What are you currently reading ?

[kipt]

Finished "Nery, 1914: The Adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division on the 31st August and the 1st September" by Major A.F. Becke.

A short booklet, published by The Naval and Military Press.  Evidently taken from a larger book as the pagination was from 307 to 369. 

It shows and discusses the movement and combat of the referenced German division.  I enjoyed it.

[kipt]

Finished "Battlefields in Miniature: Making Realistic and effective Terrain for Wargames" by Paul Davies.

Good pictures, good examples, good tips.  I won't be making most of it, but will get into roads and rivers at some point.  I'm not satisfied with the terrain I have for these.

[kipt]

Finished "Civil War Infantry Tactics; Training, Combat, and Small-Unit Effectiveness" by Earl J. Hess.

Amazing book.  If you are interested in the ACW I say this is a must have.  If you are interested in the horse and musket period (say 1700 though 1876) you should read this book.  It explains linear tactics extremely well.

Very detailed movements by units; actual vs the theoretical. Just a well crafted book.  I can't say enough about it.

[Subedai]

The Mongol War Machine by Chris Peers. This is the first military book I have started reading for about 18 months.

[Tawa]

Das Boot 

[Roy]

The Devil's Assassin.

Paul Fraser Collard.

British Army, Victorian, Fiction.

###

Star Wars X-Wing rules

[fsn]

I'm having some chap read me "Chancellorsville and Gettysburg" by Abner Doubleday. (No, that is a real name.) I find that audio books are really useful when I'm doing other stuff - like cooking, painting or de-quilling a porcupine. .

My favourite site is Librivox. https://librivox.org/ where public domain books are read by volunteers. You can listen for free.

While I'm promoting great stuff on the intranet, then if you like oddball facts, try "No Such Thing as a Fish" performed by the QI Elves. http://qi.com/podcast/

Again free, it's funny and informative. First fact this week - "the first water balloons were made out of socks." This leads to such oddities as "you're not allowed a water pistol on the campus of Texas University, but you can have a real gun" and during the Gulf War US soldiers wanted to use silly string to detect trip wires, but the US military couldn't ship it because it was a dangerous cargo.

[Fenton]

I say I say I say How do you de quill a porcupine?

[Techno]

I don't know.....How DO you de-quill a porcupine ?

(If the answer's "Very carefully,".... Someone will get a slap !

Cheers - Phil

[Fenton]

Spoil sport

[fsn]

Well, I give them a big cuddle. The question then is "how do you de-quill FSN?"

[Tawa]

Well, I give them a big cuddle. The question then is "how do you de-quill FSN?"

Butter.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

I don't know.....How DO you de-quill a porcupine ?

(If the answer's "Very carefully,".... Someone will get a slap !

Cheers - Phil

Very VERY carfully......and don't even think about the slap......

IanS

[kipt]

Back on topic.  Finished "the Affair at Nery: 1 September 1914" by Patrick Takle.  Its a Battleground Early Battles booklet.  More detailed than the Nery book I mentioned above.  Which book is also referenced in the bibliography.  I enjoyed it; a fast read.

I'm thinking of doing this as a FPW combat.  Mitrailleuse instead of Brit MG's, French instead of Brits, a Prussian Jager unit instead of their MG's.

Could be interesting.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

BBC 2013 adaptation of Neverwhere on 4exra iplayer was jolly fun last night. All star cast too.

[Leman]

Further to Too Little Too Late: The Campaign In Western Germany 1866, the faulty editing seems to be mainly confined to the quotation, mainly from contemporary works of the time. Some really do require teasing apart for them to make sense. Nevertheless this is still a good overview of a little known part of the 1866 campaign and provides plenty of inspiration for some small scale actions. I wonder if Kissingen can be done as a small scale BBB like Langensalza and Balaclava?

[mollinary]

Further to Too Little Too Late: The Campaign In Western Germany 1866, the faulty editing seems to be mainly confined to the quotation, mainly from contemporary works of the time. Some really do require teasing apart for them to make sense. Nevertheless this is still a good overview of a little known part of the 1866 campaign and provides plenty of inspiration for some small scale actions. I wonder if Kissingen can be done as a small scale BBB like Langensalza and Balaclava?

Perfectly possible, I would think. As you know, there is a good Bruce Weigle scenario with an OOB and map as a start point, and 500 men to a base should work. I find when you get down to these smaller scales, and do 100yds or so to the inch, you get a game where the ranges times and move distances seem to work best - but that is just my personal prejudice! 

Mollinary

[pierre the shy]

Back on topic.  Finished "the Affair at Nery: 1 September 1914" by Patrick Takle.  Its a Battleground Early Battles booklet.  More detailed than the Nery book I mentioned above.  Which book is also referenced in the bibliography.  I enjoyed it; a fast read.

I'm thinking of doing this as a FPW combat.  Mitrailleuse instead of Brit MG's, French instead of Brits, a Prussian Jager unit instead of their MG's.

Could be interesting.

Have to agree that Takle's book is very good. Your FPW idea sounds good Kipt. I ran a game last year based on Battle of Halen using 1914 British against the Germans rather than Belgians....was a interesting game but as per the actual battle the German cavalry didn't prosper in the end 😕

[kipt]

Finished "Wargaming in History, Volume 11: The Seven Years War Small Actions" by Charles S Grant.

As always, lovely pictures and good write ups.

Evidently only one more volume coming out, the 1866 Koniggratz book.

[Subedai]

A book arrived through the post this morning. Legnica 1241 by a gentleman named Jerzy Maron. published by Bellona in 2008...in Wroclaw. The only problem is that it's in Polish so Google translate could be in for a hammering!