Gary Smailes

Field of Glory

Yesterday I acquired a copy of Osprey's new wargame rules - Field of Glory. I read them late last night and early this morning and wanted to give my thoughts as a writer and historian.

I think I need to start by declaring I am not a gamer. Well this is not true, I have dabbled in the past but over the past years have not been involved in the hobby. This means I looked at the rules from two angles. The first was a writer, considering that this is a new product that the most important military history publisher in the UK and US is selling. The second is as a military historian interested in just how the subject is developing.

OK - to the book. Here's my thought based on the rules without actually playing a game (I would love to play but without an army it seems a bit hard).

• Field of Glory is for ancient and Medieval wargaming. Stating the obvious maybe, but its interesting to see that Osprey have had the confidence to NOT publish a set of rules for teh big two (American Civil War or World War Two).
• Though Osprey have gone out of their way to lead the novice by the hand into the book (and hobby)- these are not basic rules. My first thought was that they were a replacement for the popular DBA, not this is not the case. These a set of hardcore rules that could easily become the gamers standard.
• The pictures and illustrations are simply amazing! Osprey is known for it's illustrations and Field of Glory offer a collection of some of the best pictures from their books. It looks as though they have commissioned a set of fine photographs, but for me the pictures were the highlight. If you are a fan of illustrators like Angus McBride (and who isn't?), you will love seeing their work in a different context.
• I also got hold of a copy of the army lists for Rise of Rome. Now, you don't need army lists to play the game. Four sets are included in the main book, but a bit of research would allow any gamer worth their salt to set up an army. This said the army lists are great. In the Roman book they covered every army during the period you could possibly imagine. In addition, there is historical context, maps and even more pictures!

Review aside here's some random thoughts:

1. Who thought that in these glories days of the Internet that a good old fashioned set of wargame rules could be printed in such quality and be sold for profit - all credit to Osprey.

2. Does Osprey's move into wargame rules mean that the hobby is set for a shift towards the mainstream? Games Workshop has been slowly geekyafing mass wargame rules over the past years and I now wonder if it's time for a change.

So over all I was really impressed. The main rules make a really nice book that will give pleasure to anyone interested in history, if only to see the pictures. Yet, I think the most important thing about Field of Glory is that Osprey, a major publisher, is prepared to put time and effort into a hobby that is at best, niche. I just hope that their enthusiasm and drive will bring more people to wargaming and ultimately military history.

So all that's missing now is an invite from Osprey for a group of us history bloggers to come and fight out are differences!

Oh yeah, came across this YouTube video of the creators of the rules in action - enjoy!

UPDATE

Received this link of a company providing 6mm wargame figures for the Field of Glory.

Technorati Tags: Wargame, Field of Glory, Military History Carnival, Osprey publishing

Digital Penguins and history e-books

Penguin this week announced that they would be making certain of their titles available in e-book form. You can read more here.

Basically Penguin are simultaneously releasing a couple of novels in traditional print format (you know bookshops and stuff) and also as e-books. They also have plans to make their back catalogue available for download.

However, I think Penguin have missed a trick here. They plan to sell the e-books and print books at the same price. Not only is this wrong because the reader will be reluctant to pay the same for an e-book as a 'normal' book, knowing their is no print cost. But Penguin could sell the e-book at a lower price and still make more profit and here's how.

I talked here about the idea of history publishers using e-books.

For me the perfect publisher would offer a combination of approaches:

1. Traditional books: 'Real' books sold either via bookshops, amazon or the publisher's website.

2. E-book versions: These are digital versions of the 'Traditional' book made available for download at a reduced cost.

The success of this approach hinges on cost.

I spoke to a good friend who runs an excellent small print publisher, producing high quality books for a limited market. It's not Penguin but it was as close as I could get! He suggested a print cost of about £1 for a 160 page book with B&W photographs. However, this price was based on a 3000 book print run and therefore needs an initial outlay of £3000. As for pre-production costs he was less able to give an exact figure suggesting each book is very different. However, having worked as an editor I know a price of £1000 per a novel sized book is not to far from the mark. Add to this design costs, copy editing and other smaller jobs and you are soon at a figure of £2000. 

OK. This means for a 3000 book print run we could be looking at a total cost of £5000 pound. So about £1.65 per book.

