The Black Effect

[AndyF]

@Ferg1234 - Thanks for the plug Jason, ditto mikeCK!

@MSGalileo - I am guilty as charged, but in my defence I did state in the foreword of volume 1,'Stand-To', that I knew nothing of naval warfare.
I have been aboard a dozen or so surface warships from different nations but all were tied up at the time. If you ever have the opportunity to attend the Captain's party aboard the Brazilian frigate 'Brasil' then grab it. The parties are amazing and she is the only warship with a professional dance troupe (complete with feathers and skimpy thongs) and a professional jazz band.

Andy Farman

[Mad Russian]

Welcome to the addiction Andy. We are honored to have your first post on the site be with us! [&o]

Good Hunting.

MR

[mikeCK]

I would also recommend," Defcon 1"by Weber.
I also enjoyed "Arc light" but that is more about a nuclear exchange and spends very little time on the US drive to Moscow

[AndyF]

Thank you MR, it is a pleasure to be here although I know as much about online wargaming as I do about fleet actions [:)]

[Mad Russian]

Ours is only online gaming if you choose to play someone by Play By Email. Otherwise you play against the computer. Stick around and ask questions and we'll head you in the right direction. It won't take a PHD to understand the answers either like it does with fleet actions!

Good Hunting.

MR

[fvianello]

ORIGINAL: Tazak

Just finished reading the Black Effect by Harvey Black. It follows a number of British units and the 10th Guards Tank Division in a cold war turned hot setting, very good read even with a few typos (M109A2 using 152mm gun or swingfire missiles that weight 555kg).

While it covers NORTHAG it also touches on 11 ACR in a couple of chapters, very good read and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an insight into how the BAOR was trained to fight delaying actions using combined arms. While he covers 'combat teams' company sized units with 2 troops of tanks and 1-2 platoons of infantry, the overall picture can easily be turned into a campaign.

Just ordered "The Red Effect" and "The Black Effect" on Amazon

[mikeCK]

Mr. Farmer, I have purchased the first book in your series. May I ask in what year the conflict is supposed to be taking place? The last two book I read in this genre were "Defcon 1" and "Arclight"...both were vague on the time of the conflict.

[AndyF]

Hi Mike,

I have to fall on my sword there I am afraid.
The time period is a bit of an accidental subconscious hodgepodge. The writing started in 2002 and drew upon my 70's Cold War experience in the Regular British Army along with my 80s & 90s Cold War experience in the Territorial Army.
The writing stopped in 2004 as I was taken off front line duties and put behind a desk, well four desks actually, Operational Planning, Filming & TV Liaison, Counter Terrorism, and the Bird Flu Pandemic. I did not have any mental capacity left for writing and they gathered dust until after I retired and we found ourselves supporting a very sick relative with no medical insurance.
If I had had the time I would have carried out a rewrite but the bailiffs were knocking at the door.

I suppose a late 90's/early Millenium period is the best I can do as far as an answer goes, but it is Alternative History and there are readers who relate to it in a 70's setting whilst others see it as current but with a strange absence of stealth technology and Raptors.

Sorry about that!

I am responding to requests to add maps but the IT skills to add those to an eBook are not currently in my grasp. Perhaps that will distract readers from wondering why the year seems to be Nineteen hundred and two thousand and four-ish.

[AndyF]

ORIGINAL: mikeCK

The last two book I read in this genre were "Defcon 1" and "Arclight"

I am the wrong person to ask about other books in the same genre. When I started writing I found some background on a character I had put on paper was in hindsight somehow familiar, and after some digging around I discovered the section was a little too similar to a passage in The Ipcress File that I had read back in the 70s, so I deleted it. I avoid reading anyone else's Alternative History now and stick to biographies, Westerns and SF for bedtime reading.

[mikeCK]

Thank you for the info. While I traditionally read non-fiction history, I do enjoy military techno thrillers. Unfortunately, there are very few modern war novels. I have read two on a war with China and both were horrible. I also enjoy old school WP v NATO alternate scenarios so long as it is 1982 or later. I was 10 years old then and that's when I started really paying attention.

