The following transcript is the interrogation of David Heath formerly of Matrix Games and now main man at Lock ‘n Load Publishing.

     

                   
Hello, all! I've managed through a covert operation to kidnap another mover and shaker within the wargames industry. After a two-minute torture session involving gaffer tape, a chair and a feather duster, David Heath of Lock ‘n Load Publishing finally succumbed and agreed to answer any questions our devious interrogator could come up with. The transcript of said interrogation is below. Interrogators questions (Bob "You can't say that" Me "Oh yeah right"). Interviewer questions in black typeface and interviewee answers in red.

  OK first and foremost please introduce yourself, and not just name rank and serial number! In fact, why haven't you just been saying your name, rank, and serial number? Oh and stop saying there was no need for all this..we’re not going to fall for that old trick, we’re not stupid you know! Tell me who you are, your age, your favorite music, your favorite band, your favorite color (no idea why I'm asking that but go with it), favorite food and your favorite game of all time. Finally, are you married or single and are there any little ones around?

  Well, ok my name is David Heath, I am 51, and music tastes are all over the place, from Rock, Punk Rock, Big Band and Classical. Some of my favourite artists are The Cars, Stray Cats, The Police, MxPx, Post Modern Jukebox and Thousand Foot Krutch. I do enjoy some classic bands like The Clash, the Beatles, and the artist Carman.

  Two of my favorite board game designers are Mark Herman and Erik Lee Smith. I pretty much enjoy any games designed by these guys. Some of my favorite designs ,that I highly recommend, are Across the Five Aprils and Churchill. My favorite board game is by John Prados titled Rise and Decline of the Third Reich. 

  On the digital side, three of my top designers are Gary Grigsby, Norm Kroger and John Tiller. I can’t think of any digital game I would call my favourite, but I do still enjoy Steel Panthers World At War.

  I’ve been married to a wonderful woman for 24 years named Ava Marie. We have three boys Andrew 19, Nicholas 17 and Shane 12. I also have what I call my extended kids, Austin 18, Noah 14 and Jesse 9 from my sister family. All of the boys are gamers from consoles, computers to table top games we do them all. My family throughout my life have always supported my gaming habits which makes me a doubly blessed. Oh, and I almost forgot my favorite color is blue.

  Good, good, that's more like it. I see you're now willing to co-operate. OK, Bob, you can put the nose tickler away! So, David, I'd like to start at the beginning. What did you want to be when a little David?

  My Dad was always watching historical shows and movies, and it gave me a love for all things history. In the 5th grade, I found my first wargame at my local Toys R Us by Avalon Hill and the love affair has never ended. I always wanted to design, develop and publish games and I've been so blessed by God and my family to be able to follow my dreams.

  So how did you follow your dreams, what was your first job and at what point did you become involved in the gaming business?

  First thing I decided was to learn as much as I could about the process and the game industry. My High School had an internship program and I was told if I could find a company willing to take me on I could do it, since they didn’t have any companies for game design, imagine that. 

  I called Victory Games in New York City and had a few talks with Mark Herman and he agreed to give it a try. I am so grateful to both Mark Herman, Erik Lee Smith and everyone else at Victory Games for giving me a chance. Those guys took a lot of their personal time showing me how they do things and why. Trust me it was the best thing I got out of High School after my wife. 



 The mid 80’s was a good time for me NYC, after work on Friday it was time to go hang out in midtown before going off to the Village for some dinner. The Complete Strategist in New York City was the wargame hangout. Daniel, the store owner, always took the time to greet everyone and review of the latest games and to talk shop. I learned about what stores needed and why. We would talk for hours, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

 

 

  What was the first game\project you worked on? How did the game do and was the experience enjoyable?

  Hmmm, that would be the Ambush series and Pacific War for Victory Games. I got to help with the map for Pacific War, which was some of the best times I had at Victory Games. The guys at Victory Games never treated me as a stupid kid. They made sure to put me down as a playtester on the Ambush modules I worked on. Both games are considered classics these days.  I also did some playtesting for SSI and made friends with a lot of the people there.

My first computer project with myself at the helm was after I started The Gamers Network, an online review site. I wanted to do more and I loved Steel Panthers and had made friends with Joel Billings from SSI. After many talks I finally convinced Joel to allow my group to have the source code to do a fan base edition of Steel Panthers Series. I think he might have just been tired of the debate (grin). Both winSPWW2 edition from Shrapnel games and Steel Panthers World At War by Matrix Games came out of from my talks with Joel and Gary. This was a significant achievement back then and was never allowed normally.  Neither edition of Steel Panthers would exist today if it was not for Joel and Gary taking a chance and agreeing to this. 

 

 

 Michael Wood was the lead programmer with Bill Wilder and his Raiders working on the scenario designs. As a team, we worked very hard trying out new ideas and finally released Steel Panthers World At War. What we figured would be a blip on the gaming world took off and was a huge success for us and would become the starting point for Matrix Games. I was told it would never happen; then that nothing would come of it. Lesson learned from that is to pray hard and keep your eye on the prize.

  Most of us first heard your name with regards to Matrix Games. If my sources are right, you started Matrix Games back in Staten Island, New York in 1999. Can you tell us what made you want to start up a game company devoted to wargames and how did the process go in getting it up off the ground and running as a viable business?

  At the time I started Matrix Games I had already owned a few business but that work was never as heart felt as when I was doing gaming stuff. My goal at the time was to work Monday through Thursday, play games Thursday night until late and then be off on Friday to recover. It never worked that way, but it helped me decide that  I wanted to do something in the game field. 

 Everyone had told me it wouldn't make money and to not waste my time. I started with the Gamers Network reporting on anything to do with board or computer wargames and enjoyed that.  When we started doing Steel Panthers: World At War I  felt one of the advantages we had was that we were already working as a tight team.

  Looking back at your time at Matrix Games which game are you most proud of and which was the most successful?

 

 

  I am very proud of all the products we put out and the people I worked with. Uncommon Valor was one of my favorites since it was the first time I got to work with Gary Grigsby and Joel Billings on a new product. Most people never get to meet their heroes; I got to do that and work with them.

 Also which game would you rather forget about?

 Oh, that is an easy one, Fortress Europa. I can still here Erik Rutins laughing at me for years about that game. It was a mess, and it was all my fault. To this day I still get taunted about it, luckily there are not many copies out there, if any to be found. What it did teach me was everything you produce is important and not to be taken for granted. That means the manual, player aids, menus and even the inside of a box. The first two big lessons I learned here was to never stop reviewing the game during the development process and keep trying to find ways to make it better, and that does not always mean cheaper. The third colossal one was never let anyone pressure you to release something you are not happy with. Something I think some designers and publishers can use today.

