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Author Topic: Introductory book for early war  (Read 1595 times)

Offline AndrewBeasley

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Introductory book for early war
« on: November 18, 2020, 11:23:08 PM »
I'm trying to find a book that covers the troops and equipment found in the first months of the war and TBH have no real idea where to start...


A quick look at Osprey returned 1300+ items cut down to over 320 with 'early' in the title / description and Amazon needs me to take off my socks to count that high...


I'm not after the most technical or in detail book, something that's a light introduction (if such a sad subject can have such a thing) to the war in Europe


I'm not after the reasons / history or in depth uniform / equipment and still prefer paper to e-books (due to the pictures).


One option I though of was the Bolt Action books but they seem to be country based rather than by period and preferably I would want one guide covering Europe rather than a handful.

Offline Poiter50

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2020, 11:27:19 PM »
Chain of Command, while being a rule set for platoon plus actions has some great information on the early campaigns (I'm assumingyou are after WW2 info). The Pint Sized Campaigns and the TooFatLardies forum are also good for additional info and have lots of fans (dare I say Fanboys even).
Cheers,
Poiter50

Offline gamer Mac

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2020, 12:47:28 AM »
For the same reason as chain of command rules, the Rapid fire rule books have a lot of useful stuff
In particular "Blitzkrieg battlegroups" has a lot of basic info

Offline AndrewBeasley

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2020, 03:02:55 AM »
Thanks gents - I was trying to avoid rule sets (did wonder if mentioning one was a bad idea) but more after background and basic descriptions of weaponry / tanks / troops / tactics / life at that time than just a basic army list may give.


Offline Poiter50

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2020, 03:33:31 AM »
I think both those rule sets are good precis on what was available without going into too much detail. I would look at Chain of Command as a PDF version which you can then research using good old Google/wikipedia for further details.

Offline SJWi

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2020, 06:17:21 AM »
I can't think of a single-volume book that does what you want.  Can you be more specific about which armies? I guess almost certainly German, but Polish, French, BEF, Dutch, Belgian or even Russian?

I do have the Flames of War "Blitzkrieg" book which covers organisation and basic details on the Poles, Germans, French and British.  Obviously aimed at FoW.  I don't use said rulesystem but I did buy it cheap as a background reference. You can still get it for about £25-30 but it may be too generic, and if you have more specific aims might be better to spend that sort of cash on more targetted books.     

Offline tin shed gamer

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2020, 05:52:29 PM »
If you take a slightly different tac and search with terms such as BEF and the fall of France /etc, Or Blitzkrieg  You'll find plenty of starting points.

(The Two Fat Lardies are quite good at listing bibliographies for their source materials. So it's not necessary to fork out for a full rule system.)

Offline meninobesta

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2020, 06:22:37 PM »
If you don't want to go with the wargaming rules (the Bruce Quarrie ones had a very good introduction), the osprey campaign books are a good place to start

additionaly, you have this youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP1AejCL4DA7jYkZAELRhHQ
It could provide some inspiration identifying a particular interesting campaign, person or event
If not, it's a good background "music" for painting
Cheers,
Pedro

Offline AdmiralAndy

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2020, 06:42:40 PM »
I think part of the problem is in defining what you consider early war, upto battle of Britain, or Operation Barborosa, or El Alamien?

Also its difficult to get 1 book for all early war.

Poland tends to get skiped over.

As does Russia's shenanigans where they also invaded into Poland and they had the Winter War with Finland.

The Italians were active against the British in Africa long before Rommel and his Africa Core sailed over.

Plus there's the Naval Early War with Submarine Warfare active from Day 1, and actions with Surface Raiders most notable the Battle of the River Plate.

The Japanese and the fall of Singapore.

Most Early War tends to focus on the Blitzkrieg through Western Europe and the others tending to be specific theatres (if particularly covered at all).

So it depends what your specific interest is? It was a World War with fighting happening all over the World pretty much from day 1. So something like the World at War series may help but bookwise, it tends to be too wide a conflict for 1 book to cover everything in the kind of detail you seem to be looking for.

And I think as highlighted above, lots get side-lined by what was happening with the Germans rather than what the other axis and Russian allies (at the time) were upto.


Offline Captain Darling

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2020, 11:39:58 PM »
Depending on how ‘early War’ you want Len Deighton’s Blitzkrieg : From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk could be of help, check out the reviews. From memory gives a summary of the Nazis rise to power and a pretty good breakdown of the German, British, French (maybe even Low Countries) armies and their equipment in 1940. Probably lots of cheap second hand copies around and it’s still in print.

Here’s the description from book depository;
A compelling history of Blitzkrieg: the 'lightning war' by which Hitler and his generals overwhelmed the Allied armies in Western Europe.
'Blitzkrieg' begins with a chilling portrait of Hitler's rise to power in pre-war Germany, setting the stage for the outbreak of the Second World War and his conquests of Poland and Norway. This riveting history sets out clearly the tactical thinking behind Blitzkrieg and focuses an expert's eye on the materiel - pre-eminently the Panzer tank - that made it possible. Concluding with a compelling account of the campaigns that drove the German armies through the Low Countries and into France, Deighton reveals the Fuhrer's 'fatal flaw', which made possible the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk.
'Blitzkrieg' is the story of Hitler's triumph and Europe's darkest hour. Few writers have understood it as well as Deighton - an ex-RAF pilot - and perhaps none has been able to describe it so tellingly.


I have a spare copy you can have free somewhere but with shipping from overseas to Ol’ Blighty being so dear it’d cheaper to get one there.

Cheers!
"There's nothing cushy about life in the Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps!"

http://captaindarlingsminiaturesemporium.blogspot.com.au
https://toysoldiersforoldgits.blogspot.com.au

Offline gamer Mac

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2020, 12:07:23 AM »
I recently read a good book, the war in the west by James Holland

Offline SJWi

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2020, 06:04:00 AM »
Andrew, seeing the replies I must admit I am slightly confused as to what you are after.  As others have said the Deighton "Blitzkrieg" and Holland "War in the West" are good "primers" of the 1939-40 campaigns. I have Deighton in front of me and it covers  "Blitzkrieg; Weapons and Methods" through to an overview of the battles .  Or are you more after Orders of Battle etc etc .

I would also add to the list Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's "Dunkirk" which is an excellent read and covers the whole Western campaign up to Dunkirk.     

Offline Truscott Trotter

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #12 on: November 23, 2020, 01:35:46 AM »
I would start with Funcken's Arms and Uniforms of the Second World War Vol 1 & 2

Offline Mindenbrush

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #13 on: November 24, 2020, 02:35:11 AM »
SCRIBD is a useful resource for books, you can get a free trial for 1 month.
Wargamers do it on a table.
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Montreal Historical Wargaming Club

Offline AndrewBeasley

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Re: Introductory book for early war
« Reply #14 on: November 24, 2020, 08:41:45 PM »
Thanks folks - looks like it's the Blitzkrieg book as a starter as I'm trying to avoid dry orders of battle.


I'll soon be able to get into a library soon to hunt through the history books to see if they have anything about general life in the period as well.


Scribd is a no go for me - I disagree strongly with the lack of legality and DMC control on that site and their increasing money grab attitude.


 

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