The Honved War

 This new book by Nigel Smith covers the armies of the Hungarian War of Independence 1848-49. I was pulled into this conflict through Steve Barber's range of 28mm figures and Ralf Weaver's book on the Hungarian armies. This book is a little more detailed and covers the Austrians and Russians as well.

For those unfamiliar with this obscure war, The Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849 aimed to achieve Hungarian autonomy within the Habsburg Monarchy. Inspired by the broader European Revolutions of 1848, the movement sought constitutional reform, civil liberties, and national independence. It started on 15 March 1848 with an uprising in Budapest, which led to the formation of a Hungarian government under Lajos Kossuth and the acceptance of the "April Laws" by Emperor Ferdinand I, granting Hungary limited self-rule. When Austria attempted to revoke Hungarian autonomy, war broke out in September 1848. Hungary initially succeeded under leaders like Artúr Görgei but faced setbacks when Austria allied with Russia, whose intervention in 1849 turned the tide. The combined Austrian-Russian forces overwhelmed the Hungarian army. The revolution ended in August 1849 with the surrender at Világos.

The author gives the historical background, although other books in this Helion series go into detail. The focus here is on the organisation of the three main armies, their commanders and uniforms. There are detailed orbats, plenty of illustrations and some fine colour plates. The Hungarian Army has a range of volunteer units, which add a bit more colour to what is already a colourful array. The commanders included an Englishman, Richard Debaufre Guyon, born in Bath in 1803. He joined the Habsburg army, fought for the Hungarians and ended up as a Pasha in the Ottoman army during the Crimean War. 

The Hungarians started the war short of modern firearms, in a period when the percussion musket became the standard, with some regiments armed with pikes and farm implements. However, realistically, the effective range of a musket was still around 100 yards. The Austrians had moved to column attacks with the bayonet when the terrain was suitable. Jagers did skirmish, but they were also used as storm troops. The Hungarians had plenty of Hussar regiments for screening, etc. However, the Austrians had the heavy battlefield cavalry.

This is a very useful addition to the library on this conflict. It also inspires me to get my armies back on the tabletop.

Ground Forces in the Korean War (1)

 This is a new Osprey MAA on the North Korean and Chinese ground forces in the Korean War by Benjamin Lai and Zhao Guoxing. There is an old 1980s Osprey on this conflict, but the subject deserves a more up-to-date and detailed series. I got drawn into this as a project when researching the Turkish troops for my book on the Cyprus crisis of 1963. I restricted myself to 10mm, and the air war, as lovely as the Warlord figures are, it was just too much repetitive painting in 28mm.

The authors start with some helpful historical background, reminding us that the Chinese have always seen Korea as the back door to China, which MacArthur might have recognised if he had read more history. Chinese intervention was not simply ideological. The origins of the North Korean Army (KPA) predated WW2 and included service in Chinese and Soviet forces. Kim Il-sung learned his trade in these conflicts, and the Soviets brought him back when they arrived in Korea in 1945 after the Japanese collapse.

We then get chapters on the KPA structure and doctrine. Initially equipped with captured Japanese weapons, they received modern Soviet weapons before manufacturing their own versions. Equipment included 150 T34/85 tanks and 32 SPGs. Organisation was on the Soviet model, although they were short of radios. A brief chapter on the Korean War actions focuses on how the KPA was forced to reorganise after being pushed back from South Korea. For more on this, there is a good Osprey essential histories study of the war.

This approach is replicated for the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA). Mao and Stalin did not want to get involved in the war, viewing it as a Korean squabble. Kim did not share his invasion plans and thought he could win without Chinese or Russian help. However, when US forces moved to the border, the age-old fear of invasion kicked in, and troops were diverted to shore up the North Korean position. It was a rushed job with summer uniforms and a mixture of weapons. The classic padded uniform came later. PVA tactics were based on the infiltration system they had learned during their civil war, and UN troops often described being surrounded. Effective use of terrain and camouflage was a key element. Again, the shortage of radios meant relying on horns and whistles, a practical measure not designed to intimidate. They were also short of support weapons, including machine guns and mortars.

