The Nelson Touch

An oldie but goodie, as some might say - at least I certainly would!

Wargames set during the age of sail have given me some cracking games over the years. Initially I mangled to refight Trafalgar using the old SPI game Frigate and then moved on to Wooden Ships and Iron Men. I have never fought this most famous of sea battles using models but who knows? Maybe one day I shall! Having said that, I have a couple of up to date boardgames covering the battle and campaign which need to see the light of day - the prospect of painting up umpteen ships of the line is a daunting one for sure!

I have a modest collection of books on the naval dimension of the Napoleonic Wars - including Mark Adkin’s opus The Trafalgar companion - but not the book you see in the picture above. I recall reading this years ago - mainly because the author wrote the splendid book on the battle of Waterloo: Waterloo: A Near Run Thing. Trafalgar: The Nelson Touch is written in very much the same style as the Waterloo title in that it is an account of the battle heavily laced with anecdotes, diary entries and extracts from letters etc from those that were there. It is not a detailed account of the battle in the same way that A Near Run Thing  was not but it is a cracking read all the same.

I am really pleased to add this title to the collection and again, who knows? The Portable Age of Sail Wargame with scratch built models anyone?

Hmmm…. ;-)