  David, your companies’ philosophy always seems to be to create a family atmosphere and a close-knit community, do you feel you were successful in achieving this? Was this important to you?

 This has always been my philosophy; The staff that work well together, play together and have fun and not always be just work. Sometimes you just need a break. I have closed the office to catch a movie, a surprise food break, etc. The team knows I want to hear their views on any given subject, and I do consider what is being said to me. I once had a guy tell me “I must make all final design decisions” I said “No way”. I know I'm not the smartest person in the room. I’m just someone who made some mistakes and hope I’ve learned from them. Once any decision is made and jobs are allocated  I then expect total commitment and their best effort no matter what.

  From the customer end, it’s simple; I want the customers to be able to get in touch with our designers and staff. I personally never trust a company that doesn’t have a forum to engage its customers. I try to answer our customers questions, and I do enjoy chatting with them. Half the fun of gaming is talking to people and that should not change if you are a publisher.

If you could go back is there anything you’d do differently?

  Look there is a lot of things I would love to have a redo on but that is not life. I try to roll with the punches and move forward. So I do not over think the past. I figure out what could have been done better and then make sure I do that next time.

What were your high points and if any your low points during your tenure of Matrix Games?

  I enjoyed it all from the start to the end. Some things more than others but overall good times. I love putting deals together and making what I was told would never happen, happen.

Why did you feel the time was right to sell to Slitherine Games?

 We had published about 80+ games, and I felt I had gone as far as I could take the company. I was simply burned out at the time, and I need challenges and goals to work towards to drive me. I figured the deal with them would help me get to the next level. It never worked that way.

 I didn’t know it then but I was starting to get sick, and being a typical man I suppose it took some time before I went to see a doctor and that of course ended up with me needing surgery. It was supposed to be a simple ,quick check up but they found two tumors growing inside me. The good news is I'm now fully recovered, I lost over 140 pounds and now I just need to pay more attention to my health.

  After the sale, it was announced you'd still be around, however at some point you disappeared. What happened?

 After the sale was completed, I had a hard time finding a place to fit in. This is not to blame the new owners, as I am sure I was not in the best of places personally. The new owner had their business style and ideas, and I had mine, and the two didn’t match.

 

 

  I was there for about two years; during that time my Dad past, and we were very close. My Dad attended the conventions with us, and we always had a great time. One of my best memories is of my Dad, Bill Wilder, Bill Trotter and Larry Bond simply talking about life over a cup of coffee. Another time we went to GenCon, and we were all getting ready for the hall to open, and GenCon some of the costumes people wear are a little wilder than at other conventions. I tried to warn my Dad and he looks at me and says “David I’ve seen it all before”, within five minutes a girl dressed in a gothic outfit walks up with her boyfriend (I assume it was a boyfriend) on all fours in a leather spike outfit on a leash. My Dad just stared at them and then at all of us and said “I was wrong, very wrong.” We all broke out laughing, and the couple started explaining what game their outfits was for. 

  So with my Dad passing the spark kind of went out of me for a bit. During the time I ran Matrix we hardly had any staff turnover, but by this point only two or so of the original team was left, so the company I called mine was not there anymore. I felt it was pretty much time to go. So I did, and that was that door closed and I then took a break.

 After that, I started started working with an old friend who ran Just Adventure. I was helping  developers and getting involved in products very much like before and it was refreshing. I was allowed to run my area of the company, and I just enjoyed the freedom and the challenge working there. I still collaborate with the guys there when needed.

  You're now the owner of Lock ‘n Load Publishing. How did this come about and what was it about Lock ‘n Load Publishing that appealed to you?

 

  Mark Walker the original owner of Lock n’ Load called me and simply said he was looking for someone to buy the company and asked if I was interested. At first said “No thank you”, but a buddy of mine thought it would be a good idea, and I was feeling the need to get back in the game. So after some more talks a deal was worked out.

 What did you do first once taking over Lock ‘n Load Publishing?

 There was a lot, and it took me a while to get a handle on all the products and then for me to work out what needed to be done, and more importantly how. Once I started figuring out the details I soon realised there were quite a few issues, some minor, some not. One of the main issues was getting the product lines back to the market.

 I decided that the best way to correct a lot of issues was to print as much as possible in-house. This gives us a lot of freedom, but it took a while to work out those details. This caused Mark and I to bump heads as we both have very different styles of handling things and the end result was Mark starting a new company called Flying Pig Games. At this time Mark has released one new box game and another one is on the way.

What has been your hardest thing you needed to overcome? 

 

 

  The games themselves have been the best and at the same time the worst thing to overcome. At this point, I feel Lock ‘n Load Publishing is doing the best it ever has, and the community seems to agree. We know there are still more things we need to improve and we will. The games and the systems themselves are in the best shape ever, the rules, maps and counters have all been improved where needed. Our new editions having been selling out in record time.

  Let me take a moment to do a shameless plug of my team because without them none of this would have been possible; Jeff Lewis now leads the Lock ‘n Load Tactical Series, Sean Druelinger the Nations At War Series, Matt Lohse, and Keith Tracton the World At War 85 Series. In-house helping me keep it all together on the graphic end is Marc von Martial, Blackwell Hird, and David Julien. Darren White and Jason Church are covering our flanks handling our Production, Shipping, and Customer Support. There are many others like Ralph Ferrari, Jim Zabek, designers, programmers, etc. The bottom line is it's all about the people you surround yourself with and with a great team you can do just about anything. We have improved the quality of our game line and the gamers overall experience.

What do you consider to be some of the best changes you made at Lock ‘n Load Publishing?

  I guess taking any confusion out of the company name, game series titles, new domain name and a major one is simply making the games available again. 

 The other big one was the need for expansions, to need other expansions. You should never need something such as extra counters, maps, player aid cards etc., to play a standalone or what we call a core/base game.

 

 

  In an expansion you will of course need a core/base game but not another expansion and especially not one from another historical era. To help clear this issue up in Lock ‘n Load Tactical we made it easy, if you see the word “Hero” in a title of a Lock ‘n Load Tactical game you know it is a complete game and requires nothing else. 

 I think it’s very frustrating for customers to buy  a modern era expansion that not only requires a modern core/base game which is understandable, but then to also require the customer to purchase a World War II era core/base game just so you can use the maps to play the expansion this is just too much. By us making things consolidated where possible it gives the customer confidence in what they are purchasing and what they can expect in a game from us.

