Official Osprey thread

[frogbeastegg]

Peter Connolly is to me what McBride is to BKB; he is a wonderful artist and a very good author who knows his stuff. His research has opened new doors, especially on the capabilities of ancient cavalry. I've been a fan of his ever since I found his Roman Legionary; and Roman cavalryman on a shelf in my local library when I was about 8. I remember begging non-stop for nearly half an hour when I finally found a copy of those books in a shop; I’d spent all my money already and since we were on the last day of our holiday that was my only chance. Good thing my parents thought history was good for me! That was the beginning of a prized collection; if there is a book he has written and I haven’t got then I don’t know it exists, so please tell me so I can buy it.

[Omegamann]

Yeah,
I stumbled across Connollys Roman warrior and cavalryman in my local library, in the childrens department.
Sadly the only books still available to be bought in germany are the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans.
I would kill to possess the Odysseus book (having only read a serverly battered library version) and to be able to read the Hannibal Book

From Osprey I was very pleased with the recent Thracians book with art by McBride (which I also like very much in some of the osprey publications)
It arrived just at the right time when I had to playtest the Thracians for HTW and was reading the Anabasis

[AlexPeters]

The art of Peter Connolly:




I like his books even if they are classified as childrens books. I hated the pages with rusty helmets and swords and loved those with colored plates when i was young, but now i really enjoy his descriptions and the knowlegde behind.
My collection:
The Roman Army (ISBN: 3-7886-0180/9, german version 1976)
The Greek Armies (ISBN: 3-7886-0181/7, german version 1977)
Hannibal and the Enemies of Rome (ISBN: 3-7886-0182/5, german version 1978)
The last one isn't as good as the others, it tries to cover too many different armies (Carthage, Samnites, Etruscians, minor italian tribes, Celts/Gauls).

My Osprey collection isn't that large yet:
The Conquistador 1492-1550 (Warrior)
Aztec, Mixtec and Zapotec Armies (Men-at-Arms)
Aztec Warrior AD 1325-1521 (Warrior)
The Landsknechts (Men-at-Arms)
Armies of the German Peasants' War 1524-26 (Men-at-Arms)
The Conquistadores (Men-at-Arms)
The Armada Campaign 1588 (Elite)

Alex

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

If you like those style of pics boys get the concord books, honestly you will love them. In the ancient armies book nearly every pic is great and will leave you smiling i know i had one.

By the way, the artist above is good

[scooter_the_shooter]

does osprey make anyhting on the renisance i am doing a mod and need to know what the army is like

[AlexPeters]

Yes, there are lots of books that cover the renaissance. I think you are interested in the italian wars 1300-1500 ?
Swiss: The Swiss at War 1300-1500 (Men-at-Arms 94)
France: French Armies of the Hundred Years War (Men-at-Arms 337)
Bohemia: The Hussite Wars 1419–36 (Men-at-Arms 409)
Peasants and Germans/HRE: Armies of the German Peasants' War 1524–26 (Men-at-Arms 384)
Venice: The Venetian Empire 1200–1670 (Men-at-Arms 210)
...
Look for yourself.

Alex

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Also try to lay your hands on some of the campaign books of Pavia and Fornovo, really good info there and the armies of medieval Burgundy, German medieval armies 1300-1500 and The Landsnechks(sp)

[king steven]

i.ve got genghis khan & the mongol conquests (?).

can som1 xplain 2 me more the siegfried wall

[Gregorius0202]

I love Connolly, and I'm just being introduced to the Osprey books more.

Currently (this will make some jealous, I'm sure:D) I have in my possession a book titled "Warriors & Warlords, the Art of Angus Mcbride." It features over 50 of his most famous Osprey published paintings, and has fascinating descriptions for each and the history behind their realities.

