I told the rest of the guys that write for Splendor of Fire that I was going to become the WW1 expert, after I picked up a copy A War Transformed (AWT). A game that we have written about a few times. I still hope to get it on the table at some point, the requirements are pretty high though. I should just finish printing my British army, and play the whole thing unpainted. Wargames Atlantic Digital has a really good selection of WW1 Germans at this point. I’m still waiting on some more WW1 British, but they are doing a good job of releasing units.

Ok, this is a review of the Boer War Essentials histories, not a hobby blog on AWT. I started reading Churchill’s The World Crisis, which is a 5 volume history of WW1. I am quite enjoying it. I’ll write up a review on that later.

One of the things Churchill states early in the work is the various conflicts that led up to WW1. And the 2nd Boer War (or the South African War, as he calls it), was one of those conflicts that starts the World Crisis. Churchill doesn’t go into much detail (at least as far as I have gotten), so I’m not sure what his reasoning is. I decided to take small sojourn into using my reading of Churchill to direct my research. To that end, I picked up this volume of Essential History from Osprey.

I was delighted. It is a nice easy read, with a good grasp of what happened, why it happened, the forces involved, and a few of the major battles. There are a few extra tidbits at the end, discussing various people, and there thoughts and contributions to the war, and the post-war recovery.

The book itself is well put together. The sections are clearly laid out, and the bibliography at the end can really help you dig deeper and deeper into the conflict if you need.

I can’t comment on any of the other books in the series yet. I did pick up a copy of the Russo-Japanese War. I have not finished reading it yet.

I plan on playing a few of the battles using my Wargames Digital subscription, and using Blood and Steel as my ruleset. We will see how that if ever makes it to the table. Too many games, and too little time.

By Orion

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