Max Hastings: 1914 Catastrophe .. and a couple of other "Good Reads"

If I were going to recommend reading material for military officers currently serving in the Armed Forces of Great Britain, the United Kingdom or any of her Commonwealth and NATO partners, then it would have to be a collection like this (see below, Max Hastings - "Catastrophe Europe Goes to War 1914", just to remember how things can unexpectedly start!): 

Followed by a haunting tale of lost peace and complacency at all levels of government and the military (see below, Dan Dannatt's "Victory into Defeat"): 

Which turned an "Unhappy Ending" of one world war into a new nightmare of another, with opening rounds going to the vanquished. This is a "first love" book of mine (see below, Alistair Horne - "To Lose a Battle France 1940", I discovered it in teh early 1990's and it has been on my self ever since): 

Finally, while wild emotions are running around their heads, let them stop and read about Norway (mostly ignored apart from the First and Second Naval Battles of Narvik) - but look at the other Narvik, and the strange possibilities of this forgotten success in an otherwise bleak campaign .. which hailed the first successful allied amphibious operation of the war in 1940 (see below, Henrik Lunde's Hitler's Pre-Emptive War"): 

Thought provoking and a tale of swinging fortunes. Best remember from history the lessons of "things lost and things gained," as the best made plans of mice and men play out upon the stage not under their control. 

Book: Victory to Defeat (Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman)

We had won, with a magical formula of 1918 combined arms warfare, hard earned through bitter experience of four years of fighting and then we lost or rather forgot it! Such criminal complacency meant that another generation of youth experienced a second World War. The people who "had practical experience of fighting it" drifted away and did other things. The world wanted to be pacifist. The politicians became politicians again and took their eye off the ball, they took the easy option, cutting to the bone military spending. The "war to end all wars" was supposed to be exactly that, although there was a dissenting feeling in Germany that in 1918 they had not been defeated in the field (the very same myth used by National Socialism and the "stabbing in the back" from a caste of politicians). However, in 1918 the Allied armies pummelled the German Imperial Army to its knees in the 100 Day Offensive with "combined arms" and overwhelming industrial power (infused with the additional of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) - which was not specifically called out in the book). The armistice came, it signalled the end of the war (11/11/1918), then came the Treaty of Versailles with its own cauldron of snakes that poisoned international politics for decades to come. The League of Nations was born and withered on the vine through application of realpolitik between the Great Powers. In Britain there was a spirit of the war is all over now, let's get back to normal (proper) peacetime soldering as we have an empire to run. Contemplation of another war of this magnitude was an anathea. Politicians who thought different were not elected .No peer war was expected within the next ten years, so colonial policing was the order of the day for the British Army. The British Army was shrunk to a rump (prioritising Empire over continental commitments) and certain important or maverick personalities played with their own hobby horses and pet projects within the confines of the Treasury's frugal remit. Britain literally became an island nation behind a sea and air barrier, the Royal Navy in her senior service role and the over promising of the RAF (capable of punishing enemies with the bomber and protecting the homeland with the fighter) gained favour. There was no appetite for a tangible army capacity capable of force projection on the continental mainland to deter the rising power of Nazi Germany. Without such an army, even if scaled back, there was no way of keeping the hard-earned organisational knowledge of "how to do things" at scale. Then the chickens come home to roost through a series of international crisis and the early war defeats of 1939-40 (see below, a tale of the once and future king - the practice of combined arms warfare, found - lost - then painfully recovered from 1942 onwards; although the British 1940 successes of The Western Desert Force against the Italians - Wavell's 10,000 (Beda Fomm), the East African Campaign and reconquest of Ethiopia and Somaliland, again against the Italians, was not called out):

The allegory or case study to modern times (2022+) is called out, how different is the current political situation with Russia and continental Europe? The message is clear. Let us not make the same mistake again. The world of 2025 seems horribly similar to the 1930's and the lead up to the Second World War. This time we also live in a nuclear age where the stakes could not be higher. The general (Dannatt) also seems to indirectly pushing the value of wargaming in military circle - when you do not have the physical items it does not stop you from imaginative thought experiments (with reference back to the Germans formulating the doctrine of mobile warfare in the 1930's without any tanks - they wargamed and conducted imaginative field exercises). If you want peace, then be sure you are prepared for war. A protagonist thinks twice before attacking a prepared potential victim - or rather the "victim" is not viewed as a victim but rather a "respected or feared foe". Deterrence has to be credibly backed up or the paper tiger will be called out.  Knowing what form of armed forces (Army, Navy, Air, Cyber, Space, Civil) you need is the key to knowing what capabilities you have to nurture or retain for future use (and their scalability for wartime needs). That comes from an unending intellectual engagement across the whole spectrum of government. I for one cannot fault the main theme of the message!