  What do you consider to be some of the bigger changes you made for the customers since you took over?

  Of course the games, but outside of that, I would say the new pre-order/backorder system with our new customer loyalty program. Our new pre-order system will allow you to place pre-orders with no need for a credit card or payment upfront. No Risk or Outlay of money. When the pre-order is ready for shipment, you will be sent an email with a link to click on and pay for your pre-order. You will then have ten days to do this, and if during the interval you decide not purchase the product then you don't need to do anything. The order will automatically be cancelled, and you may order the game at any time at the current price.

  We use to have a reward point system, you had to know how many award points you needed for a game, limited to what products you could use them on and you needed to remember to use them at checkout. Our new Loyalty system is simple and does all the work for you. Our new Loyalty system keeps tracks of your purchase history and applies you with a discount at checkout; that is applied to all of your purchases including pre-orders. This discount is visible right at checkout, and you never need to do anything. As you purchase more games over time, your discount will increase over time giving you an even larger discounts. Your discount is made based on your purchases over time and NOT the amount currently in your cart.

  One of the things gamers hate is throwing down money on a game with no idea if they like it. When I was at Matrix Games we were always being asked to provide a demo. Wargames are not first person shooters so making a demo is a lot harder, and a major time drain for the programmer. Most wargames need some type of printed rules. The last thing is, we are setting up services to provide much better rates for our customers in Europe and Canada. Expect to hear more on that soon.

  Lock ‘n Load Publishing is most famous for its board games, where Matrix Games was mainly digital wargames. So will the board game side still have a big role in the future of Lock ‘n Load Publishing or will digital wargames become Lock ‘n Load Publishing's bread and butter?

  When I was doing computer games one of the biggest issues we had was not all programmers are game designers. So many of the games could have been better or they took a lot longer than they should have to complete. Having a long list of proven game designs and systems takes that problem away. 

 

 

 Just about every digital game we release will have a Windows and MAC edition followed by iPad and iPhone where possible. Our idea is to provide a totally FREE core edition of our digital games. So anyone can download the whole complete game and start playing. Our core game will normally come with one a two easy battles/scenarios to allow a gamer to see if he likes it and make sure it works on his system. If the customer is pleased with it he may purchase the games Battle Packs that will provide more battles/scenarios. This also helps with updates as every engine update will automatically update any older content. We currently have available Panther Games Command Ops 2, so if you’re not sure it is for you, simple, download it and find out.

  Line of Fire Magazine issues seemed to have stop. When is the next issue coming out?

 The quick answer, it is not. We had a lot of customers not wanting to buy a magazine just for a few scenarios for the one or two games they liked. We have decided to stop releasing any new issues of the magazine for the foreseeable future. 

 Our customer want more content for the games they already have from us. So we will be releasing more Compendium magazines for our different game series. We are taking the games that have been released in back issues of Line of Fire and re-releasing them as stand-alone products. The next two Compendium will be for Lock ‘n Load Tactical. The first one will cover scenarios and articles for Lock ‘n Load Tactical: World War II and the second one for the Modern Era. They should have all the previous released Lock ‘n Load Tactical scenarios with a few surprises.

  Gamers can be quite a vocal lot. Wargamers I reckon are probably one of the hardest to please. Grognards want different things to the casual gamer, then they all have their favourite scale, then you have the traditionalists and then those who are happy to see new mechanics, all with something to say and usually not shy in voicing their opinions.

 What’s your experience been like dealing with what can be a difficult section of gamers especially difficult to please? Does this make developing\designing wargames tougher than a different genre of game?

 There are always a few that you can't please and those I don’t worry about too much. Overall the gamers are a great and understanding lot. I never liked using email for a customer support, emails get lost or missed. Our forums and support desk really help us 90% of the time with keeping up with our customers. We also go around the internet keeping are customers informed and answering questions where ever  we have a presence like BGG, CSW, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. 

 One of the things I personally do is pick a recently placed order and call that customer and see how he felt his service was. I don’t mind upset customers because if they are spending money and something is wrong they have the right to say so and that is why we have a support ticket system and the forums. There is no hiding, when we make a mistake we take our lumps, but this goes both ways and we have customers who post how happy they are, leave us nice support tickets saying thank you etc.

  As for designing/developing games I would say it makes no difference. The designers are important but if you want a great game it really requires a good developer.

  What advice can you give to those who are thinking about getting into the game business as a publisher?

 If you've got the bug to publish the likelihood is you have already started. If you’ve got a question just ask someone at a publishing company or even a local print shop. I get calls and emails from college students to gamers asking questions all the time. I don’t mind answering a few questions from time to time so feel free to email me.

 What advice can you give to those wanting to work in the game business in any other position?

  Go to a company (LnLP is always looking) and start off with a few scenarios, or playtesting. Then try your hand at maybe building an expansion for a game.

  What job within the business would you say is the one most needed so easier to get a job in? What would skills you say are must haves for those with ambitions to get into the game business?

Each companies needs are different but one part of a game that can be a gateway into the industry are the graphics. To me the Graphic Artist is the most needed but not necessarily the easiest job to get in with, and that is the short simple answer. Not all artists can do all things, but once a publisher can make a connection it’s a good starting point.

 What is the most important thing you feel our hobby needs?

Bring in more gamers PERIOD, and I am not talking about more Magic players. There is nothing wrong with Magic but it is not growing our hobby at all. We need more clubs, gaming groups and leaders to help teach someone what this hobby is all about. The first gaming club I found was through the General magazine whilst I was in High School and I am still friends with many of those guys.

  We need starter wargames to teach what a ZOC is and other basic wargaming terms. There are a lot of good games for this, Jim Werbaneth’s Rommel At Gazala, Peter Bogdasarian’s Tank On Tank Series and there are a lot of other games from other publishers. 

 

 We need more games that keep us engaged, here is an example of what I am getting at. I went to play Churchill and I could not get pass the rulebook. I am sure it was me, to tired or simply just not connecting the dots. The game is just such a great design it was like nothing I had played before. I was so lost that I had to have a friend come by to teach me. I got the pizza and he taught me the game. I loved the game and it seemed so much easier than the rulebook made it look. This game would never have been played if I had needed to figure it out by myself. 

 I teach at a school on computer software and I convinced the school to allow me to teach the software class while giving them a real project. The project is teaching these kids how to design, develop and produce a game. This fall I will kick this off, I have no idea how it will go but I am excited.

