Book Review: Men of War

I recently finished reading "Men of War" by Alexander Rose (not Axl Rose), a Keegan/Face of Battle style look at American soldiers in battle in three different eras (AWI, ACW, WW2).

http://www.amazon.com/Men-War-American-Soldier-Gettysburg/dp/0553805185/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451575964&sr=1-1&keywords=men+of+war

Rose focuses on three different battles to show the experiences of the common foot soldier - Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, and Iwo Jima.

I can't recommend this book.  The Bunker Hill chapters were good (around 100 pages), the Gettysburg chapters were a bit "eh" (Gettysburg is perhaps too familiar to me for this chapter to hold much interest), while I found the Iwo Jima chapters (the largest section of the book at around 150 pages) to be very dreary and depressing.  Rose focuses very heavily in the Iwo Jima chapters on casualties, shell shock, gore, and morbid descriptions of wounds and death.   After about 2 pages of that, my attitude was "OK, I get it....", but the theme continued throughout the chapters.

Rose is an excellent writer, and the book reads easily.

Overall, I'd have to give it a 2.5 stars out of 5.   Way too much graphic description of wounds in the Iwo Jima chapter.   Actually, Rose did seem to spend an inordinate amount of space describing wounds and death throughout the book.  Maybe if that level of traumatic discussion interests you, this book would be more interesting.  I think we all know how horrible war is, but this book grinds that fact into you.

His stated goal was to do a book similar to Keegan's "Face of Battle" focusing on the US soldier.  I feel like the resulting book is a pale comparison to "Face of Battle".

I do know that I'll never game Pacific island campaigns.  Maybe something in Burma, etc., but the island battles seem so predetermined once air/sea superiority was established.  But that's just my opinion!

Project Update

Wow.....I am tired!

Worked until 8:30 tonight putting in kitchen cabinets.  We now have approximately 60% of the kitchen cabinets in, with only the base cabinets on one side to remove and replace with the new cabinets.  Of course, once those cabinets are removed, I have to finish off installing the 1/2 of the kitchen hardwood floor remaining.    The goal is to have the kitchen floor done before Christmas, and possibly the cabinets done before 2016.   After that, we have to wait for the countertops to be fabricated/installed and the backsplash done before the kitchen is 100% useable again.

The scope of this project has been daunting.   Ripped out 100% of all the floors in the house, put hardwood throughout the house; new hardwood stairs upstairs and downstairs, new handrails and ballisters, 3 new bathrooms, new cabinets throughout the house, removed 4 windows, changed another window, added lights in the family room, added some kitchen lights, all new kitchen, new fireplace.....and other stuff I can't even remember.

Looking back, I now think "what were we thinking!".   We've been working on the project since April of 2014.

Did I mention that I'm tired?

I'm really looking forward to getting back to games in 2016.   I've been picking away on ECW armies, and they are sooooo close to being ready to hit the table.   I'm also wanting to finish up a WWII set of rules, and an Field of Battle campaign system.   Those are basically finished, but need final tweaking (WWII) and writing (campaign system).

I'm eagerly looking forward to the Bronco vs. Raiders game tomorrow, and another win for the Brock Osweiler led Broncos.  I've been enjoying watching a QB play that doesn't trip over his walker when he's dropping back to pass.

30-24

The Broncos beat the Patriots 30-24 in OT tonight.  While I despise the Patriots' organization, I also grudgingly respect their consistent excellence.   Games vs. the Patriots seem to be like wrestling a python.  Just when you relax, or make a mistake, it squeezes you just a bit tighter, then tighter, until....well, you know.  The Patriots just seem to make things tougher and tougher during a game.

A big salute to Brock Osweiler, the Broncos QB.   I think the writing on the wall should be clear for Peyton Manning to read.

The Biggest Book I've Ever....

Here's a pic of the biggest book I've ever seen or purchased.  It is MASSIVE.  "Kursk, The Battle of Prokhorovka" comes in at slightly over 1600 pages and several pounds in weight!  This is a fantastic book, full of analysis, summaries, sidebars, photos, etc.  It is a much easier read than Glantz.  Published by Aberdeen books, this is a once in a lifetime book.  While not cheap, I am thrilled to have a copy.

A quick note - if you are ever in the Denver area and have the time, I heartily recommend visiting Aberdeen Books.   Packed with any WW2 book you could want, plus a huge WW1 section, as well as a very large ancient, medieval, all the way up through FPW section.   They stock tons of books from Helion, and have so many specialist books that it is stunning.   I'll warn you - prepare to leave some money if you visit - you won't be able to just browse.

I've been out of action on the gaming front over the last month - here's what my game table looks like right now:

The table is covered with half of the cookware from our kitchen, as we're in the middle of a total renovation of it.  The kitchen is the last room in the house to finish, and while I've enjoyed the entire project (almost 2 years), I'm looking forward to having free time!  I'm guessing we won't be totally finished until after the start of the new year, but at least there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Since I haven't had as much time (or energy!) for painting figures, etc, I've been doing more fiction reading.   I just finished reading "The Heroes" by Joe Abercrombie.  I loved this book.  Great characters, fantastic action.   From the Amazon summary:

"They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley, and they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them."