Now, the price we sell to the shop will be about 60% of the cover price. So for a £7 book we will be selling for about £4 - giving us a figure of £12000 turnover per print run, but a profit of £7000. However, for a small press it could take up to three years to clear this stock.

So what if you were to produce an e-book version of this book? Well, the picture looks quite rosy. The chances are you have sent the file to the printers in a pdf format, so transforming this to download product is fairly easy. You may need to employ a web designer but this is a fixed cost and will be ignored for his argument.

The calculation comes down to download figures. The e-book would need to be cheaper but your costs would be based on the number of downloads. Let's say you sell a quarter of the books online that you do through traditional outlets. This would give you a sale of 250 books. Now the cost of these book is zero, since the hard copy version is paying for the pre-production, this means these sales are pure profit. So, if you sold them at half price - £3.50, it would produce an additional profit of £875. Not bad!

I think the main argument against his approach is that the 250 e-book sales would impact on the traditional books sales. Maybe. No one really knows for sure. The current thinking is that a person who downloads a book is probably a different person from that who would buy it in the shop. However, the profit on the sale of traditional book is £2.35, the profit on an e-book is £3.50!

So in my view Penguins approach is slightly wrong.

E-book versions of novels great!

E-books of back catalogue great!

Full price to download - boo! 

Why visit a publisher's website?

Here’s an interesting question:

“Who published the Harry Potter series?”

Try asking five of your friends, I am betting you will be surprised by how many have no idea.

The point is that the average reader not only has no interest in who publishes a book, but more importantly has very little reason to visit the publisher’s website.

The challenge that history publishers face is to not only produce reasons for a customer to visit their site, but to also develop a brand that extends beyond their products.

So let’s take the example of a military history enthusiast who is interested in finding out more about the Battle of Hastings. A publishes website will not be his first port of call. This might be their first, followed by this but not a publisher’s website. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The key is not to see a person who buys a book about the Battle of Hastings as a one off customer but as a member of a community. They may be interested in the battle but they are also interested in what other enthusiasts are saying. They are interested in military history in general. They are probably interested in reading what authors have to say beyond their books. They will want to contribute to online forums. They will be willing to share their own research, post photographs of last summer’s battlefield tour and offer tips on the best books about, well just about anything.

So a publisher should be offering a platform for all this to happen. A place where enthusiasts can come every day, and you never know in the process they might buy a few more books.

Going Digital

My wife recently made available a novella she had written to support her first novel as a free download. The idea was to drum up support for In Search of Adam and raise some money for charity - which it did.

The idea of giving away free e-book versions of in-print books is not a new thing and a number of big publishers have recently been experimenting. The question is does a free e-book impact on the sales of the real book? Consensus is swinging in the direction that is doesn’t and that people will download the free e-book as a taster, but them go and buy the real book to read on the train/in bed etc.

So what about history books?

I think that e-books have a big future in the military history market.Niche market publishers (Osprey, Pen & Sword) have to be aware that any book they print will have very limited sales. This does two things. The first is to increase the cost of the book, the second is to limit the range. This also means that books can't be heavily discounted and made available for 3 for 2 etc but that is another blog post!

But this is old thinking - there is a third way. If a publisher was to embrace the e-technology and publish in just e-book format they would be able to produce books at a fraction of the cost. So for a niche military history book a publisher would only have to meet low pre-production costs (editing etc) to get the book ready for sale. However, since they would never have to pay for printing (which is expensive) they could quickly produce a large catalogue of internet only books at relatively little cost. The key is that those wanting to read a specialist book will be so grateful that the material in available they will forgive the publishing for the lack of physical book and pay for the download. 

Primary sources for the Battle of Hastings 1066 - William of Poitiers

William of Poitiers

The events of the Battle of Hastings have been constructed from a series of primary sources, each of which possess distinct strengths and weaknesses. This series of posts looks at the five most important primary sources and attempts to tease out the 'facts' of the battle.

William of Poitiers' account of the Norman invasion of England, 'The Deeds of William, duke of the Normans and the King of the English', is one of the most important primary sources for the Battle of Hastings. William of Poitiers was a Norman who served under Duke William as a warrior, chaplain and priest. Though he was a military man he wasn't involved in the actual invasion of 1066. He did however, have access to soldiers and leaders who had fought at the battle.

His account was written in 1071.

