"Robert Forczyk's book "Desert Armor"?" Topic

Saw this at Osprey while looking for something else…

"Desert Armour"
Tank Warfare in North Africa:
Beda Fomm to Operation Crusader, 1940–41
Robert Forczyk (Author)

While it is a well-trod field, I'm wondering if this fellow is adding anything new or just re-hashing old stuff we already know?

Anyone own and read it?

Thanks!

Didn't think it was quite out yet. It's on my list.

It's in the queue. Please ask again in a couple of weeks.

rats – was hoping somone had an advanced copy…
;)

I'm not sure Osprey does advance reader's copies. I am very, very tired of being given a chance to pre-order their rules especially and discovering that no one has actually seen the rules: every mention of them is the same quote from an Osprey blurb. A little feedback might be to Osprey's long-term benefit.

On a quick look-through, it's not going to cause us all to revise our rules, and I'm not going to get the scaled maps of brigade actions which are always the first thing on my Christmas list, but it may become my first reference go-to, and I'd be thrilled to see a sequel volume.

It's all there in one place--doctrine, tank development and organization. There's a good glossary and rank table, a time table of tank deliveries, technical specs, including penetration tables and order of battle with armored forces down to battalion.

For an assessment of the overall narrative, you'll have to wait. At a glance, the eye for tactical detail appears good, but he struck me as a little prone to the military historians'--and wargamers'--fault of running down the historical commanders against an ideal. I'm afraid we sometimes forget that real generals in combat don't get to revise their draft battles three times, nor keep playing the same scenario until they get it right. Good generals remember their objective and make fewer mistakes than their opponents. We keep wanting them not to make any, which is unreasonable.

Plus there's always the issue of being defeated by circumstances that are beyond your control, like supply lines someone else is responsible for…

Have considered at various times getting one of his Russian Front books, so given my existing focus on WW2 Western Desert, I'll give it a try.

He has a later book coming out in October:

Desert Armour: Tank Warfare in North Africa: Gazala to Tunisia, 1942–43

Hardcover – October 10, 2023