 

  This past February I was reminded how important these retail stores are to our hobby. My son Shane and I went to Jeff Newell’s convention called Game On in Seattle, it is a small convention but one of the most enjoyable ones I attend. One of the exhibitors was a game store called Around the Table which is based in Seattle. One of the owners is Nick Coelho who I had never met before yet soon we were chatting away and  I stated that I would like to learn two games at his booth. Nick went and got his own copies of these two games and came back and spent the evening teaching my son and I how to play and then went on to play the games with us. Not wanting to make a choice I had to buy both games. If I ever open a Lock ‘n Load game store, I promise this will be done at my store if it ever comes to be.

  What are your dreams for Lock ‘n Load Publishing?

  What any publisher wants, gamers to enjoy the games we publish.

  Finally, I want NUTS! and it's expansions Clash of Titans and Stalingrad by two-hour wargames to be converted to the PC. We won't get the nose tickler out if you now commit to this?

  Hey, Ed and I were just talking about making a LnLP edition of NUTS it may be closer then you think.

Bob, what's that noise? Sirens? Oh sh…Bob run..run..David thank you for your time, just cut yourself out of the chair with these..oh you got out of there quick… Ok please don’t say anything…ouch, yes I deserved that..ooooh..and that…ow..that to…..

Exciting!! Gotta run..bye!

                                                       Ageod's The Thirty Years War


  Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, and the Great Conde, oh my. It also has Tilly, Wallenstein, Horn, Pappenheim, and the Cardinal-Infante, plus the whole gang of kings and princes and generals that we love to read about.

 This is a Slitherine/Matrix/Ageod game of the Thirty Years War. The game has actually been released by the Ageod part of the gaming triumvirate. They have also released such titles as, The Wars of Napoleon, The Rise of Prussia, Revolution under siege etc..

 This war was caused by the Bohemians offering their crown from the head of the Catholic Hapsburg Ferdinand II, to the Protestant Frederick V of the Palatinate, a small part of the Holy Roman Empire. The empire was once described as neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. Frederick V is called the 'Winter King', because that is how long his reign of Bohemia lasted.  The Bohemians, in a fit of religious rage, threw two of Ferdinand's councilors out of a window to land seventy feet below into a dung heap. Miraculously they both survived, thus proving that politicians, like cats, usually land on their feet.  This was the spark that set off the greatest conflagration since the reformation began. On the outside it was a religious war. In reality at times Catholic fought Catholic and Protestant fought Protestant, depending less on the states' religious views than their own policy.

 The war was a high mark in man's inhumanity to man. The devastation and desolation this war caused in central Europe affected it for the next few hundred years. The sack of Magdeburg was that centuries 'rape of Nanking'. The scale was smaller, but the savagery was just as intense. The woodcuts and printed sheets of the horrors were the first large propaganda outpouring to hit Europe.

 The Thirty Years war saw the change from completely rigid linear tactics to the reforms of Maurice Prince of Orange. It also was the watershed between countries moving from half trained militia and mercenary armies, to having fully professional standing armies. 

 Enough of the history, now let's get to the game. This review is of the 1.01 version.

  The game has three tutorials and five scenarios these are:

  Tutorials:

  1. Basic Rules
  2. Recruitment, Production, and Decisions
  3. Advanced Concepts and Tips

  Scenarios:

  1. The Bohemian revolt 1618
  2. The Danish Phase 1625
  3. The Paladins 1622
  4. The Swedish Intervention 1630
  5. The Thirty Years War 1618

  The scenario of the whole war, 1618-1648, is a whopping 369 turns.

 The player chooses to play either the 'Protestant powers' or the 'Empire'. You are the leader of your coalition and control diplomacy, economics, and of course your military.

 The map is of the whole of middle Europe, with some of the scenarios focusing on smaller portions of it.

 You are given four pages of options to tweak the AI and other parts of the game to your desire. For those not faint of heart you can also tweak the 'scripts' that the game runs on.

 This game, like all of the newer Ageod games, has the decision card system to help or hurt you and to add historical flavor. It is also dripping with historical events that further the historical depth of the game.

  Your forces' supply and attrition will be your main focus.  The troops under you will melt away like ice cream in the hot sun. As Spain was described during the Napoleonic wars "a small army is defeated and a large army starves". Your armies are much like a chained bulldog, formidable only in a small area and useless out of it. You will be continually juggling your meager purse between all of the different choices that you can or have to make. Mutual exhaustion between the contending forces at times, resemble the fourteenth round in a championship boxing match (oops showed my age), or for the uninitiated, the last round of any Rocky movie. The turns are in the WEGO mode, that is you and your opponent both decide on your moves and actions and then it is played out simultaneously on the map.

 Your forces have to be integrated with leaders, with that and all of the myriad of choices you have as a coalition leader for economic,etc. It is good to see that there are so many tutorials and also that they are set up not to overwhelm the new player with too much information at once.

 The game is a grand scale work of the Athena engine. For those of you who already own Ageod games, its purchase is a no-brainer. For the gamer who has not played any of their games, there is a bit of a learning curve to overcome, but well worth it in the end. The Athena game engine is particularly well suited for time periods where the action of armies is more fluid and not stagnant as in World War I.

 This screenshot shows the landing of Gustavus Adolphus, the king of Sweden, landing in the HRE in 1630.

 Hopefully,(hint hint, nudge nudge) Ageod is already working on another of the 'holy grails' of wargaming: an operational rendering of the English Civil War. The time period almost exactly overlaps the time period in TYW. You would get the added attraction of commanding the 'Winter King', Frederick V's, son Prince Rupert as a royalist commander. Oh, and while you're at it, The Campaigns of Marlborough.

 For The Thirty Years war game might I suggest a little light reading, specifically Thomas Hobbes 'Leviathan'. Removing my tongue from its firm position in my cheek. Try this, 'The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy', by Peter H. Wilson. If you are like me, and like pc and board games take a look at GMT games.



Robert

Game: Thirty Years War
Developr: Ageod
Publisher: Slitherine
Steam Release: 6/9/16
Review Date: 6/20/16

The Chosin Few

from Victory Point Games

An episode from the Korean War 1950

Despite approximately 100,000 British troops fighting in the Korean War, many today in Britain would have little knowledge of that fact or of the war itself.  It is indeed, as many books on the subject proclaim, the Forgotten War.  Even for Americans who were by far the overwhelming number of combatants in the Korean war, this too is a little studied conflict in school.  A player of board wargames might have a greater chance of some acquaintance with the war and possibly this particular battle, but as an introduction to this review, a few facts wouldn't go amiss, I believe.  

