Currently Reading

[steve_holmes_11]

Regarding the Geraint Thomas book.
  "The Tour according to G"

Still a good read, but doesn't top his first one as a standalone book.
Cycling fans will obviously treasure it for the accounts of the tour's many stages.
Not to mention the fact that G is the first winner who didn't start the race as a team leader for about a squazillion years.

Style is similar, but this one is cramped a little by sticking to a detailed narrative of the Tour.
Elements of it are superb, but others are a bit "Today was a flat stage that suited the sprinter's teams" followed by a couple of pages
on the non-events of a flat stage.

[steve_holmes_11]

I am now reading my Post Christmas purchase:

Irregular Wars: Wargaming at the world's end.

A quirky set of rules set at the sharp end of the European age of discovery.
Games look similar in scale to DBA, but rather more events - particularly of the random kind.
Rather than the prescribed unit types of DBA, each unit in a list has a stat line - which permits a bit of flexibility when distinguishing Spaniards, Hawaiians and Japanese with similar looking long pointy sticks.

It looks like a lot of fun, and I'm wondering how easily I can sabot up some existing troops to try a quick game.
Certainly not a set for the type of gamer who hurls dice and figures if they lose, since all manner of misfortunes await the commander.
Disease, under-strength armies, units wandering off, rainstorms washing out your shot units, low supplies...
All most excellent beer and pretzel stuff.

Of possible interest to Peter Pig fans are the recommended basing (3cm squares).
The main barrier to entry is likely to be sourcing figures for some of the more obscure armies.

[Leman (Andy)]

Currently reading Christopher Duffy - By Force of Arms. A large book on the activities of the Austrian army during the SYW, written in classic narrative style with plenty of maps. Some good boys' own stuff in there.

[Colonel Kilgore]

I have just finished Antony Beevor's "Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944".

I found it a great read: he's very good at the human aspects of these tragic events.

2 things struck me:

• it would have been great to have had more, and more detailed, maps - as well as an order of battle for the forces involved
• despite the almost criminally poor planning and communications on the Allied side, once the Germans had decided not to blow the Arnhem bridge, it was actually quite a close-run thing in many ways and, due to the bravery of those involved, it might just have worked if XXX Corps had got more of a move-on and the British Paras had had more luck with such things as air support, resupply and reinforcements across the river...

I'm looking forward to the PBI mega-game later this year!

[pbeccas (Paul)]

Just started reading "South Pacific Cauldron" by Alan Rems.

The book covers the fighting in the South Pacific 1942 to 1945 by the Australian Army, USMC and American Army. 

[martin goddard]

Steve
Any battle reports on those new rules ?

[John Watson]

Not long finished Rising Sun, Falling Skies book on the Java Sea campaign of 1941/2. Highly recommended. Details the amazingly inept allied response to the Japanese invasion of Malaya, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Have now started Big Week which is about the breaking of the Luftwaffe over western Europe in the early months of 1944. Thoroughly enjoying this too.

[pbeccas (Paul)]

On to my next book.  "D-Day New Guinea" by Phillip Bradley 2019.  From the blurb - The extraordinary story of the battle for Lae and the greatest combined airborne and amphibious operation of the Pacific War.

This book is particularly exciting for me to read because my grandfather was involved in the battle as an infantryman with the 2/28th Battalion.  This was the 9th Infantry Divisions first meeting with Japanese after being withdrawn from North Africa.

[Colonel Kilgore]

I've just finished (it helped being away on holiday...) "SAS: Rogue Heroes – the Authorized Wartime History" by Ben MacIntyre.

I learned a lot about the WW2 history of the Regiment, how it was not the same as the LRDG, how regiments of both French and Belgian SAS were formed (and later incorporated into their respective armies) etc. in an absolutely rivetting read.

There are a few (late war, European) larger actions that could well fit into the PBI "frame" of force size too.

Highly recommended!

[Colonel Kilgore]

I'm currently reading "The Road Past Manadalay" by John Masters. This follows his wartime career with the Gurkas, from Africa to Burma as part of the Chindits, where he led a brigade of 14th Army.

There's lots of useful detail (e.g. how many of us paint our figures' bayonets black, as his Gurkas' were, to prevent reflections on night raids?) as well as a good overview of Staff College and the role of the General Staff, as opposed to that of leaders of units up to regimental size.

It's written with humanity and wit - highly recommended!

[Leman (Andy)]

My Family and other Animals. A change is as good as a rest.

[alex918]

Just picked this up as a second hander. Looks like some good inspiration for PBI scenarios, not read in any detail yet but some good descriptions of Company level actions in the final stages of the War.

[martin goddard]

1945 is a rich resource of interesting scenarios. When all is chaos some units were carrying on.  . It is natural to believe that the fall of Berlin stopped the war instantly.

[Smoking gun]

No Triumphant Procession is good source of scenarios, played a few many years ago using Rapid Fire rather than PBI. I'm sure you'll find plenty of inspiration.

Martin

[Smiley Miley 66]

Just got this book, and I will say the author is quite accessible as well. He has answered a few questions for me on email. But very expensive £73 including p&p, but I thought better than the £241 that Amazon had as a price tag.
Hopefully it will answer a few missing questions about "hells highway"
Miles