What are you currently reading ?

[Leman]

Age  of Hannibal by Greg Wagman. A set of fast play Ancient rules covering approximately 500BC to 500AD designed with 6mm and 10mm figures in mind. Games can be played using designed scenarios (currently a booklet covering the three Punic Wars), plus a further three in the rule book (one from the 2nd Punic War, one from Alexander and one from Caesar). The rules are very straightforward and read very well. A 40mm square base is a unit but units can operate in groups. Missile fire can be by a group of units against one target base, but close combat is worked by unit against unit. As units are defeated they accrue demoralisation. Three demoralisations eliminate a unit, but at the start of the turn the turn it is possible to rally off demoralisations. An army starts with a morale of 9. At the end of each player's turn the army that lost the turn has jts morale lowered by one. Army morale cannot be recovered so the battle is lost when one army reaches zero morale. To spice things up though units have traits that affect their combat ability, commanders have traits that affect their leadership, there are large number of different unit types and there is a card driven terrain set up system (which can also include army stratagems) for non-scenario games (More scenario booklets are promised). Finally Little Wars TV is the producer of the rules and also provides support, including terrain tutorials, play throughs and downloadable 6mm buildings and city walls for siege games, which are also covered in the rules. To take a look go to:

www.littlewarstv.com

[Chris Pringle]

I finally finished "The Ottoman Crimean War (1853-1856)" by Dr. Candan Badem.

If you read and like it, make sure to tell him that. He is facing some challenging times in his life.

Not sure how I'd tell him, but yes, I have it, I read it and liked it and found it really valuable.

Chris

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

[KTravlos]

He is on twitter. Pretty much only way to reach him now.

[kipt]

Finished "The Army of the French Revolution: From Citizen-Soldiers to Instrument of Power" by Jean-Paul Bertaud, translated by R. R. Palmer.

This is a well researched and written book.  Part One is From the Royal Army to the Democracy in Arms (1789 to Summer 1793).  Part Two is the Sans-culottes, the Revolutionary Government and the Transformation of the Army (Summer 1793 to Summer 1794).  Part Three is From the National and Revolutionary Army to the Army of the Coup d'Etat of Fructidor (Year III to Year V).

the author did extensive search in the archives of Paris and the different provinces to gather data on the conscription's, the training, the amalgamations and the desertions and other losses. It is not a listing of raw statistics but he incorporates the lives of the troops and their letters when available as well as reports from the government officials.  It is also not a detailed description of the campaigns and battles.  Phipps is good for that ("The Armies of the French Republic").

I now know much more about this period than I did before and I have several books on this period.  This one is good.

[Chad]

Kipt

Another good source are the series of books produced by George Nafziger , The Wars of the French Revolution. Some volumes are available from Caliver, but more often than not you have to buy direct from Nafziger in the US.

Can also recommend the following book if you want to look at the minor German states involved in the Revolution. 'We Are Accustomed to do our Our Duty'. Covers Hanover, the two Hessian states, Baden and Brunswick. General campaign history, organisation and uniforms.

Chad

[kipt]

I have many Nafzinger's but not those. And not the other. I concentrated more on the Empire.

[Steve J]

The Osprey 3 book set on Operation Market-Garden, just to get another view for my wargames and also as a treat to myself

[Westmarcher]

A Tale of Two Cities.

Did you know it was first serialised in two local newspapers? It was the Bicester Times and the Worcester Times.

[Techno]

Go and get your coat, Westie !!

NOBBY.......Customer for you.

Cheers - Phil 

[fsn]

[Ithoriel]

[FierceKitty]

 

[kipt]

Finished "Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of Franklin" by James Lee McDonough and Thomas L. Connelly.
Good book on the battle with a good discussion about General Hood and his failures.  He was out of his depth as an army commander, but President Davios wanted a fighter so he replaced Johnson with Hood.  then Hood proceeded to ruin the Army of Tennessee.

I bought this book used and it had been signed by the authors, so an added bonus.

[Subedai]

For the first time in months I've picked up a hardcopy book as opposed to a pot boiler on my Kindly thing; Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian. Never read it before and thought it was a steal  for £3 in my local The Works.   

[Steve J]

A very interesting read and I got my copy from a charity shop for a few quid too

[paulr]

An interesting read, if perhaps somewhat biased in his favour, I got my copy at the local book fair for about £1

[kipt]

Finished "Without Warning" by John Birmingham.  this is the first novel of a "bubble" that destroys all life across most of America.  I previously read book 3 of this series (not realizing that it was a series).  Good read but long and pretty grim.

Main characters are a city engineer in Seattle, a female smuggler on a yacht, a female special agent, an embedded reporter and various military types. It bounces back and forth through their stories similar to a Clancy novel.

[kipt]

Finished "Rommel and The Rebel" by Lawrence Wells.  This is a surprisingly good work of fiction.  The premise is that a team of Wermacht officers, Model, Schoner, Kruger and Rommel visited the US in 1937, traveling under assumed names. Rommel was named Erwin Rilke. They were in the US to visit some ACW battlefields as suggested by a lecturer at the War Academy who was also the military attache at the German Embassy in Washington.

When they visit the south, Rommel wanted to see the battlefield of Brice's Crossroads where Nathaniel Forrest beat a superior Federal force.  Rommel had studied about Stonewall Jackson and NB Forrest.  On the tour, the US Army had assigned a young lieutenant, Max Speigner, German speaking and an intelligence officer as escort.  Max had been compiling information about German officers and suspected that Rilke was Rommel.  They became friends.

In any event Max had written an appreciation of how the Germans would attack if war should come.  The report got into the hands of the British and Mx was posted to Africa prior to the US getting involved.  He was able while there to predict how Rommel would try and capture a supply depot and once that became fact he was "famous".

The rest of the story is sort of a cat and mouse game where Max is trying to convince the Brits of rommel's next move and Rommel has guessed the Max in in country.

The book was first published in 1986 and I have a Bantam Publishing paperback version of 1987.  An entertaining read.

[Terry37]

Finished "Tin Can Tommies", which was more like reading a comic when I was a kid in the 50's. But still enjoyable enough and full of ideas. However, now it's time for a reread of Watership Down for the upteenth time. It is a story I never tire of , and has so much more meaning having visited all of the places in the book (which are all real, places and very much like they were when the book was written) and having had tea with Mr. and Mr.s Adams in their home on  the last trip at their invitation. Truly, truly wonderful people. Sadly, he has passed now, and have not heard of Mrs. Adams, but they were in their 90's when we met them.


Having lunch on top of WD with the Beech Hanger behind.


The view from WD  To quote Dandelion - "Come and Look! You can see the whole world."

If you've never read this book, you should, and if you're in the UK and have never visited this place you should, and even though it's a bit more involved for those in other countries it is still so wonderful. We went twice 2011 and 2012.

Terry

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Today was spent reading, identifying and cataloguing the museum's collection of maps of Basra and surrounding area. I now know an awful lot more about map overlays than at 9am this morning! Most are still secret too!