(Re-release of this post due to some unknown internet activity affecting the previous version.)
The Grumble Jones September scenario would rely on some new resources for inspiration. Long-time readers know that I tend to rely on my Osprey Campaign series books for generating the monthly scenarios.
Many years ago, I used to do a monthly blog post about books in my collection. I'm super fortunate to have some great built in shelves in my office. (Super fortunate to have an office too...). This shelf houses my Osprey Campaign, Combat, Raid and Duel series books. I love their compact size. Well over a hundred fit easily on a single shelf. I have also been collecting the excellent Casemate Illustrated books, which are very good and give Osprey some great competition.
My ASL boxes contain all of my scenarios...MMP, BFP, LFT, East Side Gamers, Break Contact, Covered, HazMO, Lone Canuck, Friendly Fire, Rally Point, Schwerpunkt, North Texas, Encircled Productions, Critical Hit, etc. At one time I had huge binders with the Scenarios all inside plastic slip covers. And then one day it occurred to me that they took up a huge amount of space and I almost never play a scenario more than once....so why was I housing them in archival collections?? I love the look of the boxes on the shelf as opposed to binders and have been very pleased with the decision.
The top shelf contains some of my Ballantine WWII books that I acquired as a child in the 1970's, when they were sold at B-Dalton Booksellers for a $1 a book. Of course I had never had a dollar, so couldn't take advantage of the cost in those days...but keep in mind a $1 could at one time buy 5 DC comics...Weird War, the Unknown Soldier, GI Combat, Sgt. Rock, The Losers, or maybe Sgt. Fury. So a $1 was a good amount of money in 1973. The cabinets under the shelves house my miniatures, which are currently in work. Primarily, I'm working to complete the painting of 100+ Saxons and 100+ Vikings from Warlord Games 28mm series. My Normans are completed and so I get closer each day to getting Stirling Bridge and Hastings onto my Geo Hex.
This shelf houses my Time-Life WWII series. I was an early subscriber to this series, when it launched in 1976. My parents had been collecting various Time-Life series back in those days from American History, to National Parks to the great artists. Books were an omni-present part of my life. My mother retired as an Executive Publisher at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and was an editor for the Lancet for many years. She dealt primarily with medical books and her most famous book was the Mosby Medical Dictionary which was a standard textbook for nursing students back in the mid and late '80's. My mother's office was in downtown Philadelphia near Independence Square. It was great fun taking my children to see grandmom's office and then walk over to see the Liberty Bell.
But back in 1976, I received my first book in the Series, Prelude to War. I was 11 at the time and my parents sat me down to discuss the nudity that was present in that book. I would receive a new book every other month until the final book arrived in 1983. My father liked to remind me that it was the Christmas gift that never stopped. At the time, these books were the standard for great WWII books. Today, they are a bit too general in their coverage and provide almost nothing that would allow for the creation of an ASL scenario. But for a comprehensive understanding of the Second World War...it remains the Magnus Opus.
The shelves further up house some of my most prized books from RZM Imports, Heimdal Editions, Leaping Horseman Books, Stackpole Books, and Munin-Verlag. The other shelves contain similarly great books that have filled my library over the years.
My final shelf is primarily devoted to American history from the French & Indian War, the Revolutionary War, Lewis & Clark and the American Civil War. I've been a fairly hardcore student of the Confederate Army of Tennessee since about 1990. I'm also very interested in the Trans-Mississippi campaigns. In the past couple years I was able to visit Jenkins Ferry in Arkansas, Hartville in Missouri, and Baxter Springs and Mine Creek in Kansas. Growing up in Bristol, VA-TN, I was surrounded by Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Revolutionary and Civil War history. The Grey Ghost of the Confederacy, John S. Mosby practiced law in Bristol and the when broke out, went up the road to Abingdon, VA to enlist. Abingdon was home to Joseph E. Johnson. And down the road on Hwy 58 would take you to the birthplace of JEB Stuart. And of course, Lee Highway ran alongside Interstate 81.
Daniel Boone built the Wilderness Road from Kingsport, TN to Cumberland Gap. You can follow it along Hwy 58 (JEB Stuart HWY). Davy Crockett was born about 50 miles to the south of Bristol and course President Andrew Johnson was a tailor in Greeneville, TN and is buried there today. General John Hunt Morgan was ambushed and killed (murdered by some accounts) in Greeneville, TN.
I was very fortunate to grow up in that region and spent much of my childhood walking in the wooded hills and mountains of Southwest Virginia in an area explored by Daniel Boone.
Living now in Oklahoma is a very different experience from Virginia. Oklahoma only turned 100 in 2007...Virginia...maybe 400 years old...so yeah...kinda big difference.
But Oklahoma has some great Civil War sites and some great Western history as it was a wild and wooly place before becoming a state. Just ask Jake Spoon...
"Gus, I was just trying to get through the territory without getting scalped...I didn't see no line..."
As an aside...there is no greater homage to America than Lonesome Dove.
Well...sorry about going down the library rabbit hole. I love to talk about books almost as much as I love to talk about ASL. And I've never known an ASL player that didn't have the same love for history and the books that bring it to life.
So after all of my blathering about my library...this month's scenario brought to you by YouTube!!!
I am a big fan of the Ace Destroyer and highly recommend his channel. Well researched and put together videos. And a great many of them lend themselves to going cardboard.
So, here after much preamble is this month's scenario - STUG's over the Bug.
As always, these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.
Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.
All Grumble Jones scenarios are available from the ASL Archive website.
(Just search on Grumble Jones)
