""Latin America's Wars", 2 Vol." Topic

I'm in the midst of reading the 1st volume of Robert L. Scheina's 2-volume history of the wars of Latin America. The 1st volume, sub-titled "The Age of the Caudillo, 1`791-1899" is a general purpose history (which it has to be to include the amount of information it contains) of 569 pages, including maps, phots and notes.

While it lacks details that a gamer might want to build forces (OOB, uniforms information and such), it does give a decent outline of the hundreds (thousands?) of campaigns broken down by the war and area it happened in. An interesting amount of information is given dealing with the naval warfare of the period as I was surprised by how many naval battales were fought by multi-ship squadrons of small ships up to frigates and SOL with the author giving the name of the ships and their gun totals.

The early part of the book deals with the wars of independance, allowing those so inclined to build forces (I'd recommend the Yahoo group) for Napoleonic type uniforms, formations and tactics. As most armies seemed to have been between 3-6,000 men on average, made up of colorful uniformed troops, including infantry, cavalry and artillery, many battles can be recreated at a decent scale (I'd suggest that 1:20, or 1:10 would be typical). Those wanting large forces of lance armed cavalry will be thrilled also (smile).

The volumes, while listed as $29.95@ in 2003 by Brassey's, Inc. were sold for under $10 USD USD each at Half Price Books (in Greenfield, WI).

Excellent value for the money. Now that I'm reaching the mid-century period, I'm watching for areas of interest to my ACW hobby (appears that with a simple flag change my Confederates would fit right into many of the battles).

Dan

You might also be interested in a couple of Terry Hooker's books, if you haven't seen them already:

1-88730 Hooker, Terry THE PARAGUAYAN WAR: Armies of the 19th Century 8.5x12, 300+ b/w drawings/maps/illust detailing the military conflicts between 1810-70 between Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.1 vol, 192 pgs 2008 US, THE FOUNDRY
NEW-hardcover, avail late May 2008 ……$63.00

and on the fringe of the years you're describing:

1-44570 Hooker, T.D. THE PACIFIC WAR: 1879-84 Uniform detail, o/b's, battle/strategic maps all highlight this comprehensive look at the war between Chile and Bolivar over boundary claims.1 vol, 72 pgs 2003 HOPEWELL, OMM PUBLISHING
NEW-softcover ……$14.00

Dennis from OMM
onmilitarymatters.com

Dennis, do you have the Impetus rules yet?

I've got the first volume of this history. I found it a dry read when trying to read it from the beginning, but much more interesting when used as a 'dipping' book. There's some fascinating little campaigns in there.

Yeah, not the most exciting writing but the raw data is impressive.

By strange coincidence I also picked up Volume 1 the other week. I got mine through Edward Hamilton Booksellers and I believe it was either $5.95 USD or $7.95.

I agree with Alan that it is best sampled in small pieces, mainly because the abrupt, almost bullet-point style of writing wears very quickly. Still, it does exactly what I want, which is to give a brief yet highly informative mil-hist of the region.

Does it cover the Mexican Wars of Reform much?

Looks like a good ref source but not something you would want to sit down and read.

It's the little details like the Chilean fleet data for 1818:

brigantine "Aguila"
former East Indianman "Windham" (renamed "Lautaro"), 44 guns
former Cumberland ("San Martin"), 64 guns
sloop "Chacabuco", 20 guns

Spanish ships in area, or on way:

"Esmeralda", 44 guns
frigate "Maria Isabel" (former Russian), 50 guns

that give the reader the chance to create some of the possible actions.

Yes, perhaps dry, but well organized and I'll admit as one lacking much prior knowledge, interesting enough to keep me reading.

Dan

Sadly, Impetus rules have yet to arrive in the shop. I'[m hoping to get them in the week of May 26th. If not then, it'll be mid June.

Dennis from OMM
onmilitarymatters.com