Osprey Roundup

I was unable to provide a Roundup last month due to work pressures, so you get a double helping this time instead.

Battle Orders 17, US Army Infantry Divisions 1942-43, by John J Sayen Jr, ISBN 1-84176-852-5, 96 pages

Here is everything you could want to know about the early-WWII organisation of US Infantry Divisions as they fought in the Pacific and Mediterranean campaigns. There’s a very detailed breakdown of their organisation, including tables showing down to Company level and not just for the infantry but for signals and artillery as well. You also get useful information such as the types and numbers used of radios, small arms, crew-served weapons, armoured cars and halftracks, and this even includes cargo trucks and field telephones.
There are good accounts of combat operations in New Guinea, New Georgia, Sicily, and the Salerno landing, and a useful selection of photographs.

Recommended.

Campaign 156, The Doolittle Raid 1942, America’s first strike back at Japan, by Clayton K S Chun, illustrated by Howard Gerrard, ISBN 1-84176-918-5, 96 pages

Attack options were being looked at as early as January 1942, but with no bombers capable of reaching Japan a carrier-borne operation was needed. The reasons for choosing the B-25 and the special training for Army pilots to fly from a carrier is described. The voyage toward Japan was cut short when the fleet was spotted by Japanese ships, and the attacks on those ships are included here. The main meat of the book is its extensive coverage of the actual raid, with 40 pages detailing the attacks of every B-25. The results did little damage to Japanese factories but had a great psychological impact. Japan strengthened its home defences and changed its future strategy, while the US received an enormous boost in morale. Although there are few available photographs of the B-25s most of them seem to be here and the modifications to the planes are described so modelling one will be quite possible.

Recommended.

Campaign 165, Iraq 1941, The battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad, by Robert Lyman, illustrated by Howard Gerrard, ISBN 1-84176-991-6, 96 pages

This book reminds us that fanaticism in Iraq is not new. Back in 1941 unrest was fanned by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem as well as by ambitious politicians and German promises of support were believed, though it is debatable whether the Germans would actually have left if their supporters had won. The first open fighting came with the siege of the RAF base at Habbaniyah. The RAF was able to drive the Iraqi army out of most of its positions around the base by bombing and strafing but suffered heavy losses. Troop reinforcements were brought in via Basra and had several battles on the way to relieve Habbaniyah, followed by more fighting in their advance to Fallujah and Baghdad. All of it is described here by a very clear account and there’s a good selection of photographs including some of the armour as well as the aircraft. The plates are excellent, and well backed up by maps and birds’-eye-views that make everything clear.

Highly recommended.

Elite 131, The Condor Legion, German Troops in the Spanish Civil War, by Carlos Caballero Jurado, illustrated by Rmiro Bujeiro, ISBN 1-84176-899-5, 64 pages

This book begins with an overview of the origins of the Spanish Civil War and explains why Germany, Italy and Soviet Russia sent arms to the opposing sides. German aid to the Nationalists began with aircraft and a few Luftwaffe pilots. German army personnel volunteered to go with Panzer IAs and anti-tank guns as a ground component designated as Panzergruppe Drohne, but Condor Legion sounded more impressive and was adopted as the title for the whole force. Civilian clothing was used at first but Spanish-style uniforms were soon adopted and are described, with their rank badges and other distinctions. The aircraft and tanks used are described, with their actions and casualties. There’s a very useful section on the tank force’s organisation and its several Spanish designations. The book is full of photographs of the aircraft, tanks, and men, but the colour plates concentrate on uniforms. Nevertheless this is a great book for tank or aircraft modellers wanting to place their subjects in the Spanish Civil War!

Highly recommended.

Elite 136, World War II Airborne Warfare Tactics, by Gordon L Rottman, illustrated by Peter Dennis, ISBN 1-84176953-3, 64 pages

This is not a “uniform book” for figure modelers, but nonetheless a useful one. It compares the tactics of all the armies that had Airborne units, not just parachutists but glider-borne and air-transportable as well. The problem for all of them was that aircraft were not yet able to lift heavy equipment, so these troops had only the lightest crew-served weapons and hardly any organic transport. They were nevertheless often used as line infantry, with many commanders ignoring their problem of insufficient support. Here is a good comparison of the different approaches to their employment with notes on actual battle situations.

Recommended.

