Saturday 31 August 2013

It's my birthday, and I got some presents.

This was the news the year I was born, so I'm now on 53 not out.


Today is sunny and warm in my part of Devon and I am planning to be down on the beach with friends and family, eating fish and chips, then retiring to the bar at the local cricket club. That's what birthdays are all about.

This morning I got some fantastic presents that I thought I'd share with you, all of which I have only dipped into so far but will be giving more considered thoughts about in later posts.


I got into the Jack Tanner books a few years ago with the first novel set in Norway in 1940. These books are "ripping yarns" very much in the style of the Sharpe books and written by a historian, James Holland, who really knows his stuff when it comes to WWII. I've got two teenage sons queueing up to read this one so I guess it will get first attention.


I had "Wellington against Junot" on my list for a while, especially with my recent gaming in mind. Strictly speaking the book should have been Wellesley against Junot, as Sir Arthur didn't get the Viscount Wellington title until after Talavera the following year. Looking forward to getting into this book and the follow up, versus Massena.


I know Robert Burnham's work is invaluable when it comes to studying the Peninsular War so I rather felt this had to be on the book shelf and should give good insight to a topic not well covered in the English language. Again looking forward to getting into this book.



And last, but by no means least, "The Flight of the Eagle 3", just when you thought you knew every thing about Napoleonic campaigning, the ultimate research tool/game system comes along. This module 3 includes all the campaigns from the previous two plus the Peninsular War which really fired my interest.

Needless to say I've been a little bit distracted by this baby this morning, more to follow, but if you've never seen it before I've put a couple of links below that will tell you more.

http://didier-rouy.webs.com/productpage.htm

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/21915/le-vol-de-laigle

11 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Jonathan,
    That's a great haul of matterial!!! The all sound great!
    Have a nice day
    Paul

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    1. Cheers Paul.

      PS new stuff coming tomorrow!

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  2. Happy birthday!

    Very interested in your impressions of The Flight of the Eagle System and potential adaptation to miniatures.

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    1. Hi Jon, thank you.

      Its a big read with loads of manuals and beautifully coloured cards for the commanders and divisions in each module. The maps are also excellent, being period copies. I need to get my head around the detail before I comment, but I think I will be taking some stuff to use and leaving other stuff where I think it's been done better.

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  3. Happy Birthday - great bedtime reading, can't wait to hear you further impressions of the flight of the eagle.
    Enjoy, warpaintjj

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  4. Well Jonathan, you've bagged a great deal there. Happy Birthday!

    :O)

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  5. Happy birthday -- smashing presents! I usually just get a gift certificate. ;-)

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  6. Thanks guys.

    I got a couple more books tonight, "Wellington's worst Scrape, The Burgos Campaign 1812", and "The Battle of Barrosa 1811".

    I've had a great day, lots of laughs, thank you for your kind comments.

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