As you would expect from this series, there are plenty of photographs and excellent colour plates—everything the wargamer needs. I use Blitzkrieg Commander rules for the Korean War, which is just an extension of WW2. There is an excellent supplement which I highly recommend.

Shadows of the Slain

 This is the tenth book in Matthew Harffy's Bernicia Chronicles, which follows our hero Beobrand and his warband around 7th-century Britain and then Europe. Whilst fiction, it uses the limited sources we have on the period as the basis for a plot.

In the last book, our hero was escorting a group of priests, including the actual Wilfred (later St Wilfred), on a pilgrimage to Rome when they got involved in Frankish politics. In this book, they arrive in Rome, not without a few adventures en route. In the 7th century, Rome was not the imperial capital it once was, as the once great buildings fell into ruin, and local warlords fought for power. Multiple sacks and sieges, floods, earthquakes and plagues had seen an incredible decline in the city’s population. Rome went from over a million inhabitants in AD 300 to fewer than 50,000 in the seventh century. The Pope attempted to run the church during this period, but this pre-dated the Vatican and the temporal power the church gained in medieval Italy.

In the author's retelling, St Wilfred turns out to be less than saintly, a point backed up by our sources. The religious conflicts of the period were as confusing as Italian politics, but Beobrand fought through it all with his customary vigour. 

Ten books about Northumbria during this period might have been a push. So, this European excursion has been an excellent storyline. The Franks and the Lombards make an interesting backdrop to the journey. Our hero is now returning to Northumbria for the next book. I am looking forward to that.

There are no big battles in this book, but plenty of skirmish action. This made an ideal quick post-dinner game on Christmas Day. The priests were tasked with bringing relics back to England, which formed the basis for a skirmish with local warbands. Open Combat is a nice, simple system players can pick up quickly.

A Rage of Regents

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter project covers the period after the Battle of Langside in 1568 when Mary Queen of Scots fled to England, and Scotland was ruled by regents for the young James the Sixth.

In classic Tranter fashion, the story is told through the eyes of a Lanarkshire laird's son, John Carmichael. On the wrong side at the Battle of Langside, his father decides to marry him off to the sister of the Earl of Morton, one of the regency council led by Mary's half-brother, the Earl of Moray.

He gets dragged into various special missions for Morton and develops a close relationship with the young Earl of Angus, head of the Red Douglases. When Moray is assassinated, Morton eventually grabs the regency, and John ends up on further missions, including a trip to Queen Elizabeth's court in London. He was also appointed Warden of the Middle March, as most of the hereditary holders of those positions fled the country after Langside. 

Morton was arguably the most effective of James's regents, but he made enemies. He fell from favour when Frenchman Esmé Stewart, first cousin of James's father Lord Darnley, arrived in Scotland and quickly became a favourite of James.  James I was proclaimed an adult ruler in a ceremony of Entry to Edinburgh on 19 October 1579. Morton was executed on 2 June 1581, belatedly charged with complicity in Darnley's murder.

In military terms, this was a relatively quiet period. There was some skirmishing over the border but no major battles. There were a few revolts, but they never amounted to much in terms of battles.

This is Border Wars territory for wargamers, with plenty of potential scenarios for small-scale clashes, for which the rules work so well. There are even models for the Queen's emissaries that fit in well with the missions John was sent on.

Bulgaria and Turkey in the Cold War

 A new and an older book has scratched an itch for a side project on a what-if clash between Bulgaria and Turkey during the early Cold War period.

The new book is Hot Skies of the Cold War by Alexander Mladenov and Evgeni Andonov, published by Helion.

