The Wargame Shed

Having read and enjoyed both the books by James Faulkner in the Battleground Marlborough series (Blenheim 1704 and Ramillies 1706), I decided to move Great and Glorious Days: Marlborough's Battles 1704-09 by the same author up my reading list.

This book is written in the same very readable style as the other two books and covers the Marlborough's major campaigns of the War of the Spanish Succession. As you would expect it includes the storming of the Schellenberg and the battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet.

Having read the other two books the earlier sections cover the same ground and whilst not identical are unsurprisingly very similar.   The other campaigns and battles are covered to a equivalent level and suffer (from a wargamer's perspective) from not having a little more detail on the units and orders of battle.

This is certainly a good introduction to Marlborough and is very accessible.  I enjoyed it but am now looking for something with that greater level of detail.

Having read and enjoyed James Falkner's book on Blenheim, I decided to pick up the companion volume on Marlborough's next major victory - the Battle of Ramillies.

As you might expect this book is written is the same style as the Blenheim one and so is quite accessible.  It is only a fraction longer than the other volume, coming in at 144 pages.  Unfortunately it lacks an Order of Battle but otherwise I found it an excellent primer on the battle.

The book starts with some biographical notes which is pretty handy if you aren't familiar with the main characters of the period, especially as some have proper names along with their titles.

In a way Ramillies was a greater victory for Marlborough than Blenheim despite the fame of the latter, as it was won without the help of Prince Eugene of Savoy and against a French force of almost equal size in a good defensive position.

I have now moved on to Falkner's larger and broader volume - Great and Glorious Days - which covers some of the same ground as the Battleground volumes but much more besides.

Continuing my background reading for my Marlburian project, I could hardly pass up the chance to read about his most famous victory.

James Falkner's book Blenheim 1704: Marlborough's Greatest Victory is part of the Battleground series and not only provides a good description of the battle itself but information should you wish to walk the battlefield.

The book is 142 pages and provides a brief background to the War of Spanish Succession and the battle itself.  I found Falkner's style very readable and polished the book off rather quickly.  From a wargamer's point of view it does provide a good introduction and covers the main elements of the battle but may be a little light on detail for some and lacks full orders of battle.  That said, few of us have anything like enough troops to put on the whole battle in any event!

I am looking forward to reading Ramillies 1706 in the same series by the same author.

And All The King's Men is a novel by Gordon Stevens which was kindly recommended by Felix in a comment on my Operation Sealion reading list post.

The story covers the period up to and beyond a successful invasion of Britain in 1940. Whilst there are a few passages in the book which don't flow as well as I might like the overall storyline is engaging and the tale moves along at a brisk pace. As with all alternative fiction there are places where you could question the credibility of some of the plot devices but if you are prepared to do a little suspension of disbelief (this is alternative history and fiction after all!) it makes a ripping yarn.

Given that my plans didn't include being ill things have slipped a little but such is life.

It has allowed me to make a bit more progress with Fighter Boys by Patrick Bishop which focusses on the RAF around the Battle of Britain. The book relies heavily on the author's research into the individual pilots who fought and died in that critical time. An interesting read.

I think I've also got a scenario for the Troops, Weapons and Tactics game too. Another opportunity for me to look out my 20mm bridge for an Eastern Front game!