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Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles (compiled by Matthew Balent)

Palladium's series of weapons, castles and armor books has been a staple of the GM's library since the first publication in the early 80s. After being available for a time as a collection in the "Compendium of Weapons, Armour and Castles", the books are being reprinted as several issues in the "small book" format with new covers. "The Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles" is the second of these. See my parallel review of the first one: "The Palladium Book of Weapons and Armour".

Personally I have never owned any of the earlier publications, but I have looked at the Compendium, and I will use that as a reference when comparing the "new" books with the older ones.

Production, Layout and Style

The same comments on the production value apply here as I made for the first book in the series (Weapons and Armour). See the parallel review.

The content seems to have been reproduced straight from the originals right down to typesetting and layout. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the book contains mainly illustrations and tables that were designed clearly and attractively from the outset. Only the (few) articles could have used an overhaul in typesetting. The courier font is positively ugly. Overall the layout is old-fashioned and straightforward, but I will take a clean and readable page over a fancy, ultra-stylish one any day.

Again the interior illustrations are a thing to behold. While there is a bit more text here than in "Weapons and Armour", the main focus is the visual presentation of the material. And as the weapon listing is much shorter you get to see much less of the tiny weapon images and more of the elaborate artwork.

Content

Motte and bailey

Again all of this material is not new, but reprinted from earlier editions of the weapon compendium series. The castle part seems to have been split in two, with non-European fortifications relegated to a later book.

The weapons part of this book (9 pages) concerns itself with missile weapons (thrown and hand-to-hand weapons were covered in Book 1). There are only about 30 covered (compared to 600 in Book 1), but in way of compensation you get detailed illustrations of such things as different arrow heads, the parts and mechanics of a crossbow and archers and crossbowmen in action. Although it is much shorter than the weapons chapter of the first book, it is in some ways superior, as it gives detail and context instead of just a huge listing of stuff.

The main part of the book (24 pages) concentrates on castles. 16 historical fortifications are presented with illustrations, basic floorplans and sometimes a bit of text. The selection is obviously limited but tries to give a reasonable overview from early motte and bailey fortifications to castles of the late medieval period. The focus is exclusively European (Castles of the Orient is a later book in the series), which might be a pity at first glance. But personally I am glad to see that Asian castles get a book of their own. Had they been included in this one, I am sure they would have gotten much less attention. The floorplans of the castles are a bit rough, but always good enough to give an overview of the layout.

Not mentioned in the title but very interesting is the 10-page chapter on sieges that concludes the book. It has articles on siege warfare and engines, illustrates these engines in detail and offers a map of a hypothetical castle under siege. The last 3 pages contain a glossary, book list, and a reprint of the introductory article on armor from book 1. The latter one seems to be there only as a filler to complete the 48 page count.

Conclusion

Overall this book contains as much wealth of information as "Weapons and Armour". I even like it a little bit better than its predecessor, as the weapons part is not so overwhelming in listing weapon after weapon. But then castles have always held a great attraction for me, much more so than weapons. My greatest peeve with this book is the lack of material on ancient fortifications, a topic that is rarely covered in works on the subject.

Concerning the series, I guess it would have made more sense from an informational point of view to put all the weapons in one book and armor and castles in the other, but from a sales perspectives this version is probably more sensible. Still for $7.95 you get good value for your money, if you are at least a little bit interested in historical accuracy.

Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles
Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles Capsule Review by Ralf Schemmann on 13/12/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) For $7.95 you get good value for your money, if you are at least a little bit interested in historical accuracy. Product: Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles Author: Matthew Balent Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Palladium Books Line: Weapon Compendiums Cost: 7.95 Page count: 48 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-916211-08-8 SKU: 302 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Ralf Schemmann on 13/12/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Historical Generic	Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles (compiled by Matthew Balent) Palladium's series of weapons, castles and armor books has been a staple of the GM's library since the first publication in the early 80s. After being available for a time as a collection in the "Compendium of Weapons, Armour and Castles", the books are being reprinted as several issues in the "small book" format with new covers. "The Palladium Book of Weapons and Castles" is the second of these. See my parallel review of the first one: "The Palladium Book of Weapons and Armour". Personally I have never owned any of the earlier publications, but I have looked at the Compendium, and I will use that as a reference when comparing the "new" books with the older ones. Production, Layout and Style The same comments on the production value apply here as I made for the first book in the series (Weapons and Armour). See the parallel review. The content seems to have been reproduced straight from the originals right down to typesetting and layout. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the book contains mainly illustrations and tables that were designed clearly and attractively from the outset. Only the (few) articles could have used an overhaul in typesetting. The courier font is positively ugly. Overall the layout is old-fashioned and straightforward, but I will take a clean and readable page over a fancy, ultra-stylish one any day. Again the interior illustrations are a thing to behold. While there is a bit more text here than in "Weapons and Armour", the main focus is the visual presentation of the material. And as the weapon listing is much shorter you get to see much less of the tiny weapon images and more of the elaborate artwork. Content Again all of this material is not new, but reprinted from earlier editions of the weapon compendium series. The castle part seems to have been split in two, with non-European fortifications relegated to a later book. The weapons part of this book (9 pages) concerns itself with missile weapons (thrown and hand-to-hand weapons were covered in Book 1). There are only about 30 covered (compared to 600 in Book 1), but in way of compensation you get detailed illustrations of such things as different arrow heads, the parts and mechanics of a crossbow and archers and crossbowmen in action. Although it is much shorter than the weapons chapter of the first book, it is in some ways superior, as it gives detail and context instead of just a huge listing of stuff. The main part of the book (24 pages) concentrates on castles. 16 historical fortifications are presented with illustrations, basic floorplans and sometimes a bit of text. The selection is obviously limited but tries to give a reasonable overview from early motte and bailey fortifications to castles of the late medieval period. The focus is exclusively European (Castles of the Orient is a later book in the series), which might be a pity at first glance. But personally I am glad to see that Asian castles get a book of their own. Had they been included in this one, I am sure they would have gotten much less attention. The floorplans of the castles are a bit rough, but always good enough to give an overview of the layout. Not mentioned in the title but very interesting is the 10-page chapter on sieges that concludes the book. It has articles on siege warfare and engines, illustrates these engines in detail and offers a map of a hypothetical castle under siege. The last 3 pages contain a glossary, book list, and a reprint of the introductory article on armor from book 1. The latter one seems to be there only as a filler to complete the 48 page count. Conclusion Overall this book contains as much wealth of information as "Weapons and Armour". I even like it a little bit better than its predecessor, as the weapons part is not so overwhelming in listing weapon after weapon. But then castles have always held a great attraction for me, much more so than weapons. My greatest peeve with this book is the lack of material on ancient fortifications, a topic that is rarely covered in works on the subject. Concerning the series, I guess it would have made more sense from an informational point of view to put all the weapons in one book and armor and castles in the other, but from a sales perspectives this version is probably more sensible. Still for $7.95 you get good value for your money, if you are at least a little bit interested in historical accuracy.