Though the brief historical notes do acknowledge that it was a UN force, the battle as presented in VPG's The Chosin Few is totally an American one, albeit historically two British regiments and troops from the British Marine Commandos were involved as well.  Their failure to be included is purely a result of the nature of the game/simulation and the game's design.

At this early stage in the war in 1950, the UN forces had recovered from the initial devastating North Korean assault that was only halted at the Pusan perimeter at the toe of the Korean peninsular.  This reversal of fortunes had been achieved in September by the daring landing at Inchon by General McArthur.  The North Korean forces had been sent fleeing back and then pursued north towards the Yalu river.

Now massive Chinese forces were gathering to support North Korea and had begun to sweep south again, at times using the tactics that became notorious as the "human wave".  It is at this point that the battle of Chosin opens in November 1950.  It is best remembered as a desperate defence of The Few against the encircling hordes of the many enemy.  It is an immensely lopsided battle, with overwhelming Chinese forces surrounding and seeking to obliterate the small American contingent.  Most sources I've found give approximate figures of 120,000 against 30,000!  VPG's brief historical notes in the game booklet push the enemy numbers to 150,000.  However modern historians argue the niceties of these figures, no one disputes the huge disparity in numbers.

Perhaps because of this, VPG have cast the battle in their solitaire siege series of games.  However, this is no Rorke's Drift.  Ultimately, it was a battle of survival by holding out long enough until allowed to attempt to breakout and head towards what historically was an evacuation by sea of those who did survive. 

When given the opportunity to review this treatment of the battle, I was delighted.  From the old days of GDW's Yalu to its glossy remake by Compass Games, then via the Inchon landings first seen in a Simulations Canada design and a later magazine game issue,  the Korean War has held an interest for me, though I never ventured into the larger productions that encompassed the whole war.  Added to that was the recent appearance last year in Strategy & Tactics of Korean Battles designed by BrianTrain, which featured three battles, including the battle of Chosin.   That was my first reason to seize the chance to review The Chosin Few, the second my great enjoyment of Victory Point Games, particularly the Napoleonic 20 series.

I had no knowledge of how VPG had handled this conflict, but, from the size of the box, my guess had been at much the same level as the Napoleonic series I favoured.  On seeing, however, that it was part of the Siege Series, I immediately knew that I was likely to be in for something rather different.  I wasn't wrong.

The series ranges from very specific geographical battles [A Blood Red Banner takes us to the Alamo, while Zulus On The Ramparts is VPG's classic presentation of Rorke's Drift ] to very broad-brush treatments of strategic situations [Soviet Dawn gives us The Russian Revolution].  The Chosin Few is certainly geographically nearer their game on the Alamo or Rorke's Drift and, though the scale has moved from the micro-tactical to the operational, the overall picture still has a strong physical element. 

In brief, the game contents are a four piece jig-map that fits together very well, 25 cards, 25 small wooden cubes, 11 laser-cut counters and two standees and a 12 page rule book.  Being part of the gold series these all come in a sturdy "pizza" box with a  very attractive slip-cover.   So, let's cast a closer look over these items.

The folio size map  [11" x 17"] is a very striking relief map of the area in which the conflict took place.  Its steely grey colour and many rugged mountain reliefs well convey the bleak, inhospitable landscape in the depths of a brutal winter.  On very close inspection, you can also see a wealth of place names.

Superimposed on the map is a highly abstract system of location boxes to govern movement and combat, linked by a series of white or coloured arrows.  The beige ones are potential areas where the initial enemy forces will appear and the white ones are the confines within which the American units  can move, once set up.  Ah... the units!  The Chinese are represented by the 20 cubes and the American X Corps and the 1st Marine Division are the two oblong standees.  As you can see, a very high degree of simplification, which is certainly one aspect that may draw criticism.

Also on the map are three boxes: the top one holds the three Order cards, while of the two below, the left one contains the face down Activity Deck and the right one is the discard pile for the Activity Deck.  Above the Discard Pile are two columns to track the current strength of the Marines and the Army.  

So, how does this game play out.  First of all the three Order cards are stacked on top of each other.  These provide the basic sequential narrative.  Each is like a mini-scenario that has to be completed successfully in order to win the game.

The three titles are Almond's Instructions, Advance In Another Direction and Breakout.  Not surprisingly, these originally meant nothing to me, except that I knew that eventually the UN troops did manage to breakout.  Doing my research into the history did add to the feel of the game and I wish that more of that history could have been incorporated into the brief notes in the rule book.  It hides the feud between generals Almond and Smith,  the orders of the one that would lead to the disastrous situation and the actions of the other that would mean that some element of those soldiers did extricate themselves and survive.  On a totally different scale, how it reminded me of The Charge of The Light Brigade!

Almond's Instructions refers to General Almond who gave the orders for the troops [elements of X Corps and the 1st Marine Division] to move north to the area of the Chosin Reservoir - in game map terms to move from Location C to Locations A1 and B1, Advance In Another Direction  begins the attempt to extricate themselves from the potentially murderous encirclement - your two units have to move back to Location C!!  Finally, Breakout means to move both units from Location C to Location D4.

So, here is the first Order card with which the game begins.

 Like all three Order cards it contains a title, a starting date, the objective to be achieved, where to place the six Lines of Departure discs [to be discussed later], a pre-scenario action and the consequences of failing the scenario.

A typical mini-scenario then follows along these lines.  The End of Orders card is shuffled into the bottom six cards of the Activity deck.  Each Activity card is then turned up one at a time and executed until the End of Orders card is reached.  If at that point you've met the goal of the current Order card, move on to the next Order Card.

Using the details from the first Order card, below is the initial set up at the very beginning of the game.  The six circular discs are the Lines of Departure, numbered 1 to 6 where the Chinese forces will randomly  arrive and there in the centre are the two American armies.

Next you turn over the top Activity card on the Draw pile.

The New Activity line indicates that you randomly draw and place one cube in each of Line of Departure locations 2,3 and 6.  The Enemy Movement means that all red cubes move one location and then all purple cubes move one location.  This movement follows very simple A.I. - normally a cube moves from their existing location to an adjacent  location linked by a white arrow, unless there is a coloured arrow link that takes you nearer to a location outlined in the same colour as the arrow where one of the two American armies are.  If a cube attempts to move into a location where there is an Army, you immediately fire on it by rolling a d6.  Whatever the result, the cube always returns to the location it came from, but the effect on your Army is one of the oddest ways I have come across in a war game that a unit's strength can work. 

