Osprey New Releases November 2012

Osprey New Releases November 2012 We take a look at the new releases from Osprey Publishing for November 2012. Visit the Osprey Publishing website here...

World War II Soviet Armed Forces (3): 1944–45 Men-at-Arms 469 Author: Nigel Thomas Illustrator: Darko Pavlovic About This Book This book presents a detailed analysis of the Soviet armed forces during the final days of the war, covering the soldiers that successfully turned the tide against the Nazi onslaught and pushed it back into Germany itself. This final part of the series documents the Red Army’s push through Germany to Berlin, which eventually culminated in the surrender of the German forces to the Allies in 1945. It also offers a detailed breakdown of all the armed forces that conducted the offensive campaigns on the Eastern Front, including the army, air force, paratroopers, navy and NKVD troops. Its colourful illustrations also include the uniforms and organizations of the Russian forces serving against Japan until the eventual surrender of all Japanese Imperial forces in August 1945. Paperback; November 2012; 48 pages; ISBN: 9781849086349

Hitler’s Eagles: The Luftwaffe 1933–45 General Military Author: Chris McNab About This Book At the beginning of World War II, the Luftwaffe was the world’s most advanced air force. With superior tactics, aircraft and training, it cut through opposition air forces. Despite this auspicious beginning, by 1945 the Luftwaffe was a dying force. The Allies were destroying German aircraft at unequal rates, and Luftwaffe aviators were dying in their thousands in an unbalanced battle to save Germany from destruction. Hitler’s Eagles charts the turbulent history of the Luftwaffe from its earliest days to its downfall. Once Hitler was in power, the Luftwaffe came out of the shadows and expanded under a massive rearmament programme, then embarked upon the war that would define its existence.

As well as providing a detailed history of the Luftwaffe’s combat experience, the book expands on its human and material aspects. Aces and commanders are profiled and aircraft are described both technologically and tactically. The book conveys all the drama of the Luftwaffe’s existence with Osprey’s famous aviation artwork bringing the story incomparably to life. Hardback; November 2012; 400 pages; ISBN: 9781780962832

Modelling Luftwaffe Jets and Wonder Weapons Modelling Masterclass Author: Brett Green About This Book While the Allies largely relied on mass production to help them win World War II, Germany put a great deal of their limited resources into new technologies and wonder weapons. In addition to these tangible assets, which were used with varying degrees of success, the drawing boards of Germany were littered with dozens of advanced designs that never reached the prototype or production stages. Many of these operational and paper projects advanced the pace and influenced the direction of aircraft development in the decades following World War II, with many of the German engineers responsible for these innovations seamlessly continuing their roles in the United States and the USSR.

Modellers have had a long fascination for the Luftwaffe’s jet arsenal and secret weapons of fact and fiction and this new Osprey Masterclass will explore the Luftwaffe jets and rocket planes that saw service at the end of World War II. Hardback; November 2012; 192 pages; ISBN: 9781780961606

The Rice Paddy Navy: U.S. Sailors Undercover in China General Military Author: Linda Kush About This Book After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy knew it would need vital information from the Pacific. After a meeting and a handshake agreement with Chiang Kai-shek, the Sino-American Cooperative Organization was born. This top-secret network worked hand in hand with the Nationalist Chinese to fight the Japanese occupation of China while it intercepted Japanese code, laid mines, and trained Chinese peasants in guerrilla warfare. Its work supplied critical information to the U.S. and contributed to the felling of more than 70,000 Japanese – while losing only five of their own men. SACO – “the rice paddy navy” – was one of the best-kept secrets of the war. Linda Kush uncovers the military accomplishments and political wrangling that colored one of the most successful – and little known – efforts of World War II. Hardback; November 2012; 304 pages; ISBN: 9781849088114

Bolt Action: Armies of Germany Bolt Action 1 Author: Warlord Games Illustrator: Peter Dennis About This 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. Paperback; November 2012; 96 pages; ISBN: 9781780960883

Ulysses S. Grant Command 29 Author: Mark Lardas Illustrator: Adam Hook About This Book Ulysses Grant was his country’s greatest general since George Washington. Like Washington, Grant’s battlefield performance was the only factor standing between the United States continuing as one, indivisible nation. Grant was the keystone of Union victory, a man whose removal would have resulted in the Union cause crumbling into defeat – and the United States dissolving into a collection of competing sovereign states. It was not always so clear cut. An early military career had ended with his resignation for alleged drunkenness, while in civilian life a number of his business ventures foundered leading to the nickname “Useless” Grant. However, victory had its rewards and in March 1864 Grant was promoted to lieutenant-general, the only United States Army officer except for George Washington and Winfield Scott to achieve that rank. By the end of the war Grant would become the United States Army’s first full general since Washington. Paperback; November 2012; 64 pages; ISBN: 9781849087339

