We’ve got Oathbreakers in our grubby mitts and we’re going to give it a damned good flipping! This book, the latest supplement for Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age, is a full-colour, 82-page, softback offering. Published by Osprey Games, the quality that we have come to expect from them is present. Oathbreakers’s fantastic colour illustrations boost that “ooh!” factor up too.   The text below is a transcript of the video – for those who prefer to read rather than watch. This finely rendered and certainly spookily themed art should clue you into the content. Oathbreakers casts its gaze over the undead, bringing veritable hordes of them to the mass-combat fantasy game. The introduction provides more detail on what’s ahead and is laid out with black and white art, a photo of an ‘in-game plus’ setup (units in combat with a background and lots of scenery to make them look extra nice), and a full-page piece of art. These elements continue throughout. Undead Armies begins on page 8 and this chapter focuses on the dead … well, the not quite so dead anymore! Rules for creating undead kingdoms (or adding undead to existing kingdoms) take up the first two pages, then it’s onto the undead units themselves and there are quite a few. They are tied to the different terrain that makes up your kingdom – your first-choice is should you make your capital is a Necropolis or a Cursed Burial Ground. Necropolis? Then say hello to the Revenant King, who serves as a cursed leader and a walking dead example of why even royalty shouldn’t break oathmarks in their life! Pages 10 to 13 cover the King as well as Princes, Generals, and Captains, finishing with a great image of one riding to war in a chariot (another new option in Oathbreakers). While we show you other troops, Champions, Warriors, Linebreakers and Cavalry – all representing elite type undead units and options – we’ll mention that though these are the ‘good at hitting folks while looking rather dead’ type of troops the rules make it clear that they don’t have to be acting on pure evil – a Revenant King and troops may be out to make amends for the oaths they broke in life, rather than just wanting to destroy all. We like that Oathmark doesn’t stick to a boring black and white, good versus evil approach. On page 17 there’s more great art – a Necromancer raising the dead. This stuff really does add atmosphere and quality to the book and gives us a chance to mention that: – Author Joseph A. McCullough’s no stranger to getting fine art in games – we flipped through Wizard Eye:

A striking and graphically punchy cover adorns the front of Gamma Wolves, the new game by Ash Barker, whose previous offering was Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse. It is published by Osprey Games, and it’s a 116-page, full-colour, hardback book. It offers you a mecha type sandbox of gaming options to battle out, either in the book’s post-apocalyptic Earth of 2291, or whatever stompy mech suit environ you might care for. The text below is a transcript of the video – for those who prefer to read rather than watch. It begins proper on page six with a two-page, light Introduction, then moves to What You Need To Play. This is where the models – ‘Frames’ (a catchall term used to describe the base of all vehicles) – get a proper introduction and all the other bits and bobs you need are mentioned – cards, markers, tokens, and D6s. There’s then a sub-section of this chapter, Game Definitions, that touches on further details. Frames are split into three options – Light, Medium, and Heavy – which will determine all manner of possibilities when you kit out your force. There are various other things here too – game extras get teased out, but it almost feels like the author had too much stuff cool stuff he wanted to say straight away and he couldn’t quite hold it back until later, because without the context of the information of later chapters it’s a little random. The book is scattered with cool photos of various stompy mecha, which is always much appreciated! You can, and are generally encouraged to, mix miniatures from various ranges and this is reflected in the photos. Now we’re at page 23 – Assembling Your Crew – which is an important part of Gamma Wolves. Comparisons to roleplay gaming feel apt here; there are a host of classic mecha RPGs out there that have almost certainly provided some inspiration, and you only need to look at the game’s ‘cards’, which are more like D&D character sheets, to see there’s tons of detail to your Pilots and Frames. The first thing to do is pick an Arcology, which will very much impact your progress ahead – Pilot availability and Frame preferences determined by this as well as Quirks that can impact the game. This is where Gamma Wolves got this reviewer’s full focus – the different Arcologies are built around various tropes of the post-apocalyptic genre – which fits this 2291 nightmare world of radiation – and will provide a huge amount of modelling and thematic options. There are six in total and the decision is a tricky one. The Burg, for example, are genetically engineered to survive much of the

Project Manager James talks through some of his recent hobby activity – Billhooks barricades and a scenery piece based around our latest Giants in Miniature release.    

