Having read E R Hooton's military history of the Spanish Civil War, it followed that I would also read his history of the Balkan Wars.
PRELUDE TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE BALKAN WARS 1912-1913 gives the right level of information beloved by wargamers, and it is by far and away the best book I have read about these two wars. It begins by giving a political background to the events leading up to the outbreak of the First Balkan War, then a description of the development of military technology during the nineteenth century and its impact of the armies of the combatants. This includes a rundown of each armies organisation and equipment, which is further enhanced by detailed ORBATs in the final chapter.
The book is divided into a Preface and six chapters:
- Gathering around the Sick Bed
- Bayonets and Battleships
- The Eastern Theatre - The Hollow Triumph
- The Western Theatre - The Ebb and Flow of Ambition
- The Naval and Diplomatic Struggles
- The Second Balkan War
There were several aspects of the war that I had certainly never come across before, including the first recorded submarine attack on an opposing warship. This took place on 22nd December 1913, when the Greek submarine Delfin unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo the Turkish cruiser Medjideh.
The Greek submarine Delfin.
The Turkish cruiser Medjideh.
My only criticism of the book is the quality of the maps. The details on some of them is rather sparse, and on one of them the same symbol is used to show trenches is is used on other maps to indicate railway lines. Very confusing!
As I was reading this book, all sorts of wargaming ideas came to mind, including the possibility of designing two Matrix Games that covered the runup to the outbreak of the First Balkan War and the situation that caused the Second Balkan War. I also thought that the battles could easily be re-fought using a slightly developed version of Mark Cordone's rules. After all, I have the example of Archduke Piccolo's excellent Blacklands War to inspire me!
PRELUDE TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE BALKAN WARS 1912-1913 was written by E R Hooton and published in 2014 by Fonthill Media (ISBN 978 1 78155 180 6).
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I'll check out the book. It's certainly a conflict that receives less attention, despite its importance to the runup to WWI.
ReplyDeleteRe the submarine, interesting! While the first torpedo attack, it's only the second submarine attack, after the Confederate Hunley's attack on Housatonic. She was operating on the surface, though, having sunk about four times whilst trying to operate submerged.
Jennifer,
DeleteIt is very much a military history of the war, unlike almost every other book that I have read, which dealt mainly with the political aspects of the war.
I had forgotten about the HUNLEY’s successful (and suicidal) attempt to sink the HOUSATONIC. At least the DELPHIN survived!
All the best,
Bob
I started reading it last week, and whilst a very readable book sadly I've only had time to reach chapter two , so don't spoil the ending for me 😉
DeleteTake Care,
Tony.
Unknown (Tony),
DeleteIt won’t spoil the ending if I tell you that the butler didn’t do it!
Read and enjoy,
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
But apparently there's a twist at the end involving the shady Bulgarian . . .
DeleteUnknown,
DeleteYou’ve guessed the ending … almost,
All the best,
Bob
Bob
ReplyDeleteDepending on your level of interest and time available, you may wish to investigate 'The Balkan Wars 1912-1913' by Richard C Hall.
I read them both about three years ago and was immediately struck by the gaming possibilities. Between the two of them and the relevant Osprey title they have plenty of detail to produce sthg covering the whole war. The most straightforward start point is a matrix game, but that's so far outside my ability as to induce coronaries in those in my vicinity. There is however the Quartermaster General series of boardgames.
Around the time of reading I acquired QMG 1914 which covers WWI and I thought the Balkan Wars would work equally as well. Over the course of a few months I sorted out the basics, researched the figures needed for the playing pieces (it would need ships...I don't do ships) and created an outline map and card decks. I want(ed) it to be my next COW offering. Unfortunately Covid and a couple of design blocks have halted me entirely. The sieges of the war are tricky within QMG and incentivising a cease fire, whilst simultaneously permitting the prosecution of the war and putting together a peace treaty (as happened between the first and second wars) is proving a headache. I think the basics of it are ideally suited to the QMG system, but I need a better brain than mine to iron out the wrinkles.
Cheers
Andrew
Rumblestrip (Andrew),
DeleteI looked at Hall’s book … but at over £30.00 for the Kindle edition (and just under £100.00 for the hardback), it was a bit too ‘rich’ for my pocket!
Some years ago I created a Matrix Game about the Balkan Wars, and it was published in THE NUGGET and MINIATURE WARGAMES. The intention was to use the Matrix Game to run the campaign and to fight the battles using a version of DBA/HOTT. It formed the basis of Archduke Piccolo’s BLACKLANDS WAR, which I have featured regularly on my blog.
Might I suggest that you could bring your unfinished game to COW or even to make it a discussion session for VCOW. I am sure that plenty of people would like to help you find a solution that works.
All the best,
Bob
Bob
DeleteThat's very odd...I am sure it didn't cost me anywhere near that. It was very much a 'whim' purchase after Hooton - just to round out the picture quickly and economically. How strange!
Andrew
Rumblestrip (Andrew),
DeleteI looked on several online second-hand bookshops, and the prices on some of them were fantastic. As to the high cost of the Kindle edition … well, that is set by the publishers, and they obviously want to make as much money as possible from sales of this book.
All the best,
Bob
An odd coincidence: earlier today I bought the e-book, and an hour or two later I check your blog and find your short report. I normally buy my history on paper - save for the 99p e-book reprints which I can't resist - but in this case I went for the e-book as the reviews suggested the maps and photos were not of great quality. Paying 5 times as much for a hardback didn't seem particularly worthwhile if the bits that normally cause me to go for paper are not very good.
ReplyDeleteSo far, the display of the maps (on my PC monitor) is fine, the quality of their content less certain. The illustrations also display okay but their quality is variable. There is a lot of interest but some of the photographers clearly didn't know how to focus their cameras. At least the majority are of troops and equipment with only a minority being the normally ubiquitous head and shoulders photos of leaders, which I feel rarely add much value to a book.
Low quality maps are a perennial problem with history books, even ones otherwise of the highest quality. I wish authors had a test reader who would go through the draft and just report on every place mentioned - at least in the reports of plans, battles and manoeuvres - that they could not find on the maps, plus pointing out wherever the textual account could not be followed because the map was inadequate or an extra one was needed.
Mike Hall,
DeleteFunnily enough, I have now bought the ebook so that I can take the book with me when I am away from home!
I feel that the maps could have been some much more user-friendly with a little more effort on the part of the publisher … but I know that many expect the authors themselves to provide and pay for professionally-drawn maps, and this can cost more than the author will make in the form of revenue. I actually know of one author who took several years to write a book, and then withdrew his book from a publisher for that reason.
I have seen maps that omit important places that are mentioned in a book’s text … and others that have different spellings on the maps and in the text for the same place name.
I’d rather have a poor-quality image that adds something to the text than a plethora of studio portraits of ‘important’ people.
All the best,
Bob
Perfect for the PW
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteIt is … as Archduke Piccolo has shown with his Blacklands War campaign. (https://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-first-blacklands-war.html)
All the best,
Bob