Europa Games and Military History

Author: chef (Page 1 of 28)

VDV Manuals – A collection

Keeping it up with military manuals, in 2021 some friendly reseacher posted a huge cache of military manuals and publications from the academy of the Russian Airborne Forces, the Воздушно-десантные войска России (ВДВ), or VDV. Again a translation is necessary, which fortunately can be done for free with a range of tools online these days. But the files deserve their mention, especially since the site is virtually invisible on search engines these days, and not everone as the stomach to go Ex to view the sites Twitter account.

URL: http://russianairbornetroops.info

Publications by the Austro-Hungarian Kriegsarchiv

Feldzüge des Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen

1. (I. Serie I. Band) Einleitung zur Darstellung der Feldzüge des Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen, Wien 1876
2. (I. Serie II. Band) Feldzüge gegen die Türken 1697-1698. Karlowitzer Friede 1699 IX. Wien 1876
3. (I. Serie III. Band) Band Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1701, Wien 1878
4. (I. Serie IV. Band) Band Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1702, Wien 1877,
5. (I. Serie V. Band) Band Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1703, Wien 1878
6. (I. Serie VI. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1704, Wien 1879
7. (I. Serie VII. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1705, Wien 1879
8. (I. Serie VIII. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1706, Wien 1879
9. (I. Serie IX. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1707, Wien 1883
10. (II. Serie I. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1708, Wien 1885
11. (II. Serie II. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1709
12. (II. Serie III. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1710, Wien 1887
13. (II. Serie IV. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1711, Wien 1887
14. (II. Serie V. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1712, Wien 1889
15. (II. Serie VI. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1713, Wien 1892
16. (II. Serie VII. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1716, Wien 1891
17. (II. Serie VIII. Band) Spanischer Successions-Krieg. Feldzug 1717/18, Wien 1891
18. (II. Serie IX. Band) Kämpfe der Kaiserlichen in Sizilien und Korsica 1717-1720 und 1730-1732
19. (II. Serie X. Band) Polnischer Throhnfolge-Krieg. Feldzüge 1733 und 1734, Wien 1891
20. (II. Serie XI. Band) Polnischer Throhnfolge-Krieg. Feldzug 1735
Orts- Namen- und Sach-Register, Wien 1892

Österreichischer Erbfolge-Krieg 1740-1748

Band I. Wien 1896
Band V, Wien 1904

Various

Biografien K.K. Heerführer und Generale, Wien 1888

Der Krieg in Italien, Nach den Feld-Acten und anderen authentischen Quellen bearbeitet durhc die Abtheilung für Krioegsgeschichte des K.K. Kriegsarchivs
3 Band: 1876, 490 pages

Die Occupation Bosniens und der Hercegovina durch K. K. Truppen im Jahre 1878, Wien 1879
Der Aufstand in der Hercegovina, Süd-Bosnien und SüdDalmatien 1881-1882, Wien 1883

Mitteilungen des K und K. Kriegsarchivs

Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs 1. (1876)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs 2. (1877)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs 3. (1878)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs – Österreichs Kriege seit 1495 (1878)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs – Die Occupation Bosniens und der Herzegovina (1879)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs – Beigabe (1879)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs (1881)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs (1882)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs (1883)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs (1884)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs (1885)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs (1886)

Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs 1. (Neue Folge, 1887)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs 2. (Neue Folge, 1888)
Mittheilungen des K.K. Kriegs-Archivs 3. (Neue Folge, 1889)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 4. (Neue Folge, 1889)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 5. (Neue Folge, 1891)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 6. (Neue Folge, 1892)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement (1892)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 7. (Neue Folge, 1893)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 8. (Neue Folge, 1894)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 9. (Neue Folge, 1895)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 10. (Neue Folge, 1898)

Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Geschichte K. und K. Wehrmacht 1. (1898)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Geschichte K. und K. Wehrmacht 2. (1898)

Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 11. (Neue Folge, 1899)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 12. (Neue Folge, 1900)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Geschichte K. und K. Wehrmacht 3/1. (1901)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Geschichte K. und K. Wehrmacht 3/2. (1901)

Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 1. (Dritte Folge, 1902)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 2. (Dritte Folge, 1903)
Mittheilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Geschichte K. und K. Wehrmacht 5. (1903)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 3. (Dritte Folge, 1904)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Geschichte der K. und K. Wehrmacht 4. (1905)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 4. (Dritte Folge, 1906)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 5. (Dritte Folge, 1907)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 6. (Dritte Folge, 1909)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs – Supplement. Erzherzog Johanns „Feldzugserzählung” 1809 (1909)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 7. (Dritte Folge, 1911)
Mitteilungen des k.u.k. Kriegs-Archivs 8. (Dritte Folge, 1914)

Catalogues and Bibliographies

Katalog der Bibliothek-Abteilung des K und K. Kriegsarchivs

Band I, Erster Teil, Wien 1896 – Kriegswissenschaften und Heerwesen im Allgemeinen, Truppenkunde, Heeresorganisation ; Heeres-Ergänzung und Verwaltung, Personalvorschriften ; Truppenausbildung, Dienst und Exercieren ; Kriegskunst ; Waffenwesen und Artillerie

