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News from a wargamer with a special interest in the military history of the Balkans. It mainly covers my current reading and wargaming projects. For more detail you can visit the web sites I edit - Balkan Military History and Glasgow & District Wargaming Society. Or follow me on Twitter @Balkan_Dave
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Monday 16 January 2012

The Afrika Reich

The Afrika Reich
Just finished my first Kindle book, Afrika Reich by Guy Saville. I didn't think I would like an electronic book reader, but I was wrong. Love having a huge library at my fingertips to download in seconds. It won't replace reference books, but I anticipate using it for most of my fiction reading.
Anyway, Afrika Reich is a bit of post WW2 alternative history. Britain made peace with Hitler after Dunkirk and the subsequent treaty gave Germany its pre-WW1 colonies back. They took over the former French and Belgium ones as well. They exploited the continent and the SS applied an African version of Lebensraum.

The book is really a thriller with a former soldier and mercenary hired to assassinate the SS commander in the German Congo. Plenty of twists and turns and fast paced action as they are chased across Africa by the SS after the assassination goes wrong.

It would make an interesting idea for a wargames campaign with an updated Afrika Korps and 8th Army fighting it out in Rhodesia and South Africa. Stop me now!
   
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2 comments:

  1. Guy Saville16 January 2012 at 23:09

    Hi there

    Google alerts let me now about your review. Thanks for taking the time to write a few words and I’m very excited to have been the first book you read on Kindle!

    Also glad you enjoyed the twists and turns in the book and the action.

    Several people of late have suggested the book would make a good war game. Any idea how one goes about doing that?

    Thanks again for your kind words,

    Best wishes

    Guy

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  2. Balkandave18 January 2012 at 17:29

    Hi Guy

    Alternative history is getting more popular in wargaming. The Very British Civil War (alternative 1930's) is a good example. I suppose it's because most historical periods have been done.

    Most of the wargame figures to do your historical context are already available in late war ranges at various scales. There are some, not many, figures and vehicles based on experimental designs that never quite made it into production. Others could be converted like your helicopter gunships.

    Rules could again be adapted from almost any late war set.

    What it would need is someone to pull it all together in a booklet. Intro, context, flesh out the history side, some maps, army lists and suggested rules and figures. Need some decent artwork, painted models etc to catch the eye.

    This tends to be more of a labour of love for someone unless one of the larger commercial outfits gets interested. Battlefront who publish Flames of War would be the obvious commercial partner. They have a Vietnam extension to their system that means the heavy lifting has already been done.

    Hope that helps.

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