In today's blog post, Commissioning Editor Nick Reynolds gives us an exciting sneak peek into what we have coming up for the Combat series. 

Featuring Steve Noon’s superb and evocative artwork, veteran Osprey author Ron Field’s latest contribution to the Combat series investigates the Mexican soldiers and Texian volunteers who fought one another in three key battles during the Texas Revolution. Combining expert analysis with vivid first-hand accounts, the book investigates three fateful clashes of 1836: the Alamo (March 6), Coleto Creek (March 19) and the San Jacinto River (April 21). This is a subject I have wanted to cover since the series began in 2013.

Let us know what you think of the new titles in the comments!

 

CBT 68: ANZAC Soldier vs Ottoman Soldier

By Si Sheppard

In 1915–18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides’ fighting men.

The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the high ground known as Chunuk Bair saw the peak change hands as the Allies sought to overcome the stalemate that set in following the landings in April. The ANZACs also played a key part in the battle of Lone Pine, intended to divert Ottoman attention away from the bid to seize Chunuk Bair.

The Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied evacuation in the opening days of 1916. Thereafter, many ANZAC units remained in the Middle East and played a decisive role in the Allies’ hard-fought advance through Palestine that finally forced the Turks to the peace table. The fateful battle of Beersheba in October 1917 pitted Australian mounted infantry against Ottoman foot soldiers as the Allies moved on Jerusalem.

In this book, noted military historian Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides who fought at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and Beersheba. The authoritative text is supported by specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive photographs.

 

CBT 69: Teutonic Knight vs Lithuanian Warrior

By Mark Galeotti

Featuring full-colour artwork, maps and carefully chosen illustrations, this exciting book investigates the Teutonic Knights and their Lithuanian foes during the epic Lithuanian Crusade.


The Teutonic Knights were a military order committed to spreading Christendom eastwards into the non-Christian realms of the Baltic and Russia. They progressively extended their control across the various feuding tribes of the Baltic until they confronted the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a relatively well-organized and cohesive state. Fully illustrated, this book investigates the fighting men on both sides, assessing their origins, tactics, armament and combat effectiveness in three clashes of the Lithuanian Crusade.

The battle of Voplaukis (1311), triggered by a major Lithuanian invasion of newly Christianized lands, saw the Teutonic Knights defeat the numerous but relatively poorly equipped Lithuanian raiders once they had brought them to battle. As a result, the Lithuanians would begin to prepare for full-scale warfare, and the siege of Kaunas (1362) was the month-long investment of the first brick-built castle the Lithuanians constructed. In the battle of Grunwald (1410), the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – fielding knights by now almost comparable to those of the Order – broke the armies of the Teutonic Knights, a defeat from which the Order would never really recover. This lively study lifts the veil on these formidable medieval warriors and three battles that shaped the Baltic world.

 

CBT 70: Mongol Warrior vs European Knight

Stephen Turnbull

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and maps, carefully chosen illustrations and insightful analysis, this book examines the legendary Mongol warriors and their vastly different European opponents.

Having conquered much of Central Asia by 1237, the Mongols advanced into the northern Caucasus. The fall of several key centres such as Riazan and Vladimir was followed by Mongol victory at Kiev. Moving west, in 1241 two Mongol armies achieved stunning victories at the battles of Liegnitz in Poland and the Sajo River (Mohi) in Hungary, before suffering their only reverse of the campaign at the fortress of Klis. The Mongol forces regrouped in Hungary to prepare for a further advance into Austria and Germany, but the death of their leader, Ogedei Khan, meant that his generals were required to return to Mongolia to choose a successor. Smaller Mongol forces would return to raid in the years to come, but never again would Western Europe be threatened as it was in 1242.

Fully illustrated, this innovative study of the forces that clashed during the Mongol invasion of Europe between 1237 and 1242 allows a comparison to be made between the all-conquering nomad horsemen of the steppes and the mounted knights of the West.

 

CBT 71: Waffen-SS Soldier vs Soviet Rifleman

By Chris McNab

Fully illustrated, this study assesses the Soviet and Waffen-SS troops who contested the cities of Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don on the Eastern Front during 1942–43.

As the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union unfolded, two places that suffered exceptionally severely were Kharkov (now Kharkiv) in Ukraine and Rostov-on-Don in Russia. In total, Kharkov would change hands violently four times between October 1941 and August 1943, and Rostov-on-Don also four times between November 1941 and February 1943.

In this book, Chris McNab examines the fighting men of the Red Army and the Waffen-SS who clashed in three battles – one for Rostov (July 1942) and two for Kharkov (February–March and August). He clearly explains the key differences between these two opponents – training, tactics, weaponry, ideology and motivation – and examines how these differences played out in the three engagements, which ranged from open-terrain combined-arms battles to close-quarters street fighting in major urban zones. The text is complemented by specially commissioned artwork and mapping and carefully chosen archive photographs.

 

CBT: 72 British Light Infantryman vs Patriot Rifleman

By Robbie MacNiven

Fully illustrated, this book assesses the origins, equipment, and fighting styles of the irregular warfare specialists fighting on both sides during the American Revolutionary War.

