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Hi again Lee. Yes I have scratch built some terrain for one of our campaign games. Having met the author Jim Storr at one of the Partizan shows, I bought his book called King Arthur's Wars. I was really impressed with Jim's analysis of the almost unknown use of Dykes, during the dark Age period when the English were slowly moving their borders from East Anglia etc. inland to the west. I needed to make use of Dykes in the Campaign, as they were a very effective tool, used first by the Romano-Britons, then the English to provide some form of border. A great book, which caused me to make 5 10mm dykes for the Campaign & then write some rules based on Jim's knowledgable book. Highly recommended.

Hi Lee, another great topic of yours. Excellent channel. The answer to your query about fighting retreats, is that yes, in the Campaign games we play, our Rule set that we developed over the past few years, does contain rules for retreating. In any campaign game it is a must, even is, as once happened all 4 campaign armies had been laid out on the table, when a fifth one arrived during Turn 5 of the game. However, once the King of that army saw what was happening, he ordered a full retreat, so that he saved his partly beaten army from further losses, which would have given him severe issues in the following campaign year. The Rule sets are shown on the Triples Campaign website. As last time I published it, it seems TH-cam removed the comment, I thought I had better ask you first it it is possible to do so, just so your commentators below can take a look at the rules? So if it is ok, please let me know and I will add it here. Best wishes to you and great content.

I've always thought of fighting retreats as scenarios, or driven by scenarios. In much the same way as reserves really only exist within a scenario. Though Peter Pig's AK47 has reserves built into the game's playing structure.

Great vid man. Often find fighting retreats are quite hard to emulate in wargame rules

I think there are probably two related topics rolled into one here. Retreats as part of a campaign move and delaying actions fought out on the tabletop. In a recent 15th century campaign I ran I made it easy for a defender to retreat in the face of an enemy attack, but it didn't slow down the progress of the attacker who basically pursued the defender and took territory from them as they went. It was possible for the defender to choose to fight a delaying action rather than retreat but that obviously came with the associated risk of battle casualties so choosing the right terrain to make that stand on was a crucial decision. I also introduced a morale rule which forced armies who continually ran away in the face of the enemy to start taking tests against the desertion of their troops.

I played the 2nd day of Eggmühl 1809 as solo for my channel. After a certain round, the commanding general could request whether he could withdraw and had to hold until the Archduke gave permission (d6 roll), while more and more French people appeared from different directions.

I thought some of the older WRG rules had a break-off rule in which you faced the enemy when backing away. I remember many times my bow armed medium infantry retreating before heavy armed infantry to avoid contact which could be called a fighting retreat.

Sharp Practice doesn’t really have a mechanism for a fighting retreat - at least not for formed units (formations). I’m tempted to add a ‘withdraw’ move, something akin to that in General d’Armee 2, at the cost of 1 Shock for each Group. Still tinkering! 🤓

What perfect timing, I just finished the last figures that were on the table and will be spending the majority of August making terrain. As others have said its more relaxing and probably the most creative side of the hobby. I like making do with what I've already got rather than buying stuff specifically. My battlefields sorely need some better terrain anyway.

Tinkering with rules, one's own or commercially available, is one of the most fascinating aspects of the wargaming hobby. Great video!

Another great video Lee always look forward to Sunday's 😊

Fighting retreats have been part of national strategies and can be part of a campaign game. While it can be great for a disciplined force it does deteriorate morale. Each force can have a morale number which can -/+ based on supplies (as an army marches on its stomach) and battles. This will force a retreating army to turn around and fight a battle eventually. Consequences to low morale could be higher attrition, lower morale in battles or a sacking/mutiny of the commander.

Great Sunday lunch viewing as ever!! Big Lee and Columbo on TV and all rights with the world. Henry Hyde campaign book added with Silvestri solo wargaming book is our goto for tips for a withdrawal from a battle, take care buddy

Thanks for that - a really useful review. I've not played the game so it's great that you've given such a clear idea of how it works. Also, by lingering over pages in the rule book, you've shown the layout and the clarity of the writing style - always important to know.

