Book: 'The Penninsular War Atlas' by Colonel Nick Lipscombe

I have been eager to get a copy of this book since first seeing a notice of it during our trip to Portugal this past autumn. So this Christmas I was lucky enough to find a copy under the tree gifted to me by our dog 'Caleb' (a very sensible hound who obviously listens to his mistress).   I thought I'd provide a few first impressions of the book for those who may be interested.

This is an impressive book, exhibiting very good craftsmanship throughout. In its slipcase it is 12 1/4" x 10 1/8" and weighs around 6.2 lbs. It is a stitched cloth-bound hardcover with 384 pages, including introduction, body, index and notes. The front cover features a colour print (Wellington in Spain by Robert Alexander Hillingford) which while nice in of itself seems to 'tart up' the book to excess. But this is just my opinion as I prefer a more understated art design.

Any who have see Greenhill's excellent Esposito/Elting 'A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars' will be struck by the close similarities between that work and this especially regarding the map layouts and structure of the narrative.

If there was one thing that especially impressed me with this book is that it takes great pains to portray the entire conflict, with all it's actors, not limiting itself to the typical anglo-centric view that has been so prevalent. As such the author draws heavily on both Spanish and Portuguese primary and secondary sources which gives a much more cohesive and balanced view of the Peninsular campaigns. Several notable historians were involved in the creation of the book, notably Charles Esdaile  (who's own work has provided us the best recent history of the Peninsular war), which lends greater credence to the work as a whole.

So, is it worth the $86 CAD pricetag? Yes, definitely - especially for a  research library or for someone who is a dyed-in-the-wool Napoleonic Wars enthusiast/wargamer. The book helps to place in both a geographical and chronological context a very complex and diverse war. I believe it fills a long neglected niche and will probably be considered a seminal work for years to come.


The Peninsular War Atlas
Colonel Nick Lipscombe
Osprey Publishing,
November 23, 2010
ISBN: 1849083649

Note: Both Amazon.com and Chapters.ca currently have the book deeply discounted (37% and 34% respectively) so take advantage of these promotions.

New Entry for 'Painting Challenge'

Back in October Dallas from 'The Fawcett Avenue Conscripts' (my old and revered gaming group in Winnipeg) had the great idea of issuing a challenge to see who could paint the most hobby stuff by New Years Day. (Check out the Challenge here.) Well, the competition has been fierce with around nine of us going at it hammer and tongs (or primer and brush) to see who gets final bragging rights. Currently I'm running fourth behind the leaders with about a 40 point spread, and since we are in the last week of the Challenge I'm madly trying to get some stuff done to see if I can pip my way onto the podium. 

Anyway, here is my latest entry for some points: A 28mm Napoleonic French Line Battery using Perry  castings. In terms of 'Republic to Empire' this represents four 6 pounders and two 5.5 inch howitzers. I will be beefing this battery up with another gun/crew and ultimately each will have a trail of limbers and caissons arrayed behind. Nonetheless, this is enough to establish as a 'unit' for now. So 1 point for each foot figure and 2 points for each gun = 18 points for the pot.

Back to the hobby bench for the Big Push!

28mm Napoleonic Austrian High Command

This past August, Greg and Linda, two very good friends of ours got married (the fools) to which I had the honour of being one of Greg's groomsmen. In getting prepared for the wedding, I was at a loss trying to figure out what kind of gift to get Greg. Finally, it dawned on me that he needed some officers 'to-the-manor-born' (to lead his new Austrians to their destruction) and so I made up a command stand depicting Archduke Charles and a group of his inbred aristocratic funkies from an old pack I had from Foundry.

I've based them up to be compatible with many of the 'Grande Manner' rulesets that have been published recently. I also made sure to heavily pin all the figures to their mounts and quadruple-coat with the varnish just in case Greg feels the need to fling it across the table when my French roll over his boys-in-white... ;)

Welcome to the Club Greg!

SmackTalk: 'Off'

Battle of Raszyn, 6mm Fast Play Grande Armee (FPGA) and 40mm 1860s Wars of German Unification

'The beer hall is through the Austrians and over that hill...'

Happy Christmas All! I just put up some more postings in the 'Past Games' section. One is not so much a battle report than a little feature on my friend John's 40mm castings for the Wars of German Unification. We had a great game on our deck this past summer with his Prussians and Austrians. The other posting is of a 6mm Napoleonics game, the 1809 Battle of Raszyn, using Sam Mustafa's excellent 'Fast Play Grande Armee' rules.

New Posts in the Past Games Section

I dug up a few shots from the photo archive of some previous games we've had and placed them in the Past Games section. One is an excellent Sudan game put on by Greg and the other was a whacky 'Ten Commandments' meets 'Deathrace 2000' mashup we played during a past New Years. Some of the images are pretty dodgy quality-wise so my apologies in advance.