David Isby gave an informative and interesting review of the book too:     

https://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/2537#gsc.tab=0

11th November - Lest We Ever Forget

A tribute to the fallen in Great Ayton: 

From the first to fall in WWI: 

To the last to fall in WWII:

Including the lad who died on his very first day in France: 

Bless them all.

 

Der Tag (Minden Games) : The Holy Grail of WWI North Sea HSF v GF Wargaming is found!

For the better part of thirty years I have been searching and experimenting with various rule systems that allow me to play WWI naval games, specifically North Sea actions between the Royal Navy (RN) Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet (HSF). This encompassed and included a vast fleet of 1/3000 Navwar ships (the Jutland Battle Pack and much. much more [ahem]) for use with General Quarters (I and II). I have acquired a shelf load of books and various boards games (Avalanche Press - The Great War at Sea Vol II - The North Sea and the Baltic and SPI Dreadnought to name two). There is the History of Wargames project's reprint of Fletcher Pratt's rules, a copy of "Si Vis Pakem" (Prof David Manley's WWI rules), an old copy of A&A's Sea Wars [1894-1945] and teh Jutland scenario booklet, XTR's Command Magazine Jutland zip-lock game and many other things I bet I have forgotten about, but all of which make me think "Jutland". The wilderness years are now over as Minden Games "Der Tag" officially does it for me (see below, a simple and brilliant game, designed originally as a solitaire game, but it was cleverly expanded by a ingenious friend to a multi-player system which we played over Zoom for myself (as Admiral Scheer) and some friends as the various RN "fleets" [most of the Grand Fleet at Scapa, some Grand Fleet elements at Cromarty Firth, at Rosyth the BCF and the "Wobbly Eight" of the Dover Patrol]):   

It is a high level operational game, German action cards initiating missions but there is a huge emotional buy-in during combat, from a simple but effective combat system that "gets it right". It is set in the 1916 Jutland year and plays for four turns of nerve racking play. We ran the game twice on consecutive days, each game lasting just over an hour of playing time. It was also a great conversational piece and highly entertaining to play as everyone got into teh mood. I can only say "I highly recommend it to you" if you are of a similar disposition as myself to WWI naval warfare. I just wish I had found it sooner! Please also see Board Game Geek's review (and if you get it, enjoy the solitaire version, but do think about translating it to a multi player version to spread the joy): 

• https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/316075/der-tag-1916-solitaire-ww1-naval-game

Footnote: My WWI naval addiction. I must also give a shout out to Paul Hague's two books of naval wargame rules. The first I discovered as a teenager in the Public Library and I ended up making 1:3000(ish) WWI ships out of bits of balsa wood (looking back I am amazed at the fortitude and ambition of that young man, I think I got the BCF, 5th BS and 1st SG of the HSF). The second book was purchased some twenty years later and was a welcome reunion to somebody returning to his hobby's "second life" in his late twenties. 

Board Game Geek Comments: 

• https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3168818/der-tag-is-der-game
• https://boardgamegeek.com/video/542479/der-tag-1916-solitaire-ww1-naval-game/coffee-with-kilroy-panzerschreck-issue-17-fall-202

Audible Books: Miscellaneous

Reading, or rather listening. On the history front I decided to broach my general ignorance of the Middle East (unless the battles of Rommel and the 8th Army count) of which I know very little, just the complex and disturbing pictures I see on the TV news. So I took an Audible recommendation of "Arabs" by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (see below, it helped that it came free with my Audible subscription [win-win], and it was very comprehensive, or rather it was very, very long [going back to before the Arab date "dot"] so although I do not remember "everything" I got the satisfaction of a "general feeling" and understanding of the 'diaspora of meaning' that the word Arab evokes - simply put no one interpretation will ever suffice):  

