Digital Books

For those who don't know, Wargames Illustrated has gone digital (actually started last month, but I've had precious little free time of late)! I certainly have nothing against paper and I still enjoy flipping through my old magazines, but I currently have ZERO subscriptions of hard copy mags (now if I could only get my wife into the digital age of magazines). I am seriously running out of space to continue to add books and magazines to my shelves.

Before I had a tablet, I didn't know what I would use it for. Now my iPad is my near constant companion. At any given time I have hundreds of books and magazines at my finger tips and millions within reach of a quick download. Between Kindle and Nook Apps, the iPad Newsstand and PDFs stored on iBooks, I currently have the following:

Complete collections of Dan Abnett's Inquisitor and Gaunt's Ghost books, Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom series, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Uhtred books, Fritz Leiber's Swords series, and the complete works of Robert E Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, and J.R.R. Tolkien. There are also The Art of War, a dozen Osprey titles, and Michael McNally's The Battle of Aughrim 1691.  More and more titles become available for these formats every month.

I have tons of RPG books in PDF - every 1e AD&D book, module, and supplement, all of the ancient TSR box games like Boot Hill, Gamma World, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, and Marvel Super Heroes, other games like Call of Cthulhu, Villains and Vigilantes, Paranoia, and Universe, and few modern ones like The One Ring and Numenera. There are also a few wargames like Beneath the Lily Banners and Donnybrook that haven't been circulated as PDFs yet (we are looking into it - the files are ready to go)!

For magazines, I have issues 1-100 of The Dragon, 1-3 of Gygax (the new... err... old school RPG mag), the full collection White Dwarf since they went digital (maybe 13 or 14 issues), a few Battlegames PDFs, and two dozen old Wargames Illustrated PDF's that I most often find myself searching for through the stacks (there are some articles I read over and over). I have digital subscriptions to Bass Player, ImagineFX, Miniature Wargames, White Dwarf, and most recently Wargames Illustrated.

And that brings me back to Wargames Illustrated. Issue 315 has a six-page feature on Donnybrook written by Barry and me. There is a fairly detailed run through of the basics of the rules, the reason behind some of them, and a general overview of what else is included in the book. It is actually the first time I have been published in WI as an author, though I've had lots of photos published over the last few years. I got my digital copy this morning, but I will be buying TWO paper copies for my collection to go on the shelf...

Lord Clare's Dragoons

I finally had a chance to take a photo of a unit I finished a few weeks ago, the first unit of my Jacobite army, Lord Clare's Dragoons...

Of course, these are Warfare Miniatures models. There is some controversy about the uniform of this regiment. Most Irish horse and dragoons were clothed in red before 1690. French supplies for the Jacobite army in 1690 eventually saw most units clothes in gris-mesle, a cloth flecked with blue threads that varied in color from white to pale grey. The default color of turn backs in the French army was red unless the colonel of the regiment paid to replace them. The Battle of the Boyne falls in the middle of the transition. Lord Boisseleau's regiment was at the docks when the supplies arrived (they helped unload them) and he outfitted his troops straight away. It is unclear which other units received new uniforms before the Battle of the Boyne. While a case can be made for either coat, I chose to paint Lord Clare's Draoons in their old uniforms because there are a lot of white and grey among the other units I have planned. They would have likely been in a sorry state, but for table top presentation I have chosen to keep them uniform with the addition of a few different hat colors. Lord's Clare's Dragoons are sometimes named as the 'Yellow Dragoons' so it seems safe that their cuffs were yellow.

These models are based in a similar manner to my Dutch Grenadiers. I will be able to use these both for games of Beneath the Lily Banners and Donnybrook. The mounted dragoons are currently being sculpted and as soon as I can get my hands on some I will paint mounted versions of the regiment and include a horse holder vignette.

Speaking of the Dutch and the Williamites, that army is not quite finished - I am very close with only two foot regiments left, but the dragoons were calling to me! I am far more productive painting when inspiration strikes than following a set schedule so the Jacobites jumped the queue! The next unit on the table is Lord Dongan's Dragoons which will be handled in a similar matter. Then maybe I can get back to the army of King Billy!

Donnybrook

Clarence Harrison - Donnybrook will be sent to the printer in a few days and will be available for pre-order very soon (watch this space). It has taken a year of work that I have thoroughly enjoyed (and putting on the finishing touches is one of the reasons my lack of posting recently). There is a full feature next month in Wargames Illustrated, but our loyal readers get a sneak peek here!

Donnybrook is a fast paced skirmish game designed to cover conflicts across the globe from 1660 to 1760. The basic game of requires a force of 12-48 models, depending on their quality, and one character who represents the player on the table top. Games are played on a 4x4' table. You can add additional units and additional characters as you like, as long as both sides use the same conventions, though you'll need a larger table as you increase the numbers! Donnybrook uses a card driven turn system that creates exciting, unpredictable play. Besides leading government troops into battle, you can choose mobs of armed peasants, murderous brigands, religious fanatics, sinister cultists, ferocious highlanders, or tribal natives. The book includes the rules, faction lists, weapons primer, random events, seven scenarios, a thrilling battle report, a period and theater guide, and a double sided playsheet. The finished book is 112 pages and contains more than 150 awesome photographs by Mr Hilton!

Table of Contents

We'll announce the launch of pre-orders very soon so stay tuned!