The History Network

In 1187 Saladin at the head of a huge army crossed the river Jordan. Laying siege to the fortress at Tiberias, inside was the wife of Raymond of Tripoli. Until recently Raymond had been at odds with the new Crusader King Guy of Lusignan. The Crusader army numbered an impressive 20,000, though this was not as large as Saladin's. What it lacked in quantity it made up for however, in quality with hea...

"Once people began to live in settled villages, they started to identify themselves not just based on their language and culture, but also on where they lived. Farmers became, to a lesser or larger extent, tied to the soil. As villages grew into cities and cities became the centres of larger city-states, kingdoms, and even empires, it became ever more important to define territories in a visible w...

The 12th Armoured Division set off from New York for the European theatre of war on September 20th 1944. They would spend November and December surging across northern France encountering the enemy in Alsace and at the Maginot Line, liberating parts of France as they went. They were one of only two US Armoured Divisions to have african american combat companies integrated into the division. They a...

On the 3rd of December 1940 the German Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran slipped out of Gotenhafen. She was the largest of the new wave of Merchant Raiders, which had proved so successful in the first world war. Captained by Theodor Detmers, at just 38 he was the youngest of the Auxiliary cruiser captains. In his own opinion too young. Officially he didn't even hold high enough rank to captain such a shi...

In the latest podcast we focus on terrain, or more specifically terrain boards and mats. Which is better? What do people prefer? With expert comment provided by Mel " the terrain tutor ", Eric Lauterbach from the  WWPD Network  and from  Cigar Box Battle Mats  Cory Ring and Chris Ward. As usual Guy, Jasper and Angus are joined by the berserkers from Brixham, Rossco and Paul. Don't forget if you ha...

Around the 12th Century, German regionalism was very strong with the northern lowlands having their own distinct languages of Saxon and Frisian. Efforts by Imperial central government to unify provincial and legal frameworks, while attempting to impose Middle High German as the official language, failed.   The importance of towns within this regionalism, they were the focus and strength of the loc...

Northern Sudan had always been under the control of the Ottoman administered Egypt, though from the early part of the 19th century the now almost autonomous Egypt extended her rule South. Muhammad Ali, the self declared Khedive of Egypt, garrisoned troops throughout the region at outposts such as Khartoum. Soon the busy garrison town was a thriving settlement, the focal point for trade (including...

In this episode we're looking at Volume 10, issue 3: Rome vs Poisonous Pontus: The Mithridatic Wars, 88BC - 63 BC Don't forget if you missed the issue you can pick up your copy from ancient-warfare.com . Better still why not subscribe! That way you'll be fully versed in the subject before you listen to the podcast! I'm joined by stalwarts of the podcast Josho Bouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark MaCaffery a...

Eugene - Who's full french title was Francois- Eugene , prince de Savoie-Carignan was born in Paris in 1663. His Italian mother, Olympia Mancini, was niece to Cardinal Mazarin the Chief Minister of the French King (or in his case Kings as he served both Bourbon monarchs Louis XIII and Louis XIV). His father was the Italian-French nobleman Eugene Maurice, Count of Soissons. Dur: 21mins  File: .mp3...

As night fell on July 4, 1863, the fate of the Confederate States of America had been sealed. General Robert E. Lee's second attempt to invade the Union had been turned back at Gettysburg with heavy and irreplaceable losses. In the west the city of Vicksburg surrendered to Ulysses Grant, severing the Eastern and Western portions of the Confederacy and denying the Confederates use of the Mississipp...

In our second podcast we decided to look at the little men we craft into soldiers and how they are produced.  Angus chats with Leon Pengilly from  Pendraken  who produce 10mm led miniatures and carry possibly one of the most extensive ranges to game almost every period, and Julian Blakeney-Edwards from  Victrix  who produce 28mm hard plastic figures. Regular columnists Rossco and Paul discuss lead...