You can find the book at your local bookstore, or at http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Joe-Abercrombie/dp/0316193569/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445507756&sr=1-1&keywords=the+heroes+joe+abercrombie

I previously read "Virtues of War" by Bennet R. Coles.  A military SF book, this was also a great read.  Here's a summary, again from Amazon:

"Lieutenant Katja Emmes is assigned to the fast-attack craft Rapier, joining a mission to investigate weapons smuggling activity between the Terran colonies of Sirius and Centauria. If true, this act of rebellion could escalate rapidly, and lead to all-out war.

When combat does erupt, its ferocity stuns the Terran forces, and pushes them to their limits. It tests the abilities of Lieutenant Emmes, as well, along with Sublieutenant Jack Mallory and Lieutenant Commander Thomas Kane, commanding officer of the Rapier. But failure is not acceptable.

They must defeat the enemy... by whatever means necessary."

http://www.amazon.com/Virtues-Astral-Saga-Bennett-Coles/dp/1783294205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445507915&sr=1-1&keywords=virtues+of+war+by+bennett+r.+coles

Both books were engrossing and a nice break from non-fiction works.

Here's a photo to show the relative sizes of the books.....I told you the Kursk book was big!

Back to Napoleonics!

Our group played a real nail biting game this past Saturday - 1809, Austrians on defense vs. French.  The Austrians had established a position on a ridge, leaving a sizeable town to their front undefended.  The Austrians had elected to not garrison the town, as they thought it was too exposed and would allow the French to concentrate against any troops posted there.

The Austrians were on the ridge to the right, the French beginning along the vertical baseline on the left.

The French begin to advance, poised for their assault on the Austrians on the ridge.

The French assault was aimed at the apex of the ridge, in the diagonal square behind the town.  Unfortunately for the French, this position of honor was held by a unit of Austrian Grenadiers - and a stout group they proved to be!   On the French left, the French basically held in place, staring down a few more Austrians to their front.   The battle turned into an assault on both sides of the town and on the southern edge of the ridge.  Eventually the French punched a hole in the Austrian line at the corner of the ridge, and their cavalry brigade poured through, decimating the Austrians (both infantry and cavalry).  At the end of the game, both sides had 0 or 1 Morale Points remaining, and gave points back and forth.  Finally, the French were at 1 point, the Austrians were at 0.....and an Army Morale card was drawn for the Austrians!  Unfortunately for them, they failed (rolling a 1).   What a game!

A variety of photos from the game:

I should mention that the rules used were Field of Battle, 2nd Edition, with a few house rules.  The ridge was a Class I hill, meaning that it didn't hinder movement, but provided elevation advantages and line of sight protection.  Also, no Maneuver cards were in the deck.  Units could maneuver or change formation on Move cards for the price of 1 move segment.  On Move cards with won even rolls, the maneuver/formation change was free.  Finally, and most significantly, ordered cavalry could melee on Move cards.  Disordered/out of command cavalry still required either a Melee or won even roll on a Move card.  These all worked fantastically well.  In particular, I really liked allowing cavalry to melee on a Move card.  It made them much more dangerous, and not a thing to be trifled with.

Thanks to Greg C, Greg R, Eric, Terry, Chris, John, and Rodney for playing!

Lil' Bill Belicheat

I think any reader of this blog now knows of my dislike (to put it mildly) of Belicheat, Tom Baby, and the New England Cheatriots.   I've always felt the saying "where there's smoke there's fire" seemed to usually hold true.....

Comment 1:  A former Indy Colts head coach said that Peyton Manning and the Colts offensive coordinator would have game discussions in the hallway outside of the dressing room at the NE stadium because they suspected that the visitors locker room was bugged.  

Classy.

Belicheat smiles for the cameras

Comment 2:  I heard a radio interview at lunch today where former Chicago Bear QB Jim MacMahon had less than glowing comments about lil Bill Belicheat.   While I don't remember the exact quote, the question posed to him was about the football air pressure (his answer "I don't care").  When asked if he thought Belicheat was a cheater, MacMahon said ""I know he's a liar,"  "Cheating ain't far behind, I wouldn't think." MacMahon said Belicheat lied to his face in MacMahon's short time with the Cleveland Browns at the end of his career - something to do with pay and being kept on the roster.  To this day, MacMahon hasn't received the pay that Belicheat promised.

Classy.

Tom Brady shows how much integrity he has remaining

The thing that just ticks me off about the grumpy lil Bill Belicheat is the repeated theme of stretching the rules, ignoring rules, pushing the spirit of the rules, and just downright cheating.   I think the guy is a scumbag, and will do anything to win - figuring that the penalty will never outweigh the wins.  It makes me sick to my stomach to hear TV talking heads talk about his brilliance.  We'll see how brilliant Belicheat is for the 4 games at the start of the upcoming season without Tom Baby.   From what I've seen, the Cheatriots 2nd string QB looks pretty pathetic.  Couldn't happen to a more deserving organization.

Blch.

"I can't believe my wife talked me into this hairstyle"

One More Vacation Note - White Man Runs Him

I forgot to mention in my previous post - while at the Little Big Horn battlefield, I met the great, great granddaughter of White Man Runs Him, a Crow scout for Custer at the time of the battle.    How cool is that!

At the time of the LBH battle, White Man Runs Him was 18 years old.

Some photos of White Man Runs Him.

Later in life

At Last Stand hill

Approximately in 1908

I believe he is on the right.  Another photo on Last Stand Hill, at a young age