Cold Warrior | 02 Jun 2016 1:28 p.m. PST |
So I just finished my six month re-read of nearly every hypothetical Cold War novel I could get my hands on (with Sword Point by Harold Coyle). All novels published beginning with Hackett's Third World War in 1979 through The Blue Effect by Harvey Black in 2014. The best still remain IMHO: Red Storm Rising (Clancy & Bond) Red Army (Ralph Peters) The Worst: The War that Never Was (Michael Palmer) WW III Series by Ian Slater Lots of "dry" reads overall, including anything by Coyle. While I enjoy a good combat yarn, like a bit of realistic geopolitics in my books, with a good "lead in" story prior to conflict breaking out. For pure combat buffs Coyle and books like Chieftans by Bob Forrest Webb are good picks. Note I left off Larry Bond's early novels (Red Phoenix, Vortex), because they don't deal with a tradtional US/NATO-Soviet clash. These are top-notch books from the era however. What are your faves? |
Jemima Fawr | 02 Jun 2016 1:52 p.m. PST |
First Clash for the 'dry' end of the genre. |
Saber6 | 02 Jun 2016 1:59 p.m. PST |
Hackett's Third World War and TWW: The Untold Story |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 02 Jun 2016 2:00 p.m. PST |
I also liked the first 2 (or 3) from Dale Brown, 'Flight of the Old Dog' and 'Silver Tower.' Too bad he jumped the shark since then. |
Kropotkin303 | 02 Jun 2016 2:01 p.m. PST |
Hi Cold Warrior, Agree with all your reading. There are some good books that people should read. This Alternative History thread by a guy called Giobastia is simply fantastic. I have read it twice. There is a lot of comments between what he actually writes and I would love to be able to edit out the parts between what he writes. Its set around Able Archer and it goes to extreme detail. Won't spoil it any more but this is worth your time. link |
Moonraker Miniatures | 02 Jun 2016 2:05 p.m. PST |
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GROSSMAN | 02 Jun 2016 2:11 p.m. PST |
Red Storm Rising – drops the mic…. |
Navy Fower Wun Seven | 02 Jun 2016 2:56 p.m. PST |
I think you've nailed it mate! I would just add 'Red Thrust' by Steven Zaloga, which is a great read – each chapter on a different Soviet weapon system is headed up by a short fiction story involving its use in WW3. Of course like all the contemporary stuff it invests the Soviet weaponry with the capabilities the Soviets wanted us to think they had, rather than what has been evaluated since in the cold light of day, which occasionally falls a little short… But very useful on doctrine and tactics, and a great read! |
Cold Warrior | 02 Jun 2016 3:49 p.m. PST |
Red Thrust was very good, not quite at the level of Red Storm Rising or Red Army, but it has a lot of useful scenarios for the wargamer. |
Tgerritsen | 02 Jun 2016 4:11 p.m. PST |
I'll have to check out Red Thrust, though I admit the title sounds like some kind of weird Soviet porn movie. |
pigbear | 02 Jun 2016 5:10 p.m. PST |
I'll vote for First Clash too. I liked Team Yankee back in the day, not sure if I'd like it now though. I also really enjoyed Armor Attacks by John Antal and his other similar books. |
Rod I Robertson | 02 Jun 2016 5:47 p.m. PST |
Ah, the memories. Some very entertaining books have been mentioned. Many a gripping micro-armour scenario was inspired by these books and then shared among good friends in great games. Fond memories indeed. Cheers and good gaming. Rod Robertson. |
Rick Don Burnette | 02 Jun 2016 7:22 p.m. PST |
What about some of the other Clancy stuff? and Burdick Lederer, Flrtcher Knebel and what about those professional wargamers who brought us Operation Sagebrush and then there is Robin Moore and Frederick Forsythe There was more to the cold war than Europe as The Ugly American and Our Man in Havana show, indeed, I am awaiting the revival of electronic warfare in our cold war land games, similar to the radio jamming and line splicing seen in Pork Chop Hill, while not a novel yet reads like one Same for Bernard Fall 9 |
Martin Rapier | 02 Jun 2016 11:17 p.m. PST |
Greatest Cold War novels? On the Beach, Fail Safe, The Spy who came in from the cold, The Ipcress File, and maybe A canticle for Leibowitz. Of the fictional war ones, I guess First Clash, Chieftains, WW3 and Team Yankee. The novel of The Wargame is pretty memorable too. An interesting crossover cold war, computer science and wargaming book is Deightons Spy Story. |
Cold Warrior | 03 Jun 2016 4:18 a.m. PST |
Martin, Sorry, should have titled "Greatest Cold War Hypothetical War" novels. Your choices are all solid however for general Cold War and Post-Apocalyptic fiction. |
