"Empire of the Summer Moon" Topic

A vastly readable history of the Comanche nation, and its rise.
There is a great emphasis on the goings on ca 1758, so it's definitely "in our SYW period".
I'm at the point now where the Lipan Apache very skillfully engineer war between the Comanche and Spanish.
You just stumble over gaming scenario ideas.

The "main character" is Quannah Parker, the last "great Comanche Chief", who had Teddy Roosevelt as a house guest.
S C Gwynne traces Comanche history as leading up to him. His mother was Cynthia Ann Parker, on whom the Natalie Wood character in The Searchers is partially based. One of the greatest John Wayne John Ford movies.

I can't recommend this book highly enough!

I was just talking to a random guy this week who had read it and was highly endorsing it as informative as well as good read.

Aside from wargaming potential, just a great read. I highly recommend it.

A great book! I would also suggest The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado by Elliott West. It explains the rises, Golden age, and Fall of the Nomadic Plains Culture.

I'll have to check it out. Thanks.

I grew up in the Comancheria area of northwest Texas and still have a ranch in that area. It took men and women with enormous internal fortitude to move well beyond the frontier and settle there. The WWII folks may well have been the Greatest Generation, but the people who settled the American West were certainly in a category all their own.

The book is incredibly good. I hope the television series will match it.

Another endorsement for this great book. I hadn't heard they were goings to make a TV series of it. Very cool.

Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone etc, has acquired the rights to the book.
Read into that what you will.
Any other producer, I would think it a "simple" biography of Quannah Parker, but who knows?

I would love to see a movie covering Quannah's later life. When you can count Charles Goodnight, Theodore Roosevelt and Burk Burnett as your friends you are doing something right.

Great book! The Comanche at times pushed the frontier back eastwards.

Gringo40s have a fine range of Spanish Cuera dragoons, mounted and dismounted.
They also do Apaches, 1840 type Texas Rangers, and brilliant Comanche.
The only caveat, which I happily ignore, is that they are rather large 28mm figures. I would even call them 30mm.
That doesn't bother me at all.

Falcata make a superb range of Spanish Cuera dragoons, with both the padded leather armor and officers wearing the white "tabard" type armor. There are many poses, and some can be delicate.

Dayton Painting Consortium have the old RSM range, with Cuera that I've never seen. I do have their Spanish SYW militia. You will have to email and ask for a "single figure" price lust to see their Cuera listed, as "Spanish Dragoons".

Old Glory does 1840 Texas Rangers in their MAW range.

After that, it all depends on how "generic" you want to make your Apache and Comanche figures. Frankly, I can't see any differences between various superb ranges.

Just looking on Amazon. Is it really only 40 pages long?

No, it is 371 pages.

Jim

Weird, there are at least two books with the same title!

"Weird, there are at least two books with the same title!"

There are at least four titled Glory Road, nnascati--Heinlein, Catton, Hopkins and Denton. You can't copyright a title.

But I'll second the OFM's recommendation. No desire to build Plains Wars armies myself, but it's an informative and pleasant read.

Hey, with all these recommendations, I want a cut of future sales! 😄

Colonel Ranald "Bad Hand" Mackenzie.

link

link

2nd Battle of Adobe Walls

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Red River War

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Quanah Parker's Headdress is part of the permanent collection at the Panhandle Plains Historical museum in Canyon, Texas.

YouTube link

I grew up in Comancheria as well, hunting arrowheads at one of Quanna Parker's campsites at Mound Lake in Terry County.

We also spent many happy days in Palo Duro Canyon. "Empire of the Summer Moon" is a great book about about a part of the world that most people consider a wasteland, but if you grew up there, you understand why people fought over it.

Taylor Sheridan will do it justice.
His movie "Hell or High Water" was supposed to be titled "Comancheria" before the studio suits made him change it. Best movie about modern West Texas ever made.

For Comanche figures, Warlord/Conquest have 3 packs each if 6 mounted and dismounted Comanche, along with Buffalo Hump with parasol and another "chief". They also have a warrior draped over the side of his horse shooting arrows.
There is a huge number of available Plains Indian figured out there. My intent was to accumulate as many different looking dudes as I could.
Enter Foundry. I set aside their Blackfoot figures for colder weather campaigns, but the Comanche experienced Blue Notthers, so…
Old Glory are fine figures, but their trick is to have the legs molded to the horse, and the torso is a separate piece. Hint: not everything is interchangeable. They take a lot of work, but look well.

i loved the book…hard to put
down which is the Litmus test..
for me the arrival of the Spanish
and the trials and tribulations
is fascinating..Comancheria..draws
you in like no other period for me
..leads to Apacheria..then who knows
for me !
John the OFM appreciate the comments
regards Ged gringo40s.com

John you and I mostly disagree politically. But on this we do agree. I took this out from the library and am about 1/3 through it. Very good so far and not the one sided pro poor native clap trap we have been fed so much recently. "Whites BAD", "RED MAN GOOD!". Both were both good and bad. Horrible evils on both sides. The Comanche had no problems subjugating, enslaving and taking land from other tribes, even the vaunted Apache. Not uncommon with the tribes of the US, as with man all over the world. In the end, they ran into an enemy who was both technologically more advanced and just as vindictive as they were themselves. Even talk of cannibalism is made, not by the Comanches, but the Tonks. I hope the book stays consistent. Even mentioning that the Comanches started to taking more Buffalo than needed for food, to use the furs in trade. So not quite the naturist portrayed by many. Surprised the Apache had such a taste for horse meat. As I already knew, war between Indian, was not as written by apologists today. When finished I will finish this. But highly recommend it so far.

Ok I finished the book. Very good. Well rounded from the perspectives of all sides. A book all the PC teachers of the history of white and Indian should be forced to read.

No side was clean. No one understood the others cultures completely, nor really wanted to.

The Comanche were just as savage in their conquests as ever the whites were. They just did not have the technology and numbers to drive it on to a larger extent than they did. Their treatment of other tribes, were on the equal or worse than those of the whites. The same with the tribes who fought them back.

Horrible violence was practiced on all sides and it is easy to understand why vengeance begot vengeance.

The Comanche had no issues driving other tribes off land they claimed. Just as the whites did to them later. Just as all stronger tribes did to others everywhere in the Americas. Actually just like everywhere in the world and throughout history.

The Comanche name for themselves is basically "the people" or "people", just like many other tribes. I believe everything revolves around that concept. There are "us" and everyone else is either an ally or an enemy.

I would write more in depth, but I'm tired of typing today. 😉

Read it.

I just finished assembling the "Plum Creek" Gringos40 figures. Tomorrow Prime!

Yeah, the Comanche made, and deserved many enemies. Apaches, the "cannibals", and of course Navaho and Ute. They made many enemies Up North, including Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho…

At least the Kiowa were friendly, though the Great Spirit only knows why. 🤷

1 ⭐️ reviews on Amazon condemned the "racism" in the book. Come on. He doesn't treat Whitey any better. 😄

John we agree.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Unvarnished history. That is as it should be written.

Individually humans can be kind and wonderful, but as a group, we are more like animals.

I picked up "Rebel Yell" by the author from the library. Hope to enjoy it. Hopefully unvarnished as well.

I hate pc history!

Ah. Joe Rogan has read the book too!
YouTube link
There are quite a few more shorter videos on the Comanche, with Gwynne.

Oh. And here is Lars Anderson demonstrating Comanche archery.
YouTube link

It's going to be interesting to see how "normal gamers" react to a true game showing Comanche expertise.
How are you going to "simulate" this without being accused of being a sucky GM? 😄

"Read the book, damn your eyes!"