Wednesday, May 29, 2013

1356

Brutal. Really brutal. What can you say about warfare in 1356 except brutal. I was over the moon to just happen to see this in a bookshop in Brisbane airport in April. It was a complete surprise. I didn't purchase it straight away but instead got it through itunes to read on the ipad a little later. Doing it that way it was cheaper than the brand new tree version.
If you have read the previous adventures of Thomas Hookton the English archer then you could be as happy as a pig in shit (as I was) to find out this book sees him have more bloody adventures in France. The story moves along at a cracking pace and even if you have not read the previous adventure of Thomas this is a good stand alone novel. It has all the action and tension that we, as gamers, imagine in our table top battles but with bone crunching, blood splattering, eye gouging descriptions. It is great background material for wargamers and goes beyond the sometimes dry history that we read to get you the reader right in the front lines so you can just about smell the scenes of carnage. I am no history expert but this is a fantastic way to learn about the past. The various fight scenes could be transported onto a table top range from small skirmish confrontations, tournament fighting, to the big finale battle at Poitiers. 1356 could make for an excellent campaign of escalation or a series of linked battles. I give this book 10 out of 10 Great Warbows...or 10 out of 10 maces to crush plate armour helmets.

Cheers from Brendon (The Kiwi)

3 comments:

  1. cheers for the heads up I might have to look at this one for my Summer reading

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cornwell is a very good writer. I've read the first volume about Hookton, anf got hooked;)
    Definitely on my reading list

    ReplyDelete