Trevor Beevor - Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917 - 1921

Again, an Audible listen, but on the follow up to get a paper copy too. So much in it just to be able to "remember" (see below, an appropriate picture as the cavalry [how can I not say Cossack (Red and White)] played such an important part): 

The book comes with a warning, it will change what you thought you knew about the RCW, well at least foe me ii did. A long listen (23 hours) - horrifically fascinating, absolutely cruel in detail and so pertinent for today’s understanding of where Russia came from .. as well as understanding the Allied politics of WW2 much better.

Highly recommended!

Audible Book: Admiral Jellicoe and The Crisis of the Naval War

This was a fascinating subject as Jellicoe was very much a "war hero" for his services to the Grand Fleet, leading up to and beyond Jutland, but the inability to deal with the U-Boat threat was his Achilles Heal (see below, revealing more as a detective story of what was not said, what he was prepared to say and what he was focused or overly fixated on): 

All in all I found it a turgid read, but was totally fascinated by the way the man was consumed with detail but somehow missed the most facing pungent problem facing the Allies in WWI (he considered fighting U-Boars nigh impossible). The convoy solution to the problem was mentioned in passing (and is literally the oldest trick in the naval service book) as "logistical problems were eventually solved", no hint at the political issues (understatement, ahem) with Lloyd George and no admission of credit to which the crisis was turned around. Plenty of attention to efforts and energy of ideas and systems that did not really yield the results effective convoys did. A far cry from an account of the same period from these Wikipedia pages: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoys_in_World_War_I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jellicoe,_1st_Earl_Jellicoe

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. 

Auible Books review .. and crazed mini-rant about "THE NAVAL CRISIS"

2015/2016: Prior to New Job [20 Books]

It all started with a external business consultant where I then worked introducing me to the CD format book for the car. Albeit a rather strange book called:

1: How to to Think Yourself Rich (Business Theory)

Which was state of the art thinking circa 1910 (I kid you not). I then found Audible as I was having trouble reading through "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Listening was easier than reading certain "text book types" for me. I then found the "bug".

Another fourteen books followed, mainly business(ish) (see below, exclude the four from the second picture below that also appear in 2016 new job):

Plus:

2: Connections 2013 Conference (Wargaming Simulation)
3: Connections 2014 Conference (Wargaming Simulation)
4: Connections 2015 Conference (Wargaming Simulation)
5: SCRUM (Project Managing/Computing)

2016: Starting New Job (Longer Commute) [7 Books]

1: SCRUM (Project Management/Computing)

2: Connections 2016 Conference (Wargaming Simulation)

3: Superbetter (Games/Simulations/Computing)

4: Gamify (Games/Computing)

5: Rising Sun (History - WWII Pacific)

6: Brief History of Time (Science)

7: Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (History WW2 Pacific)

8: Edge of Uncertainty (WIP)

2017: Same Job [26 Books]

1: Edge of Uncertainty - Science

2: Japanese Destroyer Captain – WWII War Pacific 1939-45

3: MIT Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning – Science/Computing

4: Ship of Ghosts – WWII War Pacific

5: The Victorian Internet - Science

6: Miracle at Midway – WWII War Pacific 1942

7: Algorithms to Live By – Science/Computing

8: Neptune’s Inferno – WWII War Pacific 1942/43

9: What We Cannot Know - Science

10: Fleet at Floodtide– WWII War Pacific 1944-45

11: Hackers – Computer Science Pioneers

12: The War That Never Was – History Modern

13: Frazzled (Mindfulness) - Psychology

14: Our Mathematical Universe – Science

15: Why France Collapsed – WWII 1940 History

16: Mindfulness for Women: - Psychology

17: To Rule the Waves: (Naval History)

18: Elon Musk – Innovation/Science/Start-Up/Lean

19: Move Fast and Break Things – Science/Lean/Agile/Start-Up

20: Battle of Dogger Bank – History WWI Naval North Sea

21: The Art of Being Invisible – Computing/Science

22: The Crisis of the Naval War (Jellicoe) – WWI Naval War History

23: Crystal Clear Communication – Business

24: Cyber Security – Computing/Science/Politics

25: Killing the Bismarck – WW2/Naval Atlantic

26: UK Connections 2013

27: Outliers – Science (WIP)

A grand total 53 Books I would not of otherwise read!

All of them were in some way engaging and interesting but one book was alarming! No not the France 1940 book Why France Collapsed (although it did have many strange tales to tell), it was the Jellicoe one: The Crisis of the Naval War.

