I always liked the Osprey series of books, but never went out of my way to acquire them. Over the last few years, I've been picking more and more of them up from local used book store, where they frequently show up at a steep discount.
Recently, I've had a compulsion to fill in some gaps in the Campaign, Air Campaign, Combat Aircraft, Elite and Men at Arms series. I went crazy on some online thrift stores and recently bought like 3 or 4 dozen of them. Still have a long way to go.
Once they arrive, I'll post a complete list of my collection.
Anybody else into these?
I would be if the Mrs. wouldn't be there all, "WHY IN THE NAME OF GOD DO YOU HAVE ALL OF THESE BOOKS?"
^We must be married to the same woman.
I love Osprey books an ancients and lesser known WWI and WWII vehicles and equipment, and I'm interested on getting some of their books on modern Ukraine and Russia.
There are some competitors to Osprey that do a really great job too. The names of those publishers escape me but I have a really thick, Osprey-like book on Byzantine armies that is just beautiful. And I'm about to buy one of those 'vs.' books (Duel series, maybe?) on the Chinese vs. the Japanese Navy during the Sino Japanese War (1890s)...but the name of the publisher escapes me.
Just looked online. The Duel series is indeed Osprey. The look of that series of books is more modern than the traditional Osprey that we have all grown to know and love.
Years ago, I was a huge Nappy fan.
Spent my spare time painting piles of lead.
Osprey, along with some other books by the Funckens and Knotel, were essential to make certain the uniforms were painted correctly. Osprey also have essential info on tactics and evolutions...great stuff when you are a mini gamer.
I have almost a complete set of the Osprey's Nappy titles and 10 pounds of lead waiting in the garage for my retirement. Sadly the retirement is still many years off...
I have a bunch on WWII air stuff and some of their duel books. Some are great and full of interesting/useful info. Others are a lot less so. I recently picked up USN vs IJN Carriers (not so good), Rabaul 1943-44 (very good so far), and Battle of Berlin 1943-44 (Haven't started it yet).
I think the two best I've bought so far are Avro Lancaster and Lancaster vs Bf110. Lots of good info, maps, diagrams, and art.
The worst is Canadian Forces in WWII. Very light on detail overall and it was mainly focused on generalities such as uniform colours of the various branches as the war progressed with almost nothing on TO&E, deployments, OOBs, unit histories, etc.
I guess a lot of them are hit or miss, depending on author?
I definitely like these series for the maps, tactics, photos and tables. I find they make great supplements for gaming, particularly when I am working on an AAR.
I have the two on Navy F-4 Phantoms in the Vietnam War.
The Guadalcanal one was required reading at the War College for one of our classes.
I really enjoy them, but they're expensive new. Used is definitely the way to go. Looking forward to seeing your collection, JH.
I have about 15 of their books. I check for sales every month and buy then. Their sales are quite good.
When I first starting playing Strike Fighters 2, I bought some of the Duel series books to read up on the Middle Eastern conflicts where the jets were used in the game.
This will be a working list that I will add to as the books come in, but so far, here is what is in my modest collection:
Classic Battles:
El Alamein 1942
Normandy 1944
Bagration 1944
Ardennes 1944
Guadalcanal 1942
Pearl Harbor 1941
Tet Offensive 1968 - arrived 1/11/20
The Alamo 1836 - arrived 1/11/20
Elite:
WWII Street-Fighting Tactics
WWII Combat Reconnaissance Tactics
WWII Airborne Warfare Tactics
WWII Infantry Fire Support Tactics
WWII Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics
WWII Armored Infantry Tactics
WWII Japanese Pacific Island Defenses 1941-45
Vietnam Infantry Tactics
The Crusaders - arrived 1/11/20
Medieval Siege Warfare - arrived 1/15/20
Warsaw Pact Forces - arrived 1/23/20