US Marine Corps F-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War Combat Aircraft 94 Author: Peter Davies Illustrator: Jim Laurier About This Book Twenty-five US Marine Corps squadrons flew versions of the Phantom II and 11 of them used the aircraft in South-East Asia from May 1965 through to early 1973. Rather than the air-to-air missiles that were the main component in the original F-4 armament, these aircraft carried an ever-expanding range of weaponry. Some toted 24,500-lb bombs and others strafed with up to three 20 mm gun pods, while most flew daily sorties delivering napalm, Snakeye bombs and big Zuni rockets. Many US Marines holding small outpost positions in Laos and South Vietnam against heavy Viet Cong attack owed their lives to the Phantom II pilots who repeatedly drove off the enemy. The book will examine these missions in the context of US Marine Corps close-support doctrine, using the direct experience of a selection of the aircrew who flew and organised those missions. Paperback; November 2012; 96 pages; ISBN: 9781849087513

USN Destroyer vs IJN Destroyer: The Pacific 1943 Duel 48 Author: Mark Stille Illustrators: Ian Palmer & Giuseppe Rava About This Book This book covers the fierce night naval battles fought between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during late 1943 as the Allies advanced slowly up the Solomons Islands toward the major Japanese naval base at Rabaul. During this period, several vicious actions were fought featuring the most modern destroyers of both navies. Throughout most of 1942, the Imperial Navy had held a marked edge and a key ingredient of these successes was their destroyer force, which combined superior training and tactics with the most capable torpedo in the world. Even into 1943 mixed Allied light cruiser/destroyer forces were roughly handled by Japanese destroyers. After these battles, the Americans decided to stop chasing Japanese destroyers with cruisers so the remainder of the battles in 1943 (with one exception) were classic destroyer duels.

The Americans still enjoyed the technical edge provided to them by radar, and now added new, more aggressive tactics. The final result was the defeat of the Imperial Navy's finely trained destroyer force and the demonstration that the Japanese were unable to stop the Allies’ advance. Paperback; November 2012; 80 pages; ISBN: 9781849086233

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Since 1949: Ground Forces Elite 194 Author: Benjamin Lai Illustrator: Adam Hook About This Book The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest army in the world. China is predicted to be on the brink of overtaking the USA as the world’s largest economy, and China’s military capabilities and global ambitions are the single greatest long-term pre-occupation of Western governments. The PLA has progressed steadily – if slowly – since its creation in 1949, from a mass army of unsophisticated infantry limited to ‘human wave’ tactics into a highly sophisticated force with wide capabilities. The most recent reforms (1989 to the present day) have been made possible by massive economic liberalization, and have seen not only the modernization of all the armed forces but the beginnings of global outreach, even including Chinese participation in UN peace-keeping missions to Africa, the Middle East, and Haiti.

Featuring rare photographs and specially commissioned color artwork, this study explores the developing structure, organization, equipment, appearance, and character of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army from its creation until today. Paperback; November 2012; 64 pages; ISBN: 9781780960562

The Soviet–Afghan War 1979–89 Essential Histories 75 Author: Gregory Fremont-Barnes About This Book The Soviet invasion of its neighbour Afghanistan in December 1979 sparked a bloody nine-year conflict in that country until Soviet forces withdrew in 1988–89, dooming the communist Afghanistan government to defeat at the hands of the Mujahideen, the Afghan popular resistance backed by the USA and other powers. The Soviet invasion had enormous implications on the global stage; it prompted the US Senate to refuse to ratify the hard-won SALT II arms-limitation treaty, and the USA and 64 other countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. For Afghanistan, the invasion served to prolong the interminable civil war that pitted central government against the regions and faction against faction. The country remains locked in conflict over 30 years later, with no end in sight. Featuring specially drawn mapping and drawing upon a wide range of sources, this succinct account explains the origins, history and consequences of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, thereby shedding new light on the more recent history – and prospects – of that troubled country. Paperback; November 2012; 96 pages; ISBN: 9781849088053

Concrete Hell: Urban Warfare From Stalingrad to Iraq General Military Author: Louis A. DiMarco About This Book Throughout history cities have been at the center of warfare, from sieges to street-fighting, from peace-keeping to coups de mains. Sun Tzu admonished his readers of The Art of War that the lowest realization of warfare was to attack a fortified city. Indeed, although strategists have advised against it across the millennia, armies and generals have been forced nonetheless to attack and defend cities, and victory has required that they do it well. In Concrete Hell Louis DiMarco has provided a masterful study of the brutal realities of urban warfare, of what it means to seize and hold a city literally block by block. Such a study could not be more timely. We live in an increasingly urbanizing world, a military unprepared for urban operations is unprepared for tomorrow. Di Marco masterfully studies the successes and failures of past battles in order to provide lessons for today’s tacticians. Hardback; November 2012; 232 pages; ISBN: 9781849087926