Cold Warrior | 03 Jun 2016 4:21 a.m. PST |
TGerritsen, I know…..:-) I always have a similar thought when playing Full Thrust as well :-) It is a great book however, in terms of scenario creation Zaloga did an excellent job. Love the chapter dealing with a Soviet Heliborne Air Assault behind NATO lines. Lots of crunchy bits for wargamers to consume in that book. |
Cold Warrior | 03 Jun 2016 4:43 a.m. PST |
Here is my complete read list the past six months or so with ratings: The Red Effect by Harvey Black 8/10 The Black Effect by Harvey Black 7/10 The Blue Effect by Harvey Black 7/10 Team Yankee by Harold Coyle 7/10 Sword Point by Harold Coyle 7/10 Red Thrust by Steven Zaloga 8/10 Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy & Larry Bond 10/10 Red Army by Ralph Peters 9/10 The War that Never Was by Michael Palmer 4/10 Armageddon's Song by Andy Farman 5/10 Chieftans by Bob Forrest-Webb 7/10 First Clash by Kenneth Macksey 7/10 The Third World War by Sir John Hackett 8/10 Third World War Untold Stories by Sir John Hackett 8/10 WW III Series Ian Slater (I only read the first two) 4/10 The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy & Larry Bond 8/10 Good books not dealing with a direct NATO-Soviet clash, but from the same general era Red Phoenix by Larry Bond 9/10 Vortex by Larry Bond 9/10 Cauldron by Larry Bond 9/10 Proud Legions by John Antal 7/10 Arc Light by Eric L. Harry 8/10 The Ten Thousand by Harold Coyle 6/10 The Sum of all Fears by Tom Clancy 7/10 Feast of Bones by Daniel Bolger 9/10 Note this is not an exhaustive list, just books that I have read relatively recently. All deal with fictional war from the 80's to early 90's. |
blacksoilbill | 03 Jun 2016 5:29 a.m. PST |
I haven't read many books in this area. I remember loving Harold Coyle as a teenager. That was at the same time that 'M1 Tank Platoon' was the cutting edge computer game. I was always trying to get over to my friend's place to play that. I'm not sure I'd want to read Coyle again: I don't want to tarnish the memories! |
Rick Don Burnette | 03 Jun 2016 9:57 a.m. PST |
The virtue of reading books even well written alternative histories is thry expose the lack of authenticity and realism in our games. All too many gamers will state so called history that is culled from the games, thinking that the so called history cited in the games has not been tampered with in order to make the game fair or simplistic. A comparison of the novel Team Yankee with the game would be interedting |
Major Mike | 03 Jun 2016 10:44 a.m. PST |
Charles D Taylor wrote some good novels usually centered on naval actions. Ones that I read were: Choke Point Show of Force Sunset Patriots First Salvo. |
Geoffrey Sponge | 03 Jun 2016 11:47 a.m. PST |
The Weekend Warriors by James W Burke isn't bad – A US National Guard Logistics unit has to defend itself against a Soviet breakthrough. Lots of vicious urban combat. I have a soft spot for Rouch's The Zone books. If you ignore the futuristic hover APC and the gratuitous sex and atrocities (that cropped up in most war and western fiction of the time) there's an interesting and plausible background to it. The initial offensives have used up much of the high tech and war material and the war has settled into a WW1 slugfest with agreements not to use high-yield nukes only the occasional low-yield and lots of chemicals. The attritional warfare means that offensives can only happen when stocks are built up and once they're used up it settles back to low level fighting. Very few offensives are larger than divisional level. Lots of ideas for skirmish to company-level scenarios. |
boy wundyr x | 03 Jun 2016 12:16 p.m. PST |
I'm curious about the low rating for The War That Never Was – I wouldn't put it into the first tier, but for a high level alt. history I found it a good read. It covered way more geographically than everything else on the list (at least that I've read, including Coyle, Clancy, Peters), so it was inspiring for action in the north of Norway and down in Turkey, as well as Pacific naval action. It did suffer when it suddenly zoomed down onto the battlefield (e.g. into a Danish plane over the Baltic), but as a source of campaigns, I'd rate it pretty high. Way better than Slater in all regards, and I'd even call it more readable than Hackett. |
jurgenation | 03 Jun 2016 7:39 p.m. PST |
I loved "Firefox! Hunt for Red October and Red Storm rising ,still my favorites. |
dragon6 | 04 Jun 2016 10:29 a.m. PST |
Red Storm Rising by Clancy Thirty-Eight North Yankee by Ed Ruggero |