The Bulgarian Air Force was Sovietised after WW2 and started to receive the latest Soviet aircraft, including the early jet fighters the Yak-23 and Mig-15. The first 23 Mig-15s arrived in 1951, boxed in crates. More arrived each year after that, totalling more than 100, plus trainers. While there were no open hostilities, the CIA organised incursion flights from Greece. Bulgarian air defences were limited, but Mig-15s made 130 launches in 1954 alone. These incursions had tragic consequences when two Mig-15 pilots shot down an Israeli airliner (Flight LY402) on 27 July 1955, which had strayed into Bulgarian air space. 58 passengers and crew died. This incident takes up most of the book, which, while tragic, is a bit too much. The Mig-17 was a significant improvement because of its all-weather capability. These started arriving in 1955, totalling around 74 by the decade's end. Later versions had radar. The Mig-19 was the first supersonic fighter, ideal for air defence. 84 of these arrived between 1957 and 1959. The book has lots of photos and some excellent colour plates.

The second book, Turkey Between East and West, edited by Vojtech Mastny and Craig Nation, looks at the other side of the hill. It is a series of essays examining different aspects of Turkey's development during this period and later. The book was written in 1996, so the forward-looking chapters are interesting for what they got right and wrong!

Stalin’s attempt to acquire the Straits after WW2 framed Turkey’s relations with the Soviet Union in the 1950s. It brought them firmly into the US sphere of influence through the Truman Doctrine, which brought the US Sixth Fleet to Turkish ports and a steady equipment flow when Turkey joined NATO. This relationship cooled with the Cuban missile crisis and the loss of Jupiter missiles on Turkish soil, followed by the Cyprus crisis of 1963-64. 

I also dusted down a few more books on this subject from my shelves for this project. Unlike other Warsaw Pact nations, the Soviets didn't station troops on Bulgarian soil. They relied on advisors, trainers and the KGB, which, coupled with historical links, made Bulgaria a reliable ally. Bulgaria sent advisors and equipment to communist regimes across the world, although they did not participate in combat operations like the Cubans in Angola. There is some evidence that Bulgaria supplied weapons to Kurdish separatists, which is always a sensitive issue in Turkey.

The Bulgarian People’s Army (Bulgarska Narodna Armiya – BNA) consisted of Ground Forces, Air Force, Navy and Border Troops. It is estimated that Bulgaria had 180,000 regular troops in 1951. At its peak in 1955, it had 12 rifle and two tank divisions, falling to six rifle and two tank divisions by the start of the 1960s. The structure was similar to the Soviet organisation, just on a smaller scale. The country was divided into three military districts (Sofia, Plovdiv and Sliven). Conscripts served two years from age 19 (three in the Navy) and then went into the reserve. While part of the Warsaw Pact, the BNA played a limited role, reflecting the lower strategic position and the armed forces' limited combat value. It received older equipment than other Warsaw Pact nations, and most rifle divisions were still foot infantry. The T34 tank was still the primary MBT when other Warsaw Pact armies received or made the T54/55. The 1936 uniform and helmet was still in service until the 1970s. In a conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the Bulgarians could expect support from Romania and the Soviet Odesa and Kyiv Military Districts.

Turkey had to face the Soviet Union directly on its northern border, a frontier some 620km long. Facing Bulgaria in Thrace was the Turkish 1st Army. A 15-20km deep border zone with Turkey along the 279km long border made intelligence estimates difficult to verify. However, there are obvious invasion routes across the border, and amphibious units were based at Ahtopol, close to the border, which could launch attacks on the Straits. There were extensive fortifications on both sides of the border zone, but once breached, the terrain in Turkish Thrace is primarily open plains. However, access was more manageable from the Greek side over the Evros River, which made it difficult to separate Greece from any conflict. The Turkish Corps based at Corlu would have faced the brunt of any attack from Bulgaria. While there are some defensive positions around Edirne and the wooded Yildiz Daglari, the Turkish strategy would likely follow the historical plan of a fighting withdrawal to the 20km wide Catalea position in front of Istanbul. Additional fortifications were defending the Thracian beaches near the Straits from amphibious assault.