Inside the Soviet Army Today - arrived 1/23/20
US Army Rangers & LRRP Units 1942-87 - arrived 1/23/20
World Special Forces Insignia - arrived 1/23/20
US Army Airborne 1940-90 - arrived 1/23/20
South-East Asian Special Forces - arrived 1/23/20
Panama 1989-90 - arrived 1/23/20
Elite Forces of India and Pakistan - arrived 1/23/20
Armies of the Gulf War - arrived 1/23/20
US Army Air Force: 2 - arrived 1/23/20
UN Forces 1948-94 - arrived 1/23/20
Marine Recon 1940-90 - arrived 1/23/20
The Royal Marines 1939-93 - arrived 1/23/20
The Guards Divisions 1914-45 - arrived 1/23/20
The Military Sniper Since 1914 - arrived 1/23/20
US Navy SEALs - arrived 1/23/20
Canadian Airborne Forces Since 1942 - arrived 1/23/20
Special Operations Forces in Iraq - arrived 1/23/20
US Marine Infantry Combat Uniforms and Equipment 2000-12 - arrived 1/23/20
Battle Orders:
US Army Infantry Divisions 1942-43
Panzer Divisions: The Blitzkrieg Years 1939-40
Afrika Korps 1941-1943
The Roman Army: the Civil Wars 88-31 BC
Men-at-Arms, Warrior, Elite:
Imperial Roman Naval Forces 31 BC-AD 500
The Conquistadores
Aztec, Mixtec and Zapotec Armies
The Zulus
The Royal Marine Commandos 1950-82
US Marine Corps Tank Crewman
Highland Clansman 1689-1746 - arrived 1/15/20
The Paras - British Airborne Forces 1940-1984 - arrived 1/21/20
Soviet Bloc Elite Forces - arrived 1/21/20
French Foreign Legion Paratroops - arrived 1/21/20
The Ancient Greeks - arrived 1/21/20
The Praetorian Guard - arrived 1/21/20
Santa Anna's Mexican Army 1821-48 - arrived 1/21/20
The Spartan Army - arrived 1/21/20
Attila and the Nomad Hordes - arrived 1/21/20
Byzantine Armies 886-1118 - arrived 1/21/20
The Roman Army from Hadrian to Constantine - arrived 1/21/20
The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan - arrived 1/21/20
Samurai Armies 1550-1615 - arrived 1/21/20
The Mexican-American War 1846-1848 - arrived 1/21/20
The Zulu War - arrived 1/21/20
The British Army in North America 1775-1783 - arrived 1/21/20
Wolfe's Army - arrived 1/21/20
Marlborough's Army 1702-11 - arrived 1/21/20
The Boxer Rebellion - arrived 1/21/20
The German Army 1914-18 - arrived 1/21/20
The U.S. Army 1941-45 - arrived 1/21/20
The Waffen-SS - arrived 1/21/20
The Panzer Divisions - arrived 1/21/20
Napoleon's German Allies - Saxony 1806-1815 - arrived 1/21/20
Napoleon's Hussars - arrived 1/21/20
Napoleon's Dragoons and Lancers - arrived 1/21/20
Napoleon's German Allies - Nassau and Oldenburg - arrived 1/21/20
Artillery Equipment of the Napoleonic Wars - arrived 1/21/20
Napoleon's Guard Cavalry - arrived 1/21/20
Napoleon's Marshals - arrived 1/21/20
Campaign:
Poland 1939
Kos and Leros 1943
Operation Neptune 1944
Operation Cobra 1944
Operation Nordwind 1945
Okinawa 1945
Hastings 1066
Rorke's Drift 1879 - arrived 1/11/20
Japan 1945 - arrived 1/11/20
Agincourt 1415 - arrived 1/11/20
Zulu War 1879 - arrived 1/11/20
Tarawa 1943 - arrived 1/15/20
France 1940 - arrived 1/15/20
Culloden 1746 - arrived 1/15/20
The Falklands 1982 - arrived 1/15/20
Peleliu 1944 - arrived 1/15/20
Cannae 216 BC - arrived 1/15/20
Saratoga 1777 - arrived 1/15/20
Kursk 1943 - arrived 1/15/20
The Rhineland 1945 - arrived 1/15/20
Alexander 334-323 BC - arrived 1/15/20
Arnhem 1944 - arrived 1/15/20
Iwo Jima 1945 - arrived 1/15/20
Midway 1942 - arrived 1/18/20
Tobruk 1941 - arrived 1/18/20
The Armada Campaign 1588 - arrived 1/18/20
Air Campaign:
Six-Day War 1967
Japan 1944-45
Battle of Britain 1940
Arab-Israeli Air Wars 1947-82 - arrived 1/15/20
Raid:
Israel's Lightening Strike: The Raid on Entebbe 1976
Combat Aircraft:
Mid-East Aces - The Israeli Air Force Today - arrived 1/11/20
USAF Strike Aircraft - arrived 1/11/20
Electronic Wizards - Crows, Zappers and Weasels - arrived 1/11/20
AH-64 Apache - arrived 1/11/20
Harrier - The V/STOL Warrior - arrived 1/15/20
Seventh Fleet Super Carriers - arrived 1/15/20
Light Strike - Harrier IIs, Hornets and Corsair IIs - arrived 1/15/20
Tornado Pilot - arrived 1/18/20
Modern Soviet Fighters - arrived 1/18/20
F-15 Eagle - arrived 1/18/20
