Greetings:
One good place to go to is the Strategy Page...
<http://www.strategypage.com/>
The USMC has an excellent professional development program. The guide that
program is called "A Book on Books". Try:
https://www.doctrine.usmc.mil/signpubs/r611a.pdf
Worth its weight in electrons for books ranging from small unit to theatre
wide!!!
Off the top of my head, I recall a book called "Maneuver Warfare". There were
two sort of "play by paragraph" books by Antal (???), Tank Platoon and
Infantry Platoon that you might want to look for.
James Dunnigan, with various folks like Austin Bay or solo, has a number of
books that you might want to look for.
If you can locate GDW's "Phase Line Smash", that is an excellent demonstration
of (relatively) modern warfare.
Don't neglect the classics! Like the USMC "Book on Books" shows, the works of
Clauswitz and such still have application today!
Finally, the current conflicts are starting to produce some interesting
looking books. Due to my perpetual underemployment, I haven't bought many, but
check the
Modern History/Current Events sections of your local
bookstore.
In some cases, you can score in print or on the
big/small screen. The book "Black Hawk Down" and the
movie (get the 2-disc version with all the commentary
and documentaries and like) are a good deal. They got combat mostly right in
that one.
Team Trackless, a computer game. Some of the stuff in here is worth using for
other games:
http://www.strategypage.com/tt/msiepage.htm
> Fred Kiesche wrote:
> One good place to go to is the Strategy Page...
I deliberately did *not* mention this one, since it is very US-centric -
even bordering on US-chauvinistic - and surprisingly often gets data
about
non-US military gear wrong; don't trust all you read there without
double-checking with an independent source. (That's why I prefer TankNet
-
it is far more international... and also much faster - by the time
StrategyPage takes notice about something the news have usually been
discussed for a week or more already on TankNet :-/ )
> The USMC has an excellent professional development
Agreed - but see my earlier comments about books going out of date
quickly. They're excellent for learning about what has happened in the past
(up to two or three years back); less so for learning about what is happening
now and what the current trends are.
> James Dunnigan, with various folks like Austin Bay or
Dunnigan is one of the people behind StrategyPage. His wargame designs are
generally nice, but his books... well, let's just say that my above comments
about both the StrategyPage and books in general apply full force
to his books :-/
> If you can locate GDW's "Phase Line Smash", that is an
It is a truly excellent resource for and simulation of Swartzkopf's "left
hook" during the 1991 Gulf War, but your "relatively" means "fourteen years
out of date"... for the most modern of the forces involved. The other side
was out-dated even during the war itself :-/
> Hmmmm...this CD might be worth a $20.00 investment!
IIRC most of those can also be downloaded for free in HTML format, though the
.pdfs on the CD are easier to read and print than the HTML documents.
Later,
On 8/5/05, gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
> <gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 16:52:58 +0200
I took your advice and joined TankNet!
> It is a truly excellent resource for and simulation of Swartzkopf's
This is what I hoped to avoid, too. I want to find out about current trends,
and hopefully project into the future. My intention is to, one
day, come up with a set of miniatures rules that at least _feel_
futuristic (as opposed to, say, SG2, which is a better Vietnam War simulation
than far future simulation).
> >Hmmmm...this CD might be worth a $20.00 investment!
I came across the HTML versions at one point. I would like them on CD, but
it's cheaper to grab off the web.
> At 2:38 PM -0500 8/5/05, Allan Goodall wrote:
Two very Interesting people to look at are EFiveMike (Ken, a USMC Sgt, vet
from OIF just recently), Manic Moran (Nic, a Ca NG Lt, Tank Platoon. He's just
back from OIF as well).
Both Nic and Ken have threads where they posted their thoughts and
observations from their deployments.
On 8/6/05, gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
> <gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Two very Interesting people to look at are EFiveMike (Ken, a USMC Sgt,
He's just back from OIF as well).
Thanks, Ryan. I'll look out for posts from those guys. It should prove
interesting. What I've read so far certainly has been interesting.
Nic Moran is a great guy. Irish (we won't hold that against him):) and a
Commissioned Officer. I met him through the Command Decision list, played a
couple of games with him too.
Michael Brown mwsaber@comcast.net
(707) 763-1708
(707) 344-1075
[quoted original message omitted]