences from the ear- actions they failed in massed charges
lier forces. They still utilized massed against disciplined hoplites and the
archer and spearmen units from vari- Macedonian phalanx. Witnessing
Made in ca. 460 BC, the so-called Eurymedon ous ‘nations’, but these were now of- how easily the enemy avoided de-
Vase is named for the following inscription on its
surface: "I am Eurymedon, I stand bent forward". ten stationed in the rear. Their cavalry struction from the frightening flash-
The vase also depicts a frightened Persian archer shifted from missile fire to an empha- ing blades must have been very de-
being chased by a horny Greek (shown on the re-
verse). This bizarre scene is probably a reference
sis on close-in fighting, throwing one moralizing to the Persian levies. The
to the Battle of Eurymedon, where the Athenians or both of their javelins and then Persian army of Darius III also had
soundly defeated an Achaemenid force. This vase closing with axe or hammer. Heavy- a small corps of Indian elephants
makes the defeat more literal: the Persian is
quite literally about to be 'screwed'. armoured cavalry grew more com- at the last battle at Gaugamela
© Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg mon in the style of the heavy Bactri- against Alexander. Sadly they
an horsemen wearing helmets, chest are forgotten once the battle
armour, scale leggings, and heavier starts, leading some to in-
Dating to the late sixth-century BC, this glazed
brick frieze from the palace of Darius the Great in spears. Light infantry archers, sling- terpret that they were only
Susa, Iran depicts Persian royal guards. They were ers, and javelin men were common there for show, and since
sometimes known as 'apple-bearers' (melophoroi
in Greek) thanks to the distinctive round butts
and could screen the cavalry and elephants disturb horses,
found on the bottom of their spears. flanks. In the centre, guard Persian the Persians had nowhere to
© Livius.org infantry were commonly flanked deploy them in their cavalry
line. However, in games they
almost always appear when in Per-
sian army lists because they look so
cool and are one of the heavy hitters
the Persians lack. Everybody knows
that your opponents fixate on the
lone elephant and by sleight of hand
may forget about that clever cavalry
movement around their flank!
BLOT OUT THE SUN, OR BUST?

The key characteristic of the Persian
game army is its abil-
ity to choose
This reed and leather shield

was found in a fifth-century
x
BC Pazyryk (Scythian) burial in

Russia. It is similar in type to
those used by Persian soldiers.
© The State Hermitage Museum
This Achaemenid get stuck in, but having too many Achaemenid armies were made up of a broad
helmet was taken coalition of different ethnic groups from across
of these elites may force you to
x
as spoils after the the empire's sphere of influence. This was a fact
Battle of Marathon skimp on the cavalry. Fast-moving that Persian rulers liked to advertise, as is seen
in 490 BC. It was horse archers rarely win the battle, here on the tomb of Xerxes I at Naqsh-e Rostam
later inscribed and in modern-day Iran. Each man is depicted with
left as a dedica- but they can certainly vex your op- specific identifying features of their culture.
tory offering at ponent. The heavy cavalry units of © Livius.org
Olympia.
© Made by Numbers / Wiki-
the later armies are the queen of
media Commons the Persian battle line. Having a
reserve or a flanking force that can Darius says:
between employing nimble com- reach out and hit faltering enemy
bined-arms tactics or just attempting SEIZE THE INITIATIVE
units bled white by arrows is often
to stand and shoot the enemy down the winning play for a wily Per- It's tempting to sit back and rely
so their remnants arrive at the bar- sian. One can try to mix infantry on strength of numbers, but a
ricades tattered and shattered like and cavalry in mutually supporting mobile enemy can evade your
the French knights at Agincourt. The units. A well-thought-out Achae- arrow fire and attack in the
downside to the firepower gambit is menid plan often has the capabil- flanks or rear. Have your own
that it surrenders initiative to the en- ity (to paraphrase General Patton) skirmishers or cavalry to counter,
emy. Your opponent will find ways to “Hold them by the nose and and don't give them the chance!
to leapfrog across the table, use skir- kick them in the [rear-end].” How-
mishers to absorb the missile fire, or ever, when faced with a phalanx,
channel attacks onto the flanks and hold back and shoot, shoot, but
use terrain to cover the advance. If when faced with Alexander’s cav- Darius says:
you have no mobile response, the alry, shoot and scoot. When the
BACK OF THE LINE
army can crumble, since the spara enemy line gets wavy as units halt
or crumble under fire, then counter I wasn’t running away, I was
walls give no protection against
punch. However, if they stand end advancing to the rear! Use your
flank or rear attacks. general with common sense,
to end in a pass and taunt you to
charge them uphill where his leadership can influence
The Persian potentate is given many the larger battle. Persians don’t
options in his battle toolbox, but across the mud-
dy hot springs, charge in at the front, just
overwhelming frontal assault may remember what happened to
take a pass on
not be one of them. The Immortals Cyrus the Younger!
that! WS&S
combined with Greek hoplites can
This silver disc horse-harness fit-
ting or shield boss comes from the Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 37
x
Oxus treasure: it depicts Persian

archers hunting on horseback.
© Trustees of the British Museum
DARIUS I'S INVASION OF SCYTHIA, 513 BC
THEME
THE OLDEST GRUDGE

Chaos reigned in the new Persian Empire after Cyrus’ chosen
heir Cambyses died young. Darius I, possibly a Mede, killed his
way to the crown literally over the body of a magus priest in-
terloper. In one year he put down rebellions, killed off rivals,
and claimed victory in nineteen battles. Campaigns to the north-
east conquered the frontier Saka enemies. Darius’ attention then
fixated on the west, and as the Great King of 23 nations, he
launched a personal campaign of revenge against the Scythians.
By Jeff Jonas
T
he Saka and Scythians were tingents from all 23 nations were rep-
nomad horse tribes north of resented, including the Ionian Greeks.
Persia, divided by the Sea of One can assume that the Persian Im-
Azov into western and eastern mortals were on hand, leading the
groups. In the west the Greeks masses of infantry. Cyrus’ programme
called the nomads Scythians, in the of raising the quality and quantity of to rally all their tribes together; some
east the Persians called them Saka. Persian cavalry helped them scout answered the call, some stood back.
The Persians and Medes held old ahead after the elusive Scythians. The Their families and herds were sent
grudges with the Scythians. Accord- Thracian and Getae tribes were simply north to get out of the way of the in-
ing to one fable, Cyrus the Great was overwhelmed in the army’s path. vaders. The Scythians had no major
killed by Queen Tomyris of the Saka. cities to defend, and Herodotus stated
The Persian host swept up to the that the Scythians were invincible be-
THE HAMMER POISED Danube River (called the Ister by cause their mounted archers carried
the Greeks). The river was bridged their homes and their herds with them
Herodotus’ claim that Darius’ invasion
with boats and the Persians crossed as sustenance. There was no turf they
force totalled 700,000 men is disputed.
into ‘Scythian territory’. The Ionians would fight over except their secret
Still, it was a large force, maybe around
were posted to guard and maintain burial grounds.
90,000–100,000 soldiers. A large
the bridge. This reveals that the army
fleet of warships and transports set
was stretched out as contingents gar-
up supply depots along the Black risoned the lines of communications.
THE FLIES SCATTER
Sea coast. We are told that con- Darius’ flailing hammer was not hit-
The Scythians prepared for the com-
ting many flies as the nomads scattered
ing invasion, and they tried
before his army. The Persian cavalry
were outnumbered by the Scythians
and they were forced to fall back in
flight on their infantry. The Scyth-
ians pursued, but they would turn
back for fear of the massed in-
fantry archers deployed behind
their walls of wicker shields.
The campaign was essentially
a giant chase, where the Scyth-
ians would poison wells and
set grass fires to scorch the
earth in the Persians’ path.
Skirmishes were fought, and
attrition obviously favoured
the defenders as the invaders
began to face food and water
A Scythian embassy at the court

x
of the 'King of Kings' gets

amused looks from the courtiers.
© Zvonimir Grbasic
Persian scouts have found the Scythian army. Miniatures painted by Artmaster Studios and Wargames Foundry.
shortages. One of these skirmishes No one knows how many Persians per- “I tell you, ‘Weep.’ That is your an-
might be the subject of the Tatarli Pan- ished during the retreat. The Scythians swer from the Scythians.”
els where a Persian king is shown dis- separated into divisions. Some tried to ~ King Idanthyrsos
patching a Scythian enemy while Per- lure Darius west into worse badlands.
sian chariots and horse archers engage Another band rode to the bridge of
Scythian horse archers. With supplies boats to destroy it and cut off the strug- THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS
running low along the River Don (Tan- gling Persians. Another group, made up The campaign came to a climax
ais), Darius halted and built a series of of infantry and cavalry, pretended to when the Scythians converged on
forts near the Sea of Azov. offer battle, but Darius did not take the the Ister bridge and asked the Ion-
bait and marched as fast as possible for ians to destroy it. Caught in the mid-
the bridge, leaving his camp full of in- dle, the Ionians came up with their
A MOUSE, A FROG, A own ruse. They only removed part
valided stragglers and braying donkeys
BIRD, AND FIVE ARROWS to distract them from pursuit. of the bridge, and retreated to their
The Scythian tribes melted away and
turned west, riding back along the Per-
sian invasion route. A flustered Darius
abandoned his forts and pursued them.
Darius sent a negotiator to ask what the
Scythians would fight for. A Scythian
chieftain sent Darius a mouse, a frog,
a bird, and five arrows as a response.
Darius at first thought this was their
capitulation, but one of his boldest
advisors noted the opposite: that “if
you Persians do not fly away like the
birds, or hide in the earth like mice, or
leap into a lake like frogs, then you
will never see your homes again, but
will die under our arrows.” De-
jected but convinced, Darius
ordered the army to hustle
back to the bridge of boats,
The Persian infantry deploys to protect the baggage animals. Miniatures from the author's collection.
and a forced march ensued.

transport ships. The Scyth- the Black Sea. This scenario allows the This is a small game scenario and is
ians were convinced in Scythians try their luck to knock out a deliberately generic so players can
the mist that the whole supply depot. fit it to their favourite skirmish rules
bridge was gone, and set. I used a variant of old Warham-
they rode off to find the THE BATTLE OF FORT ATROPATES mer Ancient Battles.
Persians. Somehow A force has been ordered to set up a de-
the Scythians lost pot along the Black Sea coast. Persian Terrain and setup
Darius’ track and general Atropates has set up a beach- The map is a six foot by four foot area,
the exhausted Per- head and inland has constructed a de- or less with smaller-scale figures. Hills
sian army stumbled onto the pot surrounded by spara shields lashed elevate visibility with no movement ef-
Ister only to find the bridge gone. together. Supplies are being unloaded fects. Scrub, dry stream beds, and trails
Darius came forward through the and carried by pack animals to this are there for visual interest. Marshes
panicking mobs and ordered an ‘fort’. A small cavalry force and scouts count as rough going and unsure foot-
Egyptian with a bellowing voice to have warned the Persians that Scyth- ing for any archer, so troops should
holler across the river. The Ionians ians are probing from all directions. be penalized firing from them as well
heard him bellow and took to their as into them through the bushes. The
ships. They crossed the river and The Scythian division under King steaming marsh haze should limit visi-
swiftly repaired the bridge, allowing Skopasis of the Sauromatai tribe has bility to 6" or half-range fire, whichever
the Persians and Darius to escape to decided to try to destroy or capture is less, for archery and slings.
Thrace, and then back to Asia. the supplies. This will cause the Per-
sian main army (off map to the north) The 6" by 6" Persian spara fort counts
THE ASYMMETRICAL CONFLICT as light cover for hand-to-hand combat
to face more days of privation on their
and hard cover against missiles. It is a
This campaign lacked any battles or way to the bridge of boats. Herodotus
movement obstacle for all troops. Any
sieges, or even major skirmishes of describes Scythian tribes with ‘colour-
infantry unit that is adjacent
note. A scenario can be built around ful’ names, so I have included the hor-
to a face of the spara wall can
Darius’ system of supplying the army rid-sounding ‘Man-eaters’ and super-
push it over as its movement
by fleets. This method of supply was cool-sounding ‘Black Cloaks’ as part of
order. As long as no enemy is
used to conquer Egypt. The Scythians this force. The Sauromatai were ances-
manning the other side, the sec-
believed the Persians would pursue tors of the Sarmatians that later rode in
tion is removed. The supply depots
them into the badlands for new for- Britain as Roman auxiliaries. They were
can be attacked and taken by a unit
age, but the Persians instead marched tough hombres that gradually took over
or leader moving onto them, oth-
to their propositioned depots along western Scythia themselves.
© Rocío Espin

The Persian infantry can at least shoot back at the Scythians from behind the protection of a square of spara shields.
erwise they are treated as an obstacle • 1x Persian (Lycian) javelins (S). enters randomly. Roll a D6 for its en-
for movement, and light cover. Light infantry, javelins, shield, try location on the map. The king may
sickle sword (counts as axe). enter with any tribe. Only one tribe
Forces • 1x Ionian hoplites (L). Spear- may enter from each zone. Move up
These troops ideas are just a guideline. men, phalanx, spear, light or down one zone for placement if
Feel free to plug in what you have on armour, and large shield. the same number is rolled. Zone 6 is
hand. If you don’t have Lycians, sub- • 2x baggage: A donkey with not adjacent to Zone 1.
stitute Persians or Bithynians. Lycians baggage and handler, and a
are cool, that’s why I included them. camel with baggage and han- Tribe Sauromatai:
It is all a guess anyway. Unit suggested dler. Moves at rate of formed • 2x nomad horse archers (S).
sizes are Large (L) = 16–18 models; infantry. Skirmishers, expert archers,
Medium (M) = 10–12; Small (S) = 6–8. bow, shield.
SCYTHIANS • 1x nobles (S). Scythian nobles.
PERSIANS
The Scythians have three tribes com- Skirmishers, expert archers,
The Persian garrison is commanded
manded by King Skopasis. Each tribe spear, armoured, shield.
by General Atropates, who begins at-
tached to the Immortals. Units set up
within their noted area. The Persian
units are set up first, then the Scyth-
ians enter on turn one. The Persian
units may only move half distance
on their first turn due to surprise.
• Persian cavalry: Elite light cav-

alry, horse archers, skirmish-
ers, bow (S).
• 1x Immortals (M). Elite spear-
men, sparabara (shield wall),
expert archers, bow, spear, light
armour and large shield.
• 1x Mede archers (M). Skir-
mishers, bow.
• 1x Persian archers (M). Skir-
mishers, bow and light armour.
• 1x Persian (Cyrtian) slingers (S).
Charge! The Scythian heavy cavalry bowl over a formation of Persian infantry weaked by volleys of arrows.
Skirmishers, buckler, slings.

