introduction

This is a review of the Osprey Publishing LTD book Bolt Action World War II Wargames Rules – Armies of Germany by author Warwick Kinrade with series editors Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestly.

body of the text

HISTORY:

** This book provides Bolt Action players with all of the information they need to field the military forces of Germany. Detailed army lists allow players to build armies for any theatre and any year of the war, from the early campaigns in Poland and France, through North Africa and the bloody battles on the Eastern Front, to the final defence of Normandy, occupied Europe and Germany itself. **

** Quoted from the back cover of the book.

** This book provides Bolt Action players with all of the information they need to field the military forces of Germany. Detailed army lists allow players to construct German armies for any theatre and any year of the war, including the early campaigns in Poland and France, the dusty tank war in the North African desert, the bloody battles on the Eastern Front, and the final defence of Normandy, occupied France and Germany itself. With dozens of different unit types including Fallschirmjager, Waffen-SS, and the dreaded Tiger tank, players can assemble a huge variety of troops with which to battle their opponents. **

** Quoted from the Osprey Publishing website

THE BOOK:

Osprey Publications Ltd has released Armies of Germany in their Bolt Action World War II Wargames Rules series. It is a paperback book with 96 pages. Included with the text are colour photographs, colour illustrations and detailed captions. It has a 2012 copyright and the ISBN is 978-1-78096-088-3.

the contents

The list of contents for this volume is very large and so I will not list the entire contents as I normally do with my reviews of Osprey titles. So what I have done is scan both pages of contents so that you can see them for yourselves. What I will also do is list the main headings for the contents section.

- What is this book?
- The German Army of World War II
- Army List
- Infantry
- Artillery
- Vehicles
- Armoured Cars
- Transports and Tows
- Theatre Selectors
- Blitzkrieg 1939-42
- North Africa 1941-43
- Eastern Front 1943-44
- Western front 1943-44
- The Fall Of The Third Reich 1945

the text

The text in the book is well written. The text goes into detail of each of the individual headings listed in the contents section. They provide basic detailed information for each of the categories and provide information for the gamer such as the cost, weapons, damage value, options and special rules. Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the text for yourself.

the photographs

There are a total of 56 colour photographs throughout the book by photographers Warwick Kinrade, Mark Owen, Rick Priestly and Paul Sawyer. The photographs are of various miniatures painted by the below listed modellers. They show the miniatures set up as in game play and provide several close-up details on items such as vehicles, armor, uniforms and web equipment and weapons.

The miniatures shown were painted by:

- Neil Burt
- Andres Amian Fernandez
- Alan Mander
- Gary Martin
- Bruce Murray
- Mike Collington
- Darius Wyrozebski
Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the photographs for yourself.

the colour illustrations

There are 24 colour illustrations by illustrators Peter Dennis and Stephen Andrew shown throughout the book which cover various uniforms, armor, various equipment and vehicles of the German military during World War II. The illustrations are from various Osprey publications.

The publications the illustrations are from are:

- Campaign 148: Operation Barbarossa 1941 (2)
- Campaign 145: Battle of the Bulge 1944 (2)
- Elite 136: World War II Airborne Warfare Tactics
- Men-At-Arms 326: The German Army 1939-45 (3)
- Men-At-Arms 401: The Waffen-SS (1)
- Campaign 159: Berlin 1945
- Elite 156: World War II Combat Reconnaissance Tactics
- Men-At-Arms 330: The German Army 1939-45 (4)
- Command 5: Erwin Rommel
- Men-At-Arms 404: The Waffen-SS (2)
- Campaign 155: Anzio 1944
- Men-At-Arms 336: The German Army 1939-45 (5)
- Campaign 143: Caen 1944
- Campaign 175: Remagen1945
- Campaign 215: Leningrad 1941-44
- Campaign 186: Operation Barbarossa 1941 (3)
- Men-At-Arms 311: The German Army 1939-45 (1)
- Campaign 184: Stalingrad 1942
- Men-At-Arms 316: The German Army 1939-45 (2)
- Men-At-Arms 420: The Waffen-SS (4)
- Men-At-Arms 415: The Waffen-SS (3)
The majority of the illustrations are the uniform colour plates from the mentioned titles. The military scale figure modeler will find the illustrations very helpful for detailing purposes.

Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the illustrations for yourself.

the captions

The captions that accompany the photographs and illustrations are very brief and provide the basic information as to what is shown and which Osprey Publication the illustrations are from. Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the captions for yourself.

conclusion

All in all I am impressed with the book. This is a very nice addition to the Bolt Action World War II Wargames Rules series and will be a great asset to the Bolt Action gamer with its excellent and subject specific photographs and illustrations and well detailed text. I would have no hesitation to add other Osprey titles to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to the Bolt Action gamer’s reference library.


This book was provided by Osprey Publishing Ltd. Please be sure to mention that you saw the book reviewed here when you make your purchase.

references

Take a look inside the book at the Osprey Publishing LTD web site:

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Bolt-Action--Armies-of-Germany_9781780960883


Take a look inside the book at the Amazon web site:

http://www.amazon.com/Bolt-Action-Germany-Warlord-Games/dp/1780960883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358657228&sr=8-1&keywords=Bolt Action: Armies of Germany


Watch a video description of the book on the YouTube web site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9y_9jf-Yqs&feature=player_embedded#!