AH Osprey books

[kaijudirector]

Campaign: Second Ulm 1815 - Napoleon's Last Stand (AU where Napoleon wins at Waterloo but the Austrians and Russians defeat him at Ulm)

Campaign: Able Archer 1983 - The Last Apocalypse (WW3 AU)

Campaign: Leipzig 1945 - The Second Battle of the Nations (AU where the WAllies and Soviets clash with the Germans in Leipzig)

Campaign: Korea 1950 - Red Star Over Asia (AU where NorKor wins the Korean War in '50)

Campaign: San Bernadino 1944 - Last Dance of the Battleships (AU where TF34 meets Center Force)

Campaign: Manila 1986 - The Second Philippine Revolution (AU where the fall of Ferdinand Marcos is a lot more bloody)

 

[Sam R.]

Campaign: Able Archer 1983 - The Last Apocalypse (WW3 AU)

The publishers foreword on their and the authors survival and the writing editing and printing is of greater interest than the story every child is told, even before five.

 

[CaptainCalvert]

45 minutes to midnight

This book covers the second Gulf War where a United Nations motion supported the invasion of Iraq to disarm them of their biological and chemical weapons, following a daring bit of espionage by Iranian security services which provided conclusive proof of weaponised systems at an advanced state of readiness.

It covers the precision cruise missile strikes and special forces raids that disabled the majority of the launch sites just minutes before the main attacks were launched.

The military impact of combat under full chemical and biological protection is thoroughly covered, firmly showing that self-inflicted casualties are more of a problem for the users than any advantages gained over enemy ground forces.

The conventional warfare aspect is also well covered, with an authoritative critique of the perforance of all participants. The second edition benefits hugely from the section on the contribution of the crucial diversionary attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary guard. Their mixed performance in more open warfare against an opponent they had previously faced only in trench warfare is of interest to any serious military student.

The foreword by former UK PM Tony Blair underlines the critical importance of substantiating the claims in building an alliance that had the strength and motivation to purge Iraq of these deadly weapons and then help reconstruct its society. The fact that Iraq is now used as a model example of how the constructive use of force can reimpose order on a troubled state (in combination with his ability to bring Iran on board as part of their now completed global reintegration) fully justifies his Nobel Peace prize, his Iranian honours and role as a UN peace envoy.

 

[Defeatisnotanoption]

Duel: P-80 Shooting Star vs Nazi SAM battery, Germany, 1946

By late 1945, the U.S Air Force had fully equipped the 412th fighter group with it's first operational jet fighter, the Lockheed P-80, Tasked with escorting B-29s into the heart of the Reich and holding at bay the multitude of Feuerlilie,Wasserfall, and Schmetterling surface to air missile systems in Luftwaffe service, the spring of 1946 saw the birth of modern air warfare, with both jet aircraft and SAM systems pitted against one another for the first time in the waning days of the World War 2.

Included are a full overview of the development programs of both the P-80 by Lockheed and multiple Luftwaffe R&D teams on SAM technology.

A history of operations, from the "Bloody Nose November" when the Germans first unveiled their newest AA platforms to devastating effects on the USAF, the deployment of the Shooting Stars as interceptors to try and shield the bomber force, and the infamous introduction of the Superfortress to the ETO in the final months of the war.

The tactics of both weapons crews, capabilities and firsthand accounts of service are alongside 12 full color pieces of art.

 

[Petr K.]

Duel: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau versus HMS Ramillies Battle of Convoy HX 106.

The book details the tactics of Vice-Admiral Wilhelm Marschall, who managed to inflict unbearable losses on an important Allied convoy despite the presence of a British battleship. And then escape with only minimal damage to his two fast battleships.


Duel: Bismarck versus HMS Revenge Battle for convoy HX 128

The book describes the worst Allied naval defeat of the entire war, when a German squadron consisting of Bismarck, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen attacked and nearly destroyed the key Allied convoy HX 128 on May 28, 1941.


Duel: Kampfgruppe Marschall versus Home Fleet

The book describes the pursuit and subsequent destruction of the German squadron during May and June 1941. When the British fleet, thanks to the knowledge of ULTRA, was able to completely destroy most of Hitler's large warships in two major naval battles. Which had the courage to operate in the North Atlantic.