Following on from this I chased up on another recommendation form a friend that takes a very close look at the troubled history of Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon courtesy of Britain and France's colonial history in teh region, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Aspects of "The Great Game", which really should be entitled, "Be Very Careful For What You Wish For!" It was both deeply informative and deeply troubling, to extent that it just left you shaking your head in disbelief (see below, "A Line in the Sand" is a terrible read because it lays bare the worst part of human nature and international politics - (one of) the moral of the story being don't leave a French and British career diplomat alone is a room of a map of a country that is not theirs and really know squat about to draw a line on a map, between alcoholic drinks, coffee and pastries):   

Needing some "light relief" from the blood letting and treachery from the folded, furrow of deep history and cynical realpolitik's, I called out to my friends for more lighter recommendations and got something I would never have chosen myself (see below, a fantasy detective story set in the modern day, to my escapist delight I really enjoyed it and can see myself slowly walking through the series): 

Refreshed from the non-hard historical journey (although with a deeper appreciation of how many rivers there are in the London whereabouts) I took up my final recommendation (I do have "free will" too, honest. This one was with a slight game inclination, aka Science Fiction, set in a universe that most people who have played or tinkered with Traveller would recognise. Think "Merchant Prince" but working your way up through from the bottom, after life has dealt you an unexpected "bad hand" (see below, "Quarter Share", another series I think I am now hooked into following):  

Given my liking of the book and genre, I have been collectively told it is high time I started watching "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime while I still have the chance.

Final Note: I would recommend all of the above, but for very different reasons!

Evolution of British Army Infantry Sections 1914 - 2022 (You Tube Video)

Wow, I found this very instructive and informative with respect the WW2 (aka Chain of Command) and post WWII British Infantry formations (See link below): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5nDcoXJMrg

Avalanche Press: Great War at Sea System - War Plan Red

A funny thing happened when I was on the Leisure Games web-site looking for "Captain Sonar" - he says after running through a mere thirteen pages of War Games aka boardgames (some annoyingly with the "Out of Stock" sticker on them), "I/he" managed to find something else "I/he" was interested in (well several others to be fair). What were the chances of that?  In teh end it was a toss up between the ASL Starter Kit #3 (the one with the 88mm on the cover - the third one with the tanks was annoyingly "Out of Stock") and Avalanche Press' - War Plan Red .. and seeing as I had just put on a version of "War Plan Red" at CoW 2021 it was the winner (see below, a ziplock so slightly more affordable than boxed game so 

The other thing going against ASL Starter Kit #2 is that I have not as yet played ASL Starter Kit #1 (even though, quite sensibly, the ASL Starter Kits are games in their own right - not a modular expansion building on each other). This expands my collection of The Great War at Sea - Vol 1 and 2 (also including the Russo Jap War). 

To my knowledge they have other "US Plans" (War Plan Black [versus a successful WWI Germany and an expanded HSF], War Plan Crimson [US Invasion of Canada and a naval war on the Great Lakes] - not sure if they did the War Plan(s) Orange-Rainbow versus Japan) however the one I am keeping my out for is the WWI Cruiser Warfare game when it is reprinted!

Note to Self: Naval War Simulator

 http://www.navalwarfare.net/drbz.html

Fun with Card: WWI and Inter-War Period (Free Downloads)

Just sharing from a friend who spotted this: 

http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html

Some beautiful work on display!

Excellent resource and fun to play with, although the whole concept of "card models" may sound daunting - you never know until you give it a go ;) 

Late War Canvas Eagles WWI Aerial Combat

These are very old wargaming pictures from back in 2018 (pre Covid, remember those times?) from the Stockton Battleground Show where I took my old WWI favourite Canvas Eagles out to play. Watch out for the "Hun in the Sun". I have posted some other photographs from the game already but i found some more. I was delighted to find an enthused group of players who pitched in to the game. Here is an example of my combat with a much more experienced Canvas Eagles player (see below, I was flying the SE5a, the "Stable Gun Bus" of the RFC, facing a tricky Fokker DVII, gulp): 

After a quick exchange of greetings and pleasantries proceeding began in earnest. We doged and dived and then he shot at me, hit-me and shot me down. Well that didn't last long did it? I don't think I even got membership card to the "twenty minutes club" (see below, my opponent graciously commiserated with me on "how truly unlucky" I had been as the "red chits" blew my engine up and I spiraled earthbound (see below, scratch one SE5a and another German Imperial Air Service pilot well on the way to becoming an "ace") :   