On Amazon.com, I currently Purchased six Osprey military series titles for about $75 dollars total. Due to not being able to immediately ship a couple of them, I won't get them for about a month:(. They include:

The Scythians, 700 BC-300 BC
The Thracians, 700 BC-46 AD
Ancient Armies of the Middle East
New Kingdom Egypt
The Ancient Assyrians
The Spartan Army

Mcbride illustrated all of these titles except 'The Spartan Army'. After I recieve these, the next set of Osprey purchases I wish to make include:

Aztec, Mixtec and Zapotec Armies
Zulu 1816-1906 (Illustrated AND written by Mcbride!)
The Zulus
The Zulu War
The Ancient Greeks
The Army of Alexander the Great
Ancient Chinese Armies

---All of those are illustrated by Mcbride!

And a couple of others, mainly on Central American Armies, can't find the titles now, as they weren't illustrated by Mcbride, but they are Osprey (he's got a list of the books he's illustrated in the back of "Warriors and Warlords")

As far as Connolly goes, I still need to read/buy "Roman Legionary", "Roman Cavalryman", and "The Ancient City", as far as titles I'm interested in go... And I own the following-

The Ancient Greece of Odysseus
The Roman Army
Greek Armies
Greece and Rome at War

All four are GODLY Material for anyone interested in reenacting, like I am myself. I can also see the major help it will give unit creators for MOD projects! That's it for now:]

-Gregory-

[Despot of the English]

I am nowhere near the Blind King's collection but for what it's worth here's my collection:

Men-at-arms

Knights at Tournament
The Landsknechts
German Medieval Armies 1300-1500
The Venetian Empire 1200-1670
Italian Medieval Armies 1300-1500
Medieval European Armies
Medieval Heraldry
Byzantine Armies 1118-1461
The Knights of Christ
Armies of the Muslim Conquest

Warrior

English Longbowman 1330-1515
Knights Hospitaller 1100-1306
Knights Hospitaller 1306-1565

Campaign

Constantinople 1453
The First Crusade 1096-1099

Essential Histories

Rome at War 293-696
Byzantium at War 600-1453
The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699
The Hundred Years' War 1337-1453
The American Revolution 1774-1783

Warrior Series

Germanic Warrior 236-568

Probably get some books about the Greeks next.

[Sjakihata]

I just recently came into possession of Osprey books, thanks to this thread!!!!

What I got is

Essential Histories: Punic Wars
Warrior: Ninja 1460-1650, Japanese Warrior Monks 949-1603
Elite: Vikings
Campaign: Kawanakajima 1553-63

To be honest the warrior titles dissapoints me a little, only about 60 pages that is including various plates, pictures and other material.

However, the Punic Wars surpirsed me pleasently because I knew quite a lot about the punic wars beforehand, so I purchased it as a 'test' to see how accurate it was. One thing I didn't like though was the author began expressing his political views in the conclusion.

He made an analogy between Rome / Carthage and USA / USSR. That was ok because he used to it show that history was still relevant, however, when he bagan to express political opinions I sort of lost it for him.

[Despot of the English]

What are the Ninja and Japanese Warrior Monk books like?

I've only got three Warrior books currently but I find them better value than the Men-at-arms series, which are just 40 pages long.

[Sjakihata]

Well, as I said they are only around 60-65 pages which I think is quite litte, compared to campaign books with at least 150 pages.

However, the ninja book is quite funny, and informative. It talks most about which ninja operations took place and discussing certain ninja tactics. And since it is Turnbull who wrote it makes a lot of work to de-mythologize (a word?) the ninja legend/myth, which is ok, but I expected that if you bought such a book you knew they werent flying around and doing magic. All the effort to make ninja down to earth is annoying since it is common knowledge, at least if you have an interrest.
It is useful, however, as it takes the ninja history from the earliest and track it through time, going in-depth with famous ninja operations. All these operations are taken directly from war-journals which mostly is second hand sources, so there are a lot of funny anecdotes, but it is very informative as well. Also the ninja gear is throughly discussed and generally Im more informed about ninjas than before, however, not as much as I would like to be.