Of all the Ultracast figures we’ve seen recently (and we’ve seen quite a few here at WiHQ) – these are the best. In terms of design, they are well researched and believable, in terms of detail they are sharp, and in terms of casting they are pretty clean and – crucially for Ultracast – not too bendy. Of course they will bend if you force them and debate has raged here in the office as to whether “that lance is bent” and “have I just bent it back or did it make no difference?” Considering that with some other Ultracast products we have been in no doubt that parts have been bent in all sorts of strange ways, this argument over minutiae is definitely welcome. Having spent several hours over the last weekend clipping, shaving and gluing hard plastic HYW figures together we have a sudden new appreciation for Ultracast (or insert other manufacturers’ names for similar material here), especially when it is this well produced. Having to make just one ‘snip’ before the figures are painting-table-ready is a big plus. Looking beyond the material, in this prototype (i.e. it didn’t come in a box) ‘Pacto Start Army’ designed for Mortem et Gloriam we have 111 figures: three mounted command (knights), six foot command (foot knights), 18 men-at-arms on foot, 54 longbowmen and 30 billmen. A whole English HYW army in your pocket, or at least in a small Really Useful Box. The number of poses here are impressive – the majority are unique. We tried to figure out if the same figures were repeated on different sprues, but it sent us dizzy, so suffice to say – you get a lot of different figures in this set. The archers lack some of the subtleties that’s present in the pose of 28mm models from, say, Perry Miniatures. For 15mm they are very well done and showcase a nice range of different ‘armour’ and sidearms. The Billmen are slightly less varied but are again interestingly armed and armoured. The foot men-at-arms come on one sprue of six times two, plus six other different figures on a third sprue, all with an interesting mix of static and ‘in the thick of the fighting’ poses. One of the shields is very odd, bringing to mind a foam hand, but the rest of the armament looks great – who doesn’t love a Hounskull helmet on a figure? The Mounted knights are in short supply, curiously four men and three horses, but again these are nice sculpts with nothing fairground-ride about the horses. The final sprue contains six command figures, including a priest and a praying knight, all six figures are asking to form a

We see all kinds of minis at Wargames Illustrated, made for various genres, periods, scales, and levels of hobbyist; this means there’s usually someone on staff who has a special interest in each thing we get. But it’s rare that person is Ian. He’s hands on with all the models – he builds and primers the ones we review – but that’s often where his interaction ends as he’s just not much of a wargamer. However, these 1/144 scale, metal-cast, WW2 vehicles from Arrowhead Miniatures had him passionately enthusiastic. Why? Well, lets take a look at the CMP C60 Water Tanker Type 11 Cab and find out. Made in large numbers and in numerous variants during WW II, these were used by the British and Commonwealth Allies. They’re an important but (at least in terms of battlefield impact) unspectacular military vehicle, yet Arrowhead Miniatures have created a little kit  with an absurd level of detail, accuracy, and quality here that makes a humble Water Tanker exciting. As you can see in the build photos that Ian took, once the wheels and steering wheel are split apart this a 15 part kit – a fairly outrageous number of parts for a model that is barely larger than a 50 pence coin when built. It costs £5.99 (almost $8 US) which is at the pricier end of things for a model this small, but conversely it’s extremely cheap for this many parts. It’s not just that there are a lot of parts either, they’re impressively detailed parts that fit together extremely well. Ian was gleeful in his description of the build time, even though it took longer and was far fiddlier than most models he builds (due to the small scale rather than any actual build problems). Only Arrowhead Miniatures’ most complex kits come with instructions – they’re a small company working on a shoestring budget – and this didn’t have them, which made things a little trickier. With reference to images on their website he enjoyed the experience. Vehicular realism Ian’s a petrolhead; his hobby is one that makes wargaming seem cheap in comparison – he’s an amateur racer. His current cravings for tinkering with cars (lockdown means there are no race meets, so nothing to be done to his own racer) were covered by this build for a little while. He even pointed out that there’s a bit of a poor fit between the propshaft to differentials. An extremely small issue that nobody else at Wi would have picked out, and one that is hidden beneath the model, but that was really his only criticism. When looking at how these will fit into your wargames, well, you really couldn’t want

Following a successful Kickstarter back in 2016, Studio Miniatures have been steadily expanding their First Afghan War range, with the recent focus being on native Afghan tribesmen. Received for review recently are these samples (pictured above and below) from 14 of the 23 ‘Afghan’ packs available. You will find these (and the other nine packs) in Studio Miniatures online shop, listed under both ‘1st Afghan War’ and ‘North West Frontier 1890s’. Slightly incongruous – the First Afghan War was 1839 to 1842, but the point being that most of the Afghan tribesmen can be used for conflicts throughout the 19th Century. It’s happy days for fans of wargaming with 28mm Afghan tribesmen because these well sculpted and cast figures add to those of a similar quality already on offer in metal from Artizan Designs, as well as plastics from Perry Miniatures and Wargames Atlantic. See our comparison shot below. You will find more find options for cooler weather gaming with these figures from Studio Miniatures, with several clothed in fur-lined pashtuns, as opposed to the Perry and Atlantic figures which wear summer/warmer weather garb. Prices are £5.50 for command packs (3 minis), £6.00 for all infantry packs (4 minis) and £6.50 for cavalry (4 minis – not including horses. Yes, we thought that was odd too!). If you want to see more from Studio Miniatures take a look at our review of their earlier releases.

