Quote from: Gwydion on 16 May 2021, 12:32:15 PM
Fake watercolours eh?

Photoshop, 1814-style . . .

Quote from: kipt on 30 April 2021, 05:40:38 PM
Finished "The Battle Of Lundy's Lane: On The Niagara in 1814" by Donald E. Graves.

I have not been interested in the War of 1812, even though it is essentially Napoleonic.  Some British regular units in Canada as well as locally raised units, some of which were "regular" (eg 104th Foot).  However this battle was a very hard fought action.  The British thought that "poor Jonathan" (Yankees) would be a push over but that did not happen.  Both sides slugged it out in a night action, often only yards apart.  Very unusual night action - smoke and dark ensured the opponents were very close and therefore very high casualties.

I think it is an interesting war for wargamers as it is relatively small scale compared to the Napoleonic wars in Europe and includes other types of unit with the native Canadian/Americans as well as the usual line and light infantry, artillery and (small numbers) of cavalry.

Finished "The Artillery Service In The War Of The Rebellion 1861-65" by John C. Tidball.  Tidball was a gunner then a battery CO and eventually a BG of Volunteers.

As the title states this is about the artillery in the ACW.  Tidball discusses the major battles in the east and how the Union artillery performed.  His biggest gripe is how the Confederates quickly made artillery battalions with a field officer for command and control and the Union took until after Chancellorsville to do the same (calling  a  battery grouping a brigade).  The promotion prospects for artillery officers was almost nil, unless they transferred to the infantry.

Batteries attached to infantry brigades were under the command of an infantry general (or colonel) who often gave only second thought to the good use of the artillery.  When the artillery was made into brigades with field officers they became much more efficient (supply, march discipline, battery positions, ammunition replenishment).  The field officer and such staff they had could go ahead and pick good positions and when the batteries came up could direct them to the location.  A  battery captain attached to an infantry brigade had to control his battery and typically was sent to one of the brigade flanks, whether suitable of not.

Artillery brigades in the west did not happen until after Chattanooga.  Again good descriptions of the western battles: Shiloh, Stones River and Chickamauga.

Finished the strangest little booklet."The Return: N" by John Malmesbury Wright. It was printed 1914 by Paul Elder and Company in San Francisco (about 20 miles from where I live).  Its only 14 small pages.

In it Napoleon evidently comes back to save France from the Germans (remember, printed in 1914).  He leaves his tomb (top askew) in the Invalides and presents himself to the French President,  He only wants to be called "the Little Corporal" the "title given me by my soldiers..."

Whereupon he beats back the German horde, taking Berlin and ending the war.  "My work is done. Farewell."  And once again the great tomb is as it was before.

This must have been wishful thinking on the author's part.  A Francophile American?

Also finished "Uniforms of the franco-Prussian War: Volume 1: The Prussian Army 1870" by Robert J. Marrion.

A uniform book as the title says with good descriptions.  Not really different than the two Osprey books on the Prussian Army.  However it does have the starting OB for the Prussians including the Corps initially held back.  These are also available from Nafziger.

So good, but depending on what sources you may have, redundant.

Finished "The Bismarck Chase: New Light on a Famous Engagement" by Robert J. Winklareth.

Just as it says with good descriptions of the chase , the fight, the Hood, the escape, the re-finding and the final battle.

Statistics on the various ships involved as well.  Short, only 182 pages so a quick read.

A great appendix on Naval Gunnery.  Goes through range finding, ballistics, travel and fall of shot, dispersion and probably why the Hood was hit.

Quote from: kipt on 26 May 2021, 12:18:17 AM
Finished "The Bismarck Chase: New Light on a Famous Engagement" by Robert J. Winklareth.

Coincidentally, here's a fun video about wargaming it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8FvzZS5gz8&t=2s

Thought I had seen this video but had not.  It was fun, and even though it is part of Little Wars TV, not quite as good as those done by the Little Wars crew.

Thanks.

Finished "Atlas Of British History" by Martin Gilbert and cartography bu Arthur Banks.

Small book with "118 maps from 50 B.C. to the present" (but published originally in 1968) , primarily of Britain but also showing wars in the Low Countries, Peninsular, WWI and WWII.

Interesting.

The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean 1942-1944 by Charles Stephenson - an excellent read, albeit a bit limited on resources, about the RN in the period and in that theatre.  It tends to be a bit episodic so if there is an item of interest you had better check if it is covered first!

What would be really interesting to know, as alt-history, is what would have happened if Somerville's attempt to ambush the Japanese Carrier raid on Ceylon had resulted in a battle and what conclusions the Japanese would have had, whatever the outcome, as another piece of evidence of a security breach became evident. Would the British have been overwhelmed or would they have got a sneak attack in first that put half the Japanese carriers at the bottom of the ocean before they realised what hit them.  What would the ramifications have been for the Coral Sea, Midway and the Aleutians?

Finished "Hungary 1848: The Winter Campaign" by Johann Nobili and edited by Christopher Pringle (of this group).  It is about the Hungarian War of Independence and reminded me of the ACW, although this war came first. A break away portion of the Austrian empire, almost starting from scratch as did the Confederacy (although Hungary had regular units that had been part of the Austrian army whereas the Confederacy only got officers from the Federal army).  Later in the book Chris notes the same thing.

Nobili's work was a redo of a work by Generalmajor Friedrich Jacob Heller von Hellwald which was considered too critical of the Austrian army.  It is very detailed regarding the actions and the OB's (Chris has done an appendix 3 which lists the pages where the OB's can be found -very useful).  Chris has added maps which help to understand who, what and where.

This is a good book with much information.  The footnotes are of three types: a brief history of certain persons, some explanation of what happened using Hungarian documents that came to light after the war (troop numbers for example), and Chris's comments on various persons and their relationship to the commander, Feldmarschall Furst Windisch-Gratz (major subordinates did their own thing – not following orders).  These last are amusing-sounds like a wargame where the players are commenting on bad dice or a failed action– I liked it.  Hats off to Chris for his translation as it reads very smoothly.  Well done.

And now I have just ordered the two books "Napoleon Absent..." and "The Coalition Crumbles...".

Kip, thanks very much for your kind words about "Hungary 1848: The Winter Campaign". I'm glad you liked it.

Thank you also for ordering the 1799 books. I hope you'll enjoy them too.

Chris

Shattered Sword by Parshall and Tulley on the Battle of Midway.  I have often read others praising this 2007 book; having now read it I can understand why everyone says this is THE BOOK you have to read if this is a topic of interest: it is.

A definitive guide to all the events surrounding this great battle.

OSPREY - Poland 1939 German's lightning strike' - yes, very good.
Robert Forczyk - CASE WHITE The Invasion of Poland 1939 - five-star brilliancy.

Superb for this campaign.  I am now looking for the best book on the Norwegian Campaign, 1940.  Any suggestions?

Hitler's Pre-Emptive War, the Battle for Norway 1940 by Henrik O Lunde is very good. Lots of  excellent detail but I didn't find it an easy read. Worth getting nonetheless.