Thanks for sharing these pictures, Lee!

Can I ask what make of miniatures you are using. I am looking at starting War of the Roses. I game in 10mm normally but was thinking of trying 6mm.

Hi Lee, Bottisham is 10 miles from me. Lovely little museum that they are building up there. Some real interesting history on the site, just such a shame that most of the wartime airstrip has been reclaimed for farming.

An incredible diorama in every way, the depth and breadth of its size and especially the awesome number and painting of the figures. Outstanding effort. If I am ever back in the UK again I will definitely be there to see this work of art.

That book sounds jolly interesting, I wonder if Nik of the Medieval Wargamer channel has it in his collection 🤔 I've had great fun building a number of different terrain items over the years. I built a lot of stuff for my 20mm ww2 collection and Dark Age 28mm, including buildings, hills, hedges, trees, and small scatter items. I do find you need a bit of space to create and store it all though, and have since sold the ww2 stuff. There is a lot to be said for the smaller scales and their reduced footprint 🙂

I agree wholeheartedly. Terrain is relatively simple to make, creative and enhances the game tremendously.

Generic (“close enough”) terrain is good for most games, but if I commit to a recreating a specific battle I’m going to research the landscape and any architecture in detail. Looking ahead to possibly running a game at a con, I want to build several specific buildings that played a part in the battle, each with its own known history, most still standing today so I can reference old and modern photos. Those named structures are as much a part of the battle as the known participants and their uniforms.

I would add that for historical games, having the correct period terrain, or historically accurate terrain, and good color selection, is a factor to consider. My stand out crafted terrain piece is a large desert ruin. North Africa. I also have historically accurate terrain for WW2. Pegasus Bridge, Grande Cafe, Deadman's Corner, Primosole Bridge, Stalingrad Fountain, Stalingrad Water Tower, etc. Thank you for sharing.

Ah.. terrain, my Achilles heel. My best build was a small bog. But I hardly dare to approach building terrain. 🫣

Great video and talking point. My signature piece of home-made terrain (so far) is a backyard garden I made for 15mm ACW gaming, using some on-sale HO scale vegetation. It's base is a the ridged elastic fabric from a sock, which gives the plowed look, glued onto a rigid base, given a border with modeling paste, painted and drybrushed brown, and then 'planted' with some flock for low vegetables, plus the HO cucumbers, turnips, and most visibly, sunflowers. My mates all roll their eyes when the sunflower garden shows up on the table, they feel I'm showing off (I am).

All the terrain apart from most of our buildings and trees are home made. The most effective things I have made are huts for a 15mm Vietnam game and late medieval early Tudor buildings for English civil war - both at 15mm scale.

I've never been a great one for making terrain though I have tried simple homemade things. I'm soon going to attempt a ruined wizards tower which I've seen on YT. Since I've been doing fewer 'large' battle games (ancients) and moved to skirmish types there does need to be more terrain of whatever the game setting.

Hey Big Lee! Having interesting terrain to fight over is a great help to get "immersed" in the game. I remember, as a VERY young wargamer, just having a book for a hill, some newspaper for a river, a bit of lichen for a forest, AND a dedicated table to play on were the long coveted goal! Forty + years later, the campaigns I waged back then are just as vivid in my mind as the ones I did last month. Matchsticks, with the heads cut off, provided the raw material for snake rail fences, cabins, walls, and forts. I still have some of them. Meltzer's Fort has continued to resist Indian raids and provide shelter for the local settlers! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! (Much to the dismay of Chief Running Turtle!) Thanks for the book recommendation! Baron von Meltzer thinks that it is time that he goes up the ladder of Nobility by a rung or two!

I find working on terrain quite relaxing. Unlike the figures you can't really get it wrong- within reason.