The Marines have one column on the board running from 3 - 6 and the Army has the other column from 4 - 6, with a neat little marker to show current strength.  If you roll equal to or higher than the current strength you are successful and your unit suffers no penalty, but if you roll less than the current strength then you take a hit and the marker moves up to the next highest number.  If your strength marker is on 6, any roll other than 6 is obviously a hit and you move your marker into the last box of all which contains the word Lose and that is exactly what it means.  For you the battle is over - you've just lost the game ! 

Finally, the Player Actions tells you how many points you can spend in your own section of the turn. 1 point allows you to attempt to eliminate a cube in an adjacent location, 2 points allows you to move one army into an adjacent location and 3 points allows you regain one point of strength for an army.  Perhaps, the single most important detail follows: for each Action point that you do not use, you can take an Aircraft marker that you can use in the next turn.  You only ever have the use of three aircraft markers and the ability to gain and use one or more will probably be the key to success or failure.  Of the three possible uses of an aircraft marker, Interdiction is by far the most important and probably the one you will choose to use most, as it stops all cubes moving from or into a location where it is placed.

When you look at the simplicity of what you are actually doing, how easy it all sounds.  What a small distance it is in game turns between those locations.  Yet how well nigh impossible it is to achieve those goals.  Victory conditions demand that neither of your two units is totally wiped out and that you achieve the goals of all three Order Cards.

You can continue on to complete the game if you fail either of the goals on the first two Order Cards.  You don't lose [haha], but neither do you win.  A draw?   In historical terms, failing Breakout, the third and final Order Card undoubtedly means that all your troops are either dead or prisoners.  I'm not quite sure what failing the earlier Order cards means, but achieving the final Order card means - I guess - some survived, but very, very few.  In game terms, as far as my experience goes, it means blimey, I can't believe I've been so successful! 

Why?  Because normally I die and die and die and .... [how did you know?] DIE.  This is one tough solitaire game to win.  BUT!  Is it enjoyable?  Is it a good game?  Is it a good simulation of the battle of Chosin?

To take the last first. No, I don't think it is a simulation, except in the very broadest terms.  Those 20 cubes really don't feel like anything resembling soldiers, but they do keep coming and coming and you desperately want to hold them back and eliminate some of them.  Two stand-up markers don't look much like your troops, but you really come to care for them and every hit they take and can you get them out of this trap becomes a life and death matter.  But, in simulation terms that's it.  Nearly, everything I learned came from reading outside the game.

Is it a good game?  That depends on how much control you like to have.  Nearly everything is randomly generated and so luck plays a huge part.  Which colour of cubes you draw combined with what colour of cubes move is probably the crucial factor in whether you win or lose.  Added to that is the luck of the dice when rolling in combat during enemy movement and finally the luck of how many action points you get to work with in your part of the turn.

Is it enjoyable?  Yes, yes, yes.  Every turn of the card is waited with bated breath - especially which coloured cubes will move this turn - blue, great I'm safe there are no blue cubes near me or they're under one of my Interdiction markers - purple, oh no [I could say something stronger], I've got 3 purple all able to move into my location.   Hurray I've fought them all off with very low dice rolls or I'm dying far too quickly, because I'm rolling high.

I'm going to make it - argh, the next card is the End of Orders card and one of my armies is one location from where it needs to be - I've lost again.

But it plays quickly.  An hour tops for the whole game easily covers it and often 30-40 minutes is more likely.  That's fortunate, because it is one of those games where you lose and immediately want to have just one more go.  I just hope you like losing a lot.

Sailing to Victory on the Seas of Glory

First from Ares, there was Wings of War which later became Wings of Glory.  If you know either previous incarnation of this game, you will have some idea of what to expect in Sails of Glory.  Moving from aerial dogfights in WWI, this game's subtitle spells out the shift back in time to the Napoleonic Wars and that time of British naval supremacy typified by the phrase "the Nelson touch".

So, it's lashings of rum and lashings with the cat o' nine tails,

hard 'a starboard, avast ye lubbers and "Every man expects!"

- sorry, got carried away there!

With Sails of Glory, Glory's the key word for me, as this is truly a glorious production from first catching sight of the evocative box artwork of a naval engagement at its climax: ships with billowing sails, wreathed in the smoke of thundering close-range broadsides.  Unlike its WWI counterpart, which began purely with cards representing the planes and only later did exquisitely painted models follow, Sails of Glory lures us immediately with four detailed and superbly painted warships.  These are on display through the clear protective cover, as they nestle in their moulded hollows that form part of the large plastic insert that holds all the game contents.

The box in all its Glory

Delving further into the box, you encounter a host of other quality components.  First of all, each ship comes with its own ship card with a full colour picture of the ship and its stats and an oblong plastic base into which fits a deep blue base card with bow, stern and full broadside firing arcs marked in grey, over which fits a plastic overlay that both protects the card and contains a hole into which the ship's locating peg fits.  It is simple, elegant, practical details like this that give the game its finished look of polished quality.

Having said that, there have been a few complaints that, though the ships' hulls, decks and masts [the latter a curious yellow] are beautifully painted, the spars [like the sails themselves] are left a plain white.  For me this was a minor detail, but if you're a miniatures aficionado it may irritate more and you may wish to paint those details.  Not being a dab hand with any sort of brush, I have been happy to let mine remain as received.

 Each ship also comes with its own individual deck of manoeuvre cards, a Ship Mat and its own Ships Log, both in very sturdy cardboard and attractively designed and coloured - more about these later.  Rounding out the package are a Wind Gauge, two separate Wind Indicators, one for each player, some terrain in the form of four full-colour islands and six reefs, two cardstock measuring sticks and shed-loads of damage markers and action markers.

The final essential item to mention is the rule book.  At approximately 27 cm x 15 cm, it is a curious size, with just over 60 pages that at first sight might seem surprisingly long.  However, DO NOT BE PUT OFF - these rules cater for both the absolute beginner to the player wanting a fairly detailed and accurate depiction of naval warfare in the Age of Sail with miniatures. Consequently they are divided into 4 sections:- Basic, Standard, Advanced and Optional.  Basic really couldn't get more ... er, well basic!  Despite taking up 16 pages of the rules, they are very simple, introducing four Phases : Planning, Movement, Combat, Damage and Reloading. 

So, why such length? Mainly because of the wealth of illustrative photographs to make each simple point abundantly clear. 