Elite 137, The Mexican Revolution 1910-20, by P Jowett & A de Quesada, illustrated by Stephen Walsh, ISBN 1-84176-989-4, 64 pages

This is an interesting subject. The usual image of Central American revolutions is of peasants armed with machetes and whatever they could capture by way of firearms, but it’s far from accurate. Many commanders raised substantial armies, even regularly-organised regiments, with artillery and machine guns. Their forces are described with details of uniforms and weapons that will inspire figure modellers.

Recommended.

Fortress 39, Russian Fortresses 1480 – 1682, by Konstantin Nossov, illustrated by Peter Dennis, ISBN 1-84176-916-9, 64 pages

Here is the story of Moscow’s Kremlin’s building and rebuilding, together with many other Russian fortresses that were also built as defences against the Tatar hordes. Tatar domination was only thrown off in the late 15th century and raids continued long after that – right up to Moscow itself. The earliest defences were simple wooden constructions. Brick or stone building took over for the major fortresses, with some very sophisticated designs, though wood remained common right to the end in some regions. The defences chosen as examples are all very well described, with many photographs of preserved walls and towers as well as excellent plates. If castles interest you this is a book to get, and if you model figures of Russians of the period it will give you all you need for their diorama settings.

Recommended.

Fortress 40, Ancient Greek Fortifications 500-300 BC, by Nic Fields, illustrated by Brian Delf, ISBN 1-84176-884-7, 64 pages

The Greeks were not great builders of fortifications at first, preferring open-field battles to sieges or city assaults, but this changed as time went by and here is a very clear account of how they built their citadels and city walls. The different styles of masonry and brick constructions are explained and shown in photographs, and it will be helpful for modellers to note that mud brick was preferred for good reasons in many places – you don’t want to put your hoplite against a stone wall if he’s attacking or defending a brick-built city! There are also good accounts of some major sieges.

Highly recommended.

Fortress 41, The Channel Islands 1941-45, Hitler’s impregnable fortress, by Charles Stephenson, illustrated by Chris Taylor, ISBN 1-84176-921-5, 64 pages

Hitler was not satisfied with mere occupation and decreed that the Channel Islands must be heavy fortified to stop any attempt at invading France with them as a springboard. Visitors to the Islands will see these resulting concrete monsters, too strong to demolish after the war, and here is a splendid account of their building and use. All the major installations on each island are described and illustrated with photographs, plans, and cutaway plates as well as being shown on maps. Apart from its value for visitors to the Channel Islands this is a very good reference to typical Channel Coast defences for modellers building dioramas.

Recommended.

Men-at-Arms 427, Armies of Ivan the Terrible, Russian Troops 1505-1700, by V Shpakovsky & D Nicolle, illustrated by Angus McBride, ISBN 1-84176-925-8, 48 pages

This is a splendid book for figure modellers. The authors start with the feudal soldiery of Muscovy and then move on to the first “regular” armies in Russia, set up by Ivan IV and both paid and structured regiments instead of being collections of retainers brought by nobles from their estates. Dress, equipment and weapons are described for infantry, cavalry and artillery. There are plenty of old illustrations as well as the excellent McBride plates, and the text makes it clear when little is known as well as giving all the known facts.

Highly recommended.

New Vanguard 115, Landing Ship Tanks (LST) 1942-2002, by Gordon L Rottman, illustrated by Tony Bryan, ISBN 1-84176-923-1, 48 pages

Despite their size and slow speed only a few LSTs were lost to air or naval attack, more being lost to mines and accidental explosions. The first three were Royal Navy conversions of shallow-draft oil tankers, but they couldn’t handle steep beach approaches, so new ships were designed. The Royal Navy’s LST(1) was only built in small numbers because the US LST(2) was better. It thus became the standard and well over 1,000 were built. They gave good service during World War 2 and continued in service afterwards, not just landing tanks and troops but serving for casualty evacuation and being converted as repair and workshop ships. Several even became aircraft carriers, launching spotter planes in the Mediterranean landings though these had to land on shore afterwards. Another “carrier” conversion was used in the Pacific, launching light aircraft from a cable that were recovered by being flown to hook onto the same cable. All of these versions are described in the text and shown by good photographs, and the colour plates shown their camouflage schemes very well.

Recommended to all ship modellers and to anyone contemplating a tank landing diorama, who will need the bow door and ramp details shown here!

