Not a lot of modeling or gaming done at the moment. House stuff is somewhat getting in the way. New hot water system and associated crawling round under the house, which in places is a couple of inches thinner than me.
However I have been reading some books, which is somewhat of a novelty for me.
Late last year Robin Sutton reviewed a book on the eastern front in 1915 by Prit Buttar. It was one of those things where I thought "that's a topic I really know nothing about" (apart from Tanneburg was a win for the Germans) . I promptly ordered "Collision of empires" which covers 1914, and "Germany ascendent" which covers 1915. These are both good reads an to my mind the only negative comment I have is that the maps could be much better. They are a bit too small and unclear as it stands. This aside they are well written and a good window into the horror's of the eastern front, which makes the western front seem somewhat sane and tame in places. Based on this I have pre-ordered The final book of the series which covers the eastern front in 1916 and 1917 leading to the Russian surrender.
While purchasing these last book I happened to glance at the sidebar and notied another couple of books, "Battleground Prussia" by the same author and 'The fall of the Ottoman empire" which is another area I know nothing about beyond Galipoli and Lawrence of Arabia. "Battleground Prussia" covers the Russian invasion of Prusia in 1945 right through to the end of the war where the fighting lasted several days after the official surrender as troops tried to fight their way to the Baltic and a dangerous boat trip to the west. "Berlin" by Antony Beevor touches on these battles but they are secondary to the main topic.again the maps are a bit dodgy but the writing more than makes up for this. Given his prolific writing I don't know how he holds down his day job as a GP.
So, I'm now far better informed than I was but it has left me divided about getting into Great War Spearhead. There is plenty of scope for games in there but I'm somewhat taken aback by the prolific waste of troops on all sides. People who know me will probably be surprised to see me write that last sentence. Maybe it will suit my style of play....
