Well, it has taken a while, but my book on the mitrailleuse in 1870 is finally back from the printers. There are 100 shiny new copies (less those already sold) ready to ship, so if you are interested, please drop me a line at steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk
Cost, including 1st Class postage is £20.00 in the UK, £24.00 in Europe and £25.00 in the rest of the world. Paypal on my email address would be fine. Cheers. Steve.
Hi All.
Just a quick post to apologise for the delay in the getting the Mitrailleuse book out of the starting gate. It is essentially finished, apart from some final proof reading and would have been out by now. Unfortunately I went for a walk in my local park on 15 July and got run down by a group of idiots on scramble bikes, who didn't see me until it was too late. Result was a broken elbow, pelvis (ouch!!) and 6 ribs. Only just back home following a couple of weeks in hospital and another couple in rehab. A poor excuse I know, but there we are. Am starting to recover and should be able to get it finished and off to the printers shortly.
Anyway, that's it really, thought I had better explain the delay. Although it will be a while, I think, before I am fully fighting fit again, I realised just how bloody wonderful wargaming is. It has kept me completely positive throughout this whole saga and I can't wait to get back to it again!
Regular readers of this blog will know that I can take my own sweet time in updating it with new material. Compared to the 15 years+ it has taken to get this project over the line, that seems pretty efficient.
I must have started this at least 15 years ago and got it 90% finished. It then lay on the shelf whilst other things got in the way. I have finally managed to get it done and I must admit I am quite pleased with it. This is the first in what will hopefully be a series of short monographs on aspects of the Franco-Prussian War that interest me.
The mitrailleuse is one of those subjects that is often talked about in relation to the battles of 1870, but in truth is little understood. Michael Howard's dismissive comments on its role and usefulness have been uncritically echoed by most subsequent English language writers and I am pleased to make a start in adding a little balance to the debate.
The book traces the development of the weapon before moving on to examine its technical characteristics and its tactical use on the battlefield. It will I hope, convince people that it was not a largely useless curiosity, but an imaginative and, for the time, remarkably well engineered piece of military technology. It had its shortcomings to be sure, but is deserving of a long-overdue reappraisal.
It is currently receiving its final proof reading before heading off to the printers. As it is a fairly specialised subject, I will probably only have a hundred copies printed initially, so if you would like to reserve one, please contact me at steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk Price will be around £18.00 plus postage.
I have recently found a very thorough (and very kind!) review of my latest publication: "Let's Fight Leipzig!" and I thought you might be interesting in seeing it.
Let’s Fight Leipzig - A Look through the scenario book - YouTube
It comes from Boots on the Table with Dom, a wargaming Youtube Channel I hadn't come across before. There are literally hundreds of reviews as well as videos of his own work, across a wide spectrum of wargaming history. Well worth a visit. He has a fantastic bespoke wargames room too!!
Hi All.
Well it has finally arrived - a few days late, but considering all the postage troubles at the moment, not too bad. Firstly a quick apology: I have sent out all the inland copies but the chap behind the counter at the Post Office clearly didn't have English as his first language because despite asking for 1st Class postage "for everything" after the first 7 had been processed he said - "you did say 2nd Class didn't you?" Being English I said no, I wanted 1st Class, but not to worry (that wasn't what I was really thinking!). So a few of you will be getting your copies a day or two late - sorry about that!
Here are a few photos that you might enjoy, whilst waiting for it to arrive - these are my pre-production shots, but you get the general idea.
If you would like to order a copy for immediate despatch PAYPAL is probably the best way to go. The book costs £23.50 within the UK including 1st Class postage (!!) £27.00 in Europe and £29.00 for the rest of the world.
You can contact me at steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk if you have any questions.
The book has come out rather well with some lovely photos and maps. I hope you will enjoy it.
Thanks very much once again for your support - if you like it, please tell your friends, as getting the word out there is the biggest problem for one man bands such as I
Last but not least, I hope you all have a pleasant Christmas and New Year and a great wargaming 2023.