The supplies have reached 'Fort Atropates'. For more on creating your own wall of spara, see Parting Shots on page 82.
• 1x Scythian infantry (M). Light that or an adjacent entry zone. Scyth- WHO WRITES THE HISTORY?
infantry, javelins, shield. ian cavalry may not both enter the table Despite his near disaster, Darius re-
and leave on the same turn. corded a great victory. The campaign
Tribe Man-Eaters:
• 2x nomad horse archers (S). succeeded in some ways because the
Skirmishers, expert archers, Victory conditions western Scythians no longer threat-
bow, shield. (Victory Points, VPs) ened Persian gains in the Thrace and
• 1x Maiotian infantry (M). Light Baggage: The supply depot on the the Crimea. Darius ordered 80,000
infantry, javelins, axe, shield. beach and in the fort each count as men to stay behind, and he methodi-
1 VP. The Persian player receives 2 VPs cally crushed opposition in Thrace. The
Tribe Black Cloaks: for each baggage animal that is safely Ionians sailed home, but soon regretted
• 2x nomad horse archers (S). in the fort depot on the last turn. their decision to save the Persians. The
Skirmishers, expert archers, coming Ionian Revolt was to become
bow, shield. General: Each side gains 1 VP if they the warmup to the main event, known
eliminate the enemy general. Each as the Greco-Persian Wars. WS&S
Special rules unit lost counts as 1 VP.
Donkeys, camels, and depots: Bag- Simple: high score wins! Play six to WS&S wishes to thank Wargames
gage animals must move towards the eight turns. Foundry for their help with this article.
supply depot gate each turn. They are
captured if an enemy unit moves onto
it and no friendly unit is adjacent to de-
fend it. The baggage may only be cap-
tured by infantry. The baggage animals,
but not the depots, can be destroyed by
missiles. They count as a small unit of
unarmoured / unshielded skirmishers
against missiles.
Nomad stealth: The Scythian no-

mad and noble cavalry may move
off the table edge, even after
shooting (Parthian shot or simi-
lar). They are placed off table at
the nearest entry zone. Next turn
Unfortunate Persian slingers come in for some swift and swirling attention from Scythian horse archers.
they may re-enter the table at

THE NASCENCY OF THE GRECO-PERSIAN WARS
THEME
THE REVOLT IN IONIA

King Darius’ campaign against the Scythians had mixed suc-
cess. A huge army had been assembled that crossed the Hel-
lespont by a purpose-built bridge, a feat duplicated by Xerxes
some 30 years later. Thrace immediately acquiesced, but Scyth-
ia proved a tougher nut to crack. Uprisings in the Greek colo-
nies in Ionia not only put paid to further campaigns but estab-
lished the roots for later conflicts with the Greek mainland.
By Mike Evans
T
he island of Naxos revolted in states were brought into a collision
502 BC, precipitating the Ion- course with Persia.
ian Revolt. Initially the Ionian
city of Miletus under Aristag- In 498 BC the Ionians, with support
oras sought to assist the Per- from Athens and Eretria, marched on
sian satrap Artaphernes to suppress Sardis, the regional satrap capital of
the revolt in Naxos in 499 BC, but Artaphernes. They captured the main
the entire expedition proved to be city, sacked the temple and burned it
a debacle. Instead, Miletus joined down, but failed to capture the cita-
with Naxos and sought to spread the del. Darius mobilized the satrapies of
flames of the revolt further. The Ion- Asia Minor, raising a relief force from
ians sought help from Sparta (who the outlying regions of Anatolia and
refused) and Athens (who provided forcing the Ionians to retreat to Ephe- From this period the Greeks were
aid); thus the mainland Greek city- sus, where they were defeated. forced onto the defensive, but
further cities joined the revolt.
Soon Cyprus and the Helles-
pont had deposed their tyrants
as well. The Persians launched
three main offensives and took the
initiative. Despite achieving a brief res-
pite through the Battle of Pedasus in
497 BC, the Ionians were to be gradu-
ally defeated, with Miletus falling in
494 BC. Through 493 BC the Persians
consolidated their gains and subdued
the remaining cities along the west
coast of Anatolia.
THE MINI-CAMPAIGN
In this mini-campaign we have linked
five scenarios covering actions from
the sack of Sardis to the crushing
of the rebellion at Miletus. Players
should play each of the scenarios in
turn, noting the victory conditions
for each. After the game, they
should consult the victory ta-
ble to determine the effects
on the subsequent scenario.
Greek hoplites and Persian in-
x
46
x
Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 fantry in close combat - from

Ancient Warfare magazine issue
XIV-2: The Greco-Persian Wars.
© Zvonimir Grbasic
The shieldwall begins to crumble under the Ionian onslaught. Miniatures by Wargames Foundry and Crusader.
Whichever side wins the most victo- for the next game. Note that there are ans took the town with no opposition.
ries wins the campaign. slight differences between the two However, fire spread into the town
armies. If players want a more level and partially destroyed the temple
The scenarios have been written to playing field, they should nominate of the native goddess Cybele. Faced
be rules agnostic. They were origi- one or the other set of conditions to with a hostile crowd and impending
nally written for Clash of Empires but apply to both players. Persian reinforcements, the Ionians
will easily adapt to a gamer’s favourite were forced to retreat to Ephesus.
ruleset, be it Hail Caesar, Mortem et SCENARIO ONE: SARDIS (498 BC)
Gloriam, Swordpoint, or To the Strong- The Ionian states, seeking to relieve Setting up
est. Armies should be selected from the the Persian siege of Miletus, attacked In this scenario, the Persian troops are
Achaemenid Persian Empire and Early the town of Sardis. With information defending the town (Sardis). The Per-
Hoplite Greek lists to a maximum of supplied by local guides, the Ionians sian player is considered to have the
2000 points, which should be used attacked from a mountain pass. The initiative and must select at least two
throughout the campaign. These forces Persians were surprised, and the Ioni- pieces of terrain. These are both com-
may increase according to the victory pulsory pieces and must BOTH be vil-
conditions of any given scenario. Victory Table
ROLL D6 GREEKS PERSIANS
Victory table
Minor victory Major victory Minor victory Major victory
Players should consult the victory
conditions specific to each scenario 1 No gains 100pts No gains 100pts
and determine whether the Greek
2 No gains 100pts No gains 150pts
or the Persian player has achieved
a minor or major victory. The vic- 3 No gains 150pts 100pts 150pts
tor should roll a D6 and
4 100pts 150pts 100pts 200pts
consult the following chart.
The result indicates an additional 5 150pts 200pts 150pts 200pts
number of points worth of troops
6 200pts 250pts 150pts 200pts
that may be selected for the army

lages. One building should be clearly off-table. Use the flank march rules end of the game they are contesting
identified as the Temple of Cybele. Up of your ruleset. Note that the flanking the town, having set fire to at least one
to two further pieces may be selected. force may not dice to arrive on table building, they achieve a minor victory.
The Ionian player may select terrain until the end of Persian player's third Should they be contesting the town
pieces as usual. When deploying the orders phase at the earliest. The Ionian and have set fire to the temple and at
terrain, the Persian player places both player deploys in his deployment zone least one other building, they will have
villages first; each must be at least par- as usual and takes the first move. achieved a major victory.
tially within his deployment zone.
Victory conditions A minor victory is obtained by the
The Persian player deploys his force Players should randomize the num- Persians if no buildings are on fire
within his deployment zone ber of turns to complete the game in but the town is contested. They
and may deploy within the the usual way, signifying dusk pre- achieve a major victory if the town
villages if he desires. How- venting any further action, according is uncontested and no buildings
ever, he must select at least to the random game length rule start- have been set aflame.
one sub-commander to ing from turn 6.
lead a flanking force of Special rule: Buildings may be set on
at least 500 points that The Ionians should attack the town fire by having a unit in contact with
commences the game and attempt to set it alight. If at the the building for one whole turn. This
unit may not be engaged in combat,
© Rocío Espin
nor may it shoot whilst doing so.
Buildings may be extinguished in the
same manner by the Persians.
SCENARIO TWO: EPHESUS (498 BC)

The initial rebellion by the Ionian
cities was defeated but not quelled
at the Battle of Ephesus. Rather than
retreating into the seaport and with-
standing a siege, the Greeks chose to
form up outside Ephesus to face the
might of the Persian army in battle.
Setting up
In this scenario, the Ionian troops
are defending the town and are con-
sidered to have the initiative. The
Ionian player must select at least
two pieces of compulsory terrain.
Map for Scenario 2: Ephesus.
The first two must BOTH be villag-
es. These are used to represent the
© Rocío Espin
walls of Ephesus, which should be

at least three feet of walls including
two gates (set in towers). This should
be placed entirely with the Ionian
player’s deployment zone, prior to
any other terrain being placed.
Buildings may be placed within. Up
to two further pieces of terrain may
be selected. The Persian player may
select terrain pieces as usual.
Prior to the Persian deployment, the

Greeks must deploy at least 750 pts
of their army outside of and within 6"
of the city walls. The Persian force
is deployed anywhere outside of
24" of deployed Ionian Greek
forces. Flank attacks (but not
Map for Scenario 3: Meander River. rear attacks) may be declared.

The Persian army is ambushed while marching on the road to Pedasus. Carian archers strike from behind cover.
The remaining Ionian troops, at least tial flee (break) move, fleeing troops ing their army at the city of Mylasa,
400 points’ worth, must be deployed will subsequently flee towards (and the Carians, like the Ionians, chose
anywhere within or on the city walls. through) the nearest gateway. to fight the Persians in open battle
These troops are deployed following rather than suffer a siege.
the Persian deployment. The Persian SCENARIO THREE:
player takes the first turn.
MEANDER RIVER (497 BC) The Carians drew up on the banks
The Ionian revolt continued to of the Meander River and faced a
Victory conditions much larger Persian force. Despite
spread despite the defeat at Ephesus.
The game can be considered a mi- stiff resistance, the rebels were de-
In the province of Caria, Greeks and
nor victory to the Greeks if the city
Persians again met on the field of feated and retreated to the town
gates are held uncontested at the
battle at the Meander River. Muster- of Labranda. With reinforcements
end of the game. A major victory is
secured by the Greeks if no formed
Persian forces remain within 12" of
the city walls.
The Persians will secure a minor

victory if at least one city gate is
contested at the end of the game.
A major Persian victory will be as-
sured should at least one city gate
be held uncontested at the end of
the scenario.
Special rule: Greek troops that

are initially deployed outside
of the city walls may not
retreat within them un-
less forced to do so as
a result of a failed lead-
ership test (break/panic
etc). Following any ini- A confused melee breaks out between Persian infantry and Ionian hoplites. No side has the advantage.

