John Kettler Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Rumors of my passing were false, though it may've looked that way on the Forums. Was out of town in the gorgeous PNW for quite some time visiting my ex-Army bro and family, during which I had little computer access in a very high optempo environment. While I was barely here or anywhere else online, I nevertheless return armed with an improved understanding of the period. This is the result of having finally gotten to read Kareem Abdul Jabbar's eye-watering Brothers in Arms, chronicling the "Black Panthers" of the 761st Separate Tank Battalion (colored); reading a good chunk of my brother's jealously guarded (warned he might strip search me prior to departure) Victory Was Beyond their Grasp (Nash) about the formation and combat history of a VGD Fusilier Company (with simply astonishingly complete unit docs); facing a VGD squad in my first outing in AH's Up Front in ages and playing modified Bolt Action combat in 15 mm on a big map board, part of whose terrain I helped build. For pics, please see my FB page. Also, a raid on a militaria store near Ft. Lewis resulted in a real find: a reprint of Janet Hollis's Damned Engineers in the form of a specially arranged Army Corps of Engineers reprint, which is part of a series on combat engineer topics. This book is all about how the engineers thwarted Peiper over and over again in his attempt to reach the Meuse. It includes accounts of desperate fights waged to give time to blow the bridges and has numerous maps. Am also waiting for a book to arrive on the Battle of Geilenkirchen. While away, I also read two Osprey duel books: one on Panther vs the T-34, the other, Panther vs Sherman. While both books had presentation issues (readability, technical and factual mistakes, lack of common measurements), Zaloga's book was less a study than a directed study, I feel. The tone was set by his choice of photos, since there is not one in which there is an intact Panther! Are we to believe that prior to Bulge not a single pic was taken of an intact Panther under German control? I read a book in which he was at pains to highlight and hammer away at every single Panther issue, while largely glossing over Sherman matters. Thus, we are treated to a discourse on how much better the optics situation was for the Sherman gunner than the Panther's, but there isn't so much as a hint of the visual clarity of German optics, let alone the in-sight selectable filters and the ability to out perform the American sights in night, adverse WX and fog. I don't recall any discussion on German smokeless/flashless powder's advantages; the Sherman ground pressure/track issue is swiftly dealt with and disposed of (but was really operationally/tactically significant), and his conclusions regarding the overall shape US tank crews were in and their experience are belied by the accounts from US participants. I found his invoking of "five Shermans to kill a Panther outrageous," since every such force ratio I encountered was always in reference to a Tiger tank! I was pretty impressed with the great coverage of the Panthers at Kursk and their horrific debut in the first book, since I'd never read anything other than a one paragraph summary, and I found the cost and man hour comparisons most revealing. That book, though, I felt should've shown some of the proposed designs. The Panther design sabotage, if you will, by Otto Saur was shocking news to me and not mentioned at all in Zaloga's book. All in all, I learned a great deal during my trip, and I believe I shall learn much more when my library acquisitions arrive. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 7 hours ago, John Kettler said: Rumors of my passing were false, though it may've looked that way on the Forums. Good. Curiously enough, I was just thinking about you yesterday and wondering where you had gotten off to. 7 hours ago, John Kettler said: Was out of town in the gorgeous PNW for quite some time... You should have come by for tea (or whatever) since you were almost in the neighborhood. Next time you are headed this way, drop me an e-mail and we'll see what we can arrange. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Welcome back. I I've read four Osprey "Duel" series books to date and I find them to be very poor overall and not worth the $$. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 7 minutes ago, Barkhorn1x said: Welcome back. I I've read four Osprey "Duel" series books to date and I find them to be very poor overall and not worth the $$. I've shied away from the whole series because the whole concept struck me as a semi-bogus way to squeeze more money out of the book buying public. Glad to hear that may have been a wise choice. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 In general, I have found Osprey to be watered down sources of information, designed more to catch the eye on the dealer's bookshelf or webpage than to provide much useful information. In this genre I found Squadron/Signal to be far and away better publications. JMO. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StieliAlpha Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Well, back then I liked Osprey books as source for my 54mm-figure paintings, but contentwise, they are poor. Especially the later theme-books about specific battles. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Michael Emrys, Was in Lakewood, Washington, with a view of Puget Sound and the Olympics, too, at times. Also got to see the awe inspiring Mt. Rainier at the end of the parade ground at Ft. Lewis and the Cascades off in the distance as well on a different jaunt. Would've loved to have visited you while out there. Am invited back next year, so we may yet meet. Very glad you survived all the health drama! Barkhorn1x, The ones cited are the only ones I've ever read, so I defer to you on the overall quality of the Duel series. The price of Ospreys is shocking--even at a great discount in a bookstore my brother took me to. StieliAlpha, I loved the paintings myself, and I positively drooled at the notion of being able to buy original art for some of them. But that takes having a real chunk of change, which I didn't have then and have less of now. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 True the artwork is usually very good. But content goes from poor to acceptable w/ only the Aircraft of the Aces and the Aviation Elite series rising above the acceptable level. Th 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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