Cheers
Steve
Hi All
Finished at last and here is the front cover:
I am really pleased with the way it has turned out. There are a dozen scenarios from the great battle, each with some background information, specially commissioned maps and orders of battle as well as special rules where appropriate for each scenario.
There is also a little historical background to put the battle into context, but unlike in my Seelow Heights book, where much of the information I included was less widely known, Leipzig is a very well documented battle, so I have kept it to a minimum.
Here is the map from the Lindenau scenario. All are full page and, (I think), have come out particularly well.
The book costs £19.50 + £4.00 postage and packing in the UK (£23.50 in total). To Europe the total is £27.00 and £29.00 to the rest of the world.
Payment via PAYPAL to my email address: steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk
Those of you in North America should be able to obtain a copy from "On Military Matters" in due course. I am also pleased to report that Elite Miniatures Australia have agreed to carry it for me Down Under. Please contact them if you would like to reserve/order a copy.
I hope you like it!
As a one man band it is rather difficult to get the word out about what I am doing, so if you know anyone who might be interested or, if having bought it, you feel able to give it a review or mention on any blogs, forums or Facebook pages you visit, I would really apprecate it.
Many thanks.
Following on from my Seelow Heights scenario book, published a couple of years ago, I have decided to go back to one of my first loves in wargaming - Napoleonic.
Always a big fan of large scale battles, especially re-fights of historical actions, I thought that a Napoleonic scenario book would be fun and interesting to do. I took the title from Peter Gilder's articles in Miniature Wargames 4 and 5 (all the way back in 1983!) and it is, I suppose, a kind of homage to him and everything he did for the hobby.
The book itself is very similar in style to my Seelow Heights volume, with a dozen scenarios featuring attractively drawn maps and detailed orders of battle. There is a little background information as well, although I have cut this back compared to Seelow as it is very easy to find detailed material on this battle from such authors as Nafziger and Hofschroer amongst others. I have also included a large number of colour photos of troops in action; below are three of the working snaps I took, prior to having the actual shots taken by a professional who knows what he is doing! I must admit they look pretty nice.
Publication should be around the end of November.
I will let everyone know when it is available, mainly on various Facebook pages and wargaming forums or you can keep checking back on this blog for the latest updates.
First of all, a belated Happy New Year! I hope the recent unpleasantness can be put behind us, to some extent at least, in 2022 and that we can get back to regular shows and gaming. Managed to get to Partizan last October - the first show in nearly 2 years, and it was great; lots of beautiful games and a day spent chatting!
One reason for the lack of posts over the last few months has been not only the Seelow Heights book, which kept me pretty busy, but my most recent effort:
As some of you may know, the Franco-Prussian War has always been my main historical interest, although I don't game it (strange that!). A while back I was contacted by Dave Ryan of Caliver Books to ask if I could write the text for the second of Bob Marrion's uniform guides to the Franco-Prussian War. The first volume was published back in 2008 and Bob did over 40 colour plates for the second volume on the French Army, but sadly died before completing the job.
Whilst it was a lot of work, it was worth it and I am pleased with the results. It is absolutely no excuse for my lack of activity on this blog in 2021 though. I don't really know why, but I just didn't feel like I wanted to post anything. Hopefully I can make up for it in 2022. It isn't as though I have been idle on the painting/modelling front - have done hundreds of figures: Napoleonic, AWI,WWII as well as terrain pieces. I am even going really retro and getting into 6mm again!
Anyway I will try and update a little more regularly this year and share what I have been up to.
The genesis of this book goes back to 2013, when I put on a multi-player demo game covering a section of the Seelow Heights at the Partizan II wargames show in Newark. The game itself was a great success, with the Soviets finally overpowering the German defenders late in the day. For some reason, interest in this operation stayed with me and finally resulted in the writing of this wargamer's guide. Now it is out there, I thought that a few notes on its design and the scenarios might be of interest to those of you that have been kind enough to purchase it and to those who may in the future.