The other books I mentioned "Defcon 1 and Arclight also avoided mentioning a time cram although in Defcon they mentioned B-2s coming on line indicting it was 1993 or so. Anyway, I'm reading red/black effect series and yours.

[AndyF]

ORIGINAL: mikeCK

Thank you for the info. While I traditionally read non-fiction history, I do enjoy military techno thrillers. Unfortunately, there are very few modern war novels. I have read two on a war with China and both were horrible. I also enjoy old school WP v NATO alternate scenarios so long as it is 1982 or later. I was 10 years old then and that's when I started really paying attention.

The other books I mentioned "Defcon 1 and Arclight also avoided mentioning a time cram although in Defcon they mentioned B-2s coming on line indicting it was 1993 or so. Anyway, I'm reading red/black effect series and yours.

I am 35K words into the fourth and final part so still a long way to go yet.

[Mad Russian]

Having written a book once upon a time long ago, and almost half another one here doing the storyline for FPC I can relate. Just keep plugging and you'll get it. I hope that your relative is better.

Good Hunting.

MR

[AndyF]

Thank you MR, I constantly strive to entertain, not unlike a court jester at times.

The Abridged edition of my third book in the series just made #1 in Alternative History on Amazon Australia, and #10 in the 'War' genre on Amazon there so I must be doing something right, but why the Abridged version though?
I had no idea they were such sensitive folk in the land of Crocodile Dundee, preferring "Gosh", "Darn" and "Damn" exclamations to the rather more colourful (and realistic) four letter expletives in servicemens language. [:D]

Thank you for the concern about my Father-in-Law, but alas the Big C won again.

When are you going to finish your second book and what are the titles?

[AndyF]

I emerged from my cave on Monday, with three months growth of beard. 2yr old son ran and hid, wife had the suitcases packed until she saw volume 4 'The Longest Night' had gone to #1 Bestseller in the UK on Kindle for Alternative History, and Volume 5, 'Crossing the Rubicon' ,the final book in the series, was at #2.
Bags unpacked and bought toys for nipper.

Got to say, I have written almost a quarter of a million words for this series and I cannot think of a single new way to write a ground, air or sea battle.

Just publishing the paperback versions now before cracking on with a serious editing of volume 1.

[AndyF]

I will give you a shout when the free download period starts, if anyone is interested.

[Tazak]

Folks, just a quick FYI, Blue effect is up on amazon.

Yes please andy, need to get around to reading your series but want to finish Blue effect first

[TheWombat_matrixforum]

ORIGINAL: Tazak

Folks, just a quick FYI, Blue effect is up on amazon.

Yes please andy, need to get around to reading your series but want to finish Blue effect first

I finished Blue Effect (on Kindle) the other day. Nothing terribly surprising, and even more Brit-heavy than the earlier ones, but still interesting.

One problem with this genre is there are only a very limited number of options for resolving stuff, and none of them are particularly satisfactory. Just sort of underlines how lucky we were than none of this actually happened!

[Tazak]

ORIGINAL: TheWombat
Just sort of underlines how lucky we were than none of this actually happened!

One of the few truths of mankind is that we keep getting better at killing each other

[AndyF]

Replacing the first two original books with map illustrated editions.

'Fight Through' is below the new maximum page count so that one will be re-uploaded and hopefully free updates will arrive with your devices.

[AndyF]

Volume 1 and 2 are both chunky sized books and neither of them are my best work, although I wrote them in the belief my grammar and punctuation were perfect. Nick Gill explained the error of my ways and both books need to be re-edited now that the series is done. The problem there though is that the maximum page count has dropped from 700 to 480 for paperbacks. After the editing the books cannot be re-uploaded, I have to split the volumes into two parts.
A second problem is file size as I am creating maps to go with the books, and new covers so all match the final books in the series.
I will be doing short free downloads on kindle for the benefit of everyone who purchased the originals but Kindle rules limit me to five days worth of freebies a month and a title cannot be introduced again as a free download for 90 days.
So, 'watch and shoot, watch and shoot' as we used to say. Keep a close eye out so as not to miss this.