What are you currently reading ?

[KTravlos]

Finished P.J. Vatitikotis "Popular Autocracy in Greece 1926-1941: A Political Biography of General Ioannis Metaxas". It was an ok read, mostly a summary, translation from the geek sources. Indispensable because of the paucity of other english sources, but with some issues when it comes to structure. Recommended if you cannot read Greek.

[FierceKitty]

.... translation from the geek sources.

timeo geekaos et dona ferentes,

[Terry37]

I'm about a third of the way through Nicholas Smith's first book in the "Orb" series. A post-apocalyptic sci-fi work. I already enjoy his writing style and this series seems just as enjoyable as other of his books I've read.

Terry

[kipt]

Finished "Hans Delbruck & The German Military Establishment" by Arden Bucholz.

Delbruck, who wanted to teach, research and advance military history as a professor was essentially shunned by the tenured professors.  Equally he was not welcomed by the officer class.  The faculty said military history was not a subject to teach and the officers said that if wasn't a career officer he couldn't understand the profession.

He was, however, a reserve officer in the FPW.  He really was only accepted in his teachings after WWI, but that was also very controversial.  He blamed Ludendorf for the terms of surrender and totally was against the notion of the stab in the back (which was supported by the majority, but not all, of the military and interestingly by the academics).

A quote from the book: "All his life, Delbruck stood on the middle ground, with the military criticizing him as an outsider who presumed to read the law to the officer in their own domain, and university colleagues rejecting h the study of war as intellectually illegitimate.  Delbruck antagonized both officers and professors by departing from the dominant idealist tradition which his opponents, though differing in many other ways, were surprisingly united in upholding.  The Schlieffen School of strategy, created within the General Staff and the Prussian School of history, originated within the university, shared much common ground.  Both were rooted in German idealism and inspired by the forces of German nationalism.  In substantial measure, then, Delbruck belongs to the next generation of German and European scholarship."

[cameronian]

Finished "An Army of Brigadiers: British Brigade Commanders at the Battle of Arras 1917" by Trevor Harvey.  Good but dense book.

This is a book about 5 brigade commanders, their staffs and their battalions at Arras.  There is quite a bit of back history leading up to the events at Arras.

One brigadier has been selected from each of the 5 Corps involved in the battle; their backgrounds are one from civilian life and the remainder Regular army, one Canadian, two Scots, one Irish and one English, and the divisions their brigades were in were Regular, Territorial, New army and Dominion.

The emphasis is how they influenced their command.  They were more than a pass through of orders from above; they were busy training (lots of replacements after each combat), coordinating their battalions, and influencing the battle at their level, and sometimes more.

This has me thinking of how wargamers use commanders.  Most seem to have a circle of command, where units can act as required, and possibly a plus (or minus) to an individual unit action.  There are more and I want to start a list to see how others use a commander.

Field of Battle represents formation commander ability/lack of by rating them at the start of the battle. This rating has a significant effect on the formation.

[Chris Pringle]

This has me thinking of how wargamers use commanders.  Most seem to have a circle of command, where units can act as required, and possibly a plus (or minus) to an individual unit action.  There are more and I want to start a list to see how others use a commander.

Field of Battle represents formation commander ability/lack of by rating them at the start of the battle. This rating has a significant effect on the formation.

Take a look at the Altar of Freedom ruleset for ACW - it's all about the commanders' many and various strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.co.uk

[Womble67]

I've just started reading Turning Point: Recollections of Russian Participants and Witnesses of the Stalingrad Battle

Take care

Andy

[Westmarcher]

Field of Battle represents formation commander ability/lack of by rating them at the start of the battle. This rating has a significant effect on the formation.

With FoB, and other rules, you may also choose to rate the commanders at the point they make their first move in the game using a random die throw to establish the rating - meaning the guy in charge of your elite flanking force and on which the successful outcome of the battle, could turn out to be a dud. 

I also recall that Shako (1st Ed.) also allowed order changes for French Commanders to be received immediately but not for Allied Commanders which take a full move before being received.

In The Pikeman's Lament (which I've only started reading/playing recently), each officer has certain traits. There are more than 2 dozen traits listed. These attributes can influence morale or movement or fighting. One of the traits (Brutal) automatically guarantees a Rally test success by shooting one of your own men!       

[Leman]

Fed up with reading wargames rules and military history, so now into my third consecutive Jack Reacher. The crawl through the mine in book two scared the bejesus out of me.

[paulr]

Fed up with reading wargames rules and military history, ...

What are the other symptoms of this affliction

[Womble67]

What are the other symptoms of this affliction

Lol I like it

Take care

Andy

[cameronian]

Well I won't be reading any more Bernie Gunther novels ... Philip Kerr is dead   

[Steve J]

Monmouth's Rebels; the Road to Sedgemoor 1685 by Peter Earle.

So far an excellent read, with lots of useful background info on the politics and the general situation in the run up to Monmouth's landing. All good stuff for some planned games using the excellent FK&P rules, plus forays into Baroque and maybe Pike & Shotte.

[Leman]

Aetius and Arthur in preparation for some Saga action with my 10mm Britons and Picts, both forces of which are ideal for the Hadrian's Wall outpost campaign in the back of the book.