BASIC RULES

Planning

Though the terminology is suitably nautical, with words like Running, Reaching, Beating and Taken Aback introduced, understanding and determining which applies to your ship at that particular moment couldn't be easier. As mentioned earlier, each ship sits on a base card that indicates firing arcs, but the card is also edged in three different colours: red, orange and green.  Just line up the Attitude indicator with the central mast of your ship and look at which colour the indicator crosses.  In the Basic rules, you then choose a Manoeuvre card from the ship's individual deck of cards depending on what colour the Attitude Indicator passed through on the edge of the card.

Movement

Generally, you will place the Manoeuvre card in front of the ship and advance your ship until its stern touches the tip of the movement line on the card.  Sometimes [when your ship is Taken Aback], you will have to align the card with the stern of the ship and then follow the same procedure.  The only other thing to consider is whether two ships might collide.  If there is that potential, then a simple rule determines which ship moves first and then the other ship is moved until its base is in contact with the first ship.  Surprisingly neither ship takes any damage for colliding!  That really is it for Movement and Combat is even easier. 

Combat

Each side of the ship has a Loaded marker face down in its Broadside box and can fire once after Movement, if there is an enemy ship in range.  Use the measuring stick, which for this simplest level of the game refers purely to short or long range. Make sure there's nothing in the way - sorry you can't fire through your own ships or islands [what a surprise!].  Choose randomly from the appropriate lettered pile of damage markers [either A or B in the Basic game - they are also distinguished by colour, so it's really easy when setting up the game and the current strength of the ship firing tells you how many markers to draw. Allocate the damage to the enemy and, if the ships are close enough, there will be a round of Musketry fire following exactly the same process, but drawing from the pile of E markers.                     And REMEMBER  - all firing is simultaneous. 

Finally, turn the Loaded marker face up to show that you have fired this turn.

RELOADING

The last action of each turn is first to take any facedown Loaded marker from the Reloading box and move it back into its Broadside box.

Then move any face-up Loaded marker from the Broadside box, turn it face down and move it into the Reloading box.

You now know all that is necessary for playing the game at its simplest level and frankly the next stage Standard Rules add so little more that I would be tempted to say that most players will add these in immediately.

But, before moving on to this next stage, there is probably one question those of you reading this review are asking.  Where are these different markers for each ship placed?  Well that's where each ship's combined Ship Mat and Ship Log come in.

Below is a photo of such a combined display set up for the first turn of a Standard level game to begin.

The Ship Log seen here is for HMS Terpsichore and is made up of the three interlocking sections which sit inside the Ship Mat frame.  The top row is where you place damage markers allocated to the hull of your ship and the bottom row is for damage markers allocated to crew of your ship.  When either of those rows is full of damage markers, a ship surrenders and is removed from game play.  When one side has lost all its ships, the other side has won.  To quote that ubiquitous meerkat :

"SIMPLES!"

STANDARD  RULES

So, what does this next level add.  Instead of planning one Manoeuvre card each turn, you start the game by planning Turn 1 and Turn 2's Manoeuvre cards putting them into the slots on the Ship Mat.  On Turn 1, turn up the first planned  Manoeuvre card, carry it out. move the 2nd card into its slot still face down and plan your next  Manoeuvre card to go into the second slot.

Which Manoeuvre card can be chosen will depend on the ship's Veer capacity [the number in the photo next to the wheel symbol].

Remember collisions , well now two friendly ships colliding do damage to each other.  Strangely an enemy ship and a friendly ship colliding don't do any damage.  Weird, that's one minor point I don't understand.  For me, it's House Rule time - an enemy ship and a friendly ship colliding do damage each other.

In Combat, ship's can now choose between three different types of ammunition: Ball, Chain and Grape.  If you know your Hornblower novels [or more youthful players may know the TV series], one type's for the hull, one's for the sails and one's for the crew.  Each time you reload you can choose whichever of the three you like.  The final addition is that if your cannons fire directly through the bow or the stern of the enemy ship, then additional damage tokens are drawn.

Again, that's it!  I think you can see why my advice is just jump straight in with the Standard rules.

And so we come to the real meat of the rules...

ADVANCED RULES

Even here the physical length of the rules is only 6 more pages!  The most significant area of change is in Planning.  To the simple plotting of two manoeuvre cards is added the planning of crew actions and this is where the other 210 markers start to make an appearance in the game..  On the Ship Mat there are 4 spaces for placing concealed action markers.  As your ship takes hits on the Crew that number of actions will decrease.  A list of some of those actions will give you a flavour of what is introduced.  Raise/Lower sails, Pump Water, Load Left/Right Broadside, Reload Left/Right Broadside, Musketry Fire, Repair Damaged Rudder, Extinguish Fire etc.

All of these introduce new elements.  First of all the icons on the Damage markers at last play a part and, as you can imagine from some of the actions mentioned in the previous paragraph, damage now can be very specific: the mast may be broken, the rudder shot away, fire breaks out or the ship begins to let in water.  As the situation becomes tense, can you afford to load the guns or must you concentrate on putting out the fire first.

Next sailing your ship becomes more complex, as the Raise or Lower Sail actions introduce the fact that on the Manoeuvre card you choose, there are three different possible lengths of movement for your ship depending on whether your sails are set at Full, Battle or Backing.  On your Ship Mat you will now have a Sail Status marker to move along to show just how your sails are set.

That brief description gives you the gist of the these Advanced rules, but how you put them into effect does take considerable careful reading of these very compact additional rules.  For some, they may be a step too far and, if so, just go back happily to the Standard level of rules.  For others they will be just the extra depth required and hugely enhance the feel of this game.

If, like me, they are what you want, then a worthwhile bit of pimping your game is worth the time and effort.  At this level of the game your Ship Mat and Log can get fairly crowded and I'd strongly recommend making individual plywood templates to glue each Ship mat onto.  That way you can easily pick them up and put them on one side when you've completed your planning or added current new damage markers and not risk disastrous dislocation of the layout.

As you can see in the picture below a simple oblong of plywood, sanded and varnished is all you need to glue your display onto.

The final section of the rules are the Optional ones.  What I like about these are that they aren't just a final level of complexity.  Some can be used in conjunction with all three levels of rules.  Indeed, the very first Optional rule is just such a one: Let The Men Drink, this uses the Grog counter.  All it does is let you cancel a damage marker once in the game.  I'm sure those of you so inclined can make up an addition to this rule that forces you to swig something appropriate! [Do I hear some of you wanting this to be allowed to happen more than once in the game?  Or is it just my wishful thinking!]

