Das Buch!

Book Reviews

by Mark Hannam

US Army Rangers & LRRP Units 1942-87 : Osprey Elite No.13 by Gordon Rottman, £ 8.99. As can be expected, the colour plates are excellent and there are some interesting photos of US Army Rangers in the Far East during WW2. Unfortunately, of little value to the wargamer otherwise. Like many Osprey subjects, Elite No.13 tries to cover too large a subject in too few pages. So has ended up being little more than an extended genealogy of Ranger & Long Range Patrol formations. Disappointing. I took the opportunity afforded by the strength of the pound over the dollar, coupled with the ease of ordering books through the internet from Amazon.Com, which offers discounts of 20-40% on most books which covered shipping charges and left some to spare. Not only were the books cheaper overall than purchasing them over here, but the first order arrived in just nine days ! The Element of Surprise : Navy SEAL`s in Vietnam by Darryl Young (isbn 0-8041-0581-2) $5.99. Critically acclaimed account of one man`s war as a Navy SEAL, but a disappointing read for the wargamer. As was Brave Men Dark Waters : The Untold Story of the Navy SEALS by Orr Kelly (isbn 0-671-86762-8) $6.99. Far too much time spent on the formation of the SEALS in WW2 and latterly their actions in Panama and the Gulf. You`ll learn more from any webpage dedicated to the Navy SEALS. Rangers At War : LRRP`s in Vietnam by Shelby L Stanton (isbn 0-8041-0875-7) $6.99. If you must buy one book on the LRRP`s (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols) then get this definitive history of their organisation and operations in Vietnam. Stanton traces the geneology of every 'Lurp' unit, giving a good overview of organisation, weapons and tactics. Stanton fills his pages with details of enough actual ambushes, raids and patrols to keep most scenario hungry wargamer satisfied and at the same time shows how Lurp operations were moulded by the specific conditions and demands of their area of operation. LRRP Team Leader by John Burford (isbn 0-8041-1051-4) $4.99 and Recondo : LRRP`s in the 101st Airborne by Larry Chambers (isbn 0-8041-0843-9) $5.99 are interesting for being written by members of the same LRRP team. Both books are good reads and are full of action. Together, they provide the wargamer with a wealth of information on Ranger (LRRP) weapons, tactics and operations at the sharp end. Some of the actions against superior enemy forces are breath-taking. Of all the books I ordered on elite US units in Vietnam, by far the best of the bunch turned out to be Force Recon Diary, 1969 (isbn 0-8041-0671-1) by Bruce H Norton $6.99. Norton was a Navy Corpsman who volunteered to go on patrol with the Marines of the 3rd Force Recon Company. Force Recon did excellent work in Vietnam providing intelligence on VC/NVA formations and their activities so that they could be engaged by mainforce Marine units - culminating in some of the biggest kill ratios of the war. Though a Navy Corpsman, Norton was issued with an M16 and took on a fully combative role when out on patrol. His personal accounts of the patrols has the ability to place the reader firmly in the middle of the action. The text is jam packed with minute details of patrol life, not to mention data on organisation, tactics and operations. Thoroughly recommended. Back to The Gauntlet No. 14 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com