BOOK PREVIEWS FOR THE DISCERNING WARGAMER

BY NEIL SMITH

July brings us a crop of books on American wars, which seems fitting, post the 1776 watershed of course. They all press my buttons too, being an avid reader of American military history. But American involvement in World War I intrigues me because it so often goes under the radar. So, this July 4, I will be doing some catching up.

BORN TO WARGAME

ANCIENT

We start in the ancient world with a little local difficulty. The prolific Simon Elliott brings us Roman Conquests: Britain (Pen & Sword). This is well-trodden ground, of course, but we’re promised a ‘new narrative’ of Rome’s efforts to conquer these islands. That’s intriguing. Elliott also covers all your background information for wargaming, and it strikes me that I see lots of Gauls and Germanic figures on the market but not that many Britons, and I’m not sure why. Do we just assume they are the same and shrug our shoulders? Yet these campaigns in Britain were fought across widely different terrain and the Romans did not get it all their own way, creating great scenario and campaign opportunities. And don’t forget the big battles: Medway, Watling Street (Boudica), and Mons Graupius.

Contemplating those battles, you might wonder what it was like to participate in one. Conor Whately might have an answer for you in his A Sensory History of Ancient Warfare: Reconstructing the Physical Experience of War in the Classical World (Pen & Sword). Sensory History, as the term implies, examines the reaction of all the senses to combat; what you hear, see, taste, smell, and touch. A battle is an assault on all of them, Whately argues. The proof in the pudding for Whately’s thesis is the evidence he uses. The literary and archaeological evidence is well-grounded, but his reconstructive and comparative evidence might be harder to justify. My guess is that it can all be summed up in one word: unpleasant. We shall see, but it is certainly a bold approach. Moreover, I’m not sure how it will affect future rules writers or wargamers, though certainly morale rules should come under renewed scrutiny.