Nafziger OOB's are now downloadable and free!

The NAFZIGER COLLECTION of Orders of Battle for the Wargamer and Historian compiled by George Nafziger, can be now be downloaded free from the Combined Arms Research Library site.

According to the author:

"The Nafziger Collection contains a mass of orders of battle covering the period from 1600 to 1945. It started because of a personal interest in the Napoleonic Wars, but steadily grew into other areas because of the gaming public's interest in these highly detailed, accurate historical orders of battle. Sources range from published works to actual archival documents, which represent the largest single source. Nearly all OB's break down to the regimental level. The availability of strength figures and artillery equipment varies from period to period.

17th Century Catalog. 1600-1699, including 30 Years War & English Civil War

18th Century Catalog. 1697-1792. Spanish Succession ,Great Northern War,Polish Succession, Austrian Succession, Seven Years War, Bavarian Succession

French Revolution Catalog, 1792-1799

Napoleonic Wars Catalog, 1800-1815 . Includes Russo-Swedish 1808-9 War, Russo-Turkish Wars, Continental Europe and Peninsular Wars

Miscellaneous American Wars Catalog, 1775-1864. American Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Franco-Mexican War

American Civil War Catalog, 1861-1865

Post Napoleonic Catalog , 1816-1899 . Russo Turkish War 1829, French in Moree, Belgian Revolution, French in Algeria 1830, Polish Revolution 1832, Carlist War 1834,1848 Revolutions, Roman Republic 1849, Crimea 1854, Italian Revolution 1859, Prusso-Danish War 1864, Prusso-Austrian War 1866, Franco-Prussian War 1870, Russo-Turkish War 1877

British Colonial Catalog, 1861-1865. Northwest Indian Frontier, 2nd Afgan War, China, Boer, Zulu and others

Colonial Garrisons, 1825-1905. Hundreds of obscure British Garrisons across the globe.

Naval Orders of Battle Catalog, 1688-1801, WWI. WWII

20th Century
1905-6, Russo-Japanese War
World War I Catalog, 1914-1918. World War IEastern & Western Front, Russian, Austrian, German, Serbian, Romanian, American, British & French
1920-1921, Russo-Polish War
1936-1939 Spanish Civil War
World War II Campaign Order of Battle Catalog, 1939-1945. Naval, Pacific, Mediterranean, North Africa, Europe. Finnish, Russian Front, Vichy French,USMC in the Pacific, lots of TO&E material on every army.
World War II Tables of Organization & Equipment Catalog. Organizational details of divisions, brigades,regiments, battalions, companies, and special detachments."

All the OOB's are ind pdf format. Note that the indexes for this ingent mass of information are located at the George's site

Thank you very much to George Nafziger to make available the result of so many years of research!

Edited (February, 24th)
See, at The Miniatures Page, the reasons why George Nafziger has donated his OOB's

Kevin Zucker (Operational Studies Group) is back!

Good news for all Napoleonic wargamers.
Operational Studies Group (NapoleonGames.com) is back in business after a small break. Kevin Zucker is designing THE COMING STORM, a new Quadrigame centered around the War of the Fourth Coalition. October 1806 - June 1807.

Taken from the THE COMING STORM web page

BATTLES SIMULATED
JENA-AUERSTÄDT 13-14 October 1806
PULTUSK/GOLYMIN 24-25 December 1806
EYLAU 7-8 February 1807
FRIEDLAND 13-14 June 1807

These four games explore the major battles of 1806-07, where the French Army encountered two different opponents with different capabilities, from the leadership-challenged Prussians in Saxony to the chaotic battle conditions in winter against the Russians. Based on OSG's Special Studies, which provide a turn by turn narrative of the four battles. Each game shows the approach to the battlefield on the day before battle. The Jena-Auerstädt game has both battlefields on one map and allows both sides to re-deploy before battle. Set at the scale of Napoleon's Last Battles-525 yards per hex and one hour turns-the game retains the Command System of Commanders and Corps Officers.

DESCRIPTION
Napoleon's Last Battles System, following Four Lost Battles: 525 yards (480 meters) per hex, 1 hour per turn, 500-800 men per strength point. Each game lasts about 40 turns.

COMPONENTS
Four 22 x 34" full-color maps
Two Rulebooks (36 pages and 24 pages)
One 2" game box
Two counter sheets = 560 units
Three player aid sheets
Four player aid cards
Two decks of 50 playing cards = 100 cards

Kevin is taking now pre-orders with a 30%-off the retail price, at $92.00 (plus shipping). The Quadrigame is scheduled for September 10, 2010.

