Book Review: Coastal Convoys, Nick Hewitt

I'm torn between giving this four or five stars. In some respects it's fantastic. And I have really enjoyed reading quite a lot of it. 

But, rather like the conditions of the conflict it describes, there are moments of, well... if not boredom, perhaps ennui? In part this is due to a degree of repetition and duplication (probably nigh on impossible to avoid given the subject), and in part because the narrative kind of fizzles a bit around mid-war, mostly as a result of delayed reactions to first Operation Barbarossa, and the subsequent Eastward shift in German attention, and then the entry of the US, and another seismic shift of maritime operations (on the global scale) to the Pacific.

But, on the positive side, throughout the whole war Britain, who initially stood alone (sort of, remembering of course our Empire/Commonwealth resources, etc), had to 'keep the home fires burning'. And it was essentially this (as well as other domestic and international stuff), the supply of coal in particular, that drove the coastal shipping Hewitt covers in this mostly very fascinating and informative account.

A photograph taken from what I guess is a destroyer escort, of a typical east coast convoy.

The book and its jacket blurb make much of the gap-filling nature of this account, pointing out that it's a largely ignored aspect of the British naval war, overshadowed primarily by the convoys and conflicts of the Atlantic. Ironically I've now read more (i.e. this book!) on this 'neglected theatre' than I have yet to read - I have Dimbleby's 'War in the Atlantic' (unread) - on it's more oft-covered cousin.

Hewitt makes heavy and mostly very good use of all sorts of 'primary' sources (heavily footnoted, etc.), which can and does make some of this very compelling and, as several heaping praise on it in the blurb note, very human. This unglamorous traffic of, in the main, 'dirty little coasters' was essential to Britain's survival: coal came down from the north, to the energy-hungry more heavily populated south; and trade, both domestic and international, had to go on.

The 'dirty little steamer' visible here is typical small fry of the coastal convoys.

Having geared up for submarine warfare, WWI style, WWII instead saw increased use of mining, air power, and E-Boats, with U-boats only occasionally intruding, meaning Britain started at something of a disadvantage. It's the drama associated with initially coping with and then more or less overcoming these challenges that makes the first half of the war (and the first two-thirds of this book) most interesting.

As much as I enjoyed this, and I really did, and as valuable an addition to the maritime history of WWII as it appears to be, I felt I had to go with four stars on my Amazon review. Here on my blog, however, I can give this four and a half stars, so I do.

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This famous bit of footage is mentioned in the book.

Book Review: Masters in Miniature - Alan & Michael Perry

I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect twin brothers Alan and Michael Perry may just be the most prolific of miniature figure sculptors known to history. 

Starting with Games Worskshop as freelancers in their teens, before going full-time (for the same employer), they have also produced loads of ranges for Wargames Foundry, the historical gaming cousins to the predominantly fantasy and sci-fi Games Workshop lines.

They've also worked on the Peter Jackson Lord of The Rings figures (there was a Citadel LOTR range years back, but that was possibly - I have no idea!? - the work of other hands), and more recently have been making larger figures, including a stunning array of 54mm sculpts for a WWI Museum diorama in New Zealand, funded by Jackson. Whether these will be made commercially available I don't know, although I'm sure the demand will be there.

Anyway, to matters in hand: Masters In Miniature is a landscape-format book of roughly A4 dimensions running to about 160 pages. An hardback, printed in sumptuous colour (by Atlantic Publishers, who publish Miniature Wargames magazine), it is basically a de-luxe coffee-table picture book, illustrated with an enormous number of - nearly 400 - excellent photos, taken by the Perrys themselves. One staggering thing to bear in mind is that all the figures in these pages are from their own range, Perry Miniatures. These are produced in their spare time... when not at the day job sculpting for Games Workshop!

Medieval period action. Beautifully colourful!

The book was published in April 2014, just in time to be sold at Salute, the big London wargames hobby show run by the South London Warlords club. I bought my copy at this years Salute (2015), on its first anniversary, from the Atlantic publishers stand. This fact gives me the chance to air my first gripe about a book I'm otherwise filled with praise for: at the show I paid £25 for it, which seems reasonable (RRP is £29.95). Online at the Perry's own website, and on Amazon, copies are selling for around £40 a pop. That seems too much to me! [1]

Anyway, that aside, let's get onto to the reasons for buying it, i.e. the all important content. Well, there's a short foreward by Rick Priestley [http://rickpriestley.com], fellow Games Workshop employee (and creator of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000), a very brief introduction by the Perrys themselves, numerous chapters which I'll detail in a minute and, finally, a six-page feature called 'The Perry Twins', by Henry Hyde (editor and publisher of Miniature Wargames, as well as this book itself).

A nice AWI spread.