Similarly, an Entanglement rule can replace the collision rule at any level of the game, as do Continuous Fire and First Broadside, with virtually no cost in effort.  However, a few provide substantial and significant new additions;  among these are Boarding and the use of Terrain.  The latter will allow you to use the reefs and shoals that come with the game, but if you want the full benefit which is the introduction of Coastal Batteries, then for a little more money you'll need to buy the Coastal batteries and terrain expansion.

Last but not least are the four generic scenarios [plus one solitaire], perhaps the weakest element in the package, as they are very straightforward.  Nonetheless, they do give you the typical main naval encounters.  Their titles are self-explanatory: In Shallow Waters, Force The Blockade, Against The Outpost and Supplies Are Coming.

Just in case you are left in any doubt, this game totally gets my thumbs up.  It is real value for money whatever your chosen level of play.  Excellent as an introductory level game and engrossing if you do want depth.  I have only one proviso.  As the game comes, you can only play two ships on a side,  so, only small engagements and fairly generic ones.  In one way this is no problem, as there are many additional ships that you can buy, but a single player would still be hard pressed to manage more than three ships, particularly if you are using the Advanced rules. 

For larger battles, I think the cardboard world of say Flying Colours has to be turned to, but for accessibility, feel and atmosphere and detail too, if you want it, this is my choice. 



[Voices echo eerily:  Now where's that Grog counter?.......Can't find a cat o' nine tails anywhere.....Where's that little guy with an eye-patch?...........Mind the - SPLASH!]
 

 

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Against the Tommies: History of the 26 Reserve Division 1914-1918 by David Bilton

 

For my first book review I've picked, by accident, a book that is rather tricky to review as it's really a photographic journal of the German 26th Reserve Division - photos that  were initially compiled by the divisions Staff Officers in 1920 as a commemorative record of service for veterans of the 26th Reserve Division. So you can imagine text is thin on the ground and heavy on photographs which leaves little for me to analyse or discuss in any real detail. Saying that I've really enjoyed reading it and I'm actually quite pleased I chose it to review as I would never have read it as I normally steer clear of photographic war books.

The 26th Reserve Division is a Division I'm rather familiar with. They played a major part on the first day of the Battle of the Somme 1916, defending a portion of the front line trenches and continued to fight through out the Somme offensive. With the 52nd Inf Division on their right flank, their trench line started just north of Beaumont Hamel tracing a line south past Beaucourt, St Pierre Divion on to the infamous Schwaben Redoubt, then on through Thiepval and finally ending just south of Ovillers, where the 28th Reserve Division took over. If you've read any books on the Somme then your bound to have read of their exploits in that particular battle. The German Army on the Somme by Jack Sheldon, and another favourite series of mine The Other side of the Wire Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Ralph Whitehead, cover the Division in great detail, making this book the perfect companion to these highly recommended books.

 



Against the Tommies follows the 26th Reserve Division throughout the War, it starts with them attacking the French in the Vosges, then they were invovled in what became known as the "Race to the Sea" as both sides tried to turn the flank. The sides eventually reached the sea and niether had been successful, the only course was to dig in. The Germans pulled back to the closest high ground and dug in, the Entente got as close as possible and also dug in. The War on the Western Front became a 450 mile siege with the continous line of trenches we are all familar with. In the winter of '14 the Division settled in the Somme district until the end of the Somme campaign and winter '16\'17. They then retreated to the newly built Hindenberg line and were involved in fighting around Arras. In the summer of '17 they fought at Passchendaele, otherwise known as Third battle of Ypres. In spring '18 they fought in Germany's last throw of the dice, the great March offensive, where Germany came close to victory, the British and Commonwealth troops were driven out of miles of their front line and the Portuguese force disintergrated in mass panic. The result being the Commonwealth and British forces had to retreat until they had their "backs to the wall". However, after several months of bitter fighting the offensive came to a halt. The Germans had fought themselves to a standstill from which they'd never recover for the duration of the War. Finally, there are a couple of photographs taken during Germany's general retreat and the last photograph entitled "home coming" is a picture of a town center with it's deserted streets, which I think says it all.

As the Division was in the Somme district for a prolonged period of time it really adds interest to the photographs as we can see the towns, villages, churches and chatuexs slowly blasted to rubble brick by brick. You can see how destructive modern warfare was to the landscape at the time. One early war photograph will show a typical picturesque countryside scene and then further along the book  there is a photograph of the same view taken later in the War; that picturesque scene is now like a barren lunar landscape as the weapons and detritus of War take their toll and seem to corrupt nature itself. In fact there are a few cases in the book where several photographs have been taken over a period of time - of  a particular church or chatuex -  as if to record the slow and devatstating effect of artillery as it turns a beautiful building to rubble.

 



The collection of 405 photographs is extremely wide ranging in subject matter and most have never been published before. Many are of the trenches and the typical you'd expect: group photos, explosions, casualties, captured weapons, POWs and arty emplacements etc. However, it also includes many interesting ones of work behind the lines. Photographs of charcoal collectors, butchers, bakery, setting up weather balloons, troops using a threshing machine, bottling soda water and other normally unseen logistical work. One photograph really stands out from any other photo from WWI I've seen. It's a picture of a young German soldier 14th Kompanie RIR 99 who has an open, innocent face with a massive smile that seems to go from ear to ear! His Company Commander is standing just to one side behind him showing, what seems to be a fatherly look that could say "daft sod". He looks so young, innocent and happy, which makes it so poignant as I know he is only weeks away from the horror that was the Somme offensive and I wonder if he survived the attack and even the War, I hope so.

There are also some photographs of downed planes, and it would be interesting to do some research  to see if you can indentify the squadron and if possible the pilots name. In one photograph the RFC pilot is standing next to his crashed plane and another photograph has a German pilot standing next to the wreckage of one of his kills.

The book is divided into three chapters. The first chapter covers the start of the War to Dec '16. The chapter starts with a brief summary of  each of the actions the division fought in during that period. The next chapter carries on from the last until the end of the War. Again, at the start of the chapter are brief summaries of the actions the division was in for that period of time. Next are three large scale maps of the areas the division was in. The final chapter is a list of dates and names of all the battles the Division was in and finally the figure of killed, wounded and missing Officers. You are also given another total for NCO's and other ranks that the division suffered during the War. The book is 174 pages and 405 photographs. I'd have paid more if the paper used had been photograph paper and been colourised as I think that would have added another level to the book. Still, I recommend it if your looking for an interesting and extensive photograph collection following a particular unit. It's a great companion book to Jack Sheldon's German Army on the Somme or Ralph Whitehead's Otherside of the Wire.

You can purchase Against the Tommies directly from Pen & Sword or from Amazon and any other large book store. Hardback edition retails at £19.99.