Military Model Scene

Title: British Cavalryman versus German Cavalryman
Author: Alan Steele
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-

Belgium and France, 1914, number 66 in the Combat series from Osprey Publishing. An 80-page soft-cover book, with artwork by Raffaele Ruggeri.
I suspect so many of us immediately think of trench warfare if we are talking about WW1, but for a short period before that set in there was a time when a more open conflict was taking place in 1914, a war of movement. Following an Introduction which sets the scene and then it takes an interesting look at the basic aspects of both sides, with their Origins and Recruitment, Weapons and Tactics, Training, Mobilization, Logistics and Morale. Then the heart of the book, with detailed accounts of 3 cavalry actions, at Casteau, on 22 August, Cerizy-Moy on 28 August and Le Montcel on 7 September. It is followed by an analysis of all three clashes. The modern machine gun proved a real killer, but they do include an instance of lancers charging each other. To round things off, there are a couple of pages considering the Aftermath, and how ideas on cavalry had changed by the end of the war.
Accompanying the text there are archive photos plus some fine artwork that include uniform and equipment detail that modellers will enjoy, and battle maps illustrating each clash plus a couple more battle scene pictures. I wasn't familiar with these particular actions before and as a modeller I also like the idea for completing some WW1 cavalry figures.
Thanks to Osprey for our review copy.

Robin