 

[Driftless]

• The US Steel Navy 1883 - 1900 This volume covers the modernization of the US Navy and development of steel-hulled warships in the last two decades of the 19th Century following the embarassment of the Virginius Incident. Ships covered include Battleships, Cruisers, Torpedo Boat Destroyers, and Gunboats. Short synopses of individual ship histories are presented, including the controversial magazine explosion of the USS Maine at Key West Florida in 1898. Special consideration is given to the USN's victories over Spanish Fleets at Manila Bay and off Santiago, Cuba in early 1900.
• Narvik - 1940 Covers the two naval battles for the port of Narvik in 1940 and the subsequent land engagement. The first battle covers the brief fight of the two Norwegian Coastal Defence Crusiers (Norge and Eidsvold) who inflicted damage to the German invasion force before succumbing to torpedos fired from surviving German destroyers. The Second Battle covers the complete destruction of the German squadron by forces of the Royal Navy three days later. With personnel and supply losses sustained in the first battle, the German infantry on shore was quickly subdued by the arrival of the Norwegian 6th Division under Gen Carl Gustav Fleischer.
• USS Texas vs U-203 This volume covers the sinking of the USS Texas by U-203 in 1941, while the Texas was on a Neutrality Patrol.

 

[kaijudirector]

(Campaign) Southeast Asia 1942 - Open Season for Submariners: In which the MK14 scandal never happens and COMSUBPAC goes wild in the Philippines and SE Asia in 1942.

(Raid) Zaporozhye 1943 - Lair of the Beast: Details the stunning capture of Adolf Hitler and Erich von Manstein by Cossack cavalry in 1943.

(Duel) Super Pershing vs. Jadgtiger: In which the war in Europe lasts a little bit longer, so the US Army gets a few more Super Pershings to deal with the German heavies.

(Air Campaign) Flanders 1918 - The Race to 100 Kills: After Manfred von Richthofen recovers from a shootdown in April 1918, and in a attempt to boost morale, the German High Command convinces him to announce that he will be gunning for 100 kills by the end of the year. This causes top Allied aces such as Rene Fonck, Mick Mannock, and Billy Bishop to announce that they will try to beat the Red Baron to the punch - or die trying. Despite starting as a propaganda ploy, it soon turns into one of the deadliest and more intense air campaigns of the war as both sides up the tempo, resulting in the deaths of all but one competitor.

 

[Driftless]

* M3 "Badger" Carrier - In late 1938 the Rock Island Arsenal took up a design challenge from the US Army for a very light-weight tracked all-purpose carrier, similar in concept to the British Universal Carrier. The resulting M3 "Badger" as it was nick-named, was a low-profile battlefield carrier for ammunition, machine guns, mortars and crews, even some reconnaisance work. The vehicle was rear-engine, front drive, with a Ford V-8 engine, and was unique for use of a Kegresse-style "rubber-band" track. With the wide track and light weight, the Badger had superb performance across sand, snow, and soft ground. The vehicle was taken into US Army inventory and remained in service through the Korean War (though in a reduced profile there).

* The Hunt for Pancho Villa - AH version of Osprey's current edition. OTL, in mid April, 1916, with the leading elements about 400 miles south of the Rio Grande, Gen'l Pershing and his small staff pushed on ahead of the most forward of the US temporary bases in Mexico, but still many miles far behind the cavalry to the South. Also, OTL, a short battle ensued between the US Cavalry and Mexican government forces at Parral. By this point, Mexico was strongly objecting to the large scale of the US pursuit of Villa and its depth into Mexico. Historically, on learning of this fight, Pershing opted to return to the US base farther north.(*edit* Convoluted sequence of events where the setup directly mirrors OTL history. Pershing placed himself and his staff in a wildly untenable situation, prior to Parral)

The PoD is where General Pershing and his top staff got caught out in the open and captured by the forces of the Mexican government in mid-April 1916. Here, in the AH version, Pershing and his very small staff company get intercepted and captured by Mexican government forces (not Villa). Diplomacy would then take center stage and Pershing would be eventually re-patriated through the efforts of the French ambassador, with the Proviso that all US forces leave Mexico by June 30. Pershing is officially recieved in Washington as a hero, but his career is capped out as having failed in embarassing fashion He later goes on to find some career redemption during WW1, serving as a planner with the US Army staff in the US.

 

[Sekhmet_D]

(Air Campaign) Flanders 1918 - The Race to 100 Kills: After Manfred von Richthofen recovers from a shootdown in 1918, and in a attempt to boost morale, the German High Command convinces him to announce that he will be gunning for 100 kills by the end of the year. This causes top Allied aces such as Rene Fonck, Mick Mannock, and Billy Bishop to announce that they will try to beat the Red Baron to the punch - or die trying. Despite starting as a propaganda ploy, it soon turns into one of the deadliest and more intense air campaigns of the war as both sides up the tempo of the air war, resulting in the deaths of all but one competitor.