Here are it's strengths and weaknesses:

1. It was written within living memory of the battle and was almost certainly based on first hand accounts.
2. It is free from the influence other texts written about the battle, something that no other primary source can claim.
3. It is not unbiased and was written by a keen admirer of Duke William.
4. It draws on classical writing which William of Poitiers uses as a framework for his work and a comparison for Duke William's deeds.

You can read the full account here.

If you wish to read an account of the battle go here or here.

Below is a list of the keys events and important points as detailed by William of Poitier.

• William advanced to battle under the flag of the pope.
• The Normans deployed as follows:
• Infantry armed with bows and crossbows in the vanguard (front).
• These were followed by infantry 'more steady and armed with hauberks' (suggesting the missiles troops were not wearing armour).
• In the rear were cavalry, amongst which William rode.
• In relation to Harold's army William of Poitiers makes two key points. The first is that it was large, even compared to ancient standards. The second was that 'help had been sent from the land of the Danes.' However, William of Poitiers states that the Danes feared Duke William more than the King of Norway and they 'camped on higher ground. The assumption being that they played no part in the battle.
• William of Poitiers introduces the battle as Duke William's army 'began slowly to climb the steep slope.' There has been a suggestion that the battle may have extended beyond the slope and into the surrounding countryside. This is best explained in this book. However, William of Poitiers gives us no hint that the battle may have raged beyond the slope.
• The battle opens with a Norman missile volley, which William of Poitiers describes as 'provoking the English.' This suggests that the attack may not have intended to disrupt the English shield wall but instead lure them into an attack and off the hill.
• The next phase of the battle is traditionally thought to be an infantry attack, though William of Poitiers makes no reference to this event. Instead he details a cavalry attack explaining that 'disdaining to fight from a distance, they rode into battle using their swords.' To me a clear indication that no infantry melee took place.
• William of Poitiers goes on to detail the fight on the hill. He states that the English were helped by:
• higher ground.
• 'they did not have to march to the attack',
• 'their weapons penetrated without difficulty shields and other pieces of armour'. This statement leaves us with a problem since it is generally thought that both armies were similarly equipped. It may be that William is referring to the large axes of the housecarls, though this is speculation.
• William then tells us that the ferocity of the English resistance drove 'the infantry and Breton mounted warriors' into retreat. He then expands saying 'with all the auxiliary troops who formed the left wing.' What does he mean by auxiliary troops? Is this a reference to the Roman system or does he mean a collection of lesser (non-Norman) troops?
• The author goes on to mention that 'almost the whole of the duke's army yielded.' Stating that they believed the Duke had been killed. Though William of Poitiers is quick to point out that this is nor cowardly rout but instead a 'sorrowful withdrawal.'
• William then describes the Duke's removal of his helmet and inspiring speech.
• The Normans attack once again, though William gives us no insight into the tactics employed. He does, however, explain that the English extraordinary formation meant that those killed hardly had room to fall.' Does the word extraordinary suggest the formation was something unusual? The Normans would have been familiar with the Saxon shield wall, so it may have been something more that than a traditional shield wall that was deployed on the hill top.
• William now introduces the famed faint retreat. His words suggest the tactic was planned, explaining that 'the Normans and their allies turned their backs, pretending to take flight.' This not only suggests the plan was preordained but that it involved the whole force, not just a section of cavalry as has been suggested in modern literature.
• The next section is confusing and is presented here in full. It occurs in the moment after the faint retreat:
• 'As before, several thousand [English] were bold enough to rush forward, as if on wings, to pursue those who they took to be fleeing, when the Normans suddenly turned thier horse's heads, stopped them in their tracks, crushed them completely and massacred them down to the last man.'
• In the opening part of this paragraph William suggest that the whole army retreats. However, by the end he has isolated it to 'Normans' and cavalry.
• William goes on to say 'having twice used this trick with the same success' the army attacked as a whole. Does this mean twice more or twice in total. Two or three faint attacks? He also states that the English army was 'very difficult to surround,' but gives no clue as to why. Size, terrain or something else?
• William of Poitiers then goes on to detail an attack by archers. However, he makes no mention of the famous (mythical?) arrow in the eye incident.
• William's next paragraph seems to be a direct nod of gratitude to William. It explains just how great the leader was (in his eyes), makes classical comparisons and explains how William had three horses killed from under him.
• The battle narrative is drawn to a close by a frustrating paragraph. William of Poitiers says that the English realised that they could no longer resist the Normans, stating that the 'King himself, his brothers, and the leading men of the kingdom had been killed.' And that's it! No details of the Kings death, no arrow in the eye, nothing!
• Well almost nothing. After describing the fleeing troops William talks of some Saxon warriors making a last stand in 'a deep valley' with 'numerous ditches.' Duke William is keen to fight these men though Eustace suggest caution, Duke William ignores him and wins the day. Is this event more a literary vehicle to discredit Eustace then historical fact?

