Review of Battle at Best

It's game night, and your group issues an ultimatum. They are tired of the intricately conceived and brilliantly designed twistiness of your French Resistance (insert name of suddenly trendy World War II rpg here) campaign. They demand the following: bazookas, flamethrowers, and enough bangalore torpedoes to choke a medium-sized rhinoceros. That's right, they want D-Day. Or Iwo Jima, but they aren't too picky. You could try to fake it, running a watered-down version of Saving Private Ryan. Good luck. They'll spot it in a minute and hate you for it. No, you need a better plan, such as reading Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall's book, Battle at Best.

Although there has been some controversy surrounding his methodology, Gen. Marshall's books ring with authenticity. Even his most controversial work, Men Against Fire, is on Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki's own professional reading list. Don't let rumor deceive you as to the value of his work.

Battle at Best is a collection of various previously published articles detailing small unit actions during World War II and Korea. The title article describes the experiences of a company of the 101st Airborne Division during Operation Market-Garden. The three chapters of this section form a coherent outline for a great session of infantry combat in the ETO. A relatively small patrol is cut off from its parent unit, and fights to survive amidst increasing losses. This section, and the other combat-oriented articles, well illustrates Gen. Marshall's favorite theme of the confusion of modern war.

The next article of note, "First Wave at Omaha Beach," is perfect for any GM who wants to avoid a fatal case of "Saving Private Ryan Plagarism Syndrome." Gen. Marshall follows two companies of the 29th Infantry Division onto the Normandy beaches and gives a boat-by-boat accounting of the various fates met by those soldiers. Not a pretty picture, but one worth painting accurately.

The Pacific Theatre is also well represented, with hefty narratives from Tarawa and Kwajalein. Please take note: this book is about American soldiers during World War II. It does not deliberately dehumanize the Japanese or the Germans, but they tend to have the quality of a faceless menace, significant only in their effect on the American units involved. If you are looking for a balanced account, you will have to look elsewhere.

The Korean War also makes an appearance with two articles. If you really want to throw your players a curve, age their characters about five or six years, promote them (or bust them), then send them to Korea. The weapons and tactics used were very similar to those of World War II, requiring only the addition of practical helicopters and efficient swept-wing jet fighters.

Finally, there is something for your French Resistance campaign. Gen. Marshall included his personal narrative of the liberation of Paris, complete with Hemingway. Very useful stuff for those heady, dangerous days.

As you can tell, I highly recommend Gen. Marshall's work. He focuses on the infantry, so tread heads will have to apply his themes and interpret them for armored combat. He does not dwell too long on the big picture, so a good World War II atlas or general history might be useful as you read. Other than that, his work is a classic example of the best of military historiography. He communicates the danger and confusion of combat, without letting the confusion creep into his prose. If you can bring some of that to your campaign, you will be the master of WWII roleplaying.