I then challenged the budding Baron to a multi-plane combat and I jumped into a BrisFit (the affectionate name for a two seater Bristol Fighter). In particular I had a liking for the rear-facing observer machine gun as my last line of defense protection. I figured that someone was bound to sit on my tail at some point during the game and at least this way I was prepared for it (see below, a more courteous exchange of pleasantries):

The Baron seemed to fade harmlessly away seeking out other prey (see below, I relaxed my guard momentarily): 

Oops, he seemed to be coming back. I'd best prepare to defend myself (see below, now where did I place that rear facing machine gun?):  

Meanwhile a young chap in a SE5a had a spot of luck with a German in a Pfalz going down flames (see below, chalk up first blood to the RFC):

Meanwhile a strange "chain of tailing" had emerged. Unsurprisingly I was being tailed by the young Baron, but a daring young chap in a SE5a was eyeing the Baron up in turn .. who could shoot who down first (see below, I seem to be running out of board to play in): 

Bits start flying off the BrisFit whereas the Baron's plane started smoking, both bad signs (see below, time seems to be running out for both pilots): 

Simultaneously both planes explode and flame end their existence like meteors (see below, a thought provoking end to the day, that nothing is ever certain and the pilots were braver than you could ever imagine doing what we "played" for real): 

Great fun, the imagination can see the canvas flutter, I do really like Canvas Eagles for its "Victorian Theatre", which reminds me I have a couple of Sopwith Pups to make and paint up for some "early-mid war" fun. RNAS I think would be most appropriate. 

Interesting Naval Computer Wargames

 http://johntillersoftware.com/NavalCampaigns.html

Has anybody played any of them?

Wolf-Pack:

US Pacific:

Jutland:

Tsushima:

Any information gratefully received as my model 1/3000 fleets are getting rather interested in potentially using them!

Old Good is still Good: Naval WWI Article from 1989 Wargames World

As part of the Covid-19 lock-down activities I (like many wargamers I suspect) have been going through their collections musing over past, present and twinkle in the eye projects. You may also be like myself who nervously hears their beloved spouse mentioning "de-cluttering" in bewitching tones. Palpation and cold sweats follow as I hurriedly tidy piles of things, one of which being old tattered "but loved" magazines, that flip open at beguiling pages. One of which was Wargames World #3 dating back to 1989 (see below, in classic [now faded] yellow but still in relatively good condition - not my original I may hasten to add but one picked up either from a Wargames Show or cast-off from a friend):

It has several great articles, one of which is by Ian Drury entitled "Where was the Navy?" in 1914 - that is the Royal Navy, when the Germans (HSF) were shelling Scarborough, which has inspired me in several ways to invigorate my flirtation with WWI naval gaming - again, as I have had several "false starts" (see below, the title that got the wheels of my mind turning - good question I thought, read on I thought, to find out more, and I did and I was happy):  

It also came with an uncomplicated map of the North Sea theater of operations (see below, and remember that these were the days before the Internet, Google Maps and indeed desktop publishing; wargaming aids like these were gold dust - you can almost imagine the fleets of armchair admirals salivating with "map pins" primed in sweaty hands): 

With a certain spooky serendipity a long standing naval wargaming enthusiast friend had also just emailed me with a solo lock-down battle report using David Manly's recent WWI rule-set (1918) which he had found 'very playable' (he had done the Jutland "Run to the South Scenario" with his Hallmark 1/6000 ships) - these newer rules were used over the default venerable General Quarters 2 (GQ2) set (see below, "Si Vis Pacem" - to my shame - I still have "not read" despite having printed them out two years ago): 

It was just too much fro me to take and I launched (literally) into obsessively thinking about my fleets of 1/3000 Navwar battlecruisers in the loft, the ladder came down and up I went in "search and rescue" mode (see below, although I flinched when I saw "how I did waves" back in the day, there was a wave [unintentional pun] of nostalgia as these tiny ships took me back well over twenty years when I first started collecting them - amazingly they are cheaper per ship that the Hallmark ships a quarter the volume, I am a fan of the chunkier chaps - even wanting to go so much bigger and have a go at Fletcher Prat in 1/1200 at CoW [Conference of Wargamers] someday [are you listening Tim Gow?]):  

