76mm Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I'm the author/editor of the CMAK Companion. Battlefront would like to add a "Reviews" page to the CMAK Companion section of the website, so I thought I'd ask those of you who have purchased the book if you could post some comments/reviews in this thread. Thanks, Tom Reiter 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeForkSpoon Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Hello, Tom. Do you mean the Batter Commander book? If so, I really enjoyed the book. I could not put it down, and had it read within a few days. I found myself wishing for some maps to accompany each tactical engagement, but it did not ruin it for me. Overall a very entertaining read. Inspired me to look up more histories. Thank you, KFS 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melnibone Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Tom Three quarters of the way through..and enjoying it. I can pick it up...read a couple of items..and come back to it later. Some interesting articles and well chosen. Only downside so far are the included maps...virtually unreadable...very blurred. Apart from that...good work! Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 If anybody has a used copy they want to get rid of, let me know, I'd be interested in picking one up. Oh, Tom, if you want to send me a review copy, that would be great too. I'll send you my snail mail address if you like. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeinzBaby Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Excellent read, as said before, you can start from cover to cover or pickout chapters. On a more technical note I thought the body text was font substituted ie. 'times roman' not found, 'courier' font used.. To me it looked like quality control had made a SNAFU. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinetree Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 There's some real gems in there plus I like the fact that you can just pick it up and start reading from anywhere. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mm Posted June 20, 2004 Author Share Posted June 20, 2004 Thanks for your feedback. The points on the maps are well taken--I would have liked to include more maps covering the tactical engagements described in the excerpts, but very few of the source materials included this type of map. And while the strategic maps that were included turned out to be fuzzier than I had hoped, I found them to be readable (with difficulty) and better than the alternative (no maps at all). I should add that one reason I didn't go with other/more maps is that I found it very difficult to track down the rightsholders for many of the books I wanted to use--many publishers have folded, merged, etc. over the last half-century, and tracking down individual authors (of books written 20-30-40 years ago) generally took many months, and sometimes proved impossible. Moreover, the copyrights to the maps were often held by someone other than the author, so tracking down these people to obtain their permission to use the maps would have been even more difficult. In retrospect, I would have spent less time trying to track down rightsholders and more time trying to find exxcellent public domain maps... Regarding HeinzBaby's comment about a SNAFU with quality control--I think you're saying that you didn't like the use of the Courier font instead of Times Roman? The use of Courier was in fact a conscious (albeit somewhat controversial) decision which was intended to help convey the notion that you were reading after-action reports banged out on a field typewriter. Again, in retrospect, maybe I would have decided differently, but that was the idea at the time. So if you don't like the Courier font, please chalk it up to poor editorial judgement on my part rather than a quality-control issue. Tom 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gen Von Television Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 Hello Tom, as a graphic and designer myself, I'll pick up the thread from the 'Courier' notation: I appreciate the idea, but then it should have been implemented in the page format and on the 'backdrop decorations' as well, possibly adding more of the 'field' atmosphere... I enjoy the reading: I'm very fond about the first hand experiences in any times' history. It really gives you a more understandable perspective on the bigger picture. Furthermore, expecially when war is involved, it usually unveils the real misery that war is, and ultimately pours a light on higher human values, like pity, brotherhood, sameness of feelings, in spite of the different uniforms and theaters... Regarding this last thought, I found a bit 'out of tone' as you pick up the recollections of someone, sometime talking about someone else' without let the reader get familiar with the characters... But this is surely only a slight notation I make... Do you know there are quite a few sites on the web from veterans (like 'Wild' Bill Guarnere) or other sites that are working collecting the testimonials of survivors (like the Drop Zone) that may be a real source of interest in this respect, the personal perspective of the battlefields... Good Job. Thanks. Diego [ April 21, 2005, 07:54 AM: Message edited by: Gen Von Television ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gen Von Television Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 Hemm, this IS an EMPTY post! [ December 19, 2005, 06:58 AM: Message edited by: Gen Von Television ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakthrough Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Ive been buying only the good first hand WW II histories for almost 20 years now and the CMAK companion is one of my favorites. First hand accounts and intelligent and knowledgleable introductions to each chapter make this work appealing to newbies and grognards. Sometimes I think that the computer crowd assumes too much of its players/customers. The old board stuff came with great players manuals that taught people about the background of its games. It introduced people to the hobby and encouraged further reading. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbell Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 A great big Bravo for this book. I have always wanted a book that compiled personal battlefield recollections, especially those that describe the tactics used. I made the Courier, typewriter connection immediately, and loved it. One criticism though, this book needs some heavy editing. As mentioned above, it is easy to loose the narrative thread. I understand your desire to keep the feel of the authentic, first person story telling. But good editing can keep the reader on track and maintain the authenticity (not an easy task of course). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLeftFlank Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 Originally posted by Breakthrough: Ive been buying only the good first hand WW II histories for almost 20 years now and the CMAK companion is one of my favorites. Could you give me your "top 10 fave" list of these first hand histories -- ETO ground war (I've got MacDonald and Sajer). Many thanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLeftFlank Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 Oh, and I just ordered the book... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