Your handy compilation of all the WotR articles from Wargames Illustrated magazine, down through the years. As a WIPrime Member we hope you get full use from The Vault. Here at Wi Towers we use it all the time, finding articles from 1987 to the present day, and we are very proud of its intuitive search facility. As great as The Vault is, we are mindful that it would also be really useful to have all the articles pertaining to a particular conflict or subject gathered together in one document for quick and easy viewing. To that end we have begun a project creating compilation PDFs; we will be releasing the fruits of our labours over the coming months. Riding the crest of the wave created by the recent release of Never Mind the Billhoooks, our first compilation PDF is The Wars of the Roses – 91 pages of content which has appeared in Wargames Illustrated magazine over the years. View online or download. Enjoy! Click to access War-of-the-Roses-PDF-Compilation.pdf

We’re back with part two of our Alan Perry Q&A. In part one Alan talked about the many models he made for this awesome board. In this part, we talk history and gaming, and get a tour of the troops.  

Sounding a bit like a 90s death metal band; Kromlech of Warszawa, Poland produce the ‘Official Terrain Series’ for Osprey’s fantasy skirmish game Frostgrave. They currently have a dozen suitably gloomy looking buildings in their MDF range and have recently added a few sets of resin scatter terrain. If you like big barrels (“and you cannot lie”) then look no further than the ‘Marketplace Remains’ for your set of five ‘barrel and bits’ terrain pieces. As you can see from the photos Kromlech like there scenery big, which will help give your tabletop a larger than life fantasy look. The boxes of the ‘Derelict Warehouse’ are also on the huge side, whereas the ‘City Debris’ ruins fit more easily with standard terrain scatter ranges. Derelict Warehouse City Debris Well-crafted and cast, these chunky 19.99 euro packs look great with existing Kromlech buildings and will do a fine job on any medieval-ish battlefield, as long as you like your bits big! Below are some of the MDF buildings, which we didn’t get to look at up close, but seem snazzy in picture form.

Doing interviews, writing features, editing and laying out contributions, taking photos, discussing themes, working out Giants in Miniature releases – Wargames Illustrated work keeps us busy! It also means that we get a lot of stuff done that we then have to keep secret for a long time – months, sometimes even years.  Keeping secrets is hard, especially when they’re wargaming related. We’ve had enough of it! Each month, for Prime members only, we’re going to show some sneak peeks at in-progress and finished articles that haven’t yet been printed. Please note, these may not have been fully edited yet, so you may spot more errors than you’re accustomed to. Spoiler alert, here’s next issue’s theme … … Riverine Warfare! Yup, we can’t get enough water in our wargaming. After Wi395’s Hit the Beach theme we’re moving inland somewhat but keeping it wet, looking at riverine combat. We have some awesome articles for this theme. Here’s a peep at a couple. Nick Buxey takes a look at rivers in Africa, with a focus on Death in the Dark Continent and his French Colonials. He covers the history of this period, with the Europeans slicing the biggest shares they could from the country, before talking modeling and gaming possibilities. We reckon you’ll really enjoy this one! Or, you could dive into ‘Estuary English’, which is written by another Wi regular, Barry Hilton. He looks at the notorious Holmes’s Bonfire of 1666 and accompanies the history with great gaming options and inspiring images. Moving away from the theme, we interviewed Grey For Now Games’s main man Graham Davey about Test of Honour Sengoku. You can get the scoop in our four page Q&A, which comes with some lovely photos. Maybe you’ve ordered our latest Giants in Miniature release, Saint Louis, and you’d like some background. Dr Steve Tibble’s got the article for you; who could resist that title? And on the subject of Giants in Miniature, if you’re a keen painter you’ll certainly want to pick up our next issue, Wi396. We’ll be announcing the details of a Giants in Miniature painting competition and some really great prizes. 2020 may have been an odd year but we’re making the most of it where we can and trying to round it out in style. Happy painting, building, reading, and wargaming everyone!