Macedonian Armies after Alexander 323–168 BC Men-at-Arms 477 Author: Nicholas Sekunda Illustrator: Peter Dennis About This Book The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC threw the Macedonians into confusion; there was no capable heir, and no clear successor among the senior figures in Alexander’s circle. Initial attempts to preserve the unity of Alexander’s conquests gave way to a period of bloody and prolonged warfare. For well over a century the largely mercenary armies of Alexander’s successors imposed their influence over the whole of the Near East, while absorbing local military practices. After Rome’s decisive defeat of Carthage in 202 BC, Macedonia came under increasing pressure from the Romans. Three wars between the two powers culminated in the Roman victory at Pydna in 168 BC, which laid Alexander’s empire to rest and established Roman hegemony in the Near East.

Drawing upon a wide array of archaeological and written sources and written by a noted authority on the Hellenistic period, this survey of the organization, battle history and appearance of the armies of Alexander’s successors is lavishly illustrated with specially commissioned full-colour artwork. Paperback; November 2012; 48 pages; ISBN: 9781849087148

The Portuguese in the Age of Discoveries c.1340–1665 Men-at-Arms 484 Author: David Nicolle Illustrator: Gerry Embleton About This Book From humble beginnings, in the course of three centuries the Portuguese built the world’s first truly global empire, stretching from modern Brazil to sub-Saharan Africa and from India to the East Indies (Indonesia). Portugal had established its present-day borders by 1300 and the following century saw extensive warfare that confirmed Portugal’s independence and allowed it to aspire to maritime expansion, sponsored by monarchs such as Prince Henry the Navigator. During this nearly 300-year period, the Portuguese fought alongside other Iberian forces against the Moors of Andalusia; with English help successfully repelled a Castilian invasion (1385); fought the Moors in Morocco, and Africans, the Ottoman Turks, and the Spanish in colonial competition. The colourful and exotic Portuguese forces that prevailed in these battles on land and sea are the subject of this book. Paperback; November 2012; 48 pages; ISBN: 9781849088480

Avenging Angel: John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry 1859 Raid 36 Author: Ron Field Illustrators: Alan Gilliland, Johnny Shumate & Mark Stacey About This Book The Harpers Ferry raid confirmed for many Southerners the existence of a widespread Northern plot against slavery. In fact, Brown had raised funds for his raid from Northern abolitionists. To arm the slaves, he ordered one thousand pikes from a Connecticut manufacturer. Letters to Governor Wise betrayed the mixed feelings people held for Brown. For some, he was simply insane and should not be hanged. For others, he was a martyr to the cause of abolition, and his quick trial and execution reflected the fear and arrogance of the Virginia slave-owning aristocracy. Many Northerners condemned Brown’s actions but thought him right in his conviction that slavery had to end. John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry and his subsequent execution further polarized North and South and made a solution of the slavery issue central to the national debate which ultimately led to Civil War in 1861. Paperback; November 2012; 80 pages; ISBN: 9781849087575

US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific Theater 1943–45 Warrior 165 Author: Gordon L. Rottman Illustrator: Brian Delf About This Book The two major Army units that operated in the Pacific – the 11th Airborne Division and the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) launched small-scale operations on extremely difficult, if not, outright dangerous, terrain, while also conducting amphibious assaults, fighting on jungled hills, swamps and mud. The two units were very different, with the 503rd PRCT being reserved for special purpose missions and the 11th Airborne Division occupying a more traditional role. This title will deal with the background to these two units and their training, before detailing the specific equipment used in the theatre and, finally and most importantly, the combat experience at a personal level of the US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific. Paperback; November 2012; 64 pages; ISBN: 9781780961293

The M60 Machine Gun Weapon 20 Author: Kevin Dockery Illustrator: Mark Stacey About This Book The US M60 General Purpose Machine Gun, known as “the Pig,” was developed in the years after World War II from two revolutionary German designs. Adopted in 1957, the M60 came into its own in the jungles, hamlets, and city streets of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. “Humping the Pig” became common in US military squads, with at least one soldier equipped with an M60 and every squad member carrying ammunition for it. The M60 design transformed infantry tactics as squads took advantage of the immediate volume of fire offered by the design. Although it has now been replaced by the M240 series of weapons in US infantry and mechanized units, the M60 is still in common use with the US armed forces.

Meanwhile, its iconic status has been assured by its frequent appearance in many popular films and television shows, from Full Metal Jacket to The A Team. Featuring specially commissioned full-color artwork, this is the full story of the M60, the innovative squad base-of-fire weapon that has equipped the US military from the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq. Paperback; November 2012; 80 pages; ISBN: 9781849088442