New Vanguard 118, US Submarines 1941-45, by Jim Christley, illustrated by Tony Bryan, ISBN 1-8176-859-6, 48 pages

This book begins with a look at US Fleet Submarines from 1916 onward. They were intended for long-range operations with the fleet at sea, but the early designs were less than successful. By the end of the 1930s the boats were fully capable of offensive operations when their time came, though their torpedoes had malfunctioning fuses and poor depth control so it was a couple of years before the submarines really started to rack up a score. Here we get a stem-to-stern walk-through description of a boat, with good photographs showing the cramped quarters. Torpedos, deck and anti-aircraft guns are described too, and so are tactics with an excellent look at how an attack was mounted and several descriptions of actual attacks. The plates show the different paint schemes used as well as how the bridge designs changed over time, and like the photographs they have good captions.

Recommended.

New Vanguard 199, Bronze Age War Chariots, by Nic Fields, illustrated by Brian Delf, ISBN 1-84176-944-4, 48 pages

There’s a lot here for figure modellers who like painting horses. The book begins with the earliest known uses of horses for war and then describes all the Middle Eastern chariot types from their very beginnings through Hittite and Egyptian chariots to Mycenean times. There were several basic styles, four or two-wheeled with a number of different body types from the heavy early ones that served more as battle taxis to late lightweight examples like those in the film Troy. All of them are described from ancient images and archaeological finds, with their crew’s weapons and equipment and the horse, onager and donkey types that drew them. Tactics are not neglected, and there are also battle descriptions drawn from ancient sources.

Highly recommended.

Osprey Modelling 12, Modelling the Messerschmitt Me 262, by Brett Green and Robert Oehler, ISBN 1-84176-800-6, 80 pages

This book is excellent. It begins with a brief overview of Me 262 variants and then a very good chapter about the available kits and accessories. Comments on the base kits used are given in each chapter, too. The first build is at Advanced level with Revell’s 1/72 scale Me 262B-1a turned into a detailed A-1a with CMK and Wurmcastings aftermarket sets. Next is a detailed analysis of the Tamiya 1/48 scale kits, with an Intermediate build showing how to refurbish a built model and give it a new paint scheme. Then there’s an Advanced build of the same kit, using Cutting Edge and Aires sets to superdetail the cockpit and improve other areas. The third “new build” is at Master level and converts the Tamiya kit into the A-1a/U3 reconnaissance version with CMK and Cutting Edge conversion sets plus Cutting Edge detail sets. It’s followed by a look at the Dragon 1/48 kits, and then a Master level build of the Dragon B-1a/U1 night fighter showing how to use the CMK jet engine as well as Cutting Edge control surfaces and wheels plus the Ultracast pilot’s seat, and also adding an FM Opel Blitz fuel tanker and Tamiya Kubelwagen with figures to produce an airstrip scene. The final build is at Advanced level, detailing the Hasegawa 1/32 kit with a Grand Phoenix cockpit and Contact Resin wheels but principally showing how to achieve a realistic natural metal finish in duplicating a captured 262 that had only a few painted areas. All the chapters come with good descriptions of how to do the work and excellent step-by-step photographs as well as comments on colour schemes and markings. To end the book there’s a page of colour swatches showing typical camouflage effects.

Highly recommended!

Warrior 101, Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman AD 14-193, by Nic Fields, illustrated by Adam Hook, ISBN 1-84176-973-8, 64 pages

This is another great book for figure modellers. Everything from recruit standards to pay and rations is covered, plus of course organisation, training and off-duty life. There are plenty of photographs of surviving items, and good plates to show what they looked like originally. Conversion of suitable mounted figures would be complicated by the need to reproduce ring mail but shouldn’t be too difficult for experienced modellers.

Recommended!

Warrior 99, Kampfflieger: Bomber Crewmen of the Luftwaffe 1939-45, by Robert Stedman, illustrated by Adam Hook, Osprey Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-84176-907-X, 64 pages

Any modeller of Heinkels, Dorniers, Junkers and other German bombers will need this book. It gives a very complete look at their crewmen’s recruitment, training and service as well as campaign life and combat, but most important for modellers is the excellent description of uniforms and flight equipment. This is very comprehensive and is backed up by a selection of good photographs and very clear colour plates.

Very highly recommended.

New Vanguard 120, Scud Ballistic Missile and Launch Systems 1955-2005, by Steven J Zaloga, illustrated by Jim Laurier and Lee Ray, ISBN 1-84176-947-9, 48 pages

This book begins with the first Soviet ballistic missiles, copies of captured V-2s. They were not successful but the lessons learnt led to the Scud that has stayed in service with several countries and became notorious for its use in the First Gulf War. We get all the known details of its development, and of its several launchers, plus foreign derivatives. Combat launches are dealt with too, and it may surprise you to learn that even the Afghan Army had a Scud regiment – though most of its personnel were Russian.

Highly recommended.