Reviews: August 2012

Reviews: August 2012 This month Neil Smith takes a look at two very different books and the new Victrix Spartans. Enjoy!

28mm Spartan Armoured Hoplites 5th to 3rd Century BCE Victrix Limited www.victrixlimited.com Reviewed by Neil Smith Beware Greeks bearing gifts, so the saying goes. On the other hand, be very happy if you receive a gift of Victrix’s excellent Greeks! Victrix are an ambitious little company, producing hard plastic figures for the Napoleonic Wars, but branching out recently into the world of hoplites. At the time of writing, their rapidly expanding range includes Athenians, Thebans, and, of course, those redoubtable Spartans.

The Spartan box contains six sprues of Spartan bits and bobs that once put together make forty-eight Spartan hoplites, including command and musician figures. That simple summary, however, barely does this set justice; there are nine head variants with a variety of hairstyles for example, and you can add cloaks and scabbards to what are typically generic hoplite figures. You can also construct your phalanx using dynamic or passive poses using a variety of arms that can be glued to hold spears and shields in numerous ways. Moreover, because of the reasonably standard panoply of hoplites across the Greek city-states, you can mix and match the Spartan hoplites with pieces from the other hoplites in the Victrix stable. That said, the Spartans were the most feared infantry in Greece and perhaps deserve to be portrayed in a more regimented and disciplined fashion than their competitors. If you find any of that confusing, Victrix supplies a handy little historical overview to help you get a feel for these hardy little soldiers. There has been a considerable number of hard plastic soldiers hitting the market recently, sometimes giving me the same impression as supermarket wine; there is a lot of it and it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between them. Where Victrix’s Spartans stand out is in the details, literally. These are very nicely appointed models and fashioned in such a way that the depth of detail allows for ease of painting. Historical authenticity is not taken for granted either, and I especially liked the hairstyles. Finally, Victrix has achieved a very nice balance between the demands of wargamers and those who enjoy the modelling aspects of the hobby. Perhaps less might be more – do we really need so many choices? – and perhaps Victrix could have included a set of shield transfers, but at the comfortable price of £22.95 for forty-eight high quality figures, those are minor complaints. I would recommend wholeheartedly these figures for any wargamer or modeller interested the Ancient Greeks and for military miniature collectors in general.

Aetius: Attila’s Nemesis by Ian Hughes Pen & Sword 2012 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Reviewed by Neil Smith The collapse of the Western Roman Empire was undoubtedly one of the pivotal watersheds in European history. It is also increasingly obvious that the breakdown was a result of a series of events rather than the product of a single crisis. Unfortunately, we still cannot say exactly what happened or why, but we need to know. With Aetius: Attila’s Nemesis as his third biography relating to the era of collapse, Ian Hughes is therefore one of the historians in the trenches for whom we should be grateful.

Aetius was born in 391 when the Roman Empire still seemed to be a viable proposition. Within four years, however, the foundations of the Empire were crumbling, and by the time of Aetius’s death in 454 the end was in sight. Aetius himself played a significant role in many of the events along that slippery slope and is well worth a biography. In the 410s, Aetius was a hostage of the Huns but returned in the 420s to take up a highly successful military career. His list of victories as commander was considerable and introduces the reader to a who’s who of barbarian tribes ravaging the empire in the 5th century; the Visigoths, the Alamanni, the Burgundians, and the Vandals all came up against Aetius and lost at one time or another. So effective was Aetius that he became the preeminent Roman general and ultimately, and arguably, the last lynchpin holding the empire together. His defeat of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Catalaunian Plains on 20 June 451 was the pinnacle of Aetius’s achievements but actually heralded his downfall. Like many great commanders, peace proved Aetius’s undoing. In 454, he fell victim to palace intrigue and was executed personally by the Emperor Valentinian. That act and the subsequent assassination of Valentinian led directly to a barbarian uprising that within a generation washed away the Western Roman Empire. That Hughes produced a coherent biography of Aetius at all from the paucity of sources is quite remarkable. That the finished product is so readable and thought-provoking is testament to his skill. For wargamers, the collapse of Rome provides rich material for multi-faceted campaigns and battles. The period is also replete with larger-than-life captains of all stripes, and foremost amongst the Romans is Aetius. Hughes’s biography provides an interesting window into all of this, including overviews of the competing methods of warfare and a chronology of events. Overall, Aetius: Attila’s Nemesis is an enjoyable and informative read and useful background and inspiration for wargamers.

The Complete George Cross by Kevin Brazier Pen & Sword 2012 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Reviewed by Neil Smith In this companion book to his excellent annotated index of Victoria Cross recipients, Kevin Brazier provides a similarly thorough guide to the George Cross. First awarded in May 1941, the George Cross was instituted at the behest of King George VI to reward conspicuous gallantry when not directly facing the enemy. As part of the directive, recipients of previous medals aimed at non-combatants could trade in their medals for the new award. Therefore, of the 406 George Cross awards, 245 of them were proffered in exchanges. Two George Crosses were awarded collectively; one to Malta in the Second World War and one to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1999, the rest went to individuals. You will find a vignette for every one of them in Brazier’s book.

Brazier also counters the common mistake that the George Cross was for civilians when in fact many military personnel have received the medal for their brave deeds – teaching nincompoops to throw grenades seems to have required particularly brave men! Bomb disposal experts and prisoner of war also fall into the category of military people awarded the George Cross. Of the civilian recipients, miners, shipyard workers, and coastguard volunteers are sprinkled throughout, but almost anyone in the United Kingdom, and previously across the Commonwealth, is eligible for this distinguished honour; although you do not have to kill a rogue elephant as one recipient did. On the face of it, The Complete George Cross has little applicability for wargamers. Maybe, yet as with Brazier’s Victoria Cross, we encounter the nature of heroism occurring amongst ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances, though we almost never see its counterpart on the wargames table. Moreover, astonishing acts of bravery make for potentially fascinating vignettes in modern urban wargames, especially where civilians might take on a greater role. Alternatively, or in addition, you can read this book because these are simply amazing stories of astounding heroism and well worth your effort.