7YW Books

by Jay Hadley

Uniforms of the Seven Years War 1756-63 by John Mollo; Hippocrene Books; 224 pages: $7.95.

This volume is another in the series of color guides produced by Hippocrene Books. Following the format of the other guides Uniforms of the Seven Years War begins with a brief but informative history of the combatants, 65 pages of color plates, and, finally, an explanation of the plates that includes limited descriptions of the major battles in the conflict.

For the money, Mollo's book is the best buy on the market for the wargamer interested in the Seven Years War. It is especially valuable to the novice who has little or no experience in the musket and pike period. Although there are faults to be found the overall quality of the book is superb and very helpful.

The history of the combatants is written in a quick, easy to read style filled with interesting side stories about famous Seven Years War personalities. This section will give you a good overview of the types of troops that fought during the period, but fails to deal with the specifics of company and battalion organization. All in all, however, good information.

By its definition any color guide must be judged by its color plates and the illustrator of this work, Malcolm McGregor does not let us down. Not only is the technical work very good but McGregor has chooser his plates to illustrate that the uniforms of this period were both colorful and varied enough for the most adventurous painter.

The last section is a description of the plates themselves. Quality varies from description to description. In many instances you can pull out much of the information lacking in the first section, in others the description is painfully brief and shallow. Overall the descriptions are good and include some amusing background material.

One added plus in the volume is the liberal use of maps and orders of battle. All major conflicts are covered which should be helpful in prepairing scenarios.

Uniforms of the Seven Years War, Volumes 1 & 2; Greenwood and Ball; 24 pages per volume; 14.95 each sold separately.

In 1974 Greenwood and Ball published the first volume of what promised to be a series of reference guides to the Seven Years War. One year later they published their second guide covering the Austrians. Nothing has been published since which is unfortunate because Greenwood and Ball produced two excellent volumes for the wargamer.

Although the number of pages may not be impressive each guide is packed with vital information usually in the form of charts and colored examples that make painting easy. It may take some time to become familiar with how the charts work, but the time will be well spent.

Of particular interest to the gamer is the standard charts which explain the dffign for both the Prussian Flags (in volume one) and the Austrian Flags (in volume two). No other popular work in the period is as complete.

Both volumes were written for wargamers by wargamers with an eye towards information. They were also printed at a time when substance, not flash, was the rule. This is a lesson that could be learned by many publishers of "popular" military books today. One final word, do not expect to find either of these guides in your local hobby or book store. They can, however, be ordered through most stores catering to the gamer, and are certainly worth the wait.

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