Fair points all around. I had assumed that all of the recon/messaging etc was going on in the background, with cavalry units dispatched out into the near wilds for forage/loot, but never straying so far from the main body as to be ambushed. This does not allow for things like...was it Stonewall Jackson who missed Gettysburg because he was too busy whooping it up well north of the action? The rules are fairly fine grained, but quite down to that level of detail. Perhaps old Son Featherstone's "Chance Cards" could layer in events of that stripe in the future.

@@TheJoyofWargaming One of the greatest things about Solo Wargaming is you can "bolt on" sections... take them out for a spin... and keep or discard them as you see fit! (And it's always a unanimous decision to boot!) Including the early movements of the mounted troops would have generated some more tabletop encounters that might have greatly influenced when and where the main armies marched. It was Jeb Stuart that left Lee blind... while trying to add another chapter of glory to his career. (Of course, being from Indiana... I was always more interested in the Western Theater than the Eastern. I once read about the reaction of a Western Confederate Veteran, many years after the war, being told about Stuart's "Ride Around the Union Army Of The Potomac", in the Peninsular Campaign, and being less than impressed with The Virginia Cavalier. He said, "Hell Mister! I rode around the entire State Of Missouri three times with Joe Wheeler!" In his book, "The Wargame", Charles Grant, goes though the movements of two opposing cavalry patrols. A lot of options are available for such small forces... and the tension for the commanders is intense; but enjoyable. Don's Chance Cards are always a great way to shake things up... and provide another reason why commanders should have a reserve at every level to respond to the unexpected. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!

The mobilization phase carries a lot of the campaign on its shoulders. When you analyze the map, inevitable actions arise. In a lot of cases, the flow of the resulting campaign rises so naturally from the setup. It helps you realize how much leaders of historical conflicts were stuck 'riding the tiger' and how constrained they were in their actions and choices.

@@TheJoyofWargaming Must try this form of start one day. I mostly have history of Paste events already in my head. Roleplayer. 😄

You are way ahead of me, John. Weather is one of two critical issues that might have made a big difference. The other is rest days. I'm flinging these armies around in forced marches with wild abandon. Those two factors show up in future installments of this series.

@@TheJoyofWargaming you can have some of the snow we have here today. I shall curb my enthusiasm on the comments. I just find this a really exciting project. I think one of the first caveats of the book is that