<t> Its been a long time since I even thought about Close Combat games and then I see a new one is out. I remember ClubSSI, Ryans forum, CSO and all the old mods from the 1940 mod for cc2 onwards (Crete being a favourite)! I see there's a few old names about here. Hi to everyone - do you all ...

Its like a terrible school reunion seeing all your chaps again[:D]

<t> Yes The Trench is the one with the lad from Eastenders. I thought it was a reasonable effort. Not brilliant. Strangley my wife really liked it - she said she had never really thought about how young the boys were or what happened to them in battles like The Somme. My list wasn't in any order by ...

<t> The Trench (2000) Director William Boyd<br/>
For King and Country (1950s) starring Dirk Bogarde<br/>
Regeneration (1998?) based on Pat Baker novels<br/>
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930s version)<br/>
Paths of Glory (1956?) Kirk Douglas<br/>
Gallipoli - Mel Gibson<br/>
Light Horsemen ...

Myself and a few friends made a WW1 mod for Close Combat 2 and 3 which maybe of interest to you. The Dugout

The superb prose poem was dramatised on the radio yesterday. You can still hear it on the bbc web site - go to bbc.co.uk and search for David Jones. Well worth a listen.

<t> Ian Hamilton. Very inept indeed - however he did have the whole ill planned fiasco forced on him. Plumer gets my vote for Messines. Allenby ( a cavalry man by profession) did superbly in the Middle East but was less successful on the Western Front. In facti think he was sacked and moved to the ...

<t> Neil (Naill?) Fergusons book The Pity of War sets out the economic struggle during the war. Its a while since I read it and its not the most exciting book but his argument is that it was impossible for Germany to win the war against the economic might of the British Empire. Worth a read if you ...

<t> A couple of others that you have probably read but if not well worth reading -<br/>
Some desperate Glory - Edwin Campion Vaughan (superb! covers Third Ypres)<br/>
A Subaltern on The Somme - Mark IV (real name Max Plowman I believe)<br/>
Ghosts have Warm Hands - William Bird (Canadian Black ...

I have the Trench Maps and Official History Maps of France and Belgium. They are superb and worth every penny (just don't tell my missus how much they cost [;)])

<r> Wodin - looks like you are a WW1 memoir nut like myself. Some great books there. I have just finished reading Tommy. A brilliant read.<br/>
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Here's some others to try:-<br/>
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Storm of Steel (and Copse 125) Ernst Junger<br/>
Patriots Progress - Henry Williamson (author of Tarka the ...

<t> Another problem was the complete loss of the element of surprise for the landings. Before the Navy tried to force the straits landing parties had landed and walked around virtually unmolested. The High Command in WW1 did tend (I believe) to completely forget the element of surprise - when they ...

<r> I mentioned it in another thread but try Nial Fergusons The Pity of War. It goes into great depth regarding casaulties, reasons men fought, why the Schlieffen plan failed and why he believes Germany could never win the war because of pure economics. (If I remember correctly!). I seem to recall ...

<t> There's a book by Nial Ferguson called The Pity of War which I believe deals with a lot of this. It also studies why men continued to fight in such appalling conditions. I can't actually rememebr the conclusions re the casualties - I'll have to go back and check. However I imagine that it was ...

Have you seen this website? Its by the developer. http://www.adanaccommandstudies.com/IntroTrench.html

The British army did have labour battalions http://www.1914-1918.net/labour.htm but the poor bloody infantry were used for a lot of things - labour, repairing trenches and carrying supplies up to the front.

<t> I think the name implies it covers just the early stages too. The Great War 1914 -1918 would have been my choice. Or even something like Paths of Glory. Anyway its only a name. <br/>
As for casualties I can't remember the figures off the top of head but the 5000 quoted sounds about right - it ...

<t> Also if we are talking about single battles I would say Battle of Amiens 8th August 1918 (Black day for the German Army), First and Second Marne, Messines to start with. You could also argue Le Cateau, Battle of Arras, initial stages of Cambrai.<br/>
I'm sure there are others. Those were just ...

Yes in Samoa by the Aussies. [;)]