Osprey's Big Reveal: Men-at-Arms

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Today’s post is the first in a series called the Big Reveal. Every August we unveil what’s coming to Osprey in 2018, and kicking off this year’s is our longest-running series, Men-at-Arms.

In 2018, we’re set to publish another five books in this series of over 500 titles.

World War II Vichy French Security Troops

After the Fall of France in 1940, a new puppet state was set up in the south. Officially known as the French State, it is better known as Vichy France. This collaborationist Vichy regime's armed forces were more active and usually more numerous than German troops in the task of hunting down and crushing the maquis - the French Resistance guerrilla forces.

World War II Vichy French Security Troops will cover the organization and operations of Vichy French Security Forces, including: the new Vichy Police Nationale, particularly their Groupes Mobiles de Reserve, the Service d'Ordre Légionnaire, and the Milice Francaise, a ruthless anti-Resistance militia armed partly with British weapons captured from SOE airdrops. It tells the story of Occupied France from the perspective of those who saw alliance with Germany as a necessary price in a war against Communism.

French Naval & Colonial Troops 1872–1914

France's colonial wars in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia were very largely fought by an organization completely separate from both the home-defence Metropolitan Army and the Armée d'Afrique in Algeria. The Naval Troops (Troupes de la Marine) were volunteers, and earned a reputation for greater toughness and hardiness than the conscripted Metropolitan Army.

Spread throughout the French Empire, Naval Troops in this period were characterized by very large infantry and artillery regiments based in France, mixed race regiments (Régiments Mixtes), and entire native regiments raised in West Africa, Madagascar and Indochina. The latter, the so-called 'Tirailleurs’ were organized and led by officers and cadres from the Naval Troops, and wore very varied and colourful uniforms based on formalized versions of traditional local costumes

Polish Legions 1914–19

Due to its partitions and dissolution in the late eighteenth century, hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers enlisted in distinct units in the armies of many countries – primarily those of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, but also that of the German Reich and the French Republic.

All these forces were uniformed and equipped by the parent armies, though often with explicitly Polish features. The collapse of Tsarist Russia in 1917 and of the Central Powers in 1918 allowed these diverse forces to unite in a re-created Polish Army under the new-born Second Polish Republic in November 1918. This is the fascinating story of the Poles who fought on both sides in the trenches of World War I and then united to fight for their freedom when the defeat of the Central Powers gave them the opportunity

Latin American Wars 1900–1941

From the Mexican Revolution to the Zarumilla War, in the first 40 years of the 20th century the nations of Central and South America were frequently disturbed by border clashes, civil wars and revolution. Many of these conflicts became known as 'Banana Wars'. Some involved only lightly armed guerrillas, but others saw armies operating artillery and armoured vehicles, supported by aircraft and river navies. The conflicts in Honduras and Nicaragua saw the intervention of US Marines, and later wars involved armour and aircraft acquired from Europe, as well as attracting many foreign adventurers.

Armies of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848–70 (2)

In the 1840s, Italy was a patchwork of states. The North was ruled by the Austrian Empire, the South by the Spanish-descended monarchy of the Two Sicilies. Over the next two decades, after wars led by Savoy/Piedmont and volunteers such as Garibaldi, an independent Kingdom of Italy emerged. These conflicts saw foreign interventions and shifting alliances among minor states, and attracted a variety of local and foreign volunteers.

This is the second volume in the two part series which covers the armies of the Papal States; the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and Modena; the republics of Rome and San Marco (Venice) and the transitional Kingdom of Sicily; and the various volunteer movements.

Which of these titles will you be picking up in 2018? Don’t forget to let us know your favourite, and keep checking the blog for more updates in our Big Reveal.