Band II, Zweiter Teil, Wien 1896 – Kriegs- und allgemeine Baukunst ; Technologie und Verkehrswesen, Militär-, Train- und Pferdewesen ; Terrainkunde ; Seewesen ; Mathematik ; Naturwissenschaften ; Sanitätswesen ; Geographie, Statistik, Volkswirtschaft, Reisen

Band II, Erster Teil, Wien 1897 – Kriegsgeschichte ; Heeres- und Truppen-Geschichte ; Militär-Schemata

Band II, Zweiter Teil, Wien 1897 – Allgemeine und Staatengeschichte

Band II, Dritter Teil, Wien 1897 – Biographien, Mémoires und Correspondenzen ; Staats- und Rechtswissenschaft, Culturgeschichte und Religionswesen ; Philosophie, Unterrichtswesen ; Sprachwissenschaft, Literatur und Kunst ; Encyklopädie ; Bibliothekswissenschaft, Bücherkunde und Archivwesen

1. Nachtrag, Erster Teil, Wien 1905 – 1, Nachtr. 1 / Von 1897 bis Ende 1904

1. Nachtrag, Zweiter Teil, Wien 1905, 2, Nachtr. 1 / Von 1897 bis Ende 1904

1. Nachtrag, Autorenverzeichnis, Wien 1905, Nachtr. 1 / Von 1897 bis Ende 1904

Ukrainian Field Manuals – A Collection

The Ukrainian people were forced into a brutal war by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and had to adapt quickly and creatively to stand against the numerical superiority of the Russian Army. Support from the West was often lackluster and unreliable, many NATO states themselves torn between rising nationalist sentiments,  pacifist traditions, and the desire to help a democratic European nation to defend itself.

The Training Department (G7) of the Headquarters of the Territorial Defense Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine follows the example of the US Army and has made most of its manuals available online to the public. With a bit of automated translations, a lot of knowledge about the Ukrainian Army is available in these documents.

As of this writing, the war is neither decided nor over, and we sincerely hope the West can find its way back and be a staunch defender of democracy and freedom.

URL: https://sprotyvg7.com.ua/vijskovi-publikacii

 

Winds of Change

Most likely, if you end up on this website, you got sick of the song some three decades ago. But this is not about the Fall of the Wall, this is about my own little corner of the web, and some changes will be coming this year. I have not properly played Europa in over a decade, and I do not thing I will ever get my shipment of “Total War” I paid more than two decades ago. So all things “Europa”  will be rounded out by files, and then assembled into an Europa archive for those still interested.  And yes, I will continue to add game reports, but I would like to focus a bit more on military history. The library will become a place for online available sources, some of which may be a bit harder to find. There will be a new bibliography for the Austro-Hungarian military history, and some lists of available regimental histories as well, and I will structure and revisit the Link section, too.

As in the past, more important things like family and job mean I will rarely have time to create my own original content – it took me three or four months to research and write “Battle of Balakliya”, and its not even a very good essay, more of a test case. So I will do what I have done for the last thirty years: Look for cool things other people have written or done, and point you to them. Ever since I had to steer my career away from the academic work on military history, I have always been grateful to have the possibility to collect, curate, and assembling things I was no longer able to focus my work on. So if you have anything to share on the topics of the organization and equipment of military forces, I will always be grateful if you share.
Also, ask me about my other collections.

The Coastal Defense Study Group

Woe to the Europa player who ever would have to create maps for the US coast and put CD counters on them in any Europa scenario. Any game in which the Axis would be able to mount a significant threat to the US is one that has already turned sour for the Allies.
If you should find in such a predicament, though, the first and best source for such information would be the Coastal Defense Study Group and its exhaustive Wiki covering the history of US fortifications. The CDSG works to educate and preserve the history of the United States coastal defenses, and does so through conferences, a journal, and the already mentioned resources on the web.

URL: cdsg.org

The War against

… what exactly is unclear, but the shouting got too much for us. We will be deactivating the Twitter account of the Generalstab, There is not much else to say, it was fun while it lasted, but I refuse to look at the things promoted and shoved in my face on Twitter these days.

So the plan is to move to where the Sky is blueer during this year. I admit I have been lazy posting and engaging online a lot, since other projects took precedence. But I have been busy during the past years, and will actually be able to share some of the results soon, probably on the other long-term project the Ametria site. It will be more oriented towards interaction, scientific study and historic work, and sources will be king. I hope to interest some of you for it, come the time.

Thank you to the CDSG!

I recently found some time to work on putting the U.S. Field Manual Collection on a more solid footing, going through the various FM 21-6 (Index of Training Publications) and other lists to see what manuals are still missing, and seeing if they are available online. All this for a bigger update at the end of this month, when I will add roughly 200 new FMs or variants thereof, and correct some spelling errors.

Sometimes, the search for missing FMs ends at the gates of a mailing list who’s owners remain unresponsive. Sometimes, the reply comes quick, and I get more than I asked for. The webmaster of the Coastal Defense Study Group was so kind as to indulge my request for a couple of FMs and instead handed me their whole repository of documents, for which I am deeply thankful. I do not take donations for this website, but if you want to support the amazing work the CDSG does for the military history of the United States, please head over there and have a look!

