Airfix Magazine Guides

Airfix Magazine published a series of very useful and attractive guides from about 1974 to 1976. These were in A5 format with 64 pages in black and white, well illustrated with photographs and line drawings.

There were 28 in total: a full list can be found here on the Vintage Airfix site.

While the main focus (understandably) was on modelling, there were five wargaming subjects:

Ancient Wargaming by Phil Barker (the purple cover hasn't come out too well in the scan)

The English Civil War by George Gush and Martin Windrow

Napoleonic Wargaming by Bruce Quarrie

American Civil War by Terence Wise

World War 2 Wargaming by Bruce Quarrie

(I have no picture for this title)

Others with a particular interest for wargamers are:
8th Army in the Desert by John Sandars

Afrika Korps by Bruce Quarrie

and (possibly) The French Foreign Legion by Martin Windrow


They were great when they came out: affordable, packed with information, robust, not taking up much shelf space, and much pored over. My favourites were the English Civil War and American Civil War titles.

Italian Army in the Desert, by George Gush, from Airfix Annual 1973

Thanks to DC for these scans from Airfix Annual 1973. I had never seen this article by George Gush before, I have always had a soft spot for the Italians, and John Sandars never seemed to cover them.

The English Civil War by George Gush: Miniature Warfare 1970

Before publishing his marathon 24 part series on Renaissance Warfare in Airfix Magazine from June 1973 to May 1975, George Gush wrote a less well known series in 6 parts on the English Civil War for Miniature Warfare. These articles were illustrated with photographs of Minifigs 20mm English Civil war figures, including some interesting converted personality figures.

His other publications included the Airfix Magazine Guide 28: The English Civil War, with Martin Windrow 1973; contributed much of the excellent little Discovering English Civil Wargaming, edited by John Tunstill (1973); WRG rules (1979) for 1420-1700 and army lists (1984); Guide to Wargaming (1980); and Renaissance Armies 1489-1650, based on his Airfix Magazine series (1982).

The English Civil War by George Gush: part 1, Miniature Warfare February 1970

The English Civil War by George Gush: part 2, Miniature Warfare March 1970

The English Civil War by George Gush: part 3, Miniature Warfare April 1970

The English Civil War by George Gush: part 4, Miniature Warfare June 1970

The generals in the second picture are from Napoleonic Minifigs 20mm personalities - the figure on the right is a converted Ney.

The English Civil War by George Gush: part 5, Miniature Warfare July 1970

The English Civil War by George Gush: part 6, (final), Miniature Warfare August 1970

Personalities on Parade: George Gush