Amid North America’s often forested, broken, or rugged terrain, 18th-century armies came to rely on soldiers capable of fighting individually or in small groups. During the American Revolutionary War, rifle-armed companies were incorporated into the newly created Continental Army, while Patriot militiamen and partisans also made use of rifled weapons. Facing them were the British Army’s light infantrymen; among the most experienced regular soldiers fighting for the Crown, they were joined by Loyalist units able to operate in dispersed formations and German hired troops skilled in open-order fighting, including the rifle-armed Jäger.

The strengths and limitations of both sides’ open-order specialists are evaluated in this book, with particular focus upon three revealing battles: Harlem Heights (September 16, 1776), where the Patriots took heart from being able to hold their own in an escalating clash with Crown light forces; Freeman's Farm (September 19, 1777), where British light infantry engaged Patriot riflemen in notably rough terrain; and Hanging Rock (August 6, 1780), where Patriot riflemen and partisans attacked a Loyalist encampment, including Provincial Corps light infantry. Specially commissioned artwork, archive illustrations, and newly drawn mapping complement the authoritative text.

 

CBT 73: Byzantine Cavalryman vs Vandal Warrior

By Murray Dahm 

Fully illustrated, this enthralling study explores how the Vandals in North Africa attempted to defend their kingdom against the resurgent Byzantine Empire during 533–36.

In AD 533, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I launched the first of his campaigns to reconquer the Western Roman Empire. This effort began in North Africa (modern Algeria and Tunisia), targeting the Vandal kingdom established there a century earlier, which also included Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Featuring full-colour artwork and mapping alongside carefully chosen archive illustrations, this book shows how the Byzantine general Belisarius established his formidable reputation in the lightning-fast campaign that ensued, exploring the origins, tactics and reputation of the two sides’ forces as they fought for control of North Africa.

The landing of Belisarius’ forces took the Vandal king, Gelimer, completely by surprise; in September 533 the two sides met in battle near Carthage in an encounter known to posterity as Ad Decimum, with Gelimer ambitiously attempting to trap Belisarius’ forces as they advanced. In December, the two sides fought again in a momentous clash at Tricamarum, where the fate of Gelimer’s regime would be determined. A third battle ensued in 536, when the rebel Stotzas’ Byzantine and Vandal troops confronted Belisarius’ forces, the outcome sealing the Byzantine general’s standing as the foremost soldier of his age.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and mapping alongside archive illustrations and photographs, this vivid account compares and assess the two sides’ fighting men as they vied for supremacy in North Africa.

 

CBT 74: Texian Volunteer vs Mexican Soldier

By Ron Field

Fully illustrated, this lively study investigates the Mexican soldiers and Texian volunteers who fought one another in three key battles during the Texas Revolution.

Following unrest throughout Mexico, in 1835 a revolt began in Texas among the Anglophone and Tejano-speaking settlers, known as Texians. Having retreated after their defeat at Bexar in December 1835, Mexican troops were ordered to re-occupy Texas in early 1836. From February 23, Mexican forces besieged the Texian forces at the Alamo at San Antonio de Bexar; in the subsequent battle on March 6, almost all of the Texian defenders were killed. On March 19, forces en route to join the main Texian army were surrounded by Mexican troops at Coleto Creek. Following their surrender, about 340 Texian prisoners were shot by Mexican soldiers in what became known as the Goliad Massacre. On April 21, a Texian force launched a surprise attack on a larger Mexican army near the San Jacinto River, defeating the Mexicans and prompting them to return to Mexico, thus ending the Texan Revolution.

Featuring full-color artwork and maps and drawing upon the latest research, this lively study investigates the fighting men of both sides at the Alamo, Coleto Creek, and the San Jacinto River, casting light on the doctrine, tactics, weaponry, and combat record of the Texian and Mexican combatants who clashed in the first weeks of the emerging Republic of Texas.

 

CBT 75: Japanese Infantryman vs US Marine Rifleman

By Gregg Adams

Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this book assesses the US Marines and Japanese troops who contested the islands of Tarawa, Roi-Namur, and Eniwetok during 1943–44.

On November 20, 1943, amphibious vehicles carrying Marines of the 2d Marine Division reached the shores of Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll, defended by a determined Japanese garrison that would fight to the last man. This began a test by combat of over two decades of US studies, analyses, and planning for capturing and defending naval bases in Micronesia. The Tarawa assault was followed in February 1944 by the rapid capture of the Kwajalein and Eniwetok atolls in the Marshall Islands.

In these battles US Marines fought a mix of Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army ground units. All but a handful of the Japanese defenders, whether they were organized ground combat troops or infantry improvised from aviators and service troops, were determined to die for the Emperor while killing as many enemy as possible. Gregg Adams shows how the US Marine Corps and US Navy drew upon these pivotal actions to improve their tactics, organization, and equipment for the next round of amphibious operations. He also explains how their Japanese opponents – realizing that isolated island garrisons were doomed to destruction or isolation if the Imperial Japanese Navy could not defeat the US Navy at sea – moved from seeking to repel an invasion to one inflicting maximum American casualties through prolonged defensive fighting.