from the city of Miletus, the Car- Up to 1000 pts of the Greek army The Persians secure a minor victory
ians faced-off the Persian army the may deploy on table anywhere within if they are contesting (or holding) at
following day, but they suffered an the boundaries of the river. From turn least two of the river crossings and
even greater defeat at the hands of two, each remaining unit must roll to a major victory by holding uncon-
the Persian general Daurises. see whether it arrives on table. Roll a tested at least two river crossings.
D6, turn 2: 6+, turn 3: 5+ etc. Units ar- Any other result is considered to be
Setting up rive anywhere within their deployment a draw, with neither player rolling on
The board should be set up as shown zone on their base edge and may make the victory table.
in the map. Three crossing points are a full move, including march moves,
identified along the river. These are and may shoot, but may not charge. SCENARIO FOUR: THE
wide enough for a unit six infantry The Persians deploy their entire army ROAD TO PEDASUS (497 BC)
figures wide, or four cavalry figures within the usual deployment area. Following the defeat at the Meander
wide, to cross with no pen- River, the Carians managed to sal-
alties. Other sections of the Victory conditions vage some pride by surprising and
river are difficult ground. The Greeks secure a minor victory by destroying a Persian army whilst it
In these sections, the riv- holding uncontested at least two of was making a night march.
erbank does not count as the river crossings. Should all three
higher ground, but defenders river crossings be held uncontested Setting up
wholly on the river bank may at the end of the game, they achieve The board should be set up with a
count full ranks. a major victory. road running along the entire (long)
length of the table. Other terrain may
be placed according to the usual set-
up rules except that no terrain piece
may be placed within 6" of the road.
The Persians deploy first and must de-

ploy their entire army (except skirmish-
ers) in marching column. They may not
deploy within 18” of the table edge at
the front of the column. Skirmishing
units need not deploy on the road but
may form a skirmish screen to either
side of the column. Skirmishing units
may not deploy within 18" of the table
edge at the front of the column, nor
more than 6" away from the column.
The Greeks may deploy up to 12" in

Outnumbered and nearly surrouned, the heavily-armed Ionian hoplites put up a brave fight against the Persians. from the (long) table edges and at
least 12" away from the table edge at
the head of the column. They must
split their force and deploy on both
sides of the table, but they may not
deploy more than 500 pts on one side
of the column; the remainder are to
be deployed along the other edge.
Victory conditions
In this scenario, the Persians must
attempt to escape from the surprise
Greek attack. They do so by march-
ing units off the table edge.
The Greeks secure a minor victory sim-

ply by ensuring that the Persian victory
conditions are not met. To secure a ma-
jor victory they must prevent any Per-
sian units (excluding skirmishers) from
Deployment in line of battle, hoplites face off against Persian and Egyptian infantry. Miniatures by Thistle and Rose.
escaping along the road.

The Ionian army has broken into the city of Sardis, causing utter mayhem. Will they set the place on fire?
A minor victory is achieved Victory conditions discontent in the region. The Persians
by the Persians if at least four This is a fight to the death, winner remembered that ‘mainland Greece’
units (including skirmishers) man- takes all. Resolve the game using the (Athens) had interfered in the internal
age to escape. For a major victory, at usual victory conditions. events of the Empire. It was inevitable
least four units including at least three that Persia would seek to annex the
formed units escape along the road. whole of Greece in revenge … WS&S
HISTORICAL CONCLUSION
Following his success, Artaphernes im- WS&S wishes to thank Marcus Ansell
SCENARIO FIVE: MILETUS (494 BC) plemented a significant set of reforms of Wargames Foundry for the loan of
The victory at Pedasus in 497 BC to address the underlying causes of the their Greek and Persian collection.
was insufficient to slow the tide, and
the Ionians were gradually defeated
© Rocío Espin
over the following years. Miletus fell
in 494 BC, with the Persians con-
solidating their gains and subduing
the remaining cities along the west
coast of Anatolia throughout 493
BC. Although the fall of Miletus was
achieved by a long siege, as many
gamers do not have suitable terrain
to conduct sieges we conclude our
mini campaign with a full-scale bat-
tle set outside of the city walls.
Setting up
This is a standard pitched battle sce-
nario. The player who has the larg-
est army in the campaign so far has
the initiative. A flank march may
not be used. The climate is
fertile, and terrain should
be placed in a mutually
agreeable fashion. Map for Scenario 4: The Road to Pedasus.

INTERNAL TURMOIL AT THE BATTLE OF CUNAXA, 401 BC
THEME
CYRUS’ GAMBLE
In 408 BC, the Persian king Darius II was prompted to renew his
interest in the ongoing struggle between Sparta and Athens in
the Peloponnesian War. Athens had reversed her fortunes under
Alcibiades and now had the upper hand, a situation Darius was
keen to remedy. He sent his son, Cyrus the Younger, as a sa-
trap into Asia Minor, where he met the Spartan general Lysander.
By Eoghan Kelly
I
t was a fateful meeting, as both Cyrus’ mother argued that Arsaces
had plans to become the leader was born before Darius ascended
of their respective areas: Lysand- the throne, and Darius was therefore
er intended to dominate Greece a subject when his first son was born,
and Cyrus wanted the same for whereas Cyrus was born afterwards
Persia. This meeting of minds meant and so should succeed as he was
Cyrus gave support and resources to born to a king. The logic of this seems
Lysander in order to boost the Spar- very odd now, but it was a well-used
tan cause, whilst arranging for Spar- argument in parts of the classical
tan support should he need it in stak- world. However, Darius was not to
ing his claim to the throne. be swayed, and he named Arsaces Cyrus immediately set about build-
his heir, dying shortly afterwards. Ar- ing an army to challenge his brother
In 404, Darius was dying, and he saces was crowned as Artaxerxes II openly, keeping up payments of
summoned Cyrus and his brothers to in 404. During the coronation, Cyrus tribute to the throne while recruit-
his side. Cyrus fully expected to be was implicated in an assassination ing. Despite attempts to defuse the
named his father’s heir despite hav- attempt against the new king and situation, by 401 Cyrus felt he could
ing an older brother named Arsaces; was sentenced to death. However, challenge his father’s legacy. He
Artaxerxes II spared Cyrus after the called in favours he felt were owed
intervention of their mother. Instead, to him, and Spartan aid was soon
he was exiled to Sardis. flowing in his direction. Initially
some 800 Spartans under the expe-
rienced leader Cheirisophus crossed
over to Persia, and this prompted a
total force of 10,000 Greek mer-
cenaries under the command of
Clearchus of Sparta to declare
support for Cyrus (for a price,
naturally). Gathering
these mercenaries and
his own loyal local forc-
es, Cyrus set out towards
Babylon and the chance to
force his brother to battle.
While Artaxerxes was not

unaware of his broth-
er’s machinations,
he was surprised by
the sudden build-up
of forces raised to de-
pose him. The king,
Persians meet the
52
x
Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 hoplite phalanx at

x
Cunaxa, from Ancient

Warfare issue III.6.
© Giorgio Albertini
Tissaphernes’ mixed heavy and light cavalry charges the Greek peltasts in Cyrus' army, easily overwhelming them.
who had shown a tendency towards In the month of Bāgayādiš (equiva- PLAYING CUNAXA
dialogue and conciliation, was lent to October) in 401, Cyrus fi- The following scenario is designed
warned of these developments by nally had his chance. Marching to be generic so it can be adapted
his loyal satrap Tissaphernes. Now his forces south towards Babylon, for most ancient rule sets. We give
armed conflict was the only choice. Cyrus crossed the defensive ditch the estimated numbers of the forc-
Artaxerxes soon organized several and drew his forces up to meet the es and how these would translate
responses to the threat. He ordered enemy in a battle line on the east into realistically sized units for the
scouts and spies to report on the bank of the Euphrates. While his tabletop. There are several good
advancing army, and his cavalry army was hungry, they finally had rulesets out there, so players will
conducted a scorched-earth policy fresh water and the promise of rich need to adjust the forces presented
in front of the rebel force. A large payment after the battle. The day of here to fit – feel free to use some
ditch was constructed across Cyrus’ reckoning had arrived… of the larger battle rulesets such as
expected line of advance. The king
© Rocío Espin
also consulted his advisors, notably

Phalinus of Zakynthos (an expert
in drill and tactics, who was in the
service of Tissaphernes). The Per-
sian army was gathered – normally
troops would be brought from all
parts of the Empire, but they were
principally drawn from Babylo-
nia and the nearest surround-
ing regions. Then the great Per-
sian king waited – Cyrus
would come to him and
would have to march
through the desert to
meet him, giving Ar-
taxerxes more time to
raise and train his forces.

Hail Caesar, Mortem et Gloriam, on the riverbank. The peltasts held should think about throwing in
Swordpoint, To the Strongest, or the bank itself, with the hoplites be- the odd skirmish unit for each
even Warhammer Ancient Battles ing broken into two large blocks with side if required.
if you have that old set handy. I’m roughly 5,000 in each. Clearchus
sure with a little adaption, the new was the general commanding these If the bodyguard cavalry of either
ruleset Strength and Honour would forces. Cyrus commanded his body- side is engaged, they must be
be a good candidate. guard of 600 heavy cavalry in the led by their respective ‘king’.
centre of the line. His left flank was
Persian cavalry can choose to
The scope of the battle is massive commanded by a friendly satrap
make a feigned flight once per game.
and, if played historically, will re- called Ariaeus; this time the force
quire a deep table. It would make was made up of another large col-
Leader traits
an excellent multiplayer game for lection of Persian infantry, primar-
• Inspired – troops directly com-
a club, with players taking the role ily heavy but with some bow-armed
manded will always pass their
of one of the kings and his subor- troops mixed in between the infan-
first morale test.
dinates. Naturally our gaming am- try forces.
• Stubborn – ignores first retreat
bitions must be tempered by the
result due to combat.
size of our collections, unless you Opposing them, Artaxerxes deployed
just happen to have a few thousand his forces: a large Persian cavalry
• Average – brings nothing to the
party; does as ordered.
Persians. Otherwise, scale down the force under Tissaphernes on the left,
forces to fit what you have. Alterna- opposing the Greek forces. Gobryas,
• Rash – units under Clearchus
must charge if they are able.
tively, players can ignore the Greeks another satrap from the eastern part
and just play out the cavalry battle of the Empire, commanded a large
• Responsive – the Persian in-
fantry under Gobryas seemed
between the two brothers. body of infantry on the left of the
trained in drawing the enemy
centre. Artaxerxes commanded his
forward. Once in the game,
Terrain bodyguard of 6,000 cavalry, and a
The battle took place on a flat, final block of Persian infantry made they can automatically rally if
open plain. The only significant up the right flank with Arbaces the they flee from a charge.
feature was the River Euphra- satrap of Media as their commander.
tes, which anchored the re- Given the presence of Phalinus, it is Winning and losing
bels’ right flank. entirely possible some of the Persian If either ‘king’ dies, then the other side
infantry were Kardakes trained in wins automatically. Otherwise, the
Deployment Greek drill. side that holds the field is the winner.
Cyrus deployed the Greek
mercenary forces in a large Special rules HISTORICAL OUTCOME
block on his right flank, Here are some special rules to con- Cyrus ordered the Greeks to charge
with their flank resting sider adding to the battle. Both sides the centre of their opponents, but
ORDER OF BATTLE
The rebellious Persians • 600 bodyguard cavalry – one unit of First line:
General: Cyrus the Younger (good general, Persian guard cavalry with very high • Two units of Persian cavalry with good
inspired) Cyrus will be with his bodyguard morale and high training morale and training
cavalry in the centre. • One unit of Persian light cavalry with
Left flank: Ariaeus (good leader) Stubborn –
good morale and training
Right flank: Clearchus of Sparta (stubborn, rash) ignores first retreat result due to combat
Second line:
• 2,500 peltasts (mercenary) – three units • 20,000 Persian infantry – five blocks of
• One unit of Persian guard cavalry with
of peltasts with good morale and training two units with average morale and aver-
high morale and training
• 10,400 Greek hoplites (mercenary) – age training
• Two units of Persian cavalry with good
two blocks of five units of hoplites with morale and training
good morale and training Loyalist forces
General: King Artaxerxes II (good leader) Ar- Left flank: Gobryas (good leader, responsive)
Right flank independent command: Cheiriso- taxerxes II will be with his bodyguard cavalry • 15,000 Persian infantry
phus (stubborn, inspired) in the centre. • Four blocks of two units of Persian in-
• 800 Spartan hoplites – one unit of hop- fantry with average morale and training
lites with very high morale and high Right flank: Arbaces (average leader, stubborn)
• Two units of Kardakes (armed as hop-
training • 24,000 Persian infantry
lites) with good morale and training
• Five blocks of two units with average
Centre: Cyrus the Younger morale and training Far left cavalry: Tissaphernes (good)
• 1,000 North Persian cavalry: two units • Two units of Kardakes (armed as hop- • 2,000 Persian cavalry
of Persian cavalry with good morale lites) with good morale and training • Three units of Persian cavalry with
and training good morale and training
• One unit of Persian light cavalry with Centre: Artaxerxes II
• Two units of Persian light cavalry with
good morale and training • 3,000 bodyguard cavalry
good morale and training

Cyrus’ allied forces advance towards Artaxerxes II. Miniatures in the scenes of this article are by Wargames Foundry.
Clearchus refused as he wanted to At almost every stage, Artaxerx- at Artaxerxes II, but that cost him
keep his flanks protected. Instead, es II proved the more cunning his life. WS&S
he launched the hoplites at the loy- commander. By neutralizing the
alist left wing opposite. However, Greeks and concentrating this A Persian called Mithridates killed
Tissaphernes’ cavalry drove off the army on the rest of the rebels, he Cyrus the Younger with a fortunate
peltasts. The Greek hoplite charge effectively robbed Cyrus of his javelin shot. For robbing Artaxerxes
seemed devastating, as the Persians greatest asset. In a desperate II of the kill, he was sentenced to
fell back time and again. What they gamble, Cyrus threw his forces death by scaphism.
did not realize is that they were be-
ing deliberately drawn away from
the battle, and it ended up with
the Greeks being several miles
in front of the main battle line.
Meanwhile, Artaxerxes ordered
his forces forward, and as the
line descended into melee, Cyrus
ordered his bodyguard forward in
an attempt to kill his brother. Cyrus
was killed in the fighting, and Artax-
erxes was wounded but survived.
The Greeks returned to the battle-
field with almost no casualties, and
a tense standoff ensued. With their
employer dead and no chance of
payment, the Greek leaders went to
parley with the great king, but they
were tricked and executed. The re-
maining Greeks departed the field
and thus started the famous retreat
of the 10,000 – littered with treach-
ery and battles as recorded by one of
The peltasts have routed and are driven off the battlefield, allowing the Persians to ignore the impregnable phalanx.
its number, Xenophon.