Throughout history there have been many versions of armoured cavalrymen. In the west we might typically think back to the medieval Knight. Dig down a little deeper and we find that its precursor was the Frankish panzerotti from the 8th 9th and 10th century, however long before this with its Origins in Iran was the cataphract. Dur: 16mins File: .mp3

Three brothers born in the 1830s in the Wisconsin Territory left a remarkable legacy of bravery, loyalty and determination through their service to the Union during the American Civil War. William, Alonzo and Howard Cushing each fought in separate theaters of that war and their combined service represents a remarkable mosaic of the Union soldier's experience. In the words of biographer Jamie Malin...

In this episode we look at Ancient Warfare Magazine Vol X, issue 2 "Wars in Hellenistic Egypt: Kingdom of the Ptolemies ". We have a big group of guests with usuals Josho, Murray, Mark and Lindsay, also joining us is Marc de Santis and Seán Hußmann.

Three brothers born in the 1830s in the Wisconsin Territory left a remarkable legacy of bravery, loyalty and determination through their service to the Union during the American Civil War. William, Alonzo and Howard Cushing each fought in separate theaters of that war and their combined service represents a remarkable mosaic of the Union soldier's experience. In the words of biographer Jamie Malin...

In this episode Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Owen Rees and Roel Konijnendijk. We're looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine Volume X issue 1,  Conflict between Sparta and Athens: The Archidamian War . Don't forget if you want to send in any questions for the team you can find us on Facebook either  The History Network  or  Ancient Warfare Magazine .

In this pilot episode of the podcast Guy Bowers (editor WSS Magazine ), Jasper Oorthuys (managing director at Karwansaray Publishers ) and Angus Wallace (some guy who makes podcasts ) investigate why people play wargames and where does the hobby come from. You can find the podcast on Facebook.com/WSSMagazine .

A long and lively discussion of Ancient Warfare Magazine IX.6 "The Aftermath of Battle" . "When we think about warfare in the ancient world, the first thing that probably pops into mind are images of men, clad in armour, fighting each other. Battle usually draws a lot of attention, and there have been many heated discussions about the nature and mechanics of combat. By comparison, there is often l...

To many of us the the idea of a torpedo is that of a sweaty submarine, the commander peering through his periscope and announcing "fire", and the torpedo whizzes through the water leaving a discernible foamy trail. The single hit is devastating. Whilst this has many elements of truth the Torpedo has a much longer history than the World War Two films we grew up with... Dur: 21mins File: .mp3

The Aleutian Islands Campaign is often referred to as the Forgotten Battle due to history concentrating more on battles like that of Midway and Guadalcanal, yet this important campaign to take back U.S. soil, witnessed the first American amphibious assault in the North Pacific as well as one of the first Japanese banzai attacks of the war, and was fiercely fought by both sides. After the Japanese...

At the Outbreak of English Civil War it was convention that the aristocracy would lead the troops, this was irrespective of ability or experience. As the war went on it became clear to the parliamentarians that a conflict of interest both for power, and the unwillingness to drive home a Royalist defeat, meant that another solution should be sought. The result was the New Model Army, at Naseby it w...

In this episode we'll be looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume 9, issue 5 "At the point of a Sarissa: Warriors of the Hellenistic age" To discuss the topic Angus is joined by Josho Browuers, Murray Dahm and Marc de Santis.

Despite being well-led, trained, and equipped at the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, the British army was unprepared for the guerilla-style tactics their enemy employed, suffering more than 3000 casualties and several defeats in the first two months of the conflict. On December 12th, as the leadership in London was attempting to formulate a plan to counter the Boer threat, 28-year...

By the first decade of the last century, the two great opposing alliance systems in Europe had formed, or been starched into the fine conformity of Milton, "a staunch and solid piece of framework, as any January could freeze together" (if we overlook the pliable Italians). All had their war plans, but none as famous as Schlieffen's. And by 1914, all plans were for the offensive – any previous defe...

"If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles", so said the great Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu. Though all military tacticians since the dawn of time have tried to predic...