In issue 494 of Miniature Wargames we have a great selection of rules and periods plus a crafting tutorial and show reports for all wargamers.

The cover features Vive l’empereur. In the article within – titled The Emperor’s New Clothes – we have a guide to painting the man himself. Based on the famous portrait of Napoleon, this is a masterclass in painting a Salute prize winning version of Bonaparte’s fancy duds has so many textures and techniques that they could be applied to almost any figure, as Paul Mackay demonstrates.

And talking of Salute, in Send Three & Fourpence Conrad Kinch asks what makes gamers happy and answers it using his first trip – and first impressions – of Salute 2024.

And following on from that, there are photo reports of both Salute and Hammerhead.

In The Blue Island of the Broken Unicorn’s Treasure we have a Pulp Alley game that features a well known cartoon Belgian. With a dog! 

Command Decision visits the Maori Wars. Jon Sutherland takes us to the Hutt Valley in New Zealand 1846.

In The An-Tek Space Trip Chris Swan presents a two player adventure for the S.T.A.R. supplement using Tales of Dering Do by the rules author.

We have an evocative Scratch Build: Tony Harwood builds an Armoury based on a card Old Hammer building.

Last Word: With Ian Goodwin of Emperor of the Battlefield.

Finally, we have the review sections with Defence in Depth for Figures and rules, plus we have Forward Observer for news and Recce for insightful book reviews.