Wargames Illustrated 322 - The Great War for Flames of War

I stopped doing a monthly look at the wargaming magazines I was buying a while ago, I can't really remember why even, but like many things it slipped by the wayside, but this month I'm bringing it back as a one off to look at issue 322 of Wargames Illustrated.  This is because I was really impressed with it and wanted to recommend it to my readers, especially those with an interest in gaming WWI.

The big news this issue is the release of battlefront's Great War Flames of War supplement and the magazine come with a 36 page booklet which provides all the rules for playing this new version of flames of war.  This means of course that the main magazine also has some articles around the background of this supplement with a look at some of the myths of gaming WWI and a look at great war tanks, which lets be honest are of course the main attraction when gaming in 15mm scale.  What I've always liked about wargames illustrated is that although they are promoting the latest flames of war release there is always plenty of other varied content as well.

The magazine also features a couple of Napoleonic articles, the first a fascinating overview of the Polish armies of the era, the second a look at one groups take on the battle of Quatre Bras.  Some eye-candy is provided courtesy on the salute 2014 painting competition.  The other stand out articles were on the history of the Russo-Japanese war and it's implication for WWI and a look at the new 'The Crescent and the Cross' which is the expansion of the 'Saga' gaming world into the era of the crusades.  I haven't played any Saga, but it's something that I've been keeping my eye on for a while, maybe one day.

The booklet that comes with the magazine takes the familiar flames of war rules (which you will still need a copy of) and gives them a new twist.  It starts with a brief overview of the great war and then moves onto all the special rules for fighting in this era and for using the great landships.  There are then late war lists for the British and the Germans and finally three scenarios to play.  This supplement is of course for the western front in Belgium and France from 1916 onwards, I'm hoping the French with their FT-17's will get added at some point as well.

I haven't decided if I will be buying a flames of war WWI army yet, but I have to admit that I'm very tempted.  the other option that I'm considering is using the rules in the booklet, but using all the 1:72 scale figures and tanks that I already have lying around.  Only time will tell, but I do want to do some WWI gaming over in the near future and I now have a ruleset that I could make a start with.