It is that time once more to welcome you to our latest issue of Irregular Magazine, Issue 14, Volume 2 for Winter 2020!

As always, we begin with look at the latest News in this gaming hobby of ours – including a look at the surprise purchase of OTT (On Table Top), following my the next instalment of our editor’s ongoing saga of the battle against his grey hoard, as well as a look at what figures have been billeted recently in his paint station garrison!

For those of you, our readers, who have been in touch thanking us for our book reviews, we’ve got a bit of a special edition just for you with reviews of new fewer than 22 books across a very wide range of subjects, from Welsh Castles and WW2 fighting vehicles; to a painting guide by one of the very best – Andy Singleton – and books on the military history of Rome. There is almost certainly a book review in this edition for any wargamer!

But it is certainly not all book reviews in this issue’s 87 pages!

A perennially popular subject of gamers is WW2, and the 15mm scale game Flames of Wars is not into its 4th Edition, so we have a look at jumping into the 15mm WW2 with their Hit the Beach starter set.

But Flames of War isn’t the only way into 15mm WW2 gaming, and the hugely successful World of Tanks computer game has a corresponding miniature game of tank warfare, also using the 15mm scale rules. Our editor also takes a look at this game!

Also following on the train of our esteemed Editor’s current interest in 15mm scale, is a look at the Team Yankee game. Like Flames of War, this is also a 15mm game, but set a couple of decades after WW2, in an alternative history often described as ‘Cold War Gone Hot’, where cold war forces do battle on our games tables! In conjunction with this review, our Editor also looks at the British Challenger Armoured Squadron starter set for Team Yankee.

Finally, rounding out these connected articles is a painting tutorial for tanks, to give those of us with less experience painting these vehicles an accessible way to get them looking great on our tables with minimum effort!

Before we move away from Tanks, we have a quick look at what the Tank Museum has available in their online store for the tank fans in our lives, this Christmas!

There is also a slightly introspective piece on the state of Historical Wargaming in our wider hobby, entitled Is Historical Gaming Dead? Given the number of column inches we dedicate to historical games, and that two of the top three wargaming magazines focus mostly on historical gaming, it may seem an unusual question to ask. But there has undoubtedly been a resurgence of Games Workshop of late, as well as fantasy and science fiction becoming popular in our culture than ever, so we think the question is worth asking and reviewing together.

We also have a review of the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. This classic RPG is very popular amongst all of the Irregular Magazine staff, and it great to see a new introductory set for those that have never tried before!

On the topic of games that are close to real life, but have some differences, we have a review of how to bring to life Alternative History games and what some of the comment settings are out the that are available for us to play.

Once of the these that we have touched on more than once in previous issues is A Very British Civil War, and we once more look at this captivating Alternative History, with a new scenario: The Plymouth Incident.

Of course, many of the games we are talking about still need friends to play with, and although the world now has more hope than ever, many of us remain unable to meet up with friends to play games. Therefore, our Introduction to Solo Gaming by be able to bring you some ideas of what you can be doing on your own until the times come when we can all play together again!

Time to get reading – go on, download a copy now!