Comprehensive troop descriptions
925177
This is the best description of Shiloh I have seen. A little dry but very coherant. Cunningham gives a balanced approach to the battle with some updated information and unexpected interpretations.
3325321
This is one of the better books I have seen for a description of what the pens and bases look like. Some illustrations are a tad dark, but still of great interest.  Good buy.
1612716
I have this book and must take exception to the poor review. This book does NOT cover operational/army/front level order of battle, but it DOES cover corps to battalion level OBs plus tidbits like inspector general's reports on some units (such as a unit blocking the Germans to Leningrad who's drivers had less than 6 hours training), why the red army was in a state of flux when the Germans attacked.  there ARE 12 volumes to the complete set; to me the most interesting are Vol #2 (armor 1942-45, Vol#5 (cavalry), Vol#12 (Lend Lease (+ captured German)
2832192
Excellent collection of photos. Each class of Japanese battleship is described, including what later would be classified as armored cruisers. Each class or individual ship contains a paragraph (quarter of a page or so) describing ship characteristics: dimensions, displacement, armament, armor thickness, installed machinery horsepower, speed, and so forth. There are other books that contain more photos of the various classes of Japanese battleships but this book describes all the classes in one volume. Other books that contain significant numbers of additional photos of Japanese  battleships are Japanese Battleships Volume I by Skwiot (2010) and Warship Pictorial IJN Nagato Class Battleships by Wiper (2012).
4884338
Geneses of the STORMTROOPER

"German Assaualt Troops of World War I" by Thomas Wictor is a magnificent book and subject that has had limited detailed study with supporting documentation and photography. As stated in the description this mammoth book covers in extreme and concise detail the organization, tactics, weapons, equipment, order of battle, uniforms and insignia. As well this book briefly delves into some of the famous battles such as Verdun, Riga, Cambrai, but as the author states in the book that a certain level military and historical knowledge of the period is expected of the reader. However, this does not distract from this book at all and reader can find countless volumes about the period and the stated battles for further study or reference. Overall, this is by far one of the best books on the subject I have read to date and as a bonus this just a beautifully formatted and high quality publication.

CONTENTS:

-Introduction
Chapters;
1. early assault troops
2. the first official assault units
3. the further development of assault tactics
4. assault Battalion Rohr, Mountain Troops, and Jager
5. Verdun and the Somme
6. the eastern and Balkan fronts
7. official Army assault battalions; elastic defense
8. mortars, grenade launchers, assault artillery, and machine guns
9. short training courses in assaults tactics
10. instructions for shock troops
11. large-scale attacks by assault troops
12. infantryman transformed into assault troops
13. the spring offensives
14. tanks and antitank warfare
15. expeditionary forces and the final assaults
-Conclusion
Appendix 1: instructions for the employment of flame projectors
Appendix 2: badges of assault units
-bibliography
-glossary
-index

(Hardcover, 9"x11", 339 pages, profusely illustrated with line drawings and period photography)
3747735
Five or so years ago, I bought a rules set which had a Mexican-American component to it. It was an era that intrigued me which has very little written about it not only from a wargames perspective, but in general.

I bought Santa Anna Rules in the hope that there would be some info in it that would shed some light on the fighting men which took part in the war. And it certainly has delivered on that score.

The rules are well written. Combat is a bit chart heavy but no more so than a number of other rules sets. I like the command rules, you roll a D4 plus the commanders rating (ranging from 1-3) and give orders to the various units under the leader's command. The Mexicans have larger brigades, so it is harder to give orders to all their units representing the historical command and control limitations that the Mexicans had in this conflict. If a unit doesn't get an order, they roll on the random order table to see what they do. This ranges from doing nothing to doing what they did last turn to everything in between. As the designer mentions, there is a certain law of inertia in handing large bodies of soldiers and this does a good job at simulating that.

Included in the game are painting guides and unit participation matrices for the Mexican-American and Texan War of Independence. There are even short chapters on the South American Wars of Liberation and Maxmillian Adventure. So even if, like me, you planned on using this as a research tool for other rules, it is well worth picking this book up for the info alone. For example, one of the things I wanted to know was if they used both columns and squares in the conflict and it turns out they did. Quality of the troops involved is also covered in the detail that I was hoping for.

The only gripes I have with the rules are the individual basing standard and the brigade per player suggestion. Both of these are related and I'll explain why. The units are called for to be based singly on a 1"x1" square for a 28mm figures. Units range in size from 8-20 figures (sometimes more). Handling the larger of these units individually seems a little fiddly to me (personal opinion). It seems to me that larger battles preclude a 1 vs 1 situation. Better have a ton on friends (boo-hoo...sniff). Also, I have 15mm miniatures and for me it would be out of the question to base these singly. Luckily the author does deal with how to handle multi-figure stands so its not that huge a deal (though it seem one still needs some individually mounted figures for skirmishers).

