Shadows in The Desert

The highly regarded "Shadows in The Desert" by Kaveh Farrokh, covering the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanids is now out in paperback in both the UK and US already. Amazon are selling it at 30% off list price.

• UK Version of Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War
• Us Amazon Version of Shadows in the Desert
  

Madaxeman Invitational FoG Tourney

I'm running a 1-day mini FoG tourney in London on the 17th of May. Full details via this link.

Oxford Doubles Report

Poles in action in a themed Eternal Empire competition - 4 match reports.

New Era Donnington Miniatures

Just added some pics of painted Donnington "New Era" medievals to the 15mm Directory. Donnington have also got a full set of pictures on their website as well now.



They are pretty much all either in the Men at Arms or Barded Knights directories.

New 15mm Supplier Added

Just added Baker Company, who produce 15mm Siamese & Burmese figures, to the 15mm Suppliers Directory

Chalons sur Marne

I hope to be playing in a mega-FOG game today (the afternoon of 3rd April) leading the Rugian contingent at Chalons against the Romans. With a bit of luck I may even be posting photos and updates from the game in real time on this page.

Samurai Armies 1467-1694

Samurai Armies 1467-1694 is the latest tome from Osprey in their Battle Orders series. Written by Stephen Turnbull (who along with Anthony Bryant has authored most of Osprey's range of Samurai books) this volume covers the period of Japanese history when the country was split into a multitude of rival princedoms and Samurai leaders fought for local - and eventually national - dominance.


The book itself is a weighty tome - no "8 pages of colour plates with some sketchy and largely irrelevant bonus text wrapped round it " Osprey this one!


This volume's 96 text-heavy pages do go into detail on Samurai history & politics of the period, giving an overview of how Japan changed and developed and highlighting the origins of the key players and clans. however - and most importantly for the likes of us gamers - there is absolutely stacks about warfare, battle tactics, uniforms, heraldry, with detailed maps and tactically astute accounts of battles and campaigns - in fact, everything from page 21 onwards is pretty much about the nitty gritty of warfare.

The book covers a number of key wargame-related topics in great detail, devoting many pages to each. The 17-page "Campaigns" section covers battlefield formations, communications, weaponry and how evolutions in weaponry (ie the arquebus) affected samurai tactics throughout this period.

20 Pages of "Strategic Engagement and Battlefield Movement" follows several key campaigns and uses them to highlight the classic array of formalized - and formula-busting - tactics used by key generals of the era.

A further 18 page section addresses in yet more detail the great battles of the Tokugawa Shoguns, from the unification of Japan through to the formation of the first real "Japanese" army and its abortive mission to subjugate Korea.

Summary:
For someone like myself for whom Samurai armies are not a passion, but something which fits into the "I'd like one one day just for the painting" the book is initially a somewhat challenging read, with a host of names of Japanese leaders and the rather confusing histories of various warring dynasties crammed into the first few pages.

However once this is out of the way (which it is quite soon) the book quickly kicks into a new life as something that almost seems to have been designed as a wargamers companion, and the speed at which I was able to take it all in increased dramatically.

By the time I'd finished I felt confident that the book had given me just enough history and background to put a context around what must be on many peoples "to do" lists, and shared enough pictures and uniform guides to inspire me to have a go at the uniforms, banners and flags as well. For a wargamer thinking of dipping their toe in Japanese waters then, it'd be hard to see how a one-volume guide to the period could be better put together.

Buy this book now from Amazon