A recent purchase from Mark T. in New Jersey found me with eight new volumes to add to the Ducal Library. Mark has a variety of interests, including the early colonial period of North America, which is one of my prime periods. I've bought several books from him before and I have never been disappointed.
I brought two of these books back with me to provide much needed "mental floss" on my course.
The first of these, New Worlds, Old Wars, is a survey history of conflict between colonists and First Nations from first contact with Powhatan in 1607 to the Abenaki War in Maine, which occurred in 1675-1678, and was an adjunct to King Philip's War.
The author, David Childs, is a former RN Officer and academic and his style is clear, concise, and, shall we say, very direct with regard to the colonists' attitude towards Amerindians. It was refreshing for me to see an author not shy away from the motives and prejudices of the English settlers. Childs also shows how an imperfect understanding of each other by both sides exacerbated conflict, despite the efforts of some individuals on both sides to reduce tensions.
I would highly recommend this book for a wargamer or a person who has an interest in the First Contact period and early colonial history. Especially if your rules offer the potential to semi-role play a leader or Hero type figure, that would add a lot of flavour to a game, this is a good resource to help flesh out a game of, say, Songs of Drums and Tomahawks.
The second book, Connecticut Unscathed, by Jason Warren, is a really fantastic volume which looks at a slice of the King Philip's War story, specifically focused on the colony of Connecticut. And yet it brings out a much bigger subject. Perhaps we look to narrowly at KPW and it should, instead, be called The Great Narraganset War.
Warren's writing style is dynamic and his research is extensive. He makes one think and I really love that. Warren delves into tactics and The How and The Why. Basically, the reason Connecticut did not suffer nearly as bad as the other three New England colonies was because of better intelligence, better relations and use of First Nations allies, and a more flexible and dynamic mission command system.
Another book I would highly recommend.
Now, to get back to painting the Abenaki, the Wampanoag, and the Generic First Nations figures on my painting table...
Sounds like a worthwhile enterprise. There are few of us in Britain that see the Six Nations as anything else but a great rugby tournament.
ReplyDeleteFor two player games of small actions between two peoples, can I recommend the "Tribal" rules, though the 2nd edition does include ideas for solo play. These rules do encourage a non-European approach to combat through its honour system.
I look forward to reading and seeing more of your progress.
Stephen