Agreed! Making scratch-built terrain and buildings is highly rewarding and satisfying. Yet I must admit that making trees is not something I enjoy. These, I purchase ready made and mount to pre-made bases, which I then treat with various terrain materials to suggest some forest limited underbrush. In reply to your question, In Summer 2017, I built a town center based on various old buildings still standing in various former Hanseatic towns along the Baltic coast from Lubeck to Tallin. They were featured in the 2018 Wargamer's Annual. Some pretty challenging geometry there with the roofs and spires, but it all looks pretty good. Stylized, yes, but they provide the right 18th century vibe I was after for my fictitious Grand Duchy of Stollen. Currently mulling over -- "planning" sounds too well thought out -- an 18" or 24" bridge that will work a few of those structures for yet another refight of Young and Lawford's Sittangbad. On a different note, you videos have become a part of my Sunday morning routine. Very nice to watch/listen to with that first mug of coffee.

Good show again, dude. And a subject which takes up a lot of my hobby time. I 'wargame on a shoestring' so that means scratchbuilding terrain. It's not just a necessity tho', researching and then trying to recreate an actual historical battlefield in 6mm is almost as much fun as gaming itself. At 6mm scale I think that the terrain is even more important than the miniatures, after all, the landscape is what people see first on a good 6mm table. My favourite piece, a four foot by one foot piece representing the Chickahominy River with broken banks, flooded fields, raised earth causeways and improvised log bridges, all 100% scratchbuilt is probably the most noteworthy. Unless you include the 3x3' table i built for the Battle of Gaines Mill. It has contoured hills, two rivers, three creeks, three swamps, the entire road network of the battlefield, numerous patches of dense woodland, a couple of villages and various outlying farms as well as the titular mill itself...all built in to the table. That was a big project but I think the result was worth the effort. I even took the whole kit and kaboodle by train to the club at Sheffield and back! And this was built by someone with the DIY skills of the average frog! If I can do it ,anyone can .😊

Yeah, I enjoy all types of wargaming. Historical for me is where its at, at the moment.

Nice in depth review Lee. It always helps when the reviewer "knows" the game. Had quite a few games of these and now have the HYW set. Cracking set of period specific rules!

Another great video Lee! I followed your dense wood tutorial and it worked well...if I can do it anyone can 🍺

Another problem with scale is that often the height from foot to eye is technically correct but the figure is leaning forward or otherwise not standing straight so is actually much bigger than the stated height. And no, variation in height is not good when all your taller guys are leaning over in the same pose.

Excellent report! Your photo format makes it so much more easy to enjoy/take in the pretty tables and models!

I always struggled with retreat mechanics in campaigns. How do you stop a weak army from simply continuing to retreat from battles? Harsh retreat penalties? How do you do this without eliminating the fighting retreat (which is an art form and shouldn't be stifled)?

Fantastic.

Brilliant Museum🤠🤠🤠

The Grognard's Guide for how to drive away new historical miniatures players: 1) nitpicking details with an eye to show how much more you know 🧐 2) frequent and combative rules interpretation arguments 😡 3) bickering over movement and line of sight 😖 4) crushing a new player like a bug, and being smug about it. 😏 5) cold shoulder or silent treatment, and just being not very fun 😶 I've played at some clubs where one could argue these elements are actually the essence of their historical miniatures games; in some cases, even the primary source of "fun" for some grognards! 🤣

Great video

Some nice tips. 👍🏻

great to talking point - one thing I do in the 'shed' is meet the prospective player one to one off site before introducing them to the group. This way you get a sense of their personality and whether it will fit with existing members. Several newbies/existing players I have met in advance just wont fit the group dynamics. Some are just plain odd and quite frankly I would be nervous about letting them near my home ;-)

I am one with the Force and the Force is one with me.

Another great video Lee. Very interesting to hear that Bosworth may not be the site of the battle

Wow, all that hard work look great!

Such a nice scale😊😊

Great video thanks for the battle report.

We use the same rules & figures for the period...they never fail to provide a visually satisfying & enjoyable game.

Wow! Awesome stuff!