Wargames Illustrated #448 (April 2025)

OBSERVATION POST

We take on dangerous AIs in the far reaches of space, and navigate a post-apocalyptic Earth in this month’s reviews.

RELEASE RADAR

Dom Sore’s Release Radar lets us know about new and upcoming wargaming goodies every month.

QUICK FIRE

Short, quick-read posts from Wi readers about their hobby projects, notes, news, and observations.

THEME: HOW DID I MISS... SPECTRE: OPERATIONS?

James observes a game of Spectre: Operations to learn its ins and outs. Spectre Designer Steve May, the Perrys, and WI Editor Dan do battle.

THEME: SPECTRE SCENARIO - OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD

An early WI exclusive: the Scenario we played in this month’s Spectre: Operations battle report, for you to try at home!

CLOSING THE GATES

Don of the diorama, Matt Parkes, places this year’s free Salute figure in the centre of a Hougoumont-inspired display piece.

THEME: WHY I LOVE... CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE

Lisa Smedman shares what makes this game of elite Operatives one of her favourites, and interviews its designer.

THE WONDERFUL WORK OF ANDREW WAXTEL

We take a closer look at the work of Andrew Waxtel, winner of Historicon 2024’s Best in Show.

THEME: GOING MODERN

Dom Sore digs into Ultra-Modern wargaming options, that are available, sharing some great rulesets and miniature ranges for newcomers and veterans alike.

APRIL FOOL!

Pete Brown tests your knowledge of oddball military history, and provides some weird and wonderful settings for your wargames along the way.

EDITOR’S EXPLOITS: THE BATTLE OF CRESSWELL: FROM FIELD TO TABLE

Wargames Illustrated Editor Dan shares his latest Editor’s Exploits: a yomp around a Roman battlefield, followed by a game of Hail Caesar with The Happy Archaeologist.

FIGURE SPOTLIGHT: FRANCO-PRUSSIAN BAVARIAN INFANTRY 1870-71

We chat with designer Michael Perry about the latest plastics in his Franco-Prussian War range.

WHY I LOVE... GUARDS OF TRAITOR’S TOLL

James unboxes the latest offering from Grey For Now Games, and pens an unprecedentedly-early article in our semi-regular ‘Why I love’ series.

BURROWS AND BADGERS SECOND EDITION

Michael Lovejoy tells us how he crafted the new edition of his popular animalistic, ‘RPG-lite’, small-figure-count skirmish game.

THE LEGEND OF RAMBLING PETE PART ONE

Mark Etheridge and his gaming friends, Michael Robinson and Nick Mcloughlin, share the campaign they created for What a Cowboy!