Although Rapid Fire has been used by our group ever since they first came out, followers of this blog will know that I am developing a set of rules of my own: "Road to Berlin". These are card driven and very different to RF, but have played well in testing so far and everyone seems to enjoy them. However I decided to express the Orders of Battle in RF terms as these are our "go to" set and I couldn't see any reason not to. That said, the scenarios lend themselves very well to many other regimental level (and above) sets such as Blitzkrieg Commander, Korps Commander and Command Decision to name but three; all that is needed are a few tweaks to fit in with the specifics of your chosen rule set.
First of all, the Special Rules. To give any operation an appropriate "feel", you need special rules to reflect those little details that make an operation unique. I also wanted to amend/expand some of the existing rules to (in my view) better reflect the troops and weapons concerned. So I thought I would take each one in turn and briefly explain the thinking behind it.
German 88mm/L56. Upgraded to a Class 1 gun. The Tiger in RF seems little more than an up-armoured Panzer IV - same gun class and slower. Better armour true, but not the terror weapon many allied soldiers saw it as. For the flak gun it can be left as a Class 2 weapon in the hands of Luftwaffe crews inexperienced in engaging ground targets, but Class 1 otherwise.
T34/85. Armour downgraded to C (I believe this has now been done by Colin and Richard in RFR) and enhanced range removed. Soviet optics were notably inferior to those used by the Germans and it seems unreasonable to allow it to outrange the Panzer IV and enjoy range parity with Tigers I and II or Panthers.
Soviet Heavies. These are powerful bits of kit but suffered from low ammo storage and slow rates of fire. Seemed reasonable to limit their ammo to 4 or 5 shots per game.
Panzerfausts. Of all the additional/special rules, this is the one that seems to have resonated with readers the most. By only allowing one Panzerfaust per company, even late war Germans get one shot and are then essentially defenceless against armour. My amendment is easy to use, requires no record keeping and makes German infantry a much more serious proposition where enemy armour is concerned.
Troop Quality. In Rapid Fire, this tends to be reflected simply in a modest uplift or downshift in firing and morale. Making militia units more vulnerable to fire by adding to the firer's effects dice seemed an appropriately simple way of addressing the issue. The main element however was how to represent the greater tactical finesse of German panzer units without affecting playability. The way I chose to do it is above all simple; every time a German vehicle is hit, roll a d6: on a 1-3, you apply the effects as normal, on a 4-5, reduce them by 1 level (eg: knocked out becomes heavy damage) and on a 6, ignore the effects altogether. Because RFR reloaded has changed the way attacks on armoured vehicles are conducted, this is modified to a -1 on the effects dice at short and medium ranges only.
So what is the thinking behind this? Well throughout my reading on this operation, one thing came up again and again: the ability of quite small numbers of German tanks and assault guns to inflict serious damage on much larger formations of Soviet armour. What I wanted to do was to give the Germans a built in "tactical advantage" that would allow them a kind of "get out of jail free" card in the form of reducing the effect of Soviet fire on them. It doesn't confer invulnerablity, just a kind of saving throw to reflect their greater tactical agility and awareness.
Combined with the "hit and run" rule, which allows some German vehicles in certain circumstances to move and/or fire during the Soviet move in addition to their own, German panzer and panzerjager units have more hitting power and survivabilty.
German Kampfgruppen. This rule simply allows the German player to organise his infantry units in a more mission based way, rather than me laying down the internal organisation of each battalion. So, for example a battalion with 30 figures in it can be organised into company groups of varying sizes and composition according to what the player hopes to achieve, with support weapons attached (or not) as he sees fit. Again a simple enough idea that reflects German tactical flexibility without additional complexity.
Field Defences. Being in hard cover, whilst helpful, doesn't offer that much protection in Rapid Fire (although RFR does attempt to address the horrible vulnerability of infantry). This rule makes it harder to kill German infantry in prepared defensive positions (rather that just hard cover) and obliges attacking Soviets to get stuck in, rather than stand off and simply shoot them out.