Very curious as to who the winner and the lone survivor turn out to be, or if the winner even is the lone survivor.

 

[kaijudirector]

Very curious as to who the winner and the lone survivor turn out to be, or if the winner even is the lone survivor.

Well, thanks to you, I've decided.

Spoiler

It’s Billy Bishop. Probably because I’m living in Canada.

I’ll leave it up in the air if he made 100, or if anyone did for that matter.

 

[Lawnchair Captain]

Campaign: San Bernadino 1944 - Last Dance of the Battleships (AU where TF34 meets Center Force)

This has given me an idea.

Campaign. 1944. Revenge! The Battle off Samar.

In this this volume, Parshall and Tully describe, with energy and precision, the climactic battle that took place in the Philippine Sea off the island of Samar the 25 of October 1944. The heroic by the destroyers of Taffy 3 and the successive air attacks by the ground support planes from the escort carriers and the massive air strike by the FAA that doomed the battleship Yamato and seriously damaged Kongo are narrated with vivid detail. The account of the arrival of the four British battleships and the RN cruisers led by HMS Renown in a hammer and anvil attack that completely destroyed the Japanese Center Force is breathtaking.

The authors take special care the explain the politics and rivalries that surrounded the deployment of the BPF and that resulted in one of the most convoluted command structures ever displayed by the Allies with the RN ships being put under Kinkaid's command even though they were deployed alongside Halsey's fleet carriers. The authors argue that while this accidentally placed Fraser's force in the right place to conduct the famed double envelopment and destruction of Kurita's Center Force those same ships, alongside Lee's fast battleships, would have been better employed covering the Straight of Saint Bernardino which would have avoided the losses suffered by the Taffy 3 destroyers in their galant defense.

The chapter dedicated to explain what actually happened the night before the battle with the conflicting orders and miscommunication is of great interest and Halsey does not look very good in the end. The fact that his communications with Fraser had to go through MacArthur does not explain why he didn't actually signal the British about his force heading north to attack Ozawa.

Special mention to the final chapter describing the consequences of the battle. Admiral King's reaction makes an amusing read.

Highly Recommended 5/5

 

[Driftless]

*Alaska Class Battlecruisers 1916-1946 AH replacement for the "beloved" CB-1 & CB-2. Those two 1916 AH ships would have been 26 knot, oil-fired, turbine-powered fleet scouts/screeners, bearing a main battery of eight 14"/45 guns in 4x2 superfiring centerline turrets.

*Winchester M1907 Carbine AH edition covering the use of the semi-automatic Winchester Model 1907 during WW1 by France, Britain, and Russia; along with the storied use by all branches of the US Military from 1916 (Pancho Villa Expedition***) through the early 1940s. It was used in the weather extremes of Chihuahua, the trenches of France, Banana Wars, against rum runners, and the Japanese. It was eventually replaced in service by the M1 Carbine (AH development altered by the experience with the .351 of the M1907), starting in 1942

(***A small number were used OTL during the Pancho Villa chase)

M1938 BAR An AH take on an altered history of the BAR. Here, the operations of the BAR are functionally flipped upside-down, with the magazine becoming top fed, allowing for larger magazines and easier reloading of larger magazines. Also, in this iteration, the gun gets a quick change barrell and is lightened up where practical.

 

[Driftless]

Special mention to the final chapter describing the consequences of the battle. Admiral King's reaction makes an amusing read.

Highly Recommended 5/5

Admiral King going all "Moe Howard to Halsey's Shemp"

 

[Look More Closely Later]

Campaign: 'Operation Turquoise.' July 1940-November 1940. Dover to the Hebrides and Mountains of Mourne. The end of the old world before the rise of the new.
An in-detail study of the German Reich's conquest of the geographical area of The United Kingdom following the narrow success of Operation Sea Wolf. It was what would be one of the greatest and most futile successes of the Reich, pouring a wealth of technological and industrial resources into their lap, that would see them fighting in the halls of the Kremlin by late 1941, but the nineteen year-old Queen-Empress Victoria II had by mid-September been hastily crowned in Bombay cathedral and First Minister Bose had made his famous 'This Empire Will Not Quit' speech to Congress.

 

[Michel Van]

From TL Free Republic of Outermeuse

Modern Warfare Series
How The Germans won the First Great War
How The Germans won the Second Great War
Midway - The Triumph of US-NAVY and Kaiserlicher Marine .
Baku 1946 - The most Brutal Battle in History.
Maschinenkarabiner80
The Self Defence Forces of Republic Outremeuse

Men-At-War
Armed forces of European Alliance in the Second Great War
The German Army units 1914 to 1946.
The German Army units 1947 to Today.
The German Stromtrooper 1914 to Today.
The German Mittelafrika Armed Forces.
The Communist Armed forces in Second Great War.

