Wargaming the Western Desert

One of my Christmas acquisitions was a book by Donald Featherstone Tank battles in miniature: A wargamers' guide to the Western Desert Campaign in 1940-1942 which was originally published in 1973. I have the 2010 paperback reprint edited by John Curry as part of the The History of Wargaming Project and I have to say that its probably the best book I have read on this theatre of the war.

The great Donald Featherstone had tried to join the RAF and the Royal Navy during the Second World War but both rejected him. In the great tradition of 'third time lucky' he was eventually able to enlist when he joined the Royal Armoured Corps, serving in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. The result is that this book has a very natural feel to it and many sections are clearly written from personal experience.

The book contains a clear and concise summary of the actual campaign at each stage of the war. This is probably the clearest description I have read so far in fact. Each phase of the campaign is clearly delineated and at the end of each section the vehicles and tanks used by both sides are listed along with approximate numbers. This will be of great importance when building an army list or picking a particular period or battle to recreate. Having detailed the action of the campaign the author then goes on to discuss the tactics and their evolution throughout the war.

Following on from this is a section describing the terrain encountered and it was here that I realised what a really good writer Donald Featherstone is. Don's descriptions are evocative, vivid and clearly convey the desolate and barren land across which men fought and died. This was as harsh and as unforgiving a landscape as anyone could wish to fight for. But it was also 'ideal' country for manoeuvre warfare and as such was unlike any other theatre in the Second World War.

Further chapters describe the technical specifications for the vehicles, tanks, guns and aircraft used throughout the campaign. There are also sections on communications, visibility and navigation, how top fire tank and anti-tank guns, 'brewing-up', air operations, the Long Range Desert Group, minefields and supply. Much of this can be found in other books but this volume collects together a wide range of facts that not only give a really good picture of the Western Desert war but will also be invaluable to anyone planning on wargaming the period. 

This is an truly excellent book that is just as useful now as it was when first published in 1973. As someone just starting to wargame this campaign I count myself very lucky to have found this book and I can see it being referenced constantly over the coming months.

Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher:   lulu.com (12 July 2010)
Language:  English
ISBN-10:    1445790645
ISBN-13:    978-1445790640
RRP:          £12.95

Wartime Toy

The Imperial War Museum Duxford is a vast site with hundreds of thousands of exhibits and space for events of all shapes and sizes. On Sunday the Wife and I took our youngest along to take part in some of the Christmas holiday children's activities in the AirSpace Hanger. One of the craft events was a chance to make a popular Second World War toy consisting of John Bull and Uncle Sam punching Hitler! The young Padawan enjoyed it a lot, as can be seen in this little video.

This was a rather clever toy really because it turned the scariest man in Europe into a figure of ridicule. And this modern facsimile is clearly just as amusing to kids today as it was seventy years ago.

Toy Soldiers - Pipers of the Scots Guards

Continuing the occasional series of pictures of Toy Soldiers.

Pipers of the Scots Guards by William Britons Ltd c1912

First Game of 2013

A few years ago we went on a family holiday to Yorkshire. We had a six hour drive and after a while my youngest daughter (then aged 5) got bored and invented a great Car Game called 'Tomato Ketchup'. It's a silly game that the whole family (except the driver) can take part in and it works best with four or more players.

Nominate a player to become the Seeker and they then close their eyes and listen very carefully over the sound of the car and road. Another random player then says "Tomato Ketchup" in a silly voice and the Seeker must decide which of the other players said it. If they are right the player that was 'caught' becomes the Seeker and has to close their eye's and then someone else says "Tomato Ketchup". Simple, silly, funny, utterly pointless and us mad lot play it every time we have a long drive!

Last Night we went to Family for New Years Eve and on the drive home - primarily to keep me awake as I was the driver - we played Tomato Ketchup. We also played the 2nd Edition rules called "Brown Sauce". So there you have it, my first game of 2013! And before you ask, none of us were drunk, we're just silly in the head.