Not satisfied with the toys I turned once again to the book shelf. A useful addition to my naval library was an Osprey title called "British Battlecruiser vs German Battlecruiser 1914-16" which covered Dogger Bank and Jutland battles (interesting leaving out Falklands, but I guess you could say [although covered by a seperate Osprey Campaign book] was British Battlecruisers vs German Armoured Cruisers) in some detail (see below, I am a sitting duck for a book with battleships or battlecruisers firing at each other on the front cover): 

Reading through the Dogger Bank section gave me great delight (a copy of The Rules of the Game by Andrew Gordon also nostalgically winks at me for another read from my bookshelf) and the urge to re-fight this classic stern chase (although it could have ended up so many different ways if you incorporated map moves in it too). As Ian Drury pointed out in his 1989 article most of the major naval actions fought in the North Sea started with meeting engagements and clashes of battlecruisers with more of the "threat of" battle fleets of dreadnoughts appearing over the horizon (see below, my fevered scribbled notes after reading The Duel's section on Dogger Bank - it has to be done, even solo):   

Although I have an unread (as yet) copy of Castles of Steel by Robert K Massie sitting on my shelf, Ian Drury also makes another good point about excellent "of the time" sources available, i.e. Marder's volumes of "Dreadnought to Scapa Flow" and Julian Corbett's volumes of "Naval Operations". That seems at odds with my spouses desire to de-clutter but the magic of a Kindle may come to the rescue as certainly Marder's volumes are available electronically. Watch this space as I think this project has yet to run its full course!

Rommel's Book: Infantry Attacks

Sometimes you pass through a "discounted" bookstore and a diamond pokes its head of of the dust. I had such a moment yesterday. To be honest I think would probably have paid the RRP as I have wanted this one for a while (see below, the man himself in "action pose"): 

Published in 1937, a certain German Chancellor (Hitler) read it and invited the author for a conversation in 1938 and his patronage was set. In 1944 it was translated into the English language by the Americans (a Major H.A. de Weerd with the immortal quote "this translation was not prepared with the author's sanction" [as he was at that time fighting the Allies in Normandy]). Even the foreword by his son (from 1990) was enlightening with the quote from his father (Rommel) to his son (Manfred): "in order to become a hero one must above all survive"!

WWI Balloon Busting with Canvas Eagles

In tribute to the classic scene from Aces High .. a cut scene from last years (2018) Stockton Battleground ..

The "Defenders" were three SE5a's that provided top cover for the attackers (see below, an SE5a has caught a Fokker DVIIa unawares and dispatched it, no mean feat in itself):

A mixed bag of Huns patrol the skies above the observation balloon (see below, an Albatross V, a DVIIa and an Austro-Hungarian Avaitik - I think):

The "Hunters" tasked with destroying the Balloon are an old flight of Neiuports armed with tracer rounds and dangerous looking anti-zeppelin rockets - that look as dangerous to the operators as the enemy (see below, the balloon looks a long, long, long way away):

Not to worry the "Defenders" have your back (see below, always dangerous flying in close formation though as a rookie error could lead to a mid-air collision):

The Imperial German Air Service pounce (see below, with the advantage of height the Germans swoop low but themselves are exposed to deflections shots from the "Defenders"):

A maddened battle scene unfolds as the Aviatik explodes in smoke and flames, an Albatross claims an unlucky Neiuport and plenty of holes appear in SE5a's (see below, all plans of mice and men go astray after first contact):

A close up of the dead Neiuport (see below, the artistic cloud of smoke is caught well on camera):

An alternative angle of the doomed Neiuport (see below, the war reporter and his photographer were having a field day out of this one):

An SE5a goes down in flames (see below, the "Defenders" are paying a heavy price for protecting their charges and a Fokker DVIIa in the hands of a veteran flyer is a merciless killing machine): 

The observation balloon has been exposed to an attack run (see below, the two surviving Neiuports ready their monstrous anti-Zeppelin flares):

Another "Defender" pays the price as a SE5a starts to tumble earthward (see below, it means however that the Neiuports have their chance though):

Again a different angle of the Albatross' "kill" (see below, three Entente planes have fallen to only one of the Triple Alliance - although the Italians no showed on a technicality): 

The first French pilot is unsuccessful (see below, for some reason the tracer and rockets do not work, oh fickle fate):

The second Frenchmen is a sure shot and takes delight taking down teh observation ballon (see below, "game-set-and-match"): 

Success (see below, scratch up another kill for this brave Frenchman):

The Entente triumph for today and the offensive continues, but it has been a costly battle.