Yes, I will do my own research too...

[Conquistador]

 

Okay, to not hijack the recent thread on Boxer rebellion 25 mm figures    and because I think I really need to try a 15 mm (instead of  more 1/600th aircraft, 1/300th historical/SF, or another 25 mm historical) army,   I am looking at the Boxer Rebellion.  

I think I need some more more research   (when is it "enough?) into the conflict and was wondering about this comment "...The allied involvement can be broken down into the Legation Siege (probably the least gamable part), Seymore's Relief Column (probably the most balanced and gamable bit), the Siege of Tientsin (mostly Russians) and the main relief column (lots of Allied troops and fairly one sided battles). But most of the attention gets focussed on the legations..."  

Please   suggest books that include decent coverage about the Seymore Relief Column portion of the conflict.  Other books will be appreciated but I like scenarios that are fairly "game-able" (yes, whatever that means to individuals.)  Field battles are good for armies, siege's for "skirmish level" games (small actions, often desperate, in a siege,) in my experience.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Hobbit]

Hiya,

Right there is a very basic overview in the Osprey title "Peking 1900" and their original MAA book, then there is Peter Flemming's "The Siege at Peking" and more recently there is Diana Preston's "Besieged in Peking" (I'm almost certain this has been republished under another title), Henry Keown-Boyd's "The Fists of Righteous Harmony" and "China, 1900: The Eyewitnesses Speak" by Sharf & Harrington. There's also "Military Operations in China 1900-1901" (official history - not as informative as you might think) and Ian Heath's Armies of the 19th Century:Asia:China from Foundry. Then there is the finding of odd snippets here and there in other works.

All of the above leave big gaps though, and I constantly find myself wanting to know more. The other thing is that most of these are written from the British/American point of view. I'd love to find accounts from other nationalities, including the Chinese. it is also worth remembering that by far the largest commitments of foreign troops came from Russia and Japan - the Western troops committed were almost trivial numbers by comparison.

I'm no expert on the subject (just an enthusiastic amateur) and I'm sure there is loads of other material out there too. So, I'm more than glad to find out what others know too.

[Hobbit]

Should have pointed out that the best account of the Seymore Expedition that I can find is the one I previously mentioned by Lieutenant Schlieper in "China, 1900..." but it still leaves lots of questions. There is a wargaming scenario booklet on Seymore that crops up on Ebay regularly, but I can't recall any further details.

[Conquistador]

Great start, muchas gracias.  

All I have currently is the Osprey MAA 95 "The Boxer Rebellion."  

Gracias,

Glenn

[Barry S]

There is a wargaming scenario booklet on Seymore that crops up on Ebay regularly, but I can't recall any further details.

Is this the one -

CC002 - Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion: Admiral Seymour's Relief Attempt, by Mark Fastoso from Colonial Campaigns.
Contains a history of the campaign, description (and painting guides) of the forces involved, and 10 scenarios. 

I've seen it for sale here - http://www.thewcp.co.uk/product.php?ItemID=1832

Cheers,

Barry

[joroas]

....and don't forget the Chuck Heston film............

[Hobbit]

....and don't forget the Chuck Heston film............

No, please, LET'S forget the chuck Heston film...

[joroas]

No, please, LET'S forget the chuck Heston film...

What? Are you suggesting that it isn't an accurate recreation of a colonial campaign? 

[Hobbit]

I'm not SUGGESTING anything 

[Hobbit]

back to being a little more serious, I've just come across the following website that is new to me:

http://www.boxeraufstand.com/

Apologies if it is old hat to others. I don't speak German, but it does contain some very useful little maps relating to Seymore if you click on "1900", then "Juni".

I haven't had a chance to look around the site fully yet - who knows what gems it may be hiding?

[fastolfrus]

Hobbit -
That's a very interesting site.

I look forward to seeing more on this thread.
Now if anyone has any links to decent pictures of buildings....

[ARKOUDAKI]

The Boxer Rebellion...yippie!!!!!!!!!

I can suggest the following books:

Vaughan (2000) St. George and the Chinese Dragon - Col. Vaughan rode with the 7th Rajputs with the relief expedition...he was also a good artist and the book covers the uniforms as well as maps and such.

Preston (2000) The Boxer Rebellion - provides a good overview of the affair.

And of course there is Fortescue's 'History of the British Army' series.
http://www.fortescue-british-army-history.com/13.htm

I have a number of other books in my collection but they are all long out of print and in general difficult/impossible to find...so I haven't listed them here.

I would also suggest you search the online books...http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=boxer%20rebellion

Finally, if you want graphics and such make sure you search through the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection at Brown Univ. It is all online and available to download.

Enjoy!

[joroas]

Likewise Issur Danielovitch* in Vikings roused me to read about them

...and that was before they added a Wesh name to the family tree!

[FifteensAway]

After you get done with your historical research you can then follow the path I've followed.  Invent your own Boxer Rebellion events.  My games will be based around the actions at Poquin (the troops, naturally, have perverted that into Poo-Queen, which is actually how its pronounced) and the siege of the Consulates in and around the Spring Palace Of Divine Concubines.  Poquin is a bit up a major river but not so far from the coast that gun boats can't get close - the river is navigable for most of the year to shallow draft vessels.  And there is a railroad and an arsenal and some open country - and there are a number of battles out in those rural places.

What with the real events being better and better known, I figure a fictional campaign really opens up a lot more possibilties for putting the toys to use.

[Hobbit]

Indeed, no matter how well researched our armies are we are still engaging in a historical fiction/fantasy - so I have no problem with fictional settings. I just have an inner obsesive who wants to research things 

Likewise, I understand that historical films can fire the imagination, I just get upset when people confuse them with real history instead of recognising them as reel history (do yo usee what I did there, huh, huh?).