Panzerjager Platoons. Although this variant only appears in the final scenario, it has wider applications in late war games. Essentially special platoons, heavily armed with A/T weapons are more willing to and effective at tackling enemy armour. It could be used for example with the A/T companies in many Volksgrenadier regiments, which are armed with Panzerschrecks or the Fallschirmjager platoons that shot up the leading elements of the Irish Guards during the breakout from Joe's Bridge at the start of Market Garden.
Forwards. This is probably the rule that would and should be used most in the Seelow Heights scenarios. Simply put, the attacking Soviet infantry can exchange speed for vulnerability by adding the score of 1 average die to their normal 6" movement but at the cost of surrendering the ability to fire and the Germans getting firing bonuses against them. In the scenarios I have tried to apply time pressure to the Soviets in achieving their victory conditions. This reflects Zhukov's obsession with breaking through quickly and getting to Berlin first, regardless of casualties. This rule can increase the rate of advance of the Soviet infantry by some 50-60%, but if caught in heavy fire, it can prove expensive. It is a useful tactical option, but one to be used carefully.
Soviet Artillery. This was an attempt to reflect the advantages and shortcomings of the inflexible but massive bombardments that were a feature of the Eastern Front. In many of the scenarios, the Soviets cannot control their artillery through observers, rather they must pre-plan their fire before the game starts, sometimes with a secondary bombardment well into the game. This is obviously inflexible. To reflect the power of these bombardments, the Soviets can "double up" their firepower, whereby if 2 artillery units (typically battalions) target the same area, German units under the template can be suppressed, removing their ability to move and, more importantly, to fire. Properly planned this can suppress the German defenders at the critical point, but timing is everything.
The principle behind all of these amendments was first and foremost simplicity; it was also an attempt to reflect in a generalised and wargame-able way, some of the features of the Seelow Heights operation on the table.
One gentleman that bought the book (Hi Darren) played out one of the scenarios and it looked like a great game. One of his local rules seems to be to use bases representing entire companies with around 3 figures on them and tracking casualties using small dice in a hole on the base itself. This is an excellent idea. At a stroke you can double or treble the playing resources you have in terms of infantry figures. One of the main problems I wrestled with during the writing of the book was the sheer scale of the operation. Many of the games do feature a couple of Soviet infantry regiments (admittedly pared down), this would make it much easier to manage with a smaller collection, although I do offer some suggestions on "bathtubbing" or scaling down the games if you need to. Check out the game, it is an interesting read:
Warfare in the Age of Cynics and Amateurs: The Seelow Heights - More Rapid Fire Reloaded
Hopefully this brief overview has given an insight into some of the special rules and the thinking behind them. If you have any comments or questions, I would be delighted to hear from you.
Well what a strange and difficult year this has been. Other than the lack of shows and wargaming opportunities, the hobby seems to have continued with some vigour. I suppose unlike many team sports, we can all bury ourselves away in various projects, waiting for the day we can get it all back on the table and enjoying it again. Obviously the Seelow Heights book has taken up a lot of my time, but I haven't been idle on other fronts, with more AWI and Napoleonic units added, which I will post on next year. I have also been busy with new terrain features, again more anon.
All Seelow Heights orders received to date have been posted, will get any others off after the holidays. Once again, many thanks to everyone that has bought a copy. Simon's Soldiers in Australia will be carrying the book "Down Under"; the first consignment is on its way. Dave Ryan at Caliver Books will also be stocking it.
Another thing I am hoping to do early next year is to post a series of notes on the Seelow Heights book, outlining some of the thinking behind the various scenarios and special rules.
Well, that is it for 2020. Let's hope for better in the coming year. Take care and best wishes.
Steve
Well they did arrive more or less on time - 200 shiny new copies. Will get the pre-orders off in the next day or two. If anyone would like a copy, please let me know. See the previous post for details of how to order.