Scary in that for the 8 hours and 20 minutes of its telling, the first 1 hour twenty minutes described the various Admiralty Departments and Committees "than ran the war" and why the Admiralty was a cumbersome beast to change in a direction it did not want to go. There was a a further hour describing how awkward it was to spare destroyers for anti-submarine work and how clever we were routing ships around the trade roots (cleverly avoiding the delays of convoy congestion - merchant captains would never be able to sail in a formation akin to a battleship squadron and its meticulous station keeping). Jellicoe was a brilliant naval officer (specialising in battleship gunnery) but in his summation of year of crisis he barely mentioned but in passing the convoy system that dramatically turned the tide (less than an hour). The drop off in sinkings once the convoy system was in place told the tale. He focused on developing [ineffective] hydroponic detection (not ASDIC that came much later in between wars) via trawler flotillas and Q-ships to hunt the U-Boats by luring them into attacking them. Detailing types of mines, the efforts to place armaments on merchants ships and statistics of training merchant seamen to fire them.

However the long and the short of it was that without the convoy system the submarine was an invisible killer than no warship could find. By guarding the merchant ships the U-Boats at least had to reveal themselves in attack and thus open themselves up in turn to be attacked. An even more salient point was that "convoys" were actually as hard to find by the act of concentration of many vessels in a tight area as a single ship. The oceans were suddenly denuded of targets. Jellicoe seemed to be the wrong man for the challenge and he had little to say about his political masters forcing the change (Lloyd George).

In all fascinating but scary at the same time, I literally did noy believe what I was hearing (the book was published in 1920).

Notes to self: Musings on WWI Naval rules (North Sea) Part #1

Recent sources of Inspiration: Dreadnought Gunnery Book
Michael Brooks

Though please note, my version was the good old fashioned paper edition.

And a long standing favorite:

What I want from a set of naval rules?

• Fast Play
• Historical Accuracy
• No "fiddle and widdle, billimeter twaddle"

Rules that come the closest?

• GQ I and GQ II Rules (over thirty five years old now)
• (Best bit) Gunnery abstraction is excellent
• (Worst) Movement and Command & Control

Thoughts of my own, time to devise "Battle Cruiser Fleet" (BCF) Battles, my Great War Naval Rules for "Battle-cruiser clashes in the North Sea"

BCF Actions in the North Sea (Version 1)

Context of Rules

Mainstay of the naval actions in the North Sea was between the Battle Cruiser Fleet (BCF) and the High Seas Fleet (HSF) Scouting Groups (SG), as running engagements rarely got to the point of battle squadrons of the Grand Fleet (GF) engaging the battle squadrons of the High Seas Fleet (HSF).

Miniatures/Counters: 
Each ship will be represented 1-to-1 on the ‘table-top’, therefore there is a high element count to the game.
(Note: This could mean quite a lot of counters)

Formations:
However the counters are not moved individually (bar ‘exceptional  circumstances’ – i.e. ships being damages and sunk) but moved in squadrons relative to one another. Counters/Ships are held in a fixed position within the formation.

Movement:
Absolute movement is not measured, rather relative movements (sea areas) between squadrons.  The umpire may have to have a form of master map (to be confirmed).

Movement ‘orders’ are maintained as: Close (decrease distance), Maintain and Open (increase distance) and issued to squadrons. The success of the intention is based on simultaneous order declarations.  

Gunnery:
Gunnery is handled as per General Quarters (GQI and GQII) is abstracted into fire-power factors and ‘quartered’ reductions (I like the way the traditional GQ does it) rather than counting turrets and shells.

Command:
Command and Control is based on the relative position to the Flagship. Command “PiPs” are used/spent by the Admiral to control his formations (signalling), messaging (intelligence to GF and HSF admirals and ‘over the horizon’ scouting formations) and gunnery (target priority).  

Individual battle squadrons or formations have their own initiative and morale levels.

Design Goal:
German and British doctrines are different and will be reflected in the orders allowed to be played by the admirals. Note: This is a form of constraint propagation to make the rules specific to North Sea actions (1914-1918 WWI period). The personal and national characteristics of the commanders (Beatty, Jellicoe, Hipper and Scheer) also will effect the 'freedom of movement' to perform certain actions.

I hope the "festive period" turns out to be a fertile period of naval wargaming experimentation. Note I an trying to keep the context of the game scope quite tight to re-fight historical scenarios and the "what-if" permutations.