The modest selection of titles I own covering much of the material from the base game - note the hardback version of the venerable Armies of the Dark Ages.
Anyways, before moving on the Crusades expansion (which I why I purchased the base game in the first place and then waited ages for the expansion to be published!) I figures that it would be a good idea to acquaint myself with the wars of the early Byzantines centred on Belisarius of Robert Graves’s Count Belisarius fame - despite the artistic licence!
Starting with the WRG book - and what gamer of the period hasn’t? - I added a few other titles over time to round out my knowledge of the period. With the exception of the Belisarius title all have featured on the blog at some point in the past. The Belisarius title is the latest addition and I am really enjoying reading it.
It is one of those books that is very self contained in that it starts with setting the scene of the period, traces the life of Belisarius and his campaigns, looks at the armies of the period and how they were equipped and fought as well as including maps and brief biographies of the key personalities. It is not a perfect title in that here are a few irritating typos but make no mistake - if you only had one book on the period I would absolutely recommend this one!
At the time of writing I am just getting to the war in Africa against the Vandals after his earlier campaign against the Persians. This is one of the irritating typos - Sasanid rather than Sassanid….
Despite my earlier reservations - mainly because of a lack of knowledge of the period - I am looking forward to enjoying some games set in the 6th century before moving on to the main course of the Crusades - which in my world is firmly in the Medieval timeframe!
For the record I have absolutely no intention of painting armies for this period nor for the Crusades - although the idea of using 3mm has a certain appeal….
Just saying….
7 comments:
I bet you've already ordered the figures from irregular??
Have played a number of the scenarios from this game , the extra abilities takes a bit of getting used to and the troop types are different .
David -
Do you know, I had to scratch my head to recall what books I have on the Dark Ages/ Mediaeval period (let's call it 576-1453AD). I,ve read one or two: Procopius (in translation, of course), Oman's Art of War in the Middle Ages, Romilly Jenkins 'Byzantium: The Imperial Years 610-1071', oh, yes, and Robert Graves's 'Count Belisarius'. But I don't have any of them.
So, what do I have?
Well, there's Ian Heath's 'Armies of the Dark Ages' (which includes the Byzantine Empire), and 'Armies of Feudal Europe' (which doesn't). Very useful for the war gamer. So is, if you're into the Crusades, Steven Runciman's 'A History of the Crusades' (three volumes but I have only the first two - I have read the third, but never found a copy to buy; the second, ending with the aftermath of Hattin, is the most interesting). Some booklets of Wars of the Roses flags and banners, J.F.C. Fuller's 'Decisive Battles of the Western World' (really scratching around here!
But I also have three volumes of Osprey - Men at Arms' titles:
89 - Byzantine Armies
125 - Armies of Islam
195 - Hungary and the Fall of Eastern Europe
- all three very interesting, and graced by the superb artwork of one Angus McBride.
That's about it, really: a pretty thin literary inventory for the Middle Ages! Oops: nearly forgot:
Anna Comnena 'Alexiad' (Penguin)
Michael Psellus 'Chronographia' (Penguin under a different title)
Both picked up in Greek bookstores when I was touring around Greece and Turkey more than 35 years ago. I think that was where I picked up my Runciman, come to think of it).
Still not a lot though...
Cheers,
Ion
Hi Ion,
I must admit that reading your list brought back a couple of memories! I remember reading Runciman years ago, along with the Alexiad. I have owned the WRG title on the Crusades but am trying to source a hardback version. The problem is the print on demand files appear to have been uploaded with the text in a light font in some places making the printed version hard on the old eyes. I do have a copy of the Wargamer’s guide though, which is full of good stuff.
The only stuff I picked up from Greece was a couple of books on Greek Mythology - nothing heavier.
I will do a shoot of my Crusades library as it is larger than the Belisarius section.
I tend to be a skim reader and for the most part do not get deep in the academics of the period I am looking at. Naval is an exception I suppose as technical data is almost obligatory! Methinks there is another blog post there!
All the best and thanks for sharing with me!
DC
A fine selection of books David…
The Belisarius book looks interesting… I may have to pick that one up…
All the best. Aly
Hi Aly,
It is pretty good for sure. Plenty of good wargaming ideas contained therein - thankfully I have the Command and Colours game as I doubt if I would ever paint armies for the period!
All the best,
DC
I can never reconcile the Medieval period starting at the end of the 6thC when I was always brought up on that still being the 'Dark Ages'. To me, Medieval starts with 1066 and all that;)!
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