This month I've read two really interesting tank man autobiographies, Crisp's "The gods were neutral" and Carius' "Tigers in the mud".
I really suggest to any tank enthusiast to read them both. I especially liked the Crisp's account, because it is better written and tells with a very nice touch the "fog of war". Moreover I really liked it because tells a little about the A10 cruiser tanks, which are among my favourite miniature models. It really striked my at how easily those tracks snapped and popped just for the sake of a slight sharp turn. Or just because they reversed a little too fast! And the track is gone!
This would play really silly on the tabbletop. Turn One: movement phase, 2 tanks immobilezed. Turn Two: one more tank broken. Turn Three: 1st company out, 2nd comp. takes the lead. Turn Four: all tanks disabled, the german wins.
Here are some pics from Bovington
A9
A10
Matilda 1 (used only in France)
Tiger
Ars & Mars
Military vehicles are beautiful because they are built from functional designs which make them real, solid, without artifice. The short timers
Erst wägen, dann wagen (first consider, then risk) von Moltke the Elder
Your scenario, while 'unfun' on the game table was very real in the case of many early war tank designs, e.g. the Russian t-26, many of which broke down far from their intended engagement point with the German Wehrmacht.
Robert Crisp wrote at least one additional book about his experiences as a tank commander. "The Gods Were Neutral" covers mostly combat in Greece. "Brazen Chariots" continues with the war in North Africa. I have heard that there was a third book covering his later experiences in northern Europe following D-Day, but have not been able to find any verifiable details on this.
I would strongly encourage anyone interested in armoured warfare, British armour, and the WWII land campaigns surrounding the Med to read these two books.
Definitely agree with Otto Carius's Tigers in the Mud.
A very good read that rung true from my time in the field in Germany in the mid80s.
He doesn't pull any punches...
He praises the competent and lets the incompetent have it with both barrels.
IMHO, a straight shooter that you want in your unit. You may not like what he has to say to you, but you will know it's coming from a solid professional that will give everything he has...
I highly recommend it.
Frank
Why, in my day, we didn't have counters. We had to paint the unit values onto little rocks. maps?! Hah! We had no paper maps! We put our rocks in the dirt. It sucked when it rained, but we soldiered on!!! Don't get me started on dice...
