Osprey's Big Reveal: Men-at-Arms

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MAA: Armies in Southern Russia 1918–19

An important aspect of the Russian Civil War were the several Allied expeditions immediately following World War I in support of the disunited Russian 'White' armies resisting the Bolshevik Revolution. Although they ended in failure, these ventures were long resented, and were the origin of the 70-year-long Soviet suspicion of the Western Allies. British and US expeditionary forces operated in North Russia and Siberia in support of General Yudenich and Admiral Kolchak respectively, and a French and Greek expeditionary force (plus Romanian and Polish elements) operated in Crimea and south-western Ukraine, in support of General Denikin. The situation was further complicated by the presence of strong Imperial German elements still under arms, and by war between various factions in the Ukraine. This Southern theatre of the Allied interventions is far less well known than that of the British and Americans in the North and East.

Featuring rare photos and new colour plates, this fascinating new book describes this major Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Dr Phoebus Athanassiou writes a compelling account of how the French and Greeks alongside White Russians were greatly outnumbered by pro-Bolshevik forces and were relentlessly pushed back by the Ukrainian forces.

MAA: Armies of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688–97

Formed in 1689, the League of Augsburg was an alliance of nations intent on standing firm against Louis XIV's rich, powerful and expansionist France. They were engaged in a long conflict known as the War of the Grand Alliance. This conflict was notable for the first widespread use of uniform clothing, flintlock musket and bayonet, and for the birth of sophisticated siege warfare. The final Treaty of Ryswyck (1697), which ended the Grand Alliance War, marked Louis XIV's political zenith but also the ascendancy of England as a first-rate global power. Britain had been involved in its so-called Glorious Revolution that saw the political ascendancy of William of Orange. This fully illustrated title explores the armies which fought in the War of the League of Augsburg by examining their organization, uniforms and arms. Also, the various military factions that participated in the Glorious Revolutionand the Jacobite troops who operated in Ireland. 

MAA: Belgian Waffen-SS Legions & Brigades, 1941–1944

From the beginning of the German occupation of Belgium in May 1940, Flemish recruits from northern Belgium were accepted individually into Waffen-SS units. During Hitler's invasion of the USSR in June 1941, additional recruits from the French-speaking south (Wallonia) were also drafteds in. Both communities formed volunteer 'Legions', to fight 'for European civilization against the Bolshevik threat' comprising  a Flemish Legion in the Waffen-SS and a Walloon Legion in the German Army. Both served on the Russian Front in 1942-43; the Walloon Legion was then also transferred into the Waffen-SS, and the decorated Walloon officer, Leon Degrelle, became a publicized 'poster boy' for foreign SS volunteers. Both Legions were then redesignated as SS Assault Brigades, and thereafter saw extremely hard fighting in the Ukraine and on the Baltic front. In autumn 1944, their survivors were withdrawn from the front and incorporated into two new understrength SS Divisions, 27. 'Langemarck' and 28. 'Wallonien'.

This new account, featuring new colour plates of uniform and insignia, tells the story of the battle history of the MAA 524 Norwegian Waffen-SS Legion and MAA 531 Dutch Waffen-SS Legion & Brigadeon the Russian Front formed from French and Flemish-speaking Belgians, before their final transformation into full divisions in winter 1944/45.

MAA: German Troops in the American Revolution (1)

During the American Revolution (1775–83), German auxiliary troops provided a vital element of the British war effort. Some 30,000 German troops served in North America. Initially feared by the American population, the German troops came to be highly respected by their opponents. Their role in the fighting would inform the tactics and methods of a generation of German officers who returned to Europe after the war.

The largest body of German troops was from Hessen-­Cassel. The only German contingent to be employed as a unit under its own general officers, they were clothed and equipped in the style of Frederick the Great’s Prussians and were trained in much the same way. Many had seen active service during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) and served under career officers; they were well-disciplined and competent but showed little overt enthusiasm for the British cause. The troops of Hessen-Cassel would participate in every major campaign of the conflict, with the specialized skills of the famous Jäger being particularly in demand. Fully illustrated, this lively study examines the organization, appearance, weapons, and equipment of the Hessen-Cassel troops who fought for King George in the American Revolution.

MAA: Napoleon's Women Camp Followers

The cantinières who accompanied Napoleon's armies to war have an iconic status in the history of the Grande Armée. Sutler-women and laundresses were officially sanctioned members of the regiment performing a vital support role. Although officially non-combatants, many of these women followed their regiments into battle, serving brandy to soldiers in the firing line, braving enemy fire.

This book is a timely piece of social history, as well as a colourful new guide for modellers and re-enactors. Through meticulous research of unprecedented depth and accuracy, Terry Crowdy dispels the inaccurate portrayals that Napoleon's Women Camp Followers have suffered over the years to offer a fascinating look at these forgotten heroines.

MAA: The Numidians 300 BC–AD 300

The Numidian light cavalry were among the best-known horsemen in the ancient world: riding without saddles or bridle, carrying only hide shields for defense and clutching a handful of light javelins, they were renowned for their darting attacks, swift retreats, and skirmishing prowess. Yet, they were unfairly derided for their indiscipline, their perceived lack of culture, and their fecklessness, and dismissed as uncivilized, nomadic barbarians from beyond the fringes of the cultured, settled Mediterranean world.

Recent scholarship, however, has shown that there is far more evidence for the armour and equipment of the Numidians than hitherto assumed. The carved stone shields and cuirasses that punctuate the decorative friezes of the stone ‘altars’ at Kbor Klib and Chimtou in North Africa are confident representations of Numidian panoplies, not captured Carthaginian armour as has previously been argued. In this book, this research is presented alongside a close examination of various ancient texts which reveals that the Numidians also fielded infantry, slingers, archers, and even war elephants in conflicts across the Mediterranean, including Spain, Greece, northern Italy, and Thrace. All of these troops are brought to life in original colour artwork, complemented by chapters on their weapons and equipment, history, tactics, and organization.