The Turkish armed forces gained some warfighting experience in Korea and joined NATO in 1952. US military equipment arrived in modest numbers, including the M47 MBT. The armed forces implemented some reforms, slimming down the largely infantry army and the number of officers. However, progress was slow, with centralised training only introduced in 1954, and literacy was well below NATO standards. The Navy received US and British WW2-era destroyers and submarines in the 1950s. This was adequate when facing the small Bulgarian Navy, but would be reliant on assistance from the US Sixth Fleet in a conflict with the Soviet Union. Air bases were quickly upgraded after 1952 with modern early warning systems and communications. The Air Force received modern jet fighters, including the F84 Thunderjet in 1953/54, and refurbished Canadair Sabres in 1954/56. The first supersonic F-100 Super Sabres started to arrive in 1958. The first female fighter jet pilot to operate under a NATO flag was Leman Bozkurt Altınçekiç, from the Turkish Air Force, in the early 1950s.

The military had a special position in Turkish society and regularly intervened in politics, including a military coup in 1960. The NATO archives include a period film on Turkey and NATO, which shows Turkish soldiers in their WW2-style British battledress. The helmet was still used as late as the Cyprus intervention in 1974.

https://youtu.be/QyeLGnaaMpg

Even before the Cyprus conflict, Greece and Turkey were unstable allies, and Bulgarian planning would have taken this into account. Ethnic Turkish groups in Bulgaria (11-15% of the Bulgarian population) were regarded as suspect, although full-scale assimilation campaigns didn't begin until the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s, friction between Turkey and Bulgaria over this issue brought both countries close to war, although the US and Soviets would have intervened to stop it.

My first tabletop dabble was a game of Blood Red Skies, with Sabres and Mig-15s dogfighting over Thrace. I haven't found any Bulgarian decals in 1/200th yet, so I had to settle for Soviet ones. Turkish ones are available from Pendraken.

The midweek game this evening will be an armoured clash with a Turkish armoured brigade fighting a rear-guard action on the Thracian plains. This will be in 6mm using Cold War Commander rules.

The Campaign in Gallipoli

 As if I need more books on Gallipoli, this was my thought when faced with more at the Gallipoli Association's stall at the Battleground show. However, I relented for this memoir written by a German officer, Hans Kannengiesser. He was among the German advisors to the Ottoman Empire when the First World War broke out. Not simply as a liaison officer with the Ottoman Army, he commanded Ottoman troops in the field, including the Ottoman 9th Division.

This book gives readers a different perspective on the Gallipoli campaign fought between April 1915 and January 1916. Allied forces, primarily from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and France, attempted to secure the Gallipoli Peninsula in modern-day Turkey. The goal was to open up a sea route to Russia via the Dardanelles Strait and weaken the Ottoman Empire, a Central Powers ally. The campaign could have been better planned and executed, facing fierce Ottoman resistance and challenging terrain. It resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, over 250,000 for the Allies, and ultimately ended in a costly and humiliating Allied withdrawal.

The author was working with the Ottoman Army when war broke out, and he describes early efforts to strengthen defences on the Gallipoli Peninsula. If you are unfamiliar with the campaign, he covers all the salient points. However, the strength of this memoir is his observations on the Ottoman forces he not only advised but also led.

I have toured this battlefield, hiring a car in Istanbul, so I hadn't appreciated how poor the lines of communication were. He describes the best route as being by sea, although even warships were attacked and sunk by British submarines. The language barrier was challenging, and he often relied on inadequate translators. Not unlike much later NATO officers, it didn't occur to him to at least learn some Turkish! I'm feeling righteous, having just finished a 100-day streak on Duolingo 😁.

I hadn't appreciated how limited ammunition was, which would have reduced Allied casualties given the modest area they occupied. He also tackled the communication and coordination of Ottoman batteries. Relations with Ottoman commanders were mixed. Some ignored him when in an advisory role, but there were fewer difficulties when he directly commanded Ottoman formations. Heat and disease were constant challenges, not just for the German troops. Scurvy broke out in three battalions he commanded due to the unchanging rations and the lack of vitamins. 

The Ottomans also had a prodigious bureaucracy. Regiments and divisions had to render strength reports every 14 days, which contained 458 columns to be filled in. He complained that methods of correspondence 'were most ceremonious'. 