LOOKING AT THE ACHAEMENID PERSIAN ARMY
THEME
THE ARMIES OF
PERSEPOLIS
It is said that the army of King Xerxes who invaded
Wargames Atlantic 28mm
Range: Basic
Size: 27mm ‘foot to eye’
or 30mm tall
Wargames Atlantic has
a boxed set of 40 plastic
Persians. These can be
built as sparabara, archers,
armoured Persians, and
Greece in 480 BC contained contingents from all of Price: £25.00 for 40 models
skirmishers.
his subjects, which made up the known world. The
core of the army would have been from the Persians
and Medes warrior caste at the heart of the empire.
By Guy Bowers
P
ersians make a very interesting army to collect;
they are colourful and rely on their archery
to soften up the enemy. Much like Hundred Casting Room 28mm Casting Room Miniatures,
an offshoot of Foundry, has
Years’ War English, the bow was the primary Range: Comprehensive
a range of thirteen packs
weapon and they used the pavise-like spara Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’
of Persians. These include
shield to protect themselves from attack. Backed up or 31mm tall
infantry, cavalry, archers,
by powerful cavalry and fighting on an open plain, the Price: £12.00 for six infantry or
three cavalry
and civilians.
Persian army was almost unstoppable. In hilly country
and narrow hot passes, not so much!
The following is a brief guide to some of the models

available for Achaemenid Persians. As usual, the lim-
its of time and magazine space prohibit us
from covering every single manu-
facturer. We classify ranges as
follows: Basic (a basic infantry);
Standard (has the essential infan-
try and command); Comprehen- Crusader 28mm Crusader Miniatures has a
sive (as Standard, but with cavalry small but good range of Per-
Range: Standard (infantry only)
and personalities); and Near Com- sian infantry. The five packs
Size: 27mm ‘foot to eye’ or
cover sparabara, archers,
plete (you’d have to think hard to 30mm tall
Kardakes, and command.
come up with units they Price: £10.00 for eight infantry
don’t have). WS&S
Essex Miniatures Essex Miniatures has a

28mm and 15mm good range of Persians in its
A Persian standard-
x
bearer, from Ancient Range: Comprehensive Macedonian & Punic Wars

Warfare magazine Size: 28mm – 28mm ‘foot to eye’ range. This includes infantry
issue III.6. and cavalry.
© Igor Dzis or 30mm tall
Price: £1.40 per model or £4.20
for eight infantry or four cavalry

Footsore Miniatures 28mm Persians are one of the Newline Design 28mm Newline’s Persian range is
factions in the Mortal Gods available in three differ-
Range: Comprehensive Range: Comprehensive
game. There are eight packs, ent scales, from 28mm to
Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ Size: 28mm, 20mm, and 10mm
which includes a light 10mm. It covers infantry,
or 31mm tall Price: £6.60 for six 28mm
chariot, command, archers, infantry, £2.10 for four 20mm archers, cavalry, command,
Price: £8.00 for three miniatures
sparabara, and spearmen. infantry, or £4.75 for twenty and chariots.
Footsore also does Kushites. 10mm infantry
Foundry Miniatures 28 mm Foundry’s older range of Thistle and Rose 28mm Thistle and Rose stocks the
Persians has nineteen packs. old Vendel Persian range. It
Range: Complete Range: Complete
This covers light and heavy covers Immortals, Kardakes,
Size: 27mm ‘foot to eye’ Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’
cavalry, Immortals, spara- spara infantry, archers, light
or 30mm tall or 32mm tall
bara, archers, skirmishers, cavalry, heavy cavalry, and
Price: £14.00 for eight infantry or Price: $16 for four infantry
and Kardakes. Foundry also command. T&R also has
three cavalry
does casualty models. Egyptian marines.
Miniature Design Miniature Design Studio is Victrix 28mm Victrix has released six dif-
Studio 28mm under the Minifigs banner. ferent plastic packs, cover-
Range: Comprehensive
Range: Basic It has a basic but good ing Persian heavy cavalry,
Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ or
Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ or range of spear- light cavalry, armoured
32mm tall
30mm tall men with and unarmoured infantry,
Price: £25.00 for 30 infantry
Price: £1.30 per miniature spara and and archers. Command is
archers. included.
1st Corps 28mm 1st Corps has an extensive Warlord Games 28mm Warlord Games has the old
range of Persians (25 packs) Immortal Miniatures range
Range: Complete Range: Comprehensive
and Scythians (17 packs). of Persians. The range is
Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ or Size: 28mm ‘foot to eye’ or
This includes heavy and currently being reworked,
31mm tall 31mm tall
light cavalry, sparabara, but the models are still
Price: £8.00 for eight infantry or Price: £5.50 for three infantry
archers, Kardakes, com- available.
£10.00 for four cavalry
mand, and chariots.

WoFun 28mm The WoFun range of col- Xyston Miniatures 15mm Xyston has 24 packs in its
oured ‘flats’ consists of 24 Persian range. The Plastic
Range: Complete Range: Comprehensive
sheets, covering every aspect Soldier Company is produc-
Size: 28mm or 18mm Size: 16mm ‘foot to eye’
of the Persian army, including the range in Ultracast for
Price: €14.50 per sheet (typically or 18mm tall
ing chariots and elephants! Price: £5.00 for a pack of eight Mortem et Gloriam.
24 infantry in 28mm,
They come fully painted and miniatures
double in 18mm)
look very effective en masse.
Zvezda 20mm Zvezda has two plastic sets Pendraken 10mm Pendraken has 22 packs
in 20mm, one for Persian in its Persian range. These
Range: Standard Range: Complete
infantry and one for Persian include light and heavy
Size: 20mm (1/72) Size: 10mm ‘foot to eye'
cavalry and chariots. cavalry, infantry, chariots,
Price: £10.50 for 42 infantry or 12mm tall
and command.
models Price: £5.50 for 30 miniatures
Gladiator Miniatures 15mm Gladiator has 24 packs of Baccus 6mm Baccus has 24 packs in
Persians in its range, cover- its Persian range. This also
Range: Comprehensive Range: Complete
ing heavy and light cavalry, covers allies and levied
Size: 15mm ‘foot to eye’ or Size: 6mm
infantry, skirmishers, a troops from around the
17mm tall Price: £7.20 for 96 figures
siege tower, and chariots. Empire (Egyptian Marines,
Price: £3.80 for eight infantry
Chaldeans, etc).
or four cavalry
Magister Militum Magister Militum has 22 Heroics and Ros 6mm Heroics and Ros has
15mm and 10mm packs of the old Chariot nine packs in its Persian
Range: Comprehensive
Range: Comprehensive Miniatures range in 15mm range. This includes cav-
Size: 6mm
Size: 10mm ‘foot to eye and eighteen packs in alry, camelry, infantry, and
Price: £2.50 for 48 infantry
or 12mm tall 10mm. chariots.
Price: £6.95 for 30 infantry (10mm)

PERSIANS ON THE BEACH AT MARATHON The standard-bearer, though, is a small conversion
THEME
BACKS AGAINST
(pose and colours copied from Head’s book) with a
spear arm slightly repositioned. The spear was replaced
by a standard made from steel rod and two small
THE WALL
squares of plasticard.
I tried to vary colours and patterns as much as I could

as there seems to have been little to no uniformity in the
Persian army except for their caps (called a tiara), which
are usually portrayed as white or yellow. I chose a cold
white for mine as that seemed like a nice contrast to the
other colours of their clothing. One way to add some
An Achaemenid Persian army must be one of the uniformity to a unit of Persians is to paint their character-
most colourful forces you can put on a wargaming istic shields, spara (hence the name sparabara, ‘shield-
bearers’) somewhat similar. I chose red for mine with
table. The different patterns and bright colours
black or yellow as a contrast in them, although there are
make them a challenge to paint, but the look of no references to what colours spara were so you have
them is very rewarding when the unit is on the table. some artistic license here.
The scene itself is a classic one: the Battle of Mara-

Andreas Heneborn thon in 490 BC, although portrayed from the Persians’
W
perspective. More specifically, it is the centre of the
henever I start a new painting project, I pour Persian line, where Herodotus tells us the Persians not
through whatever sources I might find and only held their ground but pushed the Athenians back.
have at hand. This time I primarily used Dun- Persian units consisted of a front rank of shield-bearers,
can Head’s The Achaemenid Persian Army. I then eight ranks of archers, and then a file-closer at the
used it both as a guide and as inspiration – back. Such a unit would be able to produce quite a lot
some of the miniatures are straight copies from Richard of firepower but would obviously be at a disadvantage
Scollins’ artwork in that book. Osprey as usual has a few when the hoplites got closer.
good titles with nice colour plates. I can also recommend
Jeff Jonas’ excellent site ancientbattles.com; it’s full of use- Unfortunately for the Persians, their flanks
ful information and very nicely painted miniatures too. broke and fled and the Athenian flanks
managed to envelop their centre. Per-
All the miniatures in the vignette are plastic Persians haps that is what the mounted com-
from Wargames Atlantic with the exception of the mander has realised and he is shout-
mounted commander, the hoplite, and the casualty. ing orders to reorganize his troops.
All of these were kindly sculpted and 3D printed by Eventually the centre broke too and
Wargames Atlantic ex- the Persians streamed back to the
clusively for this cover; ships with the Greeks in
many thanks to them. pursuit. WS&S

THE IRREGULAR
COLUMN
a
arm
© Georgie H
FEROCIOUS IN BATTLE, MAGNANIMOUS IN VICTORY
Our hobby is wargaming. The general nature of this means that there
is usually an element of competition between two players. And it feels
great to win, doesn’t it?! That flood of endorphins as your flanking plan
is executed perfectly or when your last stand of huscarls somehow
holds firm against the enemy charge - these climatic moments are
the ones we love, that keep us grinning as they replay in our heads
during the long drive home from the club. But what about when we
don’t win? How do we feel then? How do these feelings manifest in
our reactions? And importantly, how did the actions and attitude of
By Chris King our opponent contribute to how we feel about the tabletop loss?
W
hen addressing the 1 R IRISH battlegroup Of course, there are structural ways through which we
in 2003 shortly before their advance into might avoid tempting winners to act ignobly. The sim-
Iraq, Lt Col. Tim Collins gave a ruggedly plest option always is to not play to win – we might
eloquent and now-famous speech dur- play a strictly narrative game, one that is evidently
ing which he exhorted his troops thus: unbalanced, or maybe one that just doesn’t have any
“If you are ferocious in battle, remember to be mag- ‘victory conditions’ attached … but such games are
nanimous in victory.” He knew the stakes were high, obviously not to everyone’s taste. Other structural ap-
from the international political stage right down to proaches we could take might involve establishing
the personal risk to soldiers, but much of Collins’ fo- ‘house rules’ (where appropriate) to engender a cul-
cus was – tellingly – on the public perception of his ture of minimal gloating, or discussing with our op-
battlegroup’s conduct. “Allow them dignity in death,” ponents beforehand that elaborate victory dances are
he continues (in the full expectation of ‘winning’ in no way acceptable … but clearly, quantifying these
the fight immediately before them). “We will bring issues is as elusive as it is entirely subjective, and talk-
shame on neither our uniform nor our nation.” ing about hurt feelings is something with which many
wargamers still seem to struggle.
Wise and thoughtful words, and sometimes I’m mind-
ed to reflect on them whilst at gaming events and club Instead of trying to codify antisocial behaviour, I pro-
nights. After all, most of us have played against a ‘Sore pose we choose instead to observe. The next time
Loser’ or two in our time, and I suspect that most of you’re in your club or friendly local store, watch how
us would prefer facing that Sore Loser to a Sore Win- people behave when they’re winning, and how their
ner nine times out of ten. We all know them: they’re opponents take it. See if you can spot that moment
the players who cannot resist gloating a bit too much. when a celebratory air-punch morphs into an irritat-
The ones who laugh raucously after their elite knights ing gloat. Watch for when the losing player’s eyeline
grind your peasantry into dust, the ones who shoot dips down, their shoulders sag, and their chest emits a
your medic just to gain a victory point, the ones who forlorn sigh … and then return your gaze to the victor.
call over nearby players to point out just how tactically As they may well have been ferocious in their battle,
inept or even just plain unlucky you’ve been. They’re can they master magnanimity in their victory?
the ones whose offers of future games you politely de-
cline. Of course, what I’m not discussing here is the Then, maybe consider what the whole scene might
cut-and-thrust, kill-or-be-killed, dog-eat-dog world of look like to a casual observer: is it smiles and hand-
ultra-competitive historical gaming. Really what I’m shakes all round, or are gamers looking crestfallen?
exploring here is everything below that. A player looking reflectively pensive after a defeat is
one thing, but when that player is silent or grumbling
I recently attended a historical gaming tournament darkly with a look in their eyes of hopeless despair
hosted by the Vital Ground Wargames Group. To my after a game that we play for fun, that might just sug-
utmost joy, the Number One Rule for the day’s friendly gest that something needs tweaking. Hopefully, these
tournament was simply “Don’t Be A Lizard.” If they experiences are rare, but for every example of brutish
found themselves querying or about to argue the in- or boorish behaviour at the gaming table, there could
terpretation of any rule, players were asked simply to be yet another newbie who never comes back, yet
remind themselves: “D-B-A-L”. And that’s all it took! another youngster who gives up the hobby because