The central attraction of the book however, is the rich collection of myriad marvellous battle scenarios and the like, arranged and photographed on superb terrain by Alan and Michael themselves. These are arranged in chronological order of the periods which each respective range of figures portrays, covering about a millennia of historical warfare, as follows:

The First Crusade (1096-1099)

Agincourt to Orleans (1415-1429)

The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) & European Armies (1450-1500)

Samurai Armies (1550-1615) & Choson Korean Army (1592-1598)

The English Civil Wars (1642-1651) and the Border Reivers of the 1580s

The American War of Independence (1775-1783)

Napoleonic Armies (1809-1814) & Napoleonic Armies (1815)

The First Carlist War (1833-1840)

The American Civil War (1861-1865)

The Mahdist Uprising in the Sudan (1881-1885)

World War II (1939-1945)

According to info on the Perry's website this represents 6 months of work in terms of photography alone, and years in terms of the painting of the figures. They modestly refrain from anything further, but clearly the superb quality of the figures themselves is the result of decades, or more precisely two lifetimes worth of artistic skill, that's been constantly honed and developed in very productive careers.

ACW action, including some colourful NY Zouaves.

Each section has a brief intro from one of the twins, which says a little about the period and how it came into being as a figure range from Perry Miniatures. It's surprising how much info the tiny little introductory sections pack in, some of it about the era, and some about the Perrys work in relation to it. They give generous credit to their numerous painter chums, and the makers of the scenery (some of which they make themselves). The pictures are, for the most part, wonderful. There are a few instances of visible 'Photoshopping', such as the hail of arrows in the Agincourt pictures, and some retouching of scenery and backdrops. Where I could spot this it was a minor irritant to me, as I think the figures and terrain as they are look sufficiently fabulous. 

But this brings us on to another important thing about this book: these collections are described by Rick Priestley as being real wargaming armies. And no doubt they are. But they are presented and photographed here more as if they were dioramas. This is not a complaint from me, just an observation. In fact it's a strength of the book; I love it! But obviously these are not pics of an ordinary wargame in progress, where one sees bases, rule sheets, dice, gamer's arms, etc., or the backdrop of a club or a show [2]. 

What I hope to one day achieve in my own wargaming is, effectively, a movable diorama kind of look. That's the approach they've employed here, only tidied up so that any clunky features of the gaming aspect are airbrushed from view. This is kind of a double edged-sword, inasmuch as whilst it's all undoubtedly very impressive and highly inspiring, it could also leave one feeling disappointed with ones own efforts. Rick Priestley acknowledges this in his foreward, when he says 'Whilst we may not all have the same eye for detail, or the boundless creative energy, of Michael and Alan, we can all admire and be inspired in our own efforts in our own individual way.'

Gordon of Khartoum, etc. Not a period I'm

normally drawn to, but it looks good here.

All of the periods covered are, or certainly become, in the hands of the Perrys and their accomplices, highly interesting. There's the obvious danger that to you'll be seduced into raising new armies in scales and periods you weren't previously involved in. As a kid I collected Napoleonics in 15mm, and now I'm doing the same in 6mm and 10mm, and I still consider, even with the advent of plastics, which the Perrys have been intimately involved with pioneering and developing [3], 28mm Napoleonics as (currently) beyond my means. But such is the seductive beauty of their work that I'm slowly amassing a collection of their Napoleonics, despite my efforts to resist! 

There are some obscure periods or theatres covered here, from the more obviously unusual, like the Carlist Wars and the colourful Choson Koreans, to off the usual road-map moments, like the inclusion of Neapolitans vs. Austrians in the 1815 section (which one might've assumed would be purely Waterloo-focussed) or the 'Battle' of Baltimore scenario in the ACW section. And there are also all the old warhorses, like the ECW, the AWI, the Napoleonic era, the ECW, and WWII. In my musical tastes I may pride myself a little on occasionally pursuing, alongside mainstream tastes, a few more obscure avenues. But in wargaming, I must admit I'm slightly surprised to say that I'm entirely content to remain fixated by several of the most mainstream eras.

A Napoleonic spread. Still my favourite era! 

My absolute favourite remains the Napoleonic period. And it's so nice to read Alan Perry saying this: 'I had already produced a fair number of Napoleonics for Foundry over fifteen years, before we set up Perry Miniatures in 2001, which hadn't dried up my enthusiasm for the period. Twelve years on and I'm still making them!' The Napoleonic era is represented here by two sections, one covering 1809-14, the other just 1815. 

In conclusion, whilst this book is not, like most of life, entirely perfect, it is, unlike a lot of life, predominantly very wonderful indeed. As Rick Priestley says in his foreward, 'long may [they] continue to amaze and delight us all.'

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My thanks to Henry Hyde for permission to use the colour spreads shown here.

NOTES:

[1] Signed copies are available from the Perry's own website at the slightly higher price of £42.50.

[2] The backdrops used here are very effective, mostly being of the vaguely cloudy skies type. Occasionally a photographic element is included, and sometimes the Photoshop touch is detectable. Photographing beautiful games at shows is often really hampered by the fact that a beautiful view across a gorgeous terrain populated by fabulous figures terminates in a backdrop of a room full of middle aged men with beer guts.

[3] The Perrys brought out the first hard-plastic Wargames figures in 28mm, with their ACW I set.