William of Poitiers account contains the bones on which all other accounts are built. However, the most elusive element is the death of Harold. Some historians have suggested William of Poitiers simply didn't know the details, others have suggested that the manner of Harold's death was an embarrassment to Duke William and therefore left from the narrative. Either way, there is no evidence for the whole arrow-in-the-eye debate.

 

Technorati Tags: Battle of Hastings, Military History, History

ibiblio

I am currently up to my eyes researching for Terry Deary's latest Horrible History book. The focus is spies during WW2. I am lucky this time around in that we have some extra help from experts on operations in France. This leaves me just every other country involved in the war!

When researching I am always looking for free and accurate resources. You never know what a project is going to throw up and though I am always on the look out for cheap, second hand books, you can't cover all bases.The library is obviously a great place, but if I can get the information through a digital resource then it saves time and money.

One site that is sometimes of great help is ibiblio. They have a huge collection of free ebooks, but mostly importantly they have loads of history stuff. So enjoy.

Oh yeah, when you get bored check out Project Gutenberg.

 

Technorati Tags: Military history, research, free books, terry deary, horrible history

Have Osprey publishing missed the point?

A post recently appeared on the Osprey publisher's blog called 'When did Military history go out of fashion?' I was pretty shocked to read this post and for me it suggested that Osprey have seriously missed the point. Why? Well let's start at the beginning.

Osprey is a well respected publisher of military history books. Over the years they have built up a well deserved reputation for producing accurate and readable publications. Well so what, you might ask. Though their sales figures, and current catalogue, are of great issue to themselves, they should also be of concern to every military historian.

This is the reason why. 

Osprey books are fundamentally important in military history in the UK. This is because of two very important facts. The first is that Osprey have managed to successfully place their books in prominent displays in all major book chains. As a published writer I can tell you that this is no mean feat. The second reason is that their books are accessible and readable. This means that for many people venturing into a bookshop, to make their first serious military history purchase, Osprey is a natural starting point.

Now, back to the post. I was shocked to see that such an important cog in the military history wheel, felt that military history was 'out of fashion'. Surely, if a company whose very soul is military history, feels they are supplying an outdated and old fashioned market, what chance does the subject stand!

Earlier this week Richard at Osprey posted a reply to his previous comments. In this post, he goes on to register his surprise at finding a lively military history blogging community!?! What! He didn't already know it existed?

I think that Osprey's lack of knowledge of the Internet's role in the development of military history is a worry. The publishing industry has been revolutionised by the Internet. You can now find established, mainstream publishers, such as The Friday Project and Snowbooks, who actively use the Internet to scout for new talent.

If I were in charge of Osprey books I would be making it a daily duty for every member of the team to trawl the blogs; reading, commenting and posting were possible. 

I would do this for three reasons:

1. The blog community is a mirror of current interest and trends. It takes only a few minutes worth of surfing to see which topics are currently gathering the most word space. By using blogs, a publisher could get a far more accurate picture of the kind of books they should be considering for publication.
2. The blogs are a good place to gather feedback. If Osprey bloggers were to develop a legitimate relationship with the community, then they could easily gather valuable feedback on their publications. For example, as a historian with a keen interest in the Victoria Cross, I would gladly point to the gaping hole that exits in their current catalogue, that could be filled with a small series about the VC, its role in society and the stories behind those who have been awarded the medal.
3. New Talent. Not all military historians are lecturers. In fact, I think I would argue that some of the best military historian writers aren't lectures. Take Gavin Robinson and his work on the English Civil War cavalry. If I were Osprey, a young and exciting historian such as Gavin would be the kind of person I would be approaching to write books.

Anyway, perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps the blog is a passing fad. Either way publishers like Osprey have nothing to loose by engaging more actively with the military history online community.

 

Osprey Publishing

 

 

Technorati Tags: Military history, History books, blogging