His personal description of the battle was interrupted when he was wounded by a machine gun bullet to the chest by the New Zealanders. On 7 September, he had recovered enough to return to the front. This is a classic 'The Other Side of the Hill' study, which has been helpfully edited by John Wilson into a very readable study.

Some of my 28mm Ottoman and British WW1 troops.

Conquest: Alexander and Hannibal

 Strength and Honour (S&H) is my favourite ruleset for big battles in the ancient world. One of my wargaming pals finds this ironic as he reminds me of the grief we gave him over a France 1940 game he organised in 3mm. In my defence, we spent most of the afternoon trying to identify the type of tank firing! Whereas the 2mm figures for S&H are mounted on large bases and labelled.

 The main rules mainly cover the Imperial Roman world. Mark has written a new supplement covering earlier conflicts, including Alexander, the Successors, and the Punic Wars. I dabbled at this with my Young Alexander in the Balkans campaign (published in Slingshot), but this allows me to extend the campaign to the Persians. I have always fancied a Persian army, and in 2mm, it is quickly completed. I also have a soft spot for the Carthaginians because they were my first wargame army, in 25mm using Warrior Miniatures. I will need some 2mm Romans in manipular legion formation, so another order is off to Martin at Warbases.

The supplement provides some new rules for the period extension and some tweaks based on feedback. There are 12 new army lists covering this earlier period and 20 scenarios. It all comes as a PDF download, which makes sense. I prefer a hard copy for rules, but a PDF is easy to use and a significant cost-saving, particularly for colour printing. I did the same with my new Cyprus 1974 guide for wargamers. I have printed off the new rules I will likely use, which are just a few pages.

Onto the tabletop for the midweek game last night. Alexander has crossed the Hellespont and faces a Royal Persian Army.

It went badly for the Persians from the outset, with both flanks driven in.

The centre held up better, with the mercenary hoplites doing a good job for the Persians. However, Homunculus Est! was called successfully with only a handful of setback cards in the Macedonian pile. I was a bit short of cavalry for this game, which may have helped the Persians, and some more archer units might have slowed up the Macedonian phalanx. We will have another go after Christmas.

When a giant cat arrived on the battlefield, Alexander was pleased to see it was a Moggie, not a Persian 😅.

North American F-100 Super Sabre

 One aspect of researching the first volume in our book for Helion on the Cyprus crisis of 1963/64 was reading all I could find on the F-100 Super Sabre, my favourite modern fighter aircraft. I found David Anderton's long-out-of-print Osprey very useful, although, for the Turkish F-100s, Levent Basara's F-100 Super Sabre in Turkish Air Force was a must-read. Peter Davies's book (same title) also has a good chapter on the type in Turkish service. I read these in the National Library of Scotland, so I was delighted to pick up my own copy in the secondhand bookshop in Alnwick this year.

The F-100 Super Sabre (nicknamed the Hun) was the first supersonic jet fighter to enter service with the United States Air Force (USAF). It was developed by North American Aviation and was part of the Century Series of aircraft. The aircraft's first flight was on 25 May 1953 and entered service in 1954. The day after my birthday and just a wee bit older than me may explain my enthusiasm for this aircraft!

The F-100 featured a swept-wing design for high-speed performance. Its fuselage was designed to minimize drag, and it had an all-moving tailplane for improved control at supersonic speeds. This gave it a top speed of over Mach 1.3 (860 mph or 1,380 km/h), a service ceiling of 50,000 feet (15,240 meters), and a range of approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) without refuelling. Its main armament was four 20mm M39 cannons and various bombs and rockets.

Initially designed as a high-performance air superiority fighter, it was later adapted for ground-attack missions. It played a significant role in the Vietnam War, primarily in close air support and strike missions. NATO and allied nations also used it under the Military Assistance Program (MAP). This is how Turkey received 87 F-100s starting in 1959, C, D, and F ( two-seat trainer) models. Pilots were initially trained by USAF pilots. The Turkish Air Force received over 200 Super Sabres, some from USAF surplus and from Denmark. At least nine Filo (Squadron) operated the type, which saw extensive service in all stages of the Cyprus conflict. The Turks called it the Baba (Father), and if you read the memoirs of Turkish pilots, it was very popular. 