folke Posted August 26, 2004 Share Posted August 26, 2004 I just wanted to say that you did a geat job with this book. It is a book that you can pick up and read again, just to read just about the battle that you are playing for the moment. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfield Posted September 19, 2004 Share Posted September 19, 2004 Excellent book - particularly enjoying the accounts of the Battle for Crete. No problem with the Courier font - made the connection there. Further comments: are you going to compile another? *grin* Also, citing your references means that we can all delve deeper into the history. Lovely. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbob Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Cool, I'm really talking to the author? It's one of my favorite WW2 books....proven by the fact that it sits on the bookshelf in my bathroom next to the commode. Not many books get that honor, and they usually have to have short chapters in them ;~) So, my honest opinion -- I like the short story/after action report format. I like your sources...some are my alltime favorites (Brazen Chariots, etc), and others were brand new to me....more new books to pick up! The courier font bugged me at first, until I got into it and caught the battlefield typewriter idea...it's not HARD to read, it's just different....took me back to my elementary school days before personal computers---now everyone has proportional instead of monospaced fonts and we are all used to them. They didn't have proportional spaced fonts during WW2, except on the linotype machine for Stars and Stripes! Blurry maps, but you already knew that. Personally I'd like about 10 times more maps -- one for each major battle report....which wouldv;e been impossible I'm sure. Damn fine job on your book! I just re-read another story today while on the can, since I'm preparing for a brutal Thanksgiving day TCP/IP game tomorrow that was covered in one of your stories. I wish I had the time to spend on researching musty WW2 archives like you did -- it would be a labor of love. DANBOB 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mm Posted November 25, 2004 Author Share Posted November 25, 2004 Dear danbob: Thanks for the kind words; I am very proud that my humble volume has earned an honored place in your personal reading sanctuary. Good luck in the game; the idea for the book was that people would actually be able to apply the tactics, etc. described in the book to their gameplay. Happy Turkey Day! Tom 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beady Posted November 28, 2004 Share Posted November 28, 2004 Well, I haven't seen this comment anywhere, so I'll stick in my two cents (remembering that I'm only through about the 1st half). I think the book is a tad unbalanced. If the reader isn't somewhat familiar with the overall campaign, the groupings of individual narratives gives one the sense that the British are constantly winning. I think the problem is the lack of overall context; maybe a page should have been spent alongside each map, giving a quick overview. Another problem is the perceived comparative lack of German and Italian accounts. I would think that there are enough English translations available that I don't understand why they haven't been included. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mm Posted November 29, 2004 Author Share Posted November 29, 2004 Dear Beady: Thanks for your comments. In response: 1) The companion was never really intended to provide an overall history of the Mediterranean campaigns, but rather a series of snapshots of tactical encounters similar to what would be encountered in CMAK. That said, a few people have mentioned this point, and if I do any future volumes I would probably include more of a summary (very summary) covering the operational/strategic context of the tactical engagements. 2) I agree that the readings are weighted toward the English/American sides, much more so that I would have liked. But I had two problems: first, I had a hard time finding readings I liked in the various German/Italian materials that I found (and frankly, I didn't find all that many, especially for the Italian theater. Second, the bigger problem was that it is much harder than you might expect to find the orignal copyright holders for a lot of this material, and to get permission to reprint even if you found them. This was really, really hard, and I had a couple of great source books that ultimately I had to abandon because I couldn't get permission... Hope you enjoy the book anyway! Regards, Tom 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beady Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by 76mm: Hope you enjoy the book anyway! Oh, I'm enjoying it! You asked for comments, however, and I assumed you wanted to hear more than just compliments. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbob Posted December 29, 2004 Share Posted December 29, 2004 Playing Tobruk, Easter 1941 as the Brits right now, against a skilled opponent, and frantically reading your book (and some others) about how they went about really killing panzers with Boys ATRs. About to stain my knickers. Thanks for the book! DANBOB 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuckgd Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 I just received my copy yesterday afternoon. Thanks - just what I needed - a new addiction . Great book, very informative and I like the style of different fonts used for the descriptions vs. reports. Well worth the money, and I am looking forward to getting into some of the scenarios that go with it. Good job! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankboi55 Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Found the book to be a good read, worth the bucks! As for the Courier/typewriter font, a heavier weight would cure the legibility problem (when it goes into reprints). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 76mm, While I haven't yet had the pleasure of reading your book, if there is a future edition of the book you may wish to take a look at Wolf Heckmann's ROMMEL'S WAR IN AFRICA (Konecky & Konecky) for a plethora of great anecdotes and the like from all sides. So thorough is the coverage that you can read about the same incident through both German and British eyes. I suspect part of the reason for this may be that the book was first published in German, then translated. Many of the bibliographic sources are in German. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mm Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 Dear John: I share your enthusiasm for Heckman's book, and several excerpts from it are included in the Reader. Tom 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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