[kipt]

Finished "Civil War Logistics: A Study of Military Transportation" by Earl Hess.  I found this book great and really enjoyed it.  If you want to know the methods of transportation of men and supplies in the ACW, this is the book.  By inference it can be used for other horse and musket periods as well (with obvious differences, see below).  Hess does briefly discuss European logistics after the ACW (who didn't really look at the means, methods and experience of the Americans).

The chapters are:
The Logistical Heritage
Quartermasters North and South
The River-Based System
The Rail-Based System
The Coastal Shipping System
Wagon Trains
Pack Trains, Cattle Herds, and Foot Power
Troop Transfers
Targeting Steamboats
Targeting Railroads, Coastal Vessels, and Wagon Trains.

I had used Creveld's "Supplying War" a long time ago when I made my Empire Campaign System rules.  This book validates what I had assumed at the time but it would have been nice to have then.

Good book.

[Leman]

Boxed off A and A and now reading The Men Who Would be Kings in prep for a NW Frontier game with a mate's 28mm. Very likely to look at the Naval Landing Party aspect using PP Sudan stuff, as so few figures required, for my own dabbling.

[fsn]

"Hoplites: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Greek Soldiers Who Revolutionized Infantry Warfare" by Charles Rivers Editors on the Kindle.

It's a pallet cleanser of a book. Only 72 pages  it gallops through the concept of a hoplite, the Persian wars through to Alexander.

Nothing earth shettering, but full of pretty pictures. I shall keep my eye out for similar volumes as low priced introductions. I see they have volumes on The Austro-Prussian War, Suez Crisis and the Myceneans for £1.99 or less. 

As an introduction to the subject, it's quite fun and engaging. Think Osprey rather than Oman.

[cameronian]

"Hoplites: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Greek Soldiers Who Revolutionized Infantry Warfare" by Charles Rivers Editors on the Kindle.

It's a pallet cleanser of a book. Only 72 pages  it gallops through the concept of a hoplite, the Persian wars through to Alexander.

Nothing earth shettering, but full of pretty pictures. I shall keep my eye out for similar volumes as low priced introductions. I see they have volumes on The Austro-Prussian War, Suez Crisis and the Myceneans for £1.99 or less. 

As an introduction to the subject, it's quite fun and engaging. Think Osprey rather than Oman.

Did you say Austro Prussian ... where ?

[KTravlos]

Finished reading a couple of books

"Ordered to Die" by Edward Erickson. This is essentially the english language work giving a general survey of the military actions of the First World War from an Ottoman perspective. I think that coming in from his subsequent "Defeat in Detail" (on the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars) undermined a bit my enjoyment of "Ordered to Die". It was much more of a general survey compared to the more detail of "Defeat in Detail" and you can see how Erickson became a better author down the way. The lack of good maps in "Ordered to Die" was an issue. That said what I could see is how that book opened up a renaissance in the English language study of the First World War of the Ottoman Empire. And it is an easy read.

I also finished reading the chapters that interest me from the edited volume "War and Nationalism". A 900 page edited volume produced by the auspices of the Turkish state on the centenary of the First Balkan War I focused on the parts covering the outbreak of the war, and some of the parts on conduct (About 300 pages)

Forward: Lessons Learned from the Balkan Wars, Edward Erickson
Pretty good forward, which nicely summarizes the book and puts it in the context of his own "Defeat in Detail"

Preface: The Rise of Balkan Nationalism within the Triangle of the Ottoman, Austrian, and Russian Empires, 1800-1878, Peter von Sivers
Ok general survey of a specific view-point on how nationalism works.

Introduction: Lasting Consequences of the Balkan Wars, Isa Blumi and M.Hakan Yavuz
Ok introduction.

Part I. The Origins of the Balkan Wars
Warfare and Nationalism: The Balkan Wars as a Catalyst for Homogenization. M. Hakan Yavuz.
Terrible chapter, I did not like it at all. Too blind to other point of views.

Bulgaria and the Origins of the Balkan Wars, 1912-1913. Richard C. Hall
Great chapter.

The Young Turk Policy in Macedonia: Cause of the Balkan Wars? Mehmet Hacisalihoglu
An ok chapter, where the writer makes a case which does not lead to his conclusions.

Rebels with a Cause: Armenian-Macedonian Relations and their Bulgarian Connection, 1895-1913. Garabet K.Moumdjian
Excellent chapter

The Origins of the Balkan Wars: A Reinterpretation. Gul Tokay
Very good chapter, much superior to the Hakan Yavuz chapter.

A Micro-Historical Experience in the Late Ottoman Balkans: The Case of Austria-Hungary in Sanjak Novi Pazar (1879-1908) Tamara Scheer
Excellent chapter

The Balkan Wars in the Italian Perspective, Francesco Caccamo
Good Chapter

Part II: War as Experience and the Persecution of Change

Armies Defeated before They Took the Field? The Ottoman Mobilization of October 1912, Feroze Yasamee
Excellent Chapter.

The book has 21 more chapters, so I will probably re-visit it in the future.

With Respect
KTravlos

[Terry37]

I'm well into "Orbs II" by Nicholas Smith. Part of a four book series that combines the post apocalypse with sci-fi.

Terry