In 9AD Publius Quinctilius Varus was the Roman governor appointed to hold sway over the tribes of Germania. This greedy individual had been busy levying excessive taxes in order to increase his personal wealth, and soon the fires of unrest were burning. Arminius Enter Arminius, a German of noble birth, Prince of the Cherusci no…
The Late Bronze Age is the age of chariot warfare and of the great warrior pharaohs. When film and TV conjure images of ancient Egypt they inevitably draw upon the world of the late Bronze Age to do so. It is also the age of the Mycenean civilisation of Greece and the mighty cyclopean ruins…
Napoleon was born on the 15th of August 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica. His military career started early as he was sent to France and enrolled in the military academy at Brienne-le-Château at the age of nine. In 1784, at the ripe old age of fifteen, he began his training as an artillery officer at the École Militaire in Paris. He graduated a…
Following the collapse of the Akkadian Empire about 2100BC there was a period of disorder during which the country was ruled or at least dominated by the Gutians. No-one knows exactly who the Gutians of this period were (the same name was later used to described other peoples who lived in the Zagros Mountains much…
Ancients wargaming expert Nigel Stillman provides a detailed account of Early Bronze age warfare. Part 4 completes Nigel’s article with a look at how battles were actually fought. HOW TO FIGHT A BATTLE WITH THE SUMERIAN OR AKKADIAN ARMY Survey the Battlefield First the commander and his generals would survey the battlefield. It would be…
The 33rd Waffen-SS Charlemagne (1st French) were French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and latterly the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. From estimates of 7,400 to 11,000 at its peak in 1944, the strength of the division fell to just sixty men in May 1945. They were one of the last German units to see action in a pitched battle during the war, where they held…
The land of Elam, or Elamais to the Greeks, lay in the highlands to the immediate east of Sumeria and the adjoining region along the coast of the Persian Gulf. To its natives it was Haltamti, to the Assyrians Elamtu, and it appears as the place name of Elam in the bible. To its north…
Ancients wargaming expert Nigel Stillman provides a detailed account of Early Bronze age warfare. Part 3 examines the different troop types available to armies of the age. If you’ve not already done so, check out part one and part two first. The Tactical Elements of an Army Each powerful city-state, as well as the Akkadian…
By 1945 the German Army was a beaten force. It could not surrender, damned by Hitler’s orders to fight to the last man and the Allies’ demand for an unconditional surrender that the Nazi Party could not accept. The war ground on as the Russian armies approached from the east, targeting Berlin itself, and the western Allies fought through the…
Born in Dublin in 1769, this remarkable man had a very unexceptional life prior to joining the British Army in 1787 as an ensign in the 73rd Highlanders. Family influence and money eased his way through the ranks, as he took advantage of the Purchase system to buy one promotion after another. By the time the…
Graham Davey