The Osprey book is double the length of a regular Osprey book. It is profusely illustrated and takes the reader through the stages of development and its service with the USAF. 

The French Air Force leased over 100 F-100s, and when they were returned, a significant number ended up at RAF Sculthorpe for scrapping. This is why several can be seen in UK aircraft museums. More than 100 are preserved worldwide.

Newark Air Museum

Dumfries Air Museum

Sunderland Air Museum

Türkiye has a good record of preserving military equipment for museums. Two F-100s in early and later colour schemes are at the Istanbul Air Museum. 

I have two 1/72nd scale Baba models from the PM Models range. This Turkish manufacturer makes a simple kit that suits my inadequate kit-building skills and has Turkish decals for both periods. They have seen a lot of tabletop action, often saving the Turks from near defeat.

I would also recommend the Facebook group, which has many photos shared by veterans and their families—a testimony to the Super Sabre's enduring attraction.

Cyprus 1974: A Wargamers Guide

 I have a new book out today, Cyprus 1974: A Wargamers Guide. The subject will be familiar given the number of scenario play tests I have covered in this blog, not to mention books and visits.

While I am co-writing a complete military history of the conflict for Helion Books, I didn't want the 50th anniversary to pass without providing something for all the wargamers who have played the games that appear as scenarios in the book. So, this is an Osprey-length teaser on the history, but it has everything the wargamer needs to refight the conflict on the tabletop.

This book explores the background of the conflict. It details the armed forces involved, including regular units from Turkey and Greece, the Greek Cypriot National Guard, and Turkish Cypriot militia units. British and UN forces were also present on the island, and I mention them as well because they could easily have been drawn in. It outlines the military operations conducted on land, at sea, and in the air, drawing on interviews with veterans and published memoirs.

It also offers modelling suggestions for the various forces involved and presents eight scenarios to re-enact key actions on the tabletop. These scenarios are illustrated with wargames, maps, and orders of battle that can be adapted to popular wargame rules.

This conflict has probably been overlooked because the major powers were not involved, and it doesn't fit with the Cold War narrative that dominated the period. This is my modest attempt to rectify that.

And if you are looking for that late Christmas present - here are a few more titles to consider! 

The Queen's Grace

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter project also covers the rule of Mary Queen of Scots. However, this is one of Tranter's earlier novels (1953) that covers a specific part of the period: the conflict with the Gordons in northeast Scotland.

The story is told through the eyes of a minor Gordon laird, Patrick MacRuary Gordon, Laird of Balruary in Glen Livet. Glen Livet is a scenic spot to this day, although it is probably better known for Glenlivet whisky. The Gordons are a predominately Catholic clan led by the Earl of Huntly (Cock o' the North). Still, Patrick's father was a noted protestant, making him a suitable go-between with the Queen and the Protestant Lords of the Congregation led by her half-brother James Stewart, Earl of Mar. Called 'The Bastard' by just about everyone.

Glen Livet

The Protestant Lords were spoiling for a fight with the Gordons, who were generally willing to oblige. James Stewart was also anxious to secure his Earldom of Moray, which abuts the Gordon territories. The Gordons were a strange mix of Highland and Lowland, creating division compounded by differences in strategy between the two sons. Mary was also in a difficult position as a Catholic Queen who would generally have looked to the Gordons for support.

Moray brings a large lowland army north on a royal progress to Aberdeen and Inverness. Patrick gains the Queen's confidence and gets involved in all the main events. This all ends badly at the Battle of Corrichie, fought on the slopes of the Hill of Fare in Aberdeenshire on 28 October 1562. Clan Chattan abandoned Huntly, and the new-fangled pike and shot tactics defeated the Gordon charge. Huntly died of a heart attack on the battlefield, and his son John was captured and executed. The older son was not at the battle and was spared by Mary's intervention, and she later restored his titles. The Gordon story lived on, and they will play an important part in future events.

Gordon Horse, of a slightly later period