There are some places where info is forgotten or left out, but certainly in the realm of miniatures books, it is in the top 10% as far as completeness and clarity go.  In addition, and for miniatures wargamers in particular, we a re a resourceful, knowledgeable bunch who can fill in any missing info with our breadth of *cough*(random, trivial)*cough* knowledge. As I said earlier, there is a lot of additional info provided as well as a ton of scenarios.

All in all a good effort from conflicts with few (any?) rules devoted to it. When I have some free time, I will paint up my miniatures (multi-figure-per-stand style) and will give these rules a whirl. If you have any interest at in in the subject matter, you should think about getting this book.
413887
great book!  pictures of actual insignia help in identification.  Many variations and details.  A great collector book.
1600929
This book is a detailed study of how to utilize the infantry battalion.  It was written for the army officer, but is also useful for the modern civilian historian.  The book is well organized with a good table of contents, but no index.  There are only a few maps to illustrate tactical problems.  The book covers a wide variety of topics including organic and attached units, the battalion's advance to battle, reconnaissance and the attack and defense under many different situations,
323010
This book is the forth of five (so far) from the Osprey's Men-At-Arms Series on "German Army".  The other four are:-
  MAA 311 The German Army 1939-45 (1) Blitzkrieg;
  MAA 316 The German Army 1939-45 (2) North Africa & Balkans;
  MAA 326 The German Army 1939-45 (3) Eastern Front 1941-43;
  MAA 336 The German Army 1939-45 (5) Western Front 1943-45.
These books basically cover the German Army uniform and rank insignia of specific time and place during WW2.  Each book includes 30 to 40 b/w photographs of German soldiers in different types of uniform.  There are also 8 pages of colour-plates in each book depicting the uniforms in colour.  Since I own all five books, I observed that the drawing skill of Stephen Andrew improving gradually over the years.
These books are by no means a comprehensive account of the uniform of the German Army during WW2.  However, the contents (text, photos and colour-plates) are excellent source of reference materials for modelling enthusiasts focusing on WW2 German Army.
This review applies to all five books.
4048789
Mr. Phillips has written an accurate summary of the key components in the US Army arsenal for a quick reference.  What is interesting are his sections on mobile vehicles, which I'd not heard of previously.
101040
I have been collecting Osprey Military books since I was about 16 years old.  I have rarely been disappointed in any of their titles . . . this one is no exception.  While there has been some mention and illustrations of the Varangian Guard in other Osprey titles on the Byzantine military system, this is the best.  It consolidates all the information I have in over a dozen books plus adds historical and archaeological data that I haven't ever seen before.  The illustrations are outstanding and illustrates the colorful and ornamental nature of the Eastern Roman and Byzantine military throughout the period.  I love this book.
572680
Amazing pictures of all wafen SS camo uniforms from many angles. Very useful information source for uniform collectors and military modellers.
3241997
I found this book to be one of the best in covering the Battle of Antietam in a general form.  In order to study the battle with more detail one must select those available as to individual units, armies or individuals.

The publisher, Osprey Publishing,has provided an excellent and attractive format.  Mr. Norman Stevens is to congratulated on this his first publication at least with this publisher.  The details such as maps, illustrations and list of units in "Order of Battle" are excellent.

I would recommend this book for any student of the war.
942215
This is the first book in a series of three that describe the hardware of all the navies of World War II.  This volume describes, in detail, every class of destroyer of every nation and every projected class of every nation that saw service or was contlemplated durring WWII.  It also gives a description of the war service of many of these ships.  This book is well illistrated with many excellant photos of many of these ships.  This book is the best volume describing the destroyers of World War II.  I cannot recommend this book haghly enough-it is really that good.
3507508
This atlas has many maps and diagrams of equipment.  Plan on taking a trip to Normandy and this book will be one of the ones in the mix.
1750220
This mini-guide provides a brief, but detailed look at German armor and amored units that fought at Normandy. It includes details of all the vechicles and Panzer unit preparedness at and after Operation Overlord. A nice addition to any collection on the campaign.
1967728
I received this book last month and it is great.  It has everything about Girl Scouting in the USA in it.  I love it.  I don't know what else to say, except that I have used it so far to research the ages of some Girl Scout uniforms that were donated to our service unit over the years.