getting humiliated by a relative stranger over the out- Secondly, I can sometimes be smug. This is much
come of a game into which they have poured time harder for me to control, because it’s involuntary!
and money they can ill afford is frankly not that fun. When on-table events start to go my way mid-game
At its worst extreme, it can essentially become bully- (either through the dumb luck of the dice or my own
ing (I’ve witnessed this; I fear too many of you might – ahem! – consummate tactical genius), I have been
have witnessed it too …) and ultimately, nobody likes known to get this smug little smile tugging upwards at
a bully. We have the privilege of seeing this from the corners of my mouth. I hate it, but there’s not much
within. What might the experience of a brand-new I can do about it so far, other than never playing poker.
player be during their first night at the club: will they What I’m trying to learn to do more – is to deflect the
see joyful celebration or joyless bragging? Similarly smugness when I feel those early-warning signs. One
the parent collecting their child at the end of a ses- way in which I try to do so when I feel its embarrass-
sion. We need to ensure that visitors, onlookers, new ing onset is by admiring and praising my opponent’s
players, and new generations of gamers can experi- minis: “Great basing …” “Ingenious conversion …”
ence what it looks like when players win gracefully. “I love the way you’ve weathered this tank/spaceship/
camel …” et cetera. This isn’t disingenuous either: any
Having reflected upon graceless winning in the broad- mini that has had any amount of time or care put into
er sense, and having considered what it actually looks its presentation, at any level of success or ability, is
like within the environment of the gaming group, I always inherently deserving of my attention and praise
believe we can drill down to a more intimate level. – I love the work my fellow gamers put in, and we all
We’ve looked at the behaviour of the others in the club need encouragement.
– now let’s look at our opponents themselves.
Another thing I try is to start playing a more ‘open’
If they’re winning, are they exhibiting any of these game. I might start talking through my tactical deci-
traits? If so, we certainly don’t want to appear to be sions, so my opponent can see how I’m having to
Sore Losers ourselves, so what do we do? I might wrestle with whatever difficult situations they’ve man-
suggest that we count slowly to ten, make a mental aged to put me in. This helps make it more appar-
note never to play them again, and play out the game ent that if I do manage to win, it wasn’t easy for me.
with good-natured courtesy. They’ll get the point soon Sometimes they might even be able to deduce a wee
enough. (It’s always helpful, of course, to establish the insight into what they might do to help scupper my
kind of game we’re after before we start to play.) now-more-public plans. This approach to soothing the
blow to my opponent can also be developed by gently
If, on the other hand, they are currently losing, then and good-naturedly (always good-naturedly!) berating
are we exhibiting any of these traits? Are we starting myself for the foolishness of an earlier decision I made
to crow, or to gloat? Are we teasing them a little too – especially one from which my opponent was able to
much for their abandonment by Lady Luck? The sim- benefit. I’ve found that this must always be done ret-
plest question to ask ourselves must surely be, “Are rospectively though: if not, it can present as whining!
they enjoying the game?” If not, but the gloves are off
and we’re out to give them a real drubbing, then fair There are more mechanical things that can be done,
enough! If we both went into this game with the clear too. Sometimes, in a friendly game, once we realise
intent of delivering a sound thrashing, then we are that our opponent is taking a drubbing, we might
hopefully both on the same page. But if we can train agree to change the mission parameters, so a meeting
ourselves to actually watch out for our opponent’s engagement becomes a fighting withdrawal, for exam-
body language and ‘tells’, then hopefully we can learn ple, or a simple defence gets rebranded mid-game as
to tone down our own behaviour before the gaming a heroic last stand. Maybe a friend whose game fin-
experience sours for them … or for both of us. ished early is able to bring on some of their troops as
a surprise reinforcement! Naturally, such alterations
For my own part, I try always to be mindful of the aren’t to everyone’s taste, and many of us want differ-
needs and feelings of my opponent, and although I’m ent things out of gaming, but it might be worth consid-
sure I don’t always get it right, I’ve learned to beware a ering if we ever start to get the feeling that maybe it’s
couple of my own gaming foibles when I’m winning. us who are in danger of becoming the Sore Winner.
Firstly, I have a tendency to be overtly defeatist: I’ll say Doubtless the easiest way, though, of maintaining
things like, “Oh, my sniper never hits anything,” or magnanimity and dignity in victory is simply this:
“My cavalry reserve is bound to get lost or arrive late.” we can act as cheerleaders for our opponent and
This is all fine during the early phases of the game, but their tabletop troops. We can invoke the blessings
I’ve had to learn that it can become something of an of the Dice Gods for their rolls; wish them luck
annoyance to my opponent if I then start to win. And when their off-table artillery strike finally comes
I’ve learnt this the tricky way – by paying attention down; celebrate their successes when they some-
to my opponents: now, when their shoulders start to how manage to blow the magazine on our battle-
droop down, I’ve learnt to shut the hell up. ship with a lucky stray torpedo. WS&S

SCRATCH-BUILT WALLS FOR THE WARGAME TABLE looking and weathered stones ready
HOBBY
STANDING LIKE
to start building my model walls. The
individual stones vary from 8 mm to
10 mm wide and 10 mm to 20 mm
long and are about 5 mm thick.
A STONE WALL
Using a mix of standard PVA glue
and some ‘gap-filling’ glue, I set
about building my stone walls, stone
by stone. As you can see, I have used
some larger blue foam stones as pil-
lars and balsawood as posts to add
some variety to the plain walls.
In a break from my usual terrain or building tutorials, I was asked to
produce a short series of articles showing how to build scatter terrain I just couldn’t resist adding some
damage to two of the wall sections
or simple linear features for the wargames table. In this first article I as I prefer a run-down look to my
will give details of how I built and painted four sections of stone walls walls. I have also built two sections
as complete, and the option of hav-
from simple scrap material I had on hand and ing a corner section
how I use these sections in my own games. would not be too dif-
ficult to model.
By Tony Harwood DAS modelling
I
clay (applied over
n my scrap material collection or the DAS model- dilute PVA glue)
I had some 3 mm-thick plastic ling clay cracking. was used to build up
card (an ex-advertising sign that I the groundwork and fill any gaps
was given for free) and a lump of I used coloured lollipop sticks to act that were too large. You can also
blue insulating foam (scrounged as a base for the stone wall sections. see where I have included a metal
from a builder’s skip), and in the spir- The lollipop sticks will be a firm wheel, which was sourced from my
it of not wanting to waste anything, foundation for the individual stones ‘spares box’.
both of these were used in the con- and will add some strength to the
struction of these wall sections. plastic card. A mix of ready-mixed filler, PVA
glue, and very fine sand was
CONSTRUCTION The blue foam was first cut into thin brushed onto the walls. This mix
layers with a hot wire cutter. These lay- adds additional texture to the
The plastic card was cut into rough
ers were then cut with a large snap-off stones and acts as a strengthening
lozenge shapes and the edges were
bladed knife or box cutter into strips or sealing coat to the blue foam in
first trimmed and then sanded
and finally individual stones. preparation for painting.
smooth. I like using this thick plas-
tic card as my bases as there is very
The individual foam stones were Additional ground cover texture was
little warpage plus you can securely
placed in a plastic food tub (a used added from a mix of sieved stones,
superglue items onto it with very lit- ice-cream container) with some rough sand, and sawdust, which was first ap-
tle chance of either the glue failing stones and coarse grit. After vigorously plied over PVA glue and then sealed
shaking the tub I was left with natural- with ‘wet water’ – water to which I
have added either flow improver or
simple washing up liquid. This wet wa-
ter helps to break the surface tension
of the PVA glue and ensure that
the individual grains of sand
are firmly sealed in place.
PAINTING
All four sections of wall were
given a basecoat of acrylic paint.
I use a mix of black and very
dark brown as my basecoat
as any areas that are missed

CONSTRUCTION
1 2 3
The bases are reinforced with wooden lolly sticks. Next, the foam is cut up into 'stone' blocks. Glue the stones onto the base to create the walls.
4 5 6
The base of the walls is now built up with clay. Sand and pebbles can then be glued to the base. A black basecoat seals in all of the work.
PAINTING
1 2 3
Start by painting and then highlighting the walls. The groundwork is then painted and highlighted. The walls are finished with flock and tufts.
in subsequent painting stages will then wheel and included an earthenware ter varnishing with Galleria matt var-
not show through as stark white areas. jug as decoration on one wall section nish, the bases were decorated with
– I believe that these simple touches a mix of ground foam, static grass,
After a first drybrushing of ochre help to raise the finished models be- and tufts, which were applied over
acrylic paint, individual stones were yond just plain wargame terrain. Af- superglue. WS&S
picked out in grey or darker brown
colours. More drybrushing and a With the two stone pillar ends
USING THE WALL SECTIONS
more natural stone colouring begins next to one another, I have a

to emerge. The drybrushing and paint- rough gateway or opening, which
ing of individual stones is a technique could be used as a boundary wall
that can be repeated many times. around a ploughed field. Or the
two wooden post ends can be
Drybrushing and washes, as well placed alongside one another and
as some simple detail painting, has an effective gateway is produced.
produced these natural-looking wall With some imagination, the small
colours that are a far cry from the wall sections can be used in many
simple painted black and drybrushed different layouts and contexts. wargame table walls and if built in
grey or white that is commonly seen bulk could easily produce enough
on the wargame table. The four wall sections were mod- pieces for any wargame table.
elled in a little over three hours of
With the groundwork painted and laid-back modelling and painted The wall sections range from 100 mm
drybrushed, the four wall sections in even less time. They are a great long on a 120 mm base to 130 mm
are nearing completion. Notice how template for simple and effective long on a 140 mm base.
I have now fully painted the metal

CREATING AND BUILDING AN ICONIC LOCATION the house, but as the building has
THE HOUSE ON
HOBBY
been modified and extended since

then, I didn’t know what the back
looked like. The house is now a D-
Day museum, so I contacted them to
see if they could help me. Emmanuel
Allain, the museum’s manager, kind-
DEAD MAN’S CORNER

ly provided photographs of the rear
of the house before the extension
was built. I passed these to Martin so
he could design the MDF kit.
Those of us with an interest in World War II wargaming are fortunate RECREATING THE SCENE
to have a vast array of iconic images to inspire our scenarios and table Once I had the finished kit, I put it
together and then began to add the
layouts. I've always been fascinated by the famous photograph of the detailing. Working from 1940s pho-
wrecked tank beside the house on Dead Man's Corner in Normandy tographs of the house, I was able to
add the features that were present at
and was keen to recreate the battles that were fought at this location.
the time, such as a sloping drainpipe
and a hole in the roof. I painted and
By Joe Bilton weathered the house to replicate the
appearance of the building in 1944.
T
he house sits by a road junction tographed with the tank within days
between Saint-Côme-du-Mont of the battle, the distinctive house on Martin also produced a kit for the in-
and Carentan and was the site Dead Man’s Corner became an iconic terior of the house, and I decorated
of fierce combat between US location in the Battle of Normandy. it and furnished it with objects from
and German forces in the days Warbases and Mantic.
after D-Day. This was a strategically im- RESEARCHING THE HOUSE In order to fully recreate the loca-
portant junction, as it was the route via To recreate the junction for my table-
which US forces could strike at Caren- tion, I made the surrounding terrain.
top, I needed to start with the house. For practical reasons, the front garden
tan, helping them to link the Utah and I contacted Martin Murray at War-
Omaha beachheads. On 7 June 1944, needed to be scaled slightly shorter.
bases, an MDF kit producer, to see Sabotag3D printed the distinctive con-
an M5A1 Stuart from the 70th Tank if he would like to collaborate on a
Battalion was knocked out by a Panz- crete telegraph poles, and the roads
new 28mm kit. Martin was enthusi- came from Total Battle Miniatures. Fi-
erfaust near the junction. The wrecked astic, so I set to work on the research.
tank soon became a landmark for nally, I built and painted a 1/56 Stuart
the US paratroopers, who named the model from Warlord Games, again us-
The building still stands today. The ing photographs to for reference. Niels
junction ‘Dead Man’s Corner’. Pho- 1944 photograph shows the front of Henkemans was kind enough to pro-
vide information on the
tank’s markings.
With everything completed,

all that was left to do was
to put it all together and
recreate the iconic scene.
Now I just need to play a
game with it! WS&S