I did not read the Monks yet, but I suspect it is the same since Turnbull wrote that as well.

[Gregorius0202]

"All the effort to make ninja down to earth is annoying since it is common knowledge, at least if you have an interrest. "

I'm sure it would be... But those books DO seem to aim at younger audiences, so I'm sure half of the 'kids' that actually pick it up think they're gonna' see the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles! So, I'm sure it helps in the long run:\

On Amazon.com, I can't recall where it shows the difference between the Osprey series you're looking at (i.e. men-at-arms, elite, etc...)

Could someone help me with that?

Thanks!

-Gregory-

[Steppe Merc]

Yeah, on Amazon it's a bit hard to diffrentrate the kinds of books, not to mention I always get sprinled in there books about birds. But if you click on the picture, you can tell by the color of the books. Purple: MaM, Redish: Warrior, Green: Elite, Orange: Campaign, Essential Red background.

[The Wizard]

Hmmm, what are the Essential Histories books like? Do they include plates?

Anyways, here's my little collection (when compared to the library that is BKB's collection :p):

Men-at-arms - Rome's Enemies: Germanics and Dacians
Men-at-arms - Rome's Enemies: Gallic and British Celts
Men-at-arms - Rome's Enemies: Spanish Armies 218 - 19 BC
Men-at-arms - Rome's Enemies: Parthians and Sassanid Persians
Men-at-arms - The Age of Tamerlane
Elite - The Persian Army 560 - 330 BC
Warrior - Germanic Warrior AD 236 - 568



~Wiz, finally back from password-glitching blues (thanks to Tosa!)

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Essential histories are red covered, usually campaigns and normally a picture on the cover with the subject in question(not a colour plate like in the men at arms, Elite series)

[Steppe Merc]

Essentials are good in providing background but have no plates or original artwork at all. Wiz, how's that Tamerlane and the Persian Army ones? They both seem pretty cool.

[Steppe Merc]

Right, I was really bored, so finally decided to post my list, and provide a some comments next to each one.
Essential Histories:
Byzantium at War Nice, and goes into detail far more into the soldiers life than the two Men at Arms. I wish it would detail the mercanries a bit more though.
Ottamon Empire 1329-1699 Good, and tends to stay in the more interresting, earlier periods. However, they don't detial the Jannisaries enough for my tastes.
Wars of Alexander the Great :It's good, but doesn't really go into the troops as much as the other, and tends to stay on the actual battles, and the before and after pictures.
The Crusades: I really like this one. It has interesting portraits of both sides, and explains the impact on history of the Crusades.
Genghis Khan and the Mongol Conquests: Good, but suffers from not really going into the latter Il Khanate, Golden Horde and Yuan Dynasty. It does a good job of trying to debunk some of the rumors of the Mongols.
Campaign:
Alexander 334-323 Conquest of the Persian Empire: My only campaign, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. But it has good info and decent pics of both Alexander's army and the Persians. Nice tactic layout, to.
Men at Arms:
Army of Alexander the Great: Okay, but it doesn't really discribe the diffrent cavalry and infantry units that well, and the pics suffer from being interpratitions of the Alexander Sarcophagous, as many they don't really know what the units are. No good pikemen pics, either.
Byzantine Armies 886-118 Despite being an interesting period, McBride doesn't do his best, the pictures are a bit off, and the backgrounds are a dull white.
Byzantine Armies 1118-1461 Far better pictures than the first, and does a better job of detailing the mercenaries.
Rome’s Enemies Gallic and British Celts: I like this one. Brilliant pics and info, and has lovely British Chariot picture. It is a bit disconcerting to see the nekkid barbarians with a shield placed strategically to cover his manliness.
Romes Enemies Parthians and Sassanid Persians: Suffers from being split into two different timeperiods, as the Parthians are more interesting. Pics tend to be of the later periods, and again has a white background. It does have a sweet pic of an elephant though.
The Sarmatians 600 BC- 450 AD: Good info, but again tends to focus on the later AD periods. Has a bit much non-combatant shots, however.
Armies of Medieval Russia 750-1250 A really nice book wich does a good job of the transition from the Rus to the city states. Has some sweet pics.
Armies of Medieval Russia 1250-1500: Good, but not my favorite time period, as I prefer the nomadic steppe tactics to the western styles. Again, nice plates.
Armies of Arthur: Okay, but it’s a bit odd that it really has nothing to do with Arthur, rather the transition period from fall of Rome to the Norman Conquests. Tries to squeeze in to much info a little space.
Warrior:
Norman Knight: Good info, but I’m not a real big fan of the whole plates of just the equipment.
Mongol Warrior: Good, and has nice info of the lifestyle of the different Mongol types.

