As the Olympics reach their climax and the wargamer about town looks for new things to hold his attention, issue 401 lands on his doormat just in time!

• In To the next river, the fifth installment of The red empire strikes back – fighting the Great Patriotic War one battle at a time, Andrew Rolph continues his series of Ostfront scenarios with a desperate defence of a river line by a hastily cobbled together kampfgruppe in danger of being overwhelmed.
• In Centreville refought, Mike Batten and his friends from the Shrewsbury Wargames Society discovered that they had inspiration in common, sparked by the late, great Terry Wise and his simple games with Airfix toy soldiers.
• A Piper at the Gates sees John Treadaway setting out a scenario for the popular ‘hard’ sci-fi ruleset Hammer’s Slammers, which can easily be translated to most modern settings. In addition, he recounts how The Editor mercifully avoided disgracing himself in his first ever Slammers encounter!
• In Grenouisse at bay part 3, The Editor continues his account of the latest installment of his image-nations campaign, which brought players from around the UK together at the final showdown weekend in Ayton, Yorkshire. This month, he plunges us into the opening action of the campaign. However, it was not a battle that opened the hostilities, but an 18^th century covert mission gone wrong!
• Tony Harwood has been Making More Hay, following up his first haymaking project that appeared in issue 392 with a delightful covered haystack suitable for any historical or fantasy setting. So pick up your pitchforks and get cracking!
• And finally we have a show report from The Joy of Six 2016 by Neil Shuck who reports on this specialist micro-scale event.

Of course, we have our regular spots too:

• In his Briefing The Editor considers the many ways in which our hobby is fulfilling, involving as it does so many creative strands.
• In World Wide War gaming, The Editor continues his research into the English Civil War, now trying to find suitable model buildings; looks at the Kickstarter success of Miniature Wargaming: The Movie; and picks another pair of Blogs of the Month.
• The Editor completes his regular spots this month with Forward Observer, scouting out the latest offerings from The Plastic Soldier Company, Black Hussar, Crusader Miniatures, Totentanz Miniatures, Total Battle Miniatures, Lancashire Games, Rapier Miniatures, Rapid Fire and Tiny Wargames.
• Diane Sutherland gives us Corking outcrops in her Continuing tales of a wargames widow. She’s never one to waste a bit of cork, especially if there’s a decent bottle of red underneath it, but lately husband Jon has been driving her barking mad with demands for realistic rocky outcrops. Once again, our heroine proves that there’s no recycling challenge she cannot meet.
• In Fantasy Facts, John Treadaway returns with his regular monthly roundup of genre goodies, including one that was a complete mystery! Even knee-deep in gnolls, he’s managed to find the time to play a bit, but realises that the games just aren’t as big as he remembers...
• Author and well known demo game supremo Steve Jones of the Newark Irregular picks up the Wargaming my way, our series featuring a different wargamer every month telling us just what it is about the hobby that they love. Next time, it could be you!
• In Hex Encounter, boardgame specialist Brad Harmer-Barnes makes some recommendations for recreating that Hollywood feeling, perhaps without the glamour, but with plenty of entertainment.
• In his Send three and fourpence column, Conrad Kinch our roving reporter from the Emerald Isle manages to corner the creator of Commands & Colors and many other successful gaming systems Richard Borg, in an attempt to extract the latest intelligence from this wargaming hero.
• Of course we have our Battlegames Combat Stress Appeal and finally, our regular review slot Recce.

Our front cover photo, taken by the Editor, shows action during his first ever game of Hammer’s Slammers, hosted by our genial F/S-F Editor John Treadaway.

Remember also to check out the new “Downloads” section on the new website at https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/historical-games/information/downloads/ for additional material for Andrew Rolph’s article.

And a reminder, if you would like to feature in the new Wargaming My Way column, here’s the brief. Write about whatever you love about the hobby, the games you like to play, the periods/genres you love, how you like to paint, who you admire… Basically, write about why you love wargaming, and more importantly how and why you’ve ended up pursuing it your way. Length, no more than 2,000 words, plus supply half a dozen or so images to accompany the piece. So, over to you! If you’d like to feature, send your submissions in the usual way to [email protected]. I also advise using Dropbox or Wetransfer.com as a more organised way of sending your material, rather than just attachments to an email.

Roll ‘em high!