Reference books help please

[smudge56]

As in a previous thread I'm part of the mature brigade[8D]. So I love books the majority being ww2 my favourite history subject. For example I have Janes fighting ships of ww2. Now when I bought this as a kid I got it got £10. Now I started to look for similar books to go with this game I found that from amazon my ww2 is worth £60, so my book has gained some value. Anyhow I looked at the upto date janes book and nearly fell out of my bed £800 what the hell.

So my question is what good affordable books could I get. Thanks for your responses.

[SSN754planker]

Ships and aircraft of the us fleet $2.76 used

Combat fleets of the World $10.26 used

That should be a good start for less than 20 dollars!

[smudge56]

Cheers mate thats a good start better than £800.

[smudge56]

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

[jdkbph]

I see you're talking mainly about weapons systems encyclopedias, but you may also be interested in books on naval tactics and strategy...?

In that case you may enjoy reading Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice by Capt Wayne Hughes. It's a bit dated but still relevant to this game as it was published in the 80s, and many of the scenarios that have been or will be created for this game will be set in that period.

He recently updated that work with a new book called Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat. I haven't read this one yet but I intend to very soon.

Both are available on Amazon I think.

JD

Well now.. while confirming availability of the above on Amazon, I just stumbled upon something else that looks quite interesting.

Operational Warfare at Sea: Theory and Practice by Milan Vego.

And it's available for Kindle as well!

I'll have to take a closer look at this. Has anyone read it?

[smudge56]

Cheers mate I appreciate it.

[navwarcol]

Second Jdkbph... Fleet Tactics is a very good source.
As far as this game, despite the fact that it is NOT "Harpoon 4" or whatever... the old Harpoon 2 Strategy guide, still available in some places, is a great tool as well. This game actually has a lot of things that work in the way H2 was dreamed/hoped to work.

[smudge56]

How much is that? I'd buy janes but at £800 you can forget it.

[navwarcol]

If you were asking how much "Fleet Tactics" is... probably less than $15-$20 USD for a copy at Amazon... the H2 Strategy Guide I mentioned, I think I have seen available online as a free download now (since H2 is long ago gone).

[mattpenfold]

I just bought Fleet Tactics for £15 here in the UK (second hand).

You can try Amazon, but sometimes Abe Books (UK) is worth a look, because they can be cheaper for second hand stuff).

[smudge56]

Ok cheers

[SSN754planker]

Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice by Capt Wayne Hughes

I have a pretty good naval library but Captain Hughes book is the centerpiece of my collection. I bought mine used off Amazon and when it arrived, it came complete with a "property of US navy" stamp on the bottom of the book.

[F4Phantom]

Usually, I buy military books used from amazon.com (still cheaper to pay the postage from USA than ordering from amazon.de).

In addition, I keep looking for the books I am interested in on Kindle, because they usually are cheaper in electronic format.

The last ebook I purchased was:

Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History) by Geoffrey Tiller. The price was 28,99 € (versus 41,99 € for the paperback and 121,99 € for the hardcover.)

I have not read it yet, but will let you know, if it's worth the purchase.

P. S. two other ebooks which I recently bought for the Kindle are

"Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War" and "Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea", both written by Robert K. Massie. Price was around 6 € (!) each...

[smudge56]

See im old fashioned and love to hold a good book. Damn being penalised for loving paper.

[mattpenfold]

I've read both the Massie books - they are very good indeed.

[F4Phantom]

I do love hardcover books, too. But at one hand, most of them are a bit pricy (my limit for a book is somewhere around 50€), and on the other hand, I am simply running out of space, since I am collecting retro video games and music cds, too.

[Temple]

For those wanting to do their looking for older reference and other books in actual brick and mortar stores, I recommend Chamblin Book Mine in Jacksonville, Florida. There are two locations, one downtown and one near Naval Air Station Jacksonville. I just visited the NASJ location on Roosevelt Blvd today and grabbed a Combat Fleets of the World, a Jane's Warship Recognition Guide, and a couple of others. There are still several copies of each there, plus a number of other reference books. I haven't been to the downtown location in a while, but it's probably worth checking out as well.

[ruixilyy]

i have recently purchased the 'Harpoon II The Official Strategy Guide' by Dille and Basham, at only 18 GBP including postage. The seller even include a game CD of the Harpoon II: Admiral's Edition (Ultimate Warfare Pack). I have no idea whether the book comes with the game CD but anyway, it is a bargain. I have just read the a section on the senor and another section on the RoE. Very very informative! Recommended to everyone. Still very affordable on Amazon.

[Temple]

ORIGINAL: ruixilyy

i have recently purchased the 'Harpoon II The Official Strategy Guide' by Dille and Basham, at only 18 GBP including postage.

I actually used to have that book but traded it away on a book swap site years ago [:(]. The good news is that I still have the 300 page manual and reference guide that came with the boxed version of the Harpoon II Admirals Edition, which also includes an 80 page Scenario Editor guide.A lot of the gaming instruction information has been superseded, but the basic concepts hold up.

[CaptCarnage]

Well now.. while confirming availability of the above on Amazon, I just stumbled upon something else that looks quite interesting.

Operational Warfare at Sea: Theory and Practice by Milan Vego.

And it's available for Kindle as well!

I'll have to take a closer look at this. Has anyone read it?

I am reading it as we speak - bought it last night on Kobo.
So far so good - I have no comparison with other books but what I am reading about Operational planning is solid and actually useful for CMANO as well
And there is a strong point about Enemy Coarse of Action vs. Enemy Capabilities - which is discussed in another thread on this forum.

Edit: read a bit more and it turns out to be a very detailed manual for the Naval Operational Commander! Commander should do this, should do that, can do this but... He should write his mission intent with passion but no more that 5 lines etc. It even deals a bit with the Naval Operational Commander's dealings with the media.
I find it a quite interesting read. I am thinking of doing an AAR with this book as guideline