Elite:
Attila and the Nomad hordes: Probably my favorite, though it has really nothing to do with Attila, and more with the nomads. Lovely pictures, and awesome info.

[Despot of the English]

Of course the best place in my opinion to buy Osprey books is Osprey themselves at their website. You also get better deals there. With Amazon the availability of some Osprey books runs into weeks.

[Sjakihata]

I think osprey book are cheaper on amazon

[Despot of the English]

I make great use of the vouchers they include with the orders, which give £1 off each book and if you buy three you get free postage. So I save £3 and also the postage too. Recently they gave a £5 off voucher so I saved a lot of money!

[Gregorius0202]

Hey guys *up there* thanks for answering the question on how to tell the difference. If it's not listed, I know I can see the colors, that's for sure! :D

Adios...

-Gregory-

[Steppe Merc]

Unfortunatly, the American prices are so much higher than the English. So I find it easier to get off amazon, despite the wait, or at a bookstore.

[Sjakihata]

I just read Elite: The Vikings

It was a very good read, I can only recommend anyone getting it. Also I know where CA got the idea of Berserkers in a 12 unit from now ;)

[The Wizard]

Steppe Merc:

Since you already seem to possess Rome's Enemies: Parthians and Sassanid Persians, I won't elaborate on that. Although I must note that I find the Sassanid Persians far more interesting. It could've used a lot more combat plates though. Still, the last plate (of the late Sassanid clibanarius) is so well-done that it's one of my fave pics.

The Age of Tamerlane is quite an interesting book, it covers everything about Timur and his army, except one important thing: a detailed description of his campaigns. That's quite a miss, since that's probably the most interesting part. The plates are great, almost all of them have a backdrop and are very well done.

Anyways, I really like Germanic Warrior from the Warrior series. It's my favorite book up until now, and gives a really good picture of the warriors of that tumultuous period, their arms and armor, and their tactics. To top that, it has a description of the events of the period as well. It's really well written and the plates are absolutely superb, and it contains my favorite plate up until now, namely the one of the Ostrogoth Valaris challenging any oncomer to single combat. Simply superb. It even has a plate of one of my ancestors, a Frank, and his equipment!

Anyways, the next books I think I'm gonna buy are The Thracians and Celtic Warrior. Maybe with the collection of Roman legion books called Caesar's Legions.



~Wiz

[Steppe Merc]

Thanks for the response, Wiz. I just got Viking Elite, and I agree with Sjakihata that it's very good.

[Degtyarev14.5]

I've just bought my first one, from the Campaign series:

Kursk 1943: The Tide Turns in the East

I intend to build on this humble beginning at a rate of one per week or two.

A.

[ROCKHAMMER]

I wish all the titles that I wanted were available for me to purchase them 1 or 2 a week. Most of the stuff in my area from Osprey pertains to the American Civil War which is interesting enough but not my area of interest. There is a store within an hours drive of my home which has a large selection of Osprey titles but I am only able to make it there once or twice a year (busy work & family schedule). I am going to be adding quite a few titles to my collection this Holiday season so I will update my original list then.

[Steppe Merc]

I've got the same problem. Pretty much all Civil War and WW2 in my bookstores.