Combat Aircraft
M-190 Würger in Combat
J-262 Schwalbe in Combat
J-413 Blitz - The elegant death in the sky
B-552 - Junkers Global Bomber in Action.
P-38 - USAC best Fighter

 

[Lascaris]

Weapons: MAS-12 self loading rifle 1912-1979.

The French Meunier A5 semi-automatic rifle put in production in time to be in mass service by WW1...

 

[CaptainCalvert]

Modern Armoured warfare
Covers the re-emergence of body armour as standard infantry equipment in the 20th Century.
The introductory section on the reasons why armour fell out of fashion in the age of musketry is well-enough written, but the case studies on its effectivess against sidearms from the Napoleonic wars through to the era of armoured outlaw gangs that terrorised parts of late 19th century western USA and outback Australia are masterfully done and suggest a separate book on this fascinating but often neglected subject is long overdue.

The ingenious Japanese assault armour of the Russo-Japanese wars that provides such iconic imagery from that conflict is shown to owe some of its effectiveness to experiences from the earlier Sino-Japanese wars when the so-called Boxers' improvised armour proved effective against artillery fragments despite being near-useless in its intended role against bullets.

The heavy all-metal armour of the last year on the Western Front of the Great War makes an appearance as the precursor to the more practical protection of the second and third Great Wars, and of the ubiquitous modern Lobster armour.

The unsuccessful German attempts to mount artillery and machine guns in armoured vehicles to cross the mire of No-Man's Land are given more balanced coverage than is usually seen. A brief look at current trends indicates that the recent advances in electric drive and battery technology may enable some lightwwight scouting and raiding versions to see limited service by the end of the decade - over 100 years since the idea was so prematurely introduced.

 

[Defeatisnotanoption]

Duel: Type-3 Chi Nu vs M-4 Sherman, Kyushu 1945

Following the August Coup, the Imperial Japanese Army seized complete control of Japan's wartime government. With the threats of further Atomic weapons ignored, Operation Olympic was launched in November of 1945 landing one Marine and three Army Corps on Kyushu.

Waiting for the American armored forces just beyond their beachesf was the Rising Sun's answer to their own Sherman's, the 5th Tank Brigade equipped with the new Type-3 Medium Tank. Accustom to the armored superiority of earlier campaigns a rude awakening took place as the 75mm guns and 50mm armor of the Type-3 proved a quite a challenge to overcome. In the first two weeks of fighting the 6th Army would lose more Sherman tanks to enemy action then the entire Philippines campaign.

Inside this volume you will discover the tactics used by both armored forces, from the intricately planned ambush just off Buick Beach on X-Day +2 as the 1st Cavalry division pushed into Miyazaki, the American efforts to unlearn now obsolete tactics against an enemy who was much more willing to withdrawal and give ground to lead them into traps and crossfires and the desperate actions undertaken by Imperial Army tank crews often fighting in their own backyards like the burning Hyuga to deny the Americans the town.

Documented as well are the first hand accounts of the crews, a comparison of both vehicles and full colored art plates and maps of both the combat and the equipment in use.

 

[S. Marlowski]

Some from my headcanon of TL-191

Weapons: Sturmgewehr-49 Assault Rifle, 1949-1981
Weapons: Griswold M1 Submachine-Gun 1931-1944
Men-at-Arms: Freedom Party Guards, 1922-1944
Men-at-Arms: Modern Japanese Military 1993-Present
Duel: USS Enterprise vs HMS Victorious, North Atlantic 1942
Campaign: Pacific Northwest, Second Great War
Campaign: US Intervention during the Ottoman Dissolution Wars, 1962-1979
Combat: Imperial Russian Marines vs Ukrainian Infantry, Crimea 1942.
Combat Aircraft: Lohner L.W. 175

 

[CollinTGiraffe]

Hey, my first ever post after years of lurking.....

Nimrod vs 707: Nimrod air to air kills in the Falklands War
Operation Blue Buck: Vulcan bomber operations against mainland Argetina
Brazilian Expeditionary Units in the Falklands War (see above title....)

And to continue the Fleet Air Arm/V bomber theme:
British V Bomber Units over North Vietnam

Buccaneers Downtown: Fleet Air Arm operations over North Vietnam, 1966 to 1968

Analysis would show that the inclusion of British units had little significant impact on the outcome of the campaign but political consequences would be far reaching and include a number of joint US-British air projects in the 1970s.