by Dr. R.C.Anderson. (216 x l35mm; 144 Pages; 26 pages of photographs and 16 black-and-white diagrams. Argus Books -£ 5.50p).
This, a new edition of a classic work previously published in 1962, traces the complete history of oared war vessels over 2,500 years front the Ancient Greeks to the Baltic States of the 1700s. The author is a respected naval historian who was for many years Chairman of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. His manner of examining the problems of manning and handling warships under oars is masterly and the book is well illustrated with line drawings and pictures, many from contemporary sources. The naval wargamer will find much of it unique and invaluable and the discussions concerning the manner of the arrangement of oars in biremes and larger vessels makes most interesting reading. It would be a really worthwhile naval wargaming project to make two models of Ancient warships as described in this book, scaled to 25mm figures and then crew them with a suitably scaled-down number of fighting men, let them loose on a wargames table after carrying out initial manoeuvres with symbolic smaller models before the actual fighting vessels are placed on the table in whatever positions they have finally arrived at when contact was made. A vast melee ranging from one deck to the other would be something I would certainly like to be in on!
The BLANDFORD PRESS have recently issued their list of Autumn Titles for 1976 and one notable new title which will undoubtedly be of real interest to wargamers is UNIFORMS OF THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW IS12 by Philip Haythornthwaite. Apparently this volume will contain 192 pages with 64 of them in full colour and sell at £ 2.95p. The illustrations, which will undoubtedly be up to Blandfordts already well known high standards, are by Michael Chappell.
More Book Reviews
- Handbook for Colonial Wargamers
The Cavalry
The Battle of Blenheim
Oared Fighting Ships
Wargames Through the Ages Vol. 4 1861-1945
Before Endeavors Fade: A Guide to the Battlefields of the First World War
With the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State 1880-81
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© Copyright 1976 by Donald Featherstone.
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