B-52 Stratofortress - arrived 1/18/20
B1B Bomber - arrived 1/18/20
Mig-21 Units of the Vietnam War - arrived 1/21/20
US Navy F-4 Phantom II Mig Killers 1965-70 - arrived 1/21/20
US Navy F-4 Phantom II Mig Killers 1972-73 - arrived 1/21/20
Air War in the Gulf 1991 - arrived 1/21/20
Air War in the Falklands 1982 - arrived 1/21/20
Lancaster Squadrons 1942-43 - arrived 1/21/20
Lancaster Sqaudrons 1944-45 - arrived 1/21/20
B-25 Mitchell Units of the MTO - arrived 1/21/20
B-29 Superfortress Units of World War 2 - arrived 1/21/20
PV Venture/Harpoon Units of World War 2 - arrived 1/21/20
B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Eighth Air Force (Part 2) - arrived 1/21/20
Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat - arrived 1/21/20
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 09, 2020, 02:48:09 PM
I guess a lot of them are hit or miss, depending on author?
I definitely like these series for the maps, tactics, photos and tables. I find they make great supplements for gaming, particularly when I am working on an AAR.
I think some depends on the author and more depends on one's expectations.
Because the books are generally short, I want a lot of detailed technical data and analysis, not general overviews that I can get from a 100 other books on a subject.
Man, that's a nice collection. \m/
Jeepers!
Very nice JH. I have several Osprey books on military aircraft from various era's. Several are good, others are very light on technical info.
But as other have stated I also seem to be married to the same wife. She has demanded a stop on hardcopy stuff that -in her opinion- only clutters up the bookshelf and never gets read.
She also veto'd a ban on acquiring any more wargames.
I'll have to lay low for a while.
I bought these ones new:
P-38 Lightning vs Ki-61 tony
SBD Dauntless units of WWII
Ki-61 and Ki-100 Aces
Mosquito Aces of WWII
Mosquito Fighter/Fighter-Bomber Units of WWII
Mosquito Bomber/Fighter Bomber Units 1942-45
Halifax Squadrons of WWII
Lancaster Squadrons 1942-43
Lancaster Squadrons 1944-45
Avro Lancaster
Bf110 vs Lancaster
Operation Crossbox 1944
Hitlerjugend Soldier vs Canadian Solder Normandy 1944
Canadian Forces in WWII
Cromwell vs Jagdpanzer IV
USN Carriers vs IJN Carriers
Rabaul 1943-44
Battle of Berlin 1943-44
I've got about 50-60 more that I bought used as a single collection. They're stuffed in a Rubbermaid and buried under a pile of other crap right now.
I also got a bunch of Napoleonic Osprey titles that are between 20-30 years old, some older, from LB years ago.
Check list above for new arrivals on 1/11/20. Still have 5 or 6 shipments on the way. lol
New arrivals today on 1/15/20. Check list for the updated titles. Still have more on the way!
Just bought this.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1472828402/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've enjoyed the 2 (3?) Osprey books I've read. The problem is that my "to-do" list of books (including quite a few that are currently sitting in stacks in my living room -- to say nothing of the ones I'd love to rent from the library) is almost as long as my 'to-do" list of games. :-[
New arrivals added to the list from today, 1/18/20. Mostly from the Campaign Series and the Combat Aircraft series. Still have about 50 or 60 titles on the way. lol.
I may have gone overboard.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 18, 2020, 12:52:32 PM
I may have gone overboard.
Isn't that your SOP for most things? :P
:bd:
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 09, 2020, 11:11:14 AM
I always liked the Osprey series of books, but never went out of my way to acquire them. Over the last few years, I've been picking more and more of them up from local used book store, where they frequently show up at a steep discount.
Recently, I've had a compulsion to fill in some gaps in the Campaign, Air Campaign, Combat Aircraft, Elite and Men at Arms series. I went crazy on some online thrift stores and recently bought like 3 or 4 dozen of them. Still have a long way to go.
