Review: Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878

I AM a big fan of Neil Thomas's books, frequently re-reading or consulting Wargaming: An Introduction, Ancient & Medieval Wargaming and Napoleonic Wargaming.
The second of these I find especially entertaining and imaginative, particularly enjoying his accounts of four battles fought using the book's rules.
I held off buying Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878, henceforward referred to as WNCE, because it was a specialist period that did not greatly interest me when the book came out, published by Pen & Sword, in 2012.

My hardback copy of WCNE, £15.02 from Book Depository via Amazon

Part of the reason I did not buy is that I found it hard to believe rules covering under 70 years would take up some 200 pages. I was right  - the rules occupy eight pages, including generous amounts of white space.
Army lists cover almost another 30 pages, but the really valuable part of the book is when Thomas converts historic battles into wargame scenarios.
By comparing scenario maps and unit numbers with maps and line-ups of the real battles, one can see how he goes about what is a particularly tricky business with the sprawling nature of some 19th-century engagements.
Unfortunately, and in contrast to the three previous books of Thomas I mentioned earlier, none of the scenarios is played through so there is no way to see the rules in action. This is a major and, for me, a very disappointing omission.
The book is also disfigured, as is usual with Thomas's books, by photos that have nothing to do with the book's rules. Indeed most of them are not even of wargames, but are posed dioramas.
There are some photos which Thomas identifies as being of armies "configured for my rules." Unfortunately, the armies are of Baccus 6mm figures which have, to my eyes, a ridiculous appearance by being placed on bases almost as thick as the figures are tall.
Much of the rest of the book is taken up with Thomas's succinct and very readable account of 19th-century military history and with his philosophy for designing wargame rules.
The latter brings on a strong sense of déjà vu since the same or very similar passages are in his previous books, and include several straw-man arguments. A lot of this is unavoidable, however, as Thomas has to cater to readers who do not have his previous books.
Less understandable is why an appendix on "Figure Sizes, Scales and Prices" has seemingly been cut-and-pasted from Napoleonic Wargaming, whose appendix was in turn cut-and-pasted from Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, without any apparent attempt at updating
So, all in all, a lot of criticism. Does this mean I am disappointed with my purchase? Not at all - I have gone through the book cover-to-cover twice and have re-read favourite sections many more times that that.
WNCE is proving excellent at stimulating my thoughts on how to refight the Franco-Prussian War as part of my Project Kaiser to mark its 150th anniversary.
Thomas remains a great writer of wargaming books - yes, WNCE is flawed, but it is, for me, a flawed masterpiece.