An Epic Ending

Ken Newall’s report of his solitaire game playing Scorched Earth had been a persistant source of entertainment for many readers on the Europa mailing list as well as for me. Finally I would the time to upload the last reports from the autumn and winter of 1944, concluding this monumental spectacle, and finishing with an insightful wrap up. The posts will be published over the coming weeks and conclude on February 19th. This should give me enough time to catch up with all the other exiting reporting that happened in the past years on the Europa list. So there will be no want for game reports this year, and I think I will stick to the schedule of having a new post every week for as long as I can make it last.

 

We are so back!

Hey everyone,

welcome back! I went the easy way of not completely rebuilding, but switching out the vulnerable Plugin against newer ones, updating everything and trying to fix the most glaring security holes. The alternative would have been to import 1000+ pages into a new system, which I dreaded for … three years? And then dropped the idea. For now. At some point, a major migration will have to happen again, but not just now.

So we’re back online, with some game reports and articles still missing their proper side bar navigation, and some odds and ends broken, but in a much better state than the catatonic half-life this site’s had during and after the pandemic. Of course, this means there is now a host of new things to do – links to post, game reports to add, comments to answer, and all that. Going will be slow, but: We’re so back!

Thank you!

The Official Italian History of the Second World War

The History Office of the General Staff of the Italian Army (Stato Maggiore dell’esercito – Ufficio Storico) is responsible for official military history, and thus has published a series of monographs, illustrating various aspects of military history from Italy’s unification to the present. Of course the Second World War makes up a significant part of the available volumes. No official, complete italian history of the Second World War was ever written, but it is well possible to piece together a nearly complete picture from the monographies at hand.

In the Nineties,  fifty years after the war, a series of volumes reflected on the North African campaign, and these four books are probably as close to an official history as we will ever get. The author, Mario Montanari, is a respected historian better known for his mor general work on the Italian “Risorgimento”, the national unification moevement that resulted in the foundation of an Italian nation state in 1849 from various independent fiefdoms that had endured since the collapse of the western Roman Empire.

Translations of large parts of the Italian official histories have been uploaded to archive.org and will be linked here. This is even more laudable as the original works do not seem to be available in digital form. The quality of the translation is questionable in parts, which adds another reason to take the contents of the books with a grain of salt (the other one, of course, being that its an official history). Then again, undertaking the translation of what to the rest of the world must be an obscure topic indeed is imminently a work of love, and we are deeply grateful to Robert Denny II.
Thanks to Jim Broshot for finding and sharing those links with us.

L’Esercito Italiano Nella Campagna die Greca

Mario Montanari, Rome 1999.
Translation by Robert Denny II: Italian Army Official History The Greek Campaign

Le Operazioni Della Unita Italiane Al Fronte Russo (1941-1943)

Rome 1977
Translation by Robert Denny II: Italian Army Offical History Operations On The Russian Front

Le Operazioni in Africa Settentrionale

Volume I: Sidi Barani – November 1940 – März 1941; by Mario Montanari, edited by Edizione Ufficio Storico SME, 1989; 720 pages, 29 maps.
Translation by Robert Denny II.

Volume II: Tobruk  – March 1941 – May 1942; by Mario Montanari, edited by Edizione Ufficio Storico SME, 1990;709 pages, 88 maps.
Translation by Rober Denny II

Volume III:  El Alamein – May – November 1942; by Mario Montanari, edited by Edizione Ufficio Storico SME, 1992; 1036 pages.
Translation by Rober Denny II.

Volume IV: Enfiddaville- November 1942 – March 1943. by Mario Montanari, edited by Edizione Ufficio Storico SME, 1993; 820 pages, 90 maps.
Translation by Robert Denny II

Le Operazioni in Siculia e in Calabria, Luglio – Settembre 1943

written by Alberto Santoni, published by Stato Maggiore Dell’Esercito – Ufficio Storico, Roma 1989.
Translation by Robert Denny II: Italian Army Offical History Operations In Sciliy & Cambera, 2017

La Marina Italiana Nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale

The contribution of the Italian navy has often been belittled, ignored or played down. One of the worlds strongest Navy, the Marina Militare suffered from similar problems as the Army and Air force, namely the call to fullfil ambitions which were way beyond the the industrial and technical capabilities of italy’s industry, and therefor its quipment and weaponry. The Navy did its best with the ressources available, but modernization was slow. Italy could not react to the revolutionary impact of the airplane, which was theorized early on and clearly recognized by its brightest thinkers, to their deep and lasting frustration.

Thanks to the work of Robert Denny II a complete translation of the official work is available on archive org. Errors in the numbering of the volumes have not been corrected yet.

La Regia Aeronautica 1939-1945

Written by Nino Arena, published by Stato Maggiore Aeronautica

Volume 1: 1939-1940: Dalle Non Belligeranza All’Intervento. Roma 1981

Translated by Robert Denny II as: The Royal Air Force. Volume 1: From Non Belligerence to Participation, 2021

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