Once they arrive, I'll post a complete list of my collection.
Anybody else into these?
By rough count of my bookshelf, I have 135 titles, including the Campaign series. Some of the older titles are a bit suspect now, but I think the really bad ones have been rewritten and reissued as second editions. I find many of the titles to be quite good, but of course they are all just primers.
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on January 09, 2020, 02:41:47 PM
The worst is Canadian Forces in WWII. Very light on detail overall and it was mainly focused on generalities such as uniform colours of the various branches as the war progressed with almost nothing on TO&E, deployments, OOBs, unit histories, etc.
None of the Men at Arms titles are intended to be super heavy on detail. Having said that, the best of the bunch I have is the German Army (volumes 1 to 5) which does manage to wedge in an inventory of divisions on the various fronts, rank insignia, breakdown of the chain of command, some brief sketches of the different division and unit types, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/German-Army-1939-45-Blitzkrieg-Men-at-Arms/dp/1855326396/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=osprey+german+army&qid=1579453282&s=books&sr=1-1
The worst titles are probably German Infantryman (volumes 1 to 3) which is really just fluff, illustrated by, I suspect, captionless photos someone found on ebay.
https://www.amazon.com/German-Infantryman-Eastern-1943-45-Warrior/dp/1841767808
^ Wow, that is a fantastic library collection Michael!
New arrivals today on 1/21/20. Mostly from the Combat Aircraft, Men-at-arms and Elite series. Check list for the updated titles.
^Thanks to you I have added a bunch to my Amazon cart on WWI Russian armor, 19th century Chinese armies and a bunch of other obscure topics.
New arrivals today, 1/23/20. All from the Elite series. Check list on page 1 for updated list.
I have about 200 of them. Maybe more. They are great little read although a lot of people point out that their is a tonne of mistakes in some. I especially like the battle order series.
Just hit the mother load and added these to my collection...
Fortress:
Japanese Castles 1540 - 1640
Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710 - 1602
Roman Legionary Fortresses 27 BC - AD 378
German Defenses in Italy in World War II
New Vanguard:
Greek and Roman Artillery 299 BC - AD 363
Napoleonic Naval Armaments 1792 - 1815
Panther Medium Tank 1942 - 45
Bell UH-1 Huey "Slicks" 1962 - 75
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
Duel:
Panther vs T-34 Ukraine 1943
Elite:
The Samurai
Samurai Heraldry
World War II Infantry Tactics Squad and Platoon
Samurai Commanders (1) 940 - 1576
Samurai Commanders (2) 1577 - 1638
Siege Warfare in the Roman World 146 BC - AD 378
Finland at War 1939 - 45
Roman Battle Tactics 109 BC - AD 313
French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1892 - 1815
Hatamoto Samurai Horse and Foot Guards 1540 - 1724
Men-at-Arms:
Samurai Armies 1550 - 1615
Armies of the Carthaginian Wars 265 - 146 BC
Rome's Enemies (1) Germanics and Dacians
Rome's Enemies (2) Gallic & British Celts
The Herman Goring Division
Roman Military Clothing (2) AD 200- 400
Campaign:
Sekigahara 1600
Nagashino 1575
Kawanakajima 1553 - 64
Anzio 1944
Osaka 1615
Pharsalus 48 BC
The Samurai Invasion of Korea 1592 - 98
Philippi 42 BC
Warrior:
Samurai 1550 - 1600
Ashigaru 1467 - 1649
Celtic Warrior 300 BC - AD 100
Gladiators 100 BC - AD 200
Ninja AD 1460 - 1650
Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949 - 1603
Roman Legionary 58 BC - AD 69Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman AD 14 - 193
Pirate of the Far East 811 - 1639
Samurai Women 1184 - 1877
Battle Orders:
Samurai Armies 1467 - 1649
Osprey Aviation Elite:
Lentolaivue 24
All this for $175 and they are all practically in mint condition. The seller even threw in a few extras!
Hold up...you bought those all today??
Quote from: Gusington on May 06, 2020, 07:32:56 PM
Hold up...you bought those all today??
No. Bought them about a week ago. They were delivered today.
DAYUM
I imagine the box they came in was like that crate holding the Ark of the Covenant at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie.
^Maybe...but probably not enough holy fury held within :2funny:
You mean the Ark's crate doesn't have enough holy fury compared to JH's literature collection, right? 8)
^YES!