PAINTING & DETAILING
1 2 3
I glued the kit together using superglue, reinforc- Next, I textured the building using ready-mixed I added and textured a back wall (made from
ing the joints with strong PVA. I kept aside the Polyfilla. I pressed fine sand into the Polyfilla on 5 mm foamcore) to enclose the courtyard. The
shutters and door until after texturing. the front of the house and used a stonework-tex- courtyard cobbles are made from a piece of em-
tured rolling pin on the back and side. bossed wallpaper.
4 5 6
I glued on the kit’s shutters and doors and used The building was painted with acrylics and I weathered the building using brown and green
a sheet of laser-cut rooftiles to add more detail to household emulsion. Once dry, I treated the washes, streaking them from windowsills and
the roof. Additional features were modelled using whole building with a Flory clay wash before dry- eaves and stippling them at the base. Plastic
card and coffee stirrers. brushing it to bring out the textures. from blister packs became broken glass.
7 8 9
I decorated the interior with printouts of vintage For the garden, I used a base of hardboard, added The finished house, combined with the sepa-
wallpaper and coffee-stirrer floorboards. Furniture extruded polystyrene for the boundary wall, and rate garden. When placed on a terrain board
from Mantic and Warbases completed the house. made bushes using plastic armatures and flock. with roads and trees, it blends in nicely.
DESIGNING THE MDF KIT By Martin Murray

I began this challenging kit by making a reference pictures for the unique de-
‘mood board’ with pictures showing all tails that identify the house. These
the elevations, including a newly-ob- are all recreated as accurately as
tained photograph showing the layout possible given the limitations of the
of the back wall. Using this reference, scale and the materials used.
I was able to create a simple elevation
of each aspect of the house, as well as Once I’d assembled the first prototype
door and window locations. I design and ironed out the ‘snags’, I compiled
everything in a two-dimensional pro- the parts onto sheets. The laser cutter
cess, creating a multitude of parts and knows which cut to make based on
bringing it together into a three-dimen- the line colours in the CAD file. The The CAD file that was used to cut out the house.
sional jigsaw to create the final model. black lines indicate cuts through the
entire thickness of the sheet. Blue lines also take photos of each construction
Once these drawings are complete, indicate a kiss cut that will only mark stage to compile a downloadable PDF
it’s a relatively simple task to use the the surface of the MDF. I then fully as- instruction sheet. Once this is done, the
elevations to create the kit, using the sembled the final kit to check for fit and kit is ready to add to our webstore.

LET’S PLAY
THE SMALL-SCALE BIG BATTLE ANCIENTS GAME
LET’S PLAY STRENGTH

AND HONOUR
For very many years, wargamers have struggled with the idea of
representation and scale on the tabletop; what size does our unit
represent? How much of a battle can we actually portray on our
table? The latest release from Reisswitz Press attempts to play
a complete battle where each unit represents an entire legion!
By Jim Webster
I
was first attracted to these rules The game is fought on a gridded table.
by the figures. I’ve experimented Typically, each square is 75 mm and a
with 2mm in the past, but I never table should be at least twelve by eight
seemed to get what I felt was the squares in size. A typical large bat- vate units, move them, and if they want
full value out of them. Here at last tle would need sixteen squares by ten to do something other than be hurled
was the chance to have a wargame squares. The rules are flexible, so differ- straight forward into the jaws of death,
that actually looked something like ent size squares are possible. Crucially, you have to take manoeuvre tests.
a whole battle. As I read the rules, I the nature of the rules and this grid sys- Moving straight forward is easy; doing
confess my enthusiasm grew. tem mean there is no nonsense about complicated things such as wheeling
measuring angles and millimetres. or turning with thousands of men is far
With these rules the major actions of more difficult and can prove costly for
the period with tens of thousands on Once you have your army, you work poorly drilled units. But on the other
the field become playable, each legion out its break point, how you get and hand if you do manage to launch a
depicted as a single base measuring use command points, and how your flank attack, it halves your opponent’s
120 mm by 80 mm with the cohorts general and generalship points work. battle rating, so that sneaky manoeuvre
drawn up in triplex acies. Strength and is well worth attempting. Again, dis-
Honour is not a game for those who Once the armies are deployed, the ciplined and drilled troops find such
want to micromanage, this is a game game begins. The sequence of play uses manoeuvres easier to pull off, but there
for players who want to be a general. alternate turns for each army. You acti- are ways even the wildest warband has
a chance. Each unit has a small chance
of failing to move – fail twice to move
or manoeuvre in a row and the active
player’s turn is immediately over and
play passes to the opposition.
Units have a Combat score and combat

consists of comparing the score of the
protagonists. Circumstances add and
subtract to the Combat scores. If both
units have the same score, roll once on
the battle table and apply the result. If
one side has more, two dice are rolled
and the player with the higher score
picks the result. If one side has a dou-
ble the battle score of the other, three
dice are rolled and the best cho-
Ferocious Germanic warbands muster near the forest, ready for battle. sen. An interesting twist!

They also come with
a range of historical
scenarios that cover
some of the great bat-
tles of Marius, Caesar, and
Boudicca to get you inspired.
Whilst they cover a limited period,

the wargamer and rule-tinkerer in
me was already pondering the Punic
Wars, and given the troop types in
the army lists, it’s going to be easy
enough to expand into the wars of
the Hellenistic Kingdoms. The author
is already working on rules and sce-
narios for the earlier Republic.
Yet for me, I was far more interested

in a campaign section. Given that this
rule set allows you to field armies as
large as any fielded historically, fight-
ing campaigns is an obvious thing.
Also, whilst they’re 2mm rules, you
Sulla's regular legions engage the mixed Pontic army belonging to king Mithridates VI. can use them for any scale – just in-
crease the size of your grid squares. I
Other troop types has to force a Homunculus Est activa- play-tested the rules using 15mm fig-
have their place. tion on you. If your opponent thinks ures that I moved on a sabot base for
Skirmishers are nicely your army must be close to breaking, the purposes of the game.
covered. You can deploy them as they call it and ask you to show the
whole units, where they can mask cards. If they’re correct and the total CONCLUSION
enemy units, or you can break them is more than your break point, your These rules are very solid, built on a
up and add skirmish lines to your army is broken; but if it isn’t, not only comparatively simple skeleton. The
heavy infantry units, giving them an are you not broken, you can even dis- writer has added some nice tweaks that
advantage in combat. Cavalry too are card a card of your choice! Calling out lift the rules to a whole new level: Ho-
included. Some, like cataphracts, do your opponent with a Homunculus munculus Est is one of them; Reversal
have a chance of taking heavy infantry Est if you are right means you’ve won. of Fortune is another. Whilst the active
on frontally. Most cavalry are better on Asking too soon means that the enemy player can expect to activate all units
the flanks where they can drive off the morale might even improve. one after another, there is a chance,
opposing cavalry and then fall on the particularly with trickier manoeuvres,
flanks of the enemy infantry – all good, The rules are nicely illustrated with that play will pass to the opponent.
historically legitimate tactics. diagrams to help you work out what
is going on, complete with plenty of This is for the player who is happy to
Loss of army morale is covered by well-written examples of how things throw 10,000 screaming barbarians
drawing cards when a setback or dis- work. The examples give you a blow into the fray with one casual gesture. If
aster occurs. When an army suffers a by blow account of various stages of a that fails, throw in 10,000 more!
minor reversal a setback card is drawn, small action. Thanks to things like this,
worth between 0 and 3 points. If some- I found it remarkably easy to pick up These have the feel of a set of rules
thing majorly bad happens, such as a how the rules play. that just keep giving and the more
unit routing or loss of the general, a dis- you play them, the more you’ll get
aster card is drawn (worth between 2 Finally there are army out of them. I like them. WS&S
and 7 points). After looking at the card lists. These cover the
you have picked up (try not to wince!), period roughly from STRENGTH AND HONOUR
place it face down at your table edge. 100 BC to AD 200 with Author: Mark Backhouse
Published by: Reisswitz Press
When the number of points you’ve ac- several flavours of Ro-
Format: 120-page softback, cards
cumulated exceeds the army’s break mans, as well as most Dice: D6
point, you’re in deep trouble – your of their external and Activation: Initiative-based alternate turn
army has potentially broken. The nice internal enemies. The Price: £26.00
touch is that you don’t have to tell the lists manage to give the www.toofatlardies.co.uk
other player your total; the other player flavour of the armies.

LET'S PLAY
A GOTHIC HORROR WARGAME IN THE NAPOLEONIC ERA
LET’S PLAY THE

SILVER BAYONET
As the Napoleonic Wars rage in Europe, a supernatural hor-
ror has awakened. Taking advantage of the havoc caused
by the wars, these monsters have emerged from the shad-
ows. Each player controls an elite unit of monster hunters
to combat the darkness, but old national rivalries persist.
By Chris King
T
he latest game from the Mc- The format is familiar: a player chooses
Cullough stable is a wargame an officer as a lead character from one
of Napoleonic gothic horror. of six nations (Austria, Britain, France,
At first, I thought this was a Prussia, Russia, and Spain) and has 100
new version of Frostgrave set points to recruit soldiers with; all the
in a black powder era. Never judge standard infantry and cavalry (yes, cav-
a Victorian-looking book by its cov- alry!) are covered. These form a unit to
er …! While there are similarities, undertake missions with. Each nation- werebear! Cavalry models require
this is an entirely new game. As the ality has a list of different soldiers who a mounted and dismounted version
system in Frostgrave can be a little can be recruited – there are restrictions, of the same model. Players can take
random, the new ideas in this game of course. The French can’t take rifle- artillerymen – no they can’t take
are most welcome. men but can take guards and gain the cannons, but they can fire cannons
unique recruit, the Vivandière. when they turn up in scenarios.
The game itself is perhaps best de- Some recruits can even cast a form
scribed as Supernatural and Grimm There are some unique units – for of magic, in curses etc, but it is very
meet Sharpe’s Rifles and Hornblower. example, the Russians can take a weak and not a game changer.
The game has the typical choice

of weapons for the period: pistols,
blunderbusses, muskets, and rifles.
Characters can take the volley gun
(a one-shot wonder) and can equip
themselves with various items to
defeat the supernatural (cold iron,
silver, and salt). The ranges are quite
generous: while a pistol only has an
8" range, the musket has 24" and the
rifle 30".
The game mechanics for combat are

quite clever and simple. A player
rolls a ‘skill’ D10 and
a ‘power’ D10, adds
whatever bonuses the
model gets, and compares
it with the target number (typi-
By GAD, a spectre is coming right for us! Ready the salt! Quick man, or we're done for!
cally the target’s defence). If the

lysed with fear or to run in sheer ter-
ror. With some poor terror checks,
commanders can find themselves
alone and in a spot of ‘bother’.
The game uses a campaign XP im-

provement system, which will
be familiar to ’grave players.
Both the officer and the soldiers
can improve – those that survive or
aren’t driven mad!
CONCLUSION
We enjoyed our games of The Silver
Bayonet. We loved the aesthetics,
and the skirmishing definitely works
for this setting. However, we did find
some ‘bumps’ in the rules. An index
would also have been useful. Purist
players could ditch the supernatural
elements and use this system as a
Napoleonic skirmish set.
The 24" range for musketry was very

good, perhaps too good. A model
can stand, shoot, and reload in one
activation. Cover has a negligible
effect; my captain was shot and
The British investigators uncover a dangerous coven of cultists in the village. Miniatures by North Star.
wounded by a musket firing through
a tree line and two stained-glass
number is equal to this out bad rolls, and we found them a
windows with only a -1 penalty for
or higher, the model is useful resource to be used wisely.
cover to the roll. In our games we’ll
hit and one of the dice is used
be introducing more modifiers (-1
for the damage (rifles and fenc-
SCENARIOS AND CREATURES per piece of cover, for example).
ing sabres use the ‘skill’ die,
There are ten scenarios in total and
most others use the ‘power’ While good, the premise was a lit-
four additional ones for solo play. Each
die). So there is no opposing roll tle strange. There is this grim super-
has a supernatural bent, with a variety
like in Frostgrave, but the game still of creatures that can be encountered. natural threat that will devour all
retains the same one-roll resolution Typically, players will race for clues, of humanity, but WAIT! Forget the
of its predecessors. which give the key to winning the sce- vampire, there are French over there!
nario. Like the previous books, there OPEN FIRE!!! There is a danger that
The initiative system is also in- are some rather specific terrain pieces taking out your opponent seems to
teresting. There is no piecemeal needed for a few of the scenarios, so be be more important than dealing with
activation as in previous games. prepared to improvise! the dire threats to humanity …
The player with the initiative can
choose to activate all the models in The monsters are from Victorian folk- With all that said, we really liked the
a side or to hold them and let them lore, so are demons, goblins, ghosts, game and will tweak it slightly (such as
go last. Then the monsters activate. pixies, vampires, and werewolves. the cover rules). I can also see this sys-
The second player then activates The supernatural creatures them- tem being used for other horror genres.
all of their models. Finally, any selves can be quite Cthulhu by Lamplight? WS&S
models held in reserve by the first tough, but we found
player then activate. a group of soldiers THE SILVER BAYONET
can usually deal Author: Joseph McCullough
FATE DICE with them … usu- Published by: Osprey Games
ally! However, some Format: 158-page hardback
Each player gains five fate dice per Dice: D10s
game: two ‘skill’, two ‘power’, and can cause terror in
Activation: Initiative-based alternate turn
one monster die (which can be mere mortals, caus- Price: £25.00
played on monster rolls or to redirect ing your soldiers to www.ospreypublishing.com
them). These can be used to cancel be stunned or para-

