For the last couple of weeks I've been trying to finish off an article on the battle of Thapsus for Slingshot, and it has been a bit of a slog. At about 20 pages in MS Word, it's almost a thesis.
It started out as a scenario for Lost Battles, but it's not a simple battle, so I felt I should go into a bit more detail about choices around troop numbers, relative troop quality and so on. Before long, in an effort to explain the numbers, it had become a short history of the African campaign, then an analysis of the differences between the sources, then a reconstruction of the battle that tries to reconcile some of the oddities, and throughout it all a commentary on various problems around the battle.
Then it finally gets to the scenario, and variations thereof.
Phew. I hope it will be more interesting to read than it sounds.
Anyway, I was quite surprised to realise that it's been gestating for about a year - but, come to think of it, that is just about right for a thesis!
I look forward to reading your opus, Aaron!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful article.... or perhaps a series of articles?
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading it Aaron!
ReplyDeleteThanks gentlemen. Always nice to engage the brain, but it'll be much nicer when it's all finished!
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubting your love of the period, or at least that's what it sounds like to me. You've piqued my interest.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Kevin
Sounds wonderful! I became interested in the battle when I played it with TTS earlier this year. I can understand your fascination with it. I hope I manage to find a copy of your work to read it.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Jason