Fatimid mercenaries

Again in bed with flu (not the swine flu, I hope!), so I post a new set of painted figures from Armand d'Arc's African campaign. This time is the turn for a curious contingent: the Fatimid mercenaries.
The historical Fatimids were an Islamic dynasty that reigned in North Africa, and later in Egypt, from 909 until 1171. The caliphate legitimised its claim through descent from Muhammad by way of his daughter Fātima as-Zahra and her husband Alī ibn-Abī-Tālib, the first Shīˤa Imām, hence the name al-Fātimiyyūn "Fatimid".

In the 'Serenghetti War’, the Fatimids are North African mercenaries fighting for the Allied (British-German) against the Associated (French-Spanish).
The mounted Fatimid unit (a company or half-squadron) is 152 strong and ride camels or horses (50% each). They are very undisciplined but also very fierce in close combat, using scimitar, spear, axe and knives. Some of them wear metal cuirasses and small shields, and their only firearms seem to be one pair of pistols.
The Armand's conversion include many different sets (he does not remember which!) and the camels come from Aifix (Hät release) bedouins. The turbans and plumes are made from plasticine.

The Fatimids mercenaries and the Cazadores of Balbastro compose the respective advance-guards of the Allied and Associated armies, so they will fight in the next Armand´s battle... next July!

The 'Cazadores de Balbastro'

By courtesy of Armand d'Arc

The uniform of the 'Cazadores de Balbastro' (Chasseurs de Balbastro) at the time of the 'Serenghetti War’, was a green jacket with red collar and lapels, orange cuffs and turnbacks, white buttons, and yellow leather-work. The trousers were in several colours (including light and dark blue, yellowish white or dark brown) because of provisioning problems. Their hat was very characteristics because of its similarity with the hat carried by the old fashioned Spanish grenadiers, accompanying the Spanish Expeditionary Corps of La Romana and had a yellow pompom.

Some of the 'Cazadores' were veterans of such expedition, and where carried to Spain in ships by their British allied (note that the Alliances are reversed in Africa!). The musisicans wore red jackets with yellow and white lace and cords.
The battalion was 335 strong at his arrival to Africa under the command of Colonel Rafael Pardo. Around of a 60% of the men were raw recruits, and the Colonel and the officiers and sub-officiers were making great efforts to make them profitable to 'form the square', a necessary manoeuvre, because of the Allied superiority in cavalry.

The Colonel Pardo's Cazadores are included in the Regiment 'Duque de Alba' along other three infantry battalions, which is part of the Bernal Diaz de Vivar's Spanish Division.

To be (hopefully) continued...

A history of two (twin) brothers

The history (fictional of course) of my great-great-great grandfather by my Argentinian friend Armand d'Arc

"We are now on the third year of the ‘Serenghetti War’, a conflict fought in Africa between the European powers with the help of their local allies.
The Spanish fleet has managed to break again the English blockade (the British ships have moved to fight in the North-American conflict) carrying the reinforcements sent by the French Empereur to the Spanish King, his main ally in the war on the ‘Black Continent’.
Whereas the men are crowded in the frigates and vessels following, like little bees, the trace of the ships of the line "Santa Maria" and "Madre de Dios", some important officers are travelling aboard these last. Colonel Rafael Pardo is one of them, and on the main deck of the ‘Santa María’ is trying to see through the fog, the African coastline, while thinks about his family assimilating the perturbing news that his father told him at the moment of the departure for African lands.
The old and proud hidalgo, Captain Emanuel Gilberto Ricardo Pardo de Villanueva, engineer officer of the King Guard, chose that moment to reveal him the bizarre and secret history of his marriage with an Otoman Princess as well as the existence of his twin brother.
Don Emanuel was married once with Jasmila, an Otoman Princess and the older daughter of the principal counsellor of the Pasha of Damascus, Hassan ibn Hamill Al Mundi. The youngs were in strong love, but both families were natural enemies, so they had to fought all time against them to be happy. From that marriage, the young and beautiful Jasmila give Emanual two twin sons, but all these happines finished abruptly when the war between Spain and the Moorish tribes of the North of Africa, began again.

The couple was obligated to separate and each one took one of the boys: Rafael went with his father and his brother Ayyub with his mother. Emanuel and Jasmila never meet again and both child grown up without knowing from each other.
And now, 30 years later, Rafael is trying to control his heart: he had a mother and a twin brother!
A familiar mew distracts colonel Pardo from his thoughts. It was Zeus, a fiery little cat, living in the ship, which only accepts his strokes.
"Well my friend... - says the colonel to his little cat- look at our destiny. We can found there my brother and mother or we can dead at the battlefield before. But we had to try it. Did you agree?" and the little "Zeus" move his head and send a happy mewing that Rafael knows it is his own way to say "yes".
The sound of a bell on board woke up both, man and cat, from their dreams. In a few minutes they will have a good lunch, the last on the ship before their arrival to Port "San Ildefonso", the larger Spanish town near the war frontline. "Zeus" jumped leading the way to the inferior deck and Rafael, with a little smile on his lips, followed him."

Se non è vero, è ben trovato... isn't it?