Nations In Arms: The Seelow Heights: Preview Copies. (steve-nationsinarms.blogspot.com)
For those readers Down Under, Simon (of Simon's Soldiers), will be stocking the book and able to send it to you far more cheaply and easily than I can. I will hopefully be getting them off to him shortly. Thanks to those who have supported this little venture by buying the book; I hope you enjoy it.
The printer's assured me I would have the 200 copies on Thursday, which slipped to Friday (no problem). It now appears that due to Christmas or Covid or Brexit, or possibly a combination of all 3, they will now arrive on Tuesday afternoon. Sorry about that. For those of you who have pre-ordered it shouldn't matter as sending by 1st Class signed for seems to get them through to people (in the UK at least) in a couple of days, so you should have them well before Christmas - another hostage to fortune? Let's hope not.
Should you wish to pre-order, I will get it in the post within 1 day of the books arriving.
Thank you to all those of you that have bought a copy - it is much appreciated. I will post again once the books have arrived.
Best wishes
Steve
Well here it is (at last!) It has been a long haul, but worth it, now it is finally done. Never having used this particular printer before, I ordered 20 pre-production copies just in case. I needn't have worried, they have done a good job. I have now ordered another 200, which should be here by Friday 10 December. This means that I can get them out in time for Christmas (a few people have asked). If you would like a copy delivered by Santa, I can take advanced orders now; that way, I can write up the envelopes and, as soon as they arrive, pop them in the post. Otherwise, I will post again when the reinforcements arrive.
Cost is £18.50 + £4.00 1st Class (Signed For) Postage and Packing for inland customers. Payment can be made via PAYPAL to my email address:
steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk
I am hopeful that I will soon have a distributor for customers "Down Under", which will save on the horrendous postage costs involved!!
To anyone who buys a copy, thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy it.
Here is a sample page from the forthcoming book. Hopefully it gives a clearer idea of the format and general look of the thing. I must admit that the experts I got in to help with the technical stuff have really come up trumps and I am very pleased with the finished article. For the eagle-eyed among you, the captions are still the Latin "blanks" as this page was produced before the actual captions were inserted, although this has now (just) been done.
Final photoshoot is done and managed to get some nice ones I think.
Just got this back from my sister-in-law who is doing the design work for me. It is definitely starting to come together.
She has unfortunately suffered from a terminally ill computer, which needs replacing. This might hold things up for a week or two. Other than that, things are progressing nicely. Just need to drop in the photos, design the inside rear cover and insert the captions. After that, more proof reading!!
Here is another photo that didn't make the final cut.
Proof reading is continuing. This is perhaps the hardest bit as after a while you start to see what you expect to see, rather than what is there. Hopefully nothing of importance will slip through. About two-thirds of the photos are done and I must admit, I am pretty pleased with them. Old wargaming friend John Smith, of Leeds Wargames Club (of FIASCO fame) has done a lovely job and his professional advice has been invaluable. Here is another of his efforts which will probably not make the final book, at least not in this form.
I am pretty pleased with the scenarios too. I think they should provide interesting and playable games, giving the Germans a realistic chance. One of the main premises is that whilst the Germans are clearly going to lose the war, the urgency for the Soviets comes not from the final result, but whether they can win quickly; Marshal Zhukov was terrified that his old rival, Marshal Koniev, would beat him to Berlin. As a result he imposed a punishing and highly optimistic timetable on his troops and subordinate commanders, leading to some serious reverses and horrific casualties. This, as much as the German opposition and awkward terrain give the Soviet players plenty to think about.
Still looking good for a November release so fingers crossed!
Well I think that is about it for now. As the project nears completion (I am hoping to publish in November), I will put more information on the blog. Keep popping back to check or "Follow" the blog if you aren't doing so already. Hopefully you will find it of interest. If you have any questions, you can contact me at steveshann@blueyonder.co.uk