GAME REVIEWS
GAME REVIEWS New and recent wargaming rulesets, reviewed

by the Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy team.
Mexican–American War), and Texas from the deck – a nice touch as the
joining the Confederacy in 1861. primary characters in the warband can
take a fair amount of punishment but
The rules focus on the minor raids, will become progressively less effective
ambushes, and skirmishes between as they take damage (it also means you
a handful of men, with players only don’t need to clutter up your table with
requiring six to seven figures on each dice or other damage markers).
side. The rules are deliberately agnos-
tic when it comes to choosing mod- Once activated, the model must test
els, scale, and basing requirements, to see whether it succeeds in the de-
enabling players to use existing collec- sired action. Failure can lead to frus-
tions. Movement speeds and weapon trating (but often amusing) results,
ranges are always given in ‘paces’ with but that’s what you risk should you
the suggestion that players use 1 cm to decide to use the primitive grenades
represent a pace in smaller scales and of the nineteenth century! As would
1" per pace for larger figures. be expected, heroes and main char-
Flintlocks & percussion caps acters are substantially more likely
By Chris Swann Our figures represent four types: he- to succeed activation tests and avoid
(Caliver Books, 2021) roes, main characters, supporting char- catastrophic failures.
£16.50 acters, and minor characters, with such
D10, alternate card activation terminology giving the impression of The fairly random activation system
recreating a movie scene as much as and quasi-cinematic style of the game
This ruleset is designed for small- playing a traditional wargame. Activa- will appeal to those gamers who pre-
scale encounters set in Texas be- tion is card based using a standard set fer friendly narrative games over sys-
tween 1800 and 1860, diving straight of playing cards, and individual mod- tems designed for more competitive
into the rules with only a single para- els may perform an action when one of gaming. There is a basic post-battle
graph for the historical setting. This their cards is drawn from the deck (jok- table to deal with wounded models
is a shame as the history of the re- ers give unexpected events). Heroes and gaining experience should play-
gion makes for interesting reading, start the game with four cards each; ers wish to run a mini campaign.
covering Texas’ declaration of its main, supporting, and minor charac-
independence from Mexico, the an- ters get three, two, and one respec- One of the advantages of the small-
nexation into the USA (triggering the tively. A wounded model loses a card scale skirmish game is that the au-
The latest Warlord Games campaign tracked armoured vehicles get ‘Ram
book, Italy: Soft Underbelly, focuses and Slam’ to enable them to destroy
on the first six months of the Allies’ aircraft on the ground. A new mech-
thrust into Axis-held Europe in 1943. anism is even introduced for using
From the invasion of Sicily up to the dice rolls to decide which troops do
assault on the Winter Line, thirteen or do not survive a sheer cliff face
highly detailed scenarios have been climb prior to an attack!
put together to form the first of two
books that will cover this theatre. Further new rules make their debut
Soft Underbelly contains over 40 in this book, such as ‘Rule the Skies’
new units, drawn from all four major (air strikes come in on a dice roll of
combatants, with which to populate 3 rather than 4), ‘Poor Air–Ground
new armies in contexts that accurate- Coordination’ (rookie pilot comes
ly reflect historical events. in on a 1 or a 2!), ‘SAS Saboteur
Teams’ (not a physical unit, but for
Most scenarios have been given be- +50 points the ability to delay your
Bolt Action Campaign Italy: spoke special rules that add original- opponent’s reserves from entering
Soft Underbelly
ity and flavour. For example, in a raid the table), ‘Booby Traps’ (for +20
By Warlord Games team on a coastal battery the attackers are points each German force gets to
(Osprey Publishing, 2021) accorded ‘Element of Surprise’ (they place tokens representing booby
£20.00
get to draw the first die at the start), traps and inflict casualties depend-
D6, Dice-based activation and in an assault on an airfield, fully ing on distance and dice rolls), and

BY DAVID FREDERICK, EOGHAN KELLY, AND JAMES ORAM
thors can concentrate on individual tures, which have been waiting to be

abilities, skills, and weaponry more put to good use on the tabletop. As
than is usually possible in games that Reign in Hell is figure agnostic, I can
represent larger battles. In this game, see myself dusting off my old Chaos
players are given the option to either collections and putting them to good
use pre-generated generic characters use, with the odd Cthulhu monster
or randomly generate their abilities in thrown in for good measure!
a character generation table. The au-
thor has used these additional details Playing with demons is a true subset
to add some real period flavour into of miniature gaming that has long
the rules, which is to be welcomed. been dominated (and monopolized)
by Warhammer. There have been sur-
The appendices to the main rules prisingly few new rules systems that
add in optional rules covering wild have been published that approach
animals, artillery, and ‘fate cards’ the darker, more demonic realms.
(personally I think there are enough Reign in Hell is a new skirmish sys-
random elements in this game al- Reign in Hell tem designed to allow players to play
ready). I’d recommend ignoring these Demonic skirmish combat a fast-paced game, using their exist-
for a few games until the basic rules By Adam Loper and Vince Venturella ing demonic figure collection and on
are mastered. As there are rules for (Snarling Badger Studios 2021) a kitchen table or similar compact
solo play, you can see how the game $10 (PDF) or $15 space (30 inches square).
(print on demand and PDF)
plays in practice before unleashing
your posse on an opponent. D6 and D12, initiative-based The system is D6 and D12 driven;
alternate activation
players play in a mixed-initiative ac-
Given the rules are in paperback I've been a long term Warhammer tivation sequence. There is a maxi-
and the game uses a very low model aficionado for many years and have mum of ten demons in a player’s unit.
count and doesn’t require any game- amassed a collection of demons Each player creates a cabal of de-
specific wargaming paraphernalia, from various companies, including mons who are fighting out for domi-
Flintlocks & Percussion Caps pro- Citadel, Reaper and the new Antedi- nance in their own special part
vides an affordable introduction to luvian miniatures medieval demons. of Hell. Each side is given points
the period; why not give it a go? I even have some weird 'creeps' (souls) to spend on the make-up of
– James Oram (eyeball men) from Eureka Minia- their units, selecting a philosophy
finally ‘Solid Stone Buildings’ (which and Darby’s Rangers variants. Plenty be disappointed and leave your
diminish the effects of indirect fire). to capture the imagination amongst beautifully painted LCTs, LCVPs,
These entertaining additions should this lot, and sufficient motivation (as and any other type of LC that you
add some spice to a game. if it were needed) to go shopping for might have in their boxes. All the
more miniature and models … action takes place on land. In my
New units that particularly caught view the scenarios are sufficiently
my attention were: for the Italians, The game table plans for the scenar- interesting, varied, and detailed as
motorbike-equipped infantry, en- ios are the most detailed that I have to compensate for this minor disap-
gineer demolishers with their own seen to date in a Warlord campaign pointment, however, so you won’t
optional and distinct support group, book, incorporating ridge lines, rail- hear me griping.
Arditi (Commandos) and Carabinieri; way lines, urban streets, isolated
for the Germans, Hermann Göring bridges, mountains, airfields, coast- Warlord has grasped what many
Division and Fallschirmjäger theatre- al batteries, and even a multiplayer players want from their campaign
related variants including Fallschirm- scenario on a 12" by 4" board for a books: plenty of options for variety
pioniers; for the British and Com- 3000 point per side replay of the as- in both armies and game scenarios
monwealth, Highland, Guard, Irish, sault on Termoli. that keep wargaming fresh and in-
and Indian units, a PIAT-equipped teresting. In order to remain original
Universal Carrier, and elements of However, if you were hoping for and distinct, the authors have drilled
Popski’s Private Army, plus a beach some amphibious scenarios of the down to a level of detail rarely seen
recce (COPP) team for the Royal type to be found in the Overlord or in the earlier books, and I am sure we
Marines Commandos; and for the Marianas & Palau campaign books can expect more of this in the future.
Americans, some Devil’s Brigade (and I’ll admit I was), prepare to – David Frederick

for what they are fighting for – there dice’ where demons killed by one of see what they have gained and also
are six of these with various benefits your demons have their souls har- can recruit new demons. You are
and penalties, which include a ‘free’ vested, which can then add abilities still limited to ten demons, and so
Devout demon of that philosophy. to your demons. Players play until all the section ‘Cull the Weak’ tells you
This Devout serves as your second- activation dice have been used and how you can make space for re-
in-command, with your leader being then the next game turn is started. placements! The rules finish with ten
the driving force. Next, the player scenarios: six for 2–4 players, three
will select the leader and the vari- Terrain for the system follows the usu- for just 2, and one for 1–4 players.
ous minions of their cabal, abilities, al game format, with terrain affect-
spells, and other attributes, limited ing movement and/or combat, with I feel that these are a neat, slick set
by the ‘souls’ they have to spend. the addition of shrines – these confer of rules, which have been well con-
power to any demon within a certain sidered and allow players some nice
Keeping with the goal of a fast-paced range of them. All types of terrain also standalone scenarios as well as a very
game, the mechanics are quite have optional rules – this I particularly straightforward campaign system.
streamlined and play well, with play- liked as it gives players the chance to
ers rolling a D12 activation dice for vary the impact of the effects. This game reeks of ‘Oldhammer’
each demon (play shifts between and in particular Realm of Chaos in
players as they move down their ini- There is a dedicated chapter for style if not in game design, and that
tiative rolls) and then they carry out campaign play, which is full of en- is a good thing. If fantasy gaming is
their activities in their turn: move- hancements, rewards, new titles, your thing, then I encourage you to
ment, combat, damage, and results. and advancements. At the end of try this system.
The system uses the concept of ‘soul each campaign turn, players can – Eoghan Kelly
ual (and nearby adversaries) in the of the original rules. That said, there
early part of his military career and are some interesting additions, such
therefore probably only of interest as allowing players to ‘buy’ terrain
to eleventh-century players. Harald (in the form of caltrops, barricades,
Hardrada, one of the most famous etc). There are some interesting unit
Vikings of all time (and well worthy upgrades, such as javelins for elite
of wargaming scenarios), is relegated and heavy cavalry (which fits the pe-
to a mere leader in charge of a few riod), plus rules for shield walls (mo-
dozen followers. Well, Lion Rampant bile schiltrons) and feigned retreats.
is a skirmish game, so …
There are suggested army lists for the
Viking in the Sun is an interesting Varangian Guard, the Byzantines,
blend of wargames supplement and the Southern Italian Principalities,
history. The history side, which takes the Normans, and the Muslim pow-
up a great portion of the book, is well ers. These are good in detail but
researched, drawing on the consider- allow the player plenty of choice
Lion Rampant: able knowledge and expertise of the (everything except crossbows, pretty
A Viking in the Sun scholars at Edinburgh University, much), so are much less restrictive
By Gianluca Raccagni and will inspire further reading. For than the lists in the main book.
(University of Edinburgh, 2021) those wanting an initial introduction
£15.00 to these conflicts of the early and For me, the supplement shines in the
D6, Dice-based activation mid-eleventh century in the Mediter- nine campaign scenarios, which chart
ranean, I recommend this book. Harald Hardrada’s pilgrimage to the
The original Lion Rampant rules Holy Land. These could be adapted to
were originally described as “a set The book previews a few minor rules any medieval faction/setting.
of simple miniature wargaming rules for the second edition (due some-
designed for fighting historical or time in 2022). There is some confu- In conclusion, I feel it is weaker than
Hollywood battles in the medieval sion over the names of existing troop the Crusader States book, but that
period”. This design was part of its types: “Heavy Infantry” are referred supplement did cover a larger swath
charm; it even included suggested to in the Varangian Guard list; pre- of history. If you like Lion Rampant
units for Robin Hood and his Merry sumably they’re meant to be me- but feel you need something extra
Men. In stark contrast is A Viking in dium? I was also concerned that the and are interested in the conflicts
the Sun; supplements are rarely more additional rules for religious fervour, in the Mediterranean in this period,
specialist than this book, concentrat- holy relics, and hand grenades might then this is a useful resource.
ing on the figure of a single individ- detract from the wonderful simplicity – James Oram

BOOK REVIEWS A roundup of recent books on wargaming,
BOOK REVIEWS
or of special interest to the wargamer.

rion both wrote the book and drew the Spahis. The core of the book focuses
illustrations. Sadly, he did not manage on the troops of the line, with sec-
to finish the second book before his tions for the line infantry (including
death in 2015, leaving all the illustra- chasseurs à pied and engineers), ar-
tions and a half-finished text. Steve tillery, and the dazzling number of
Shann recently completed the work. cavalry regiments (cuirassiers, dra-
goons, lancers, chasseurs à cheval,
This book is like several Ospreys Hussars, and cavaliers de remonte).
rolled into one. The coverage is truly The book doesn’t finish there; it also
comprehensive. Each section deals covers more unusual trips such as na-
with a particular corps and goes val troops, reserve forces (such as the
through the unit and their uniform Garde Mobile and Garde Nationale),
in detail. Virtually all of these are the Francs-tireurs, and support ser-
accompanied with one of Bob Mar- vices (such as the medical services
rion’s excellent illustrations – where and gendarmerie).
there are a few gaps, they are filled
Uniforms of the Franco-Prussian War with black-and-white photographs, Altogether, this is not only a very
vol 2: The French Army 1870
plus they are supported by the text. beautiful book but a very useful
By Robert J Marrion & Steve Shann book for people (like me) who want
ISBN: 978-1858185774
(Partizan Press, 2021) - £35.00 The book starts with the Emperor’s to paint up this period accurately.
Military Household and the Impe- While perhaps a little pricey, at
Thanks to the recent Perry releases, I’ve rial Guard. The reader is then treated £35.00, it’ll save you buying several
been painting miniatures for Franco to a rundown of each of the sec- smaller books on the subject. Now,
Prussian War games, and now I have a tions of the French Army: L’Armee where can I find a copy of Volume
uniform guide for the French. D’Afrique, for example, breaks down 1 to finish my Perry 1870 Prussians?
into the Zouaves, Tirailleurs Algérien At least I’m set for the Perry plastic
The first book in this series on Prussian (Turcos), Légion Étrangère, Légère French when they are released …
uniforms was published in 2008; Mar- d’Afrique, Chasseurs d’Afrique, and – David Davies
intelligence officer and gives us the ganization. Then the narrative focuses
pragmatic sensibility of a military man on six major battles between Rome
who has ‘walked the ground’ of some and the Successors of Alexander the
of the actual battlefields in question. Great’s armies. The narrative shines as
These battles have numerous problems the author clearly navigates the arcane
with sources: there are relatively good terminology of the phalanx organiza-
sources and some very murky ones. tion and officer titles, as well as the
Cole often simply states his take on the contrasting development of the legions
issue and moves on with the narrative. and their contrasting weapons and ar-
mour. It is very much a conversational
In this concise Osprey publication, Cole style, which makes it good reading.
focuses on a clearly stated goal: to ask
the question, “Was Polybius correct?” Next we get to the meat where the six
When that ancient historian wrote a battles are compared and contrasted.
commentary about why the invincible These are Pyrrhus of Epirus’ clashes
Macedonian phalanx ultimately failed with Rome at Heraclea (280 BC), As-
Legion Versus Phalanx: against the Roman legions, how can culum (279 BC), and Beneventum (275
The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy
in the Ancient World a modern reader evaluate his claims? BC), then the Antigonid disaster at Cy-
The author states up front that his goal noscephalae (197 BC) is fully dissected.
By Myke Cole
ISBN: 978-1472841124 is to stay focused on the phalanx and After that, the equally dismal Seleucid
(Osprey Publishing, 2020) - £14.99 legion, and he sticks to that. The im- dismemberment at Magnesia (190 BC)
portant but auxiliary cavalry and light is thoroughly covered in painful detail.
This is a book I can recommend fully. infantry are mentioned, but they are Finally, we end up at the Macedonian
When it came out a few years back, secondary players. The book presents ‘Götterdämmerung’ at Pydna (168 BC),
I was buried in books. Recently I de- a clear and well-thought-through de- where the phalanx was mostly wiped
cided to pick up the paperback ver- scription of the overall strategic events out. The battles are described thor-
sion. Cole has the chops as a former and detailed chapters on tactics and or- oughly and don’t pull punches.

BY IAN BEAL, DAVID DAVIES, AND JEFF JONAS
whom the king allowed to go and serve cal The Great War, and since this
in World War One. This book contains book is describing the battalions of
their story, along with the other battal- one regiment it is ideal for skirmish
ions of the Norfolk regiment. scenarios. Lots of detailed accounts
of skirmishes, along with maps and
The first three chapters of the book de- photographs, make this ideal as both
scribe Norfolk at the start of the war and an account of the units in action and
the formation of the territorial force. It a damn good and informative read.
then goes on to describe in detail the
events and history of the Sandring- In parts this book reads like a soap op-
ham Company, including shedding era, except I was eager to read more
some light on the disappearance of the to find out what happened to the
whole company – sorry, I should have characters. It has that hold on you. Let
mentioned a spoiler alert there. The us all remember, however, that un-
book then details the other battalions like soap operas, these were real peo-
and their formation, commanders, and ple. The book is great at taking you
The King’s Men history. There are, interestingly, two through the battalion’s field histories.
The Sandringham Company and Norfolk
Regiment Territorial Battalions, 1914–1918 appendices, detailing both the original
members of the Sandringham com- In short, it’s an excellent book that
By Neil R Storey pany and then the members who took reads like an action novel yet is a
ISBN: 978-1526765116
(Pen and Sword, 2020) - £25.99 part in the attack on Anafarta Nova on real-life history – perfect for both
12–13 August 1915. There is a further gamers and just general interest in
People may recall some years ago a appendix with a roll of honour of the the period. I recommend this book
film on the television starring David Ja- dead during the Second Battle of Gaza for skirmish games and for the de-
son as Captain Frank Beck, command- on 19 April 1917. scriptive accounts of the campaign
er of the Sandringham Company, so during which the Sandringham
called as it consisted of the workers There’s plenty of scenario ideas for Company was lost.
and men from the Sandringham estate such rules as the old GW histori- – Ian Beal
Folks over the years ask me about in- with him. He goes into detail about the by collecting numerous other volumes.
troductory books to the wars of the split-shafted pikes and how that makes The good news is these are some of the
Successors of Alexander the Great. sense to him, and this is now reinforced best illustrations available for miniature
Twenty years ago, there were very few. by Matthew’s 500-plus page An Invin- reference. I can still remember the bad
I used to recommend Duncan Head’s cible Beast. Cole’s description of the old times when Victorian-era line art
Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Battle of Beneventum departs some- was the only source images offered in
Wars first and foremost, and I still do what from how I described it in WSS reference works.
for modellers of wargame armies. The issue 105, “Rolling the dice against
Montvert Publications works of Nick Rome: Beneventum 275 BC - Pyrrhus’ Cole includes a great glossary, which
Sekunda and his latest Ospreys on Pyr- last gamble”. However, the sources is golden for readers who are just
rhus and Antigonid armies were always are disparate and conflicting; one can now beginning their deep dive into
high on the list. Legion Versus Phalanx live with my interpretation along with the Greek and Latin terminology vor-
is now very high on the list of recom- Cole’s. If we knew the actual ground tex. A solid bibliography is included,
mended reading for the novice and and actual troop count better, then we some of which are promised to “grab
the seasoned enthusiast as well. Cole’s might be able to figure out what actual- you and suck you in”. In the end he
conclusions are well grounded in logic ly happened. In fact, it proves the point gives a nod to tabletop and board
and the evidence he carries forward. that ‘gaming it out’ can help resolve or wargames, which is welcome. He
The maps and battle descriptions are identify issues that re-enactors often even gives a shout to Warhammer
great sources for scenario designers. solve by handling the reconstructed Ancients, so I have to like that. Cole
One thing he and I have in common is gear on the actual ground. answers his question about Polybius
that when it comes to ancient military and gives us a good read about why. If
history there are a lot of things we just A huge bonus is the photos, maps, and somebody asks for a recommendation
don’t know, and that is a great place to artwork, which are relevant and de- of an introductory book on Hellenis-
start the discussion. rived from the Osprey library of useful tic and Roman tactics, and is keen
illustrations from Giuseppe Rava and on the Successors, I will gladly point
Cole’s light style and bold ability to Peter Dennis to Johnny Shumate, and them towards Legion Versus Phalanx.
cut to the chase makes it easy to agree many others that one would only see – Jeff Jonas

PARTING SHOTS The last hurrah – with tips, tricks
PARTING SHOTS
and laughs for every wargamer BASE IDENTIFICATION
MR XERXES, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL! Do you have trouble remem-
bering the differences between
different variants of WWII ar-
moured fighting vehicles? If so,
do as I do and consider painting
the details on the underside of
the vehicle. I put down the type,
variant, and even the reference
to the appropriate page in the
rulebook. This won’t spoil the
look of your tank on the tabletop
One of the features of the Achaemenid and provides a quick reference
MORE ONLINE
Persian armies is their tall rectangular should you need to look
Download a high-res printable
pavise-style wicker shields that we call version from our website. something up in
spara. The troops that carried these are https://bit.ly/3vSPdfx the middle of
called sparabara. Based on artwork the battle.
we surmise that these were only car- the spara may be set up and moved
ried by the front rank. The shields were and also knocked over. I use these I have used a
constructed out of rods woven into wet to show that troops are in spara wall similar approach on my Napole-
or uncured leather strips in different without them having to have the onic-era troops, noting which regi-
patterns. Once the leather hardened, shields attached. One can layer on ment they are painted to represent.
the spara shield provided lightweight singletons to add depth. Also, one can I can then pick up a single base
and also very strong protection against cut the wall and angle some of the from the battalion, remind myself
missiles. The spara bearer probably shields if one wishes to make it look as to their exact identity, and is-
had straps to hold it tight. Reinforcing a bit more ragged. This version sue the appropriate order. As the
posts that could be pushed into the covers a 150 mm front, so one Messieurs Priestly
ground to make the spara wall free- can cut it down to fit the front- and Johnson cor-
standing are shown in art. age of your units. Of course, rectly put it in
the other way to make these the Black Pow-
This spara wall can be copied and is with plastic or metal shields der rulebook,
printed out and glued onto thin card in a more firm base, but these card “Forward the 3rd
stock. Fold it over and glue them to- stock ones are cheap and cheerful Foot and Mouth regiment!” has a
gether. Attach to a base and add sup- and can be used until more detailed far better ring to it than “Forward
port stakes if you wish from wire or versions are worked up. that … umm… red infantry unit!”
spears. Some rules note that – Jeff Jonas – James Oram
THE HEAT OF THE ACTION

Here’s a tip I received ers on your miniatures. If you are in a ditions, but you can reduce this risk
from Marcus at War- hurry, try gently using a hairdryer on and speed up the drying process by
games Foundry. The hum- the warm setting. The same technique using the hair dryer on the miniature
ble hair dryer is a good way to can work with varnish. Some varnishes beforehand, and then gently again af-
speed up the drying of paint lay- tend to go cloudy in wet or cold con- ter the varnish has been applied.

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WWW.WSSMAGAZINE.COM // KARWANSARAY PUBLISHERS no.

NOV / DEC 2021

THE GREAT KING'S ARMY MARCHES TO WAR FEATURES:

Strong Sikh resistance at Saragarhi

34 DUST AND FIRE

4 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

— Cyrus the Great

There is so much history to explore with the Persians. As wargamers, we tend

Now available online: And coming in the next issue:

THE BATTLE OF PELUSIUM SICILY THROUGH THE AGES

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 5

pieces, and more from across the wargaming world.

Rarely does a set really Here’s another charming

6 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

Fireforge Miniatures has Great Escape Games has

Era: World War II 30

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 7

Heigh ho! Heigh ho! The Following on from its

8 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

At last! The Greeks have Old Glory UK now stocks

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 9

Victrix’s latest Dark Age re- Zebrano Models produces

3D early medieval Spanish 45

Size: 28mm 'foot to eye' or 31mm 30

10 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

The latest release for Piran’s Warriors is a new

Blunt’s Rifles personalities 45

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 11

Korhyl Miniatures is re- Blitzkrieg Miniatures has

Bar room brawl dwarves 45

12 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

16 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 17

We have good evidence for what the

18 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 of Edinburgh shows Eng-

While the expedition brought back

The English vanguard

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 19

The Sikhs under Ishar Singh have sworn

Each of these men counts for two mod-

The remaining sepoys are deployed

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 21

By the end of the day’s fighting, the

Balancing the scenario

22 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

A LOOK AT POINT VALUES AND TOURNAMENTS

THE SAGA IRONMAN CONCEPT

24 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

The ‘Ironman’ concept does re-

Will this ‘Ironman’ format work for

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 25

In early October, a truce was arranged

ter. The town remained under siege,

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117 27

Hidden units: The rules for spotting

28 Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy 117

From Turn 2 onwards, any reserve