I’m writing this editorial from a position of ignorance. Currently (early March 2024) I have got everything crossed that a container ship transporting, amongst other things, several thousand plastic frames of Special Ops figures, will be docking at Portsmouth, England, with enough time for said frames to be unloaded and transported up the country, to then be bagged with this issue of Wargames Illustrated. By the time you read this, you will know if that has happened. If there is not a free model frame with your magazine you will know that, despite our best efforts, events beyond our control have conspired against us.

Those events have been on the fringes of world news for a couple of months now, as the Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target shipping in the Red Sea; striking at a number of western container vessels, causing massive delays for goods, including our model frames as they travel via that route.

Regardless of whether this magazine is bagged with an accompanying Special Ops frame, it does contain an article influenced by those figures (page 60), and you will have to do a bit of interactive editing by replacing the introduction text: “… this month’s free Warlord Games Special Operations team frame…” with “… a future issue’s free…”, if forces have conspired against us. If the Special Ops frames haven’t made it here in time, they will be bagged with a forthcoming issue of the magazine. Thank you for your understanding.

That protracted explanation has left me with very little space to point out all the fantastic content we have for you in this issue and to highlight our theme of From the Screen. We present six articles inspired by wargaming’s relationship with TV, movies, and video games, and there’s a whole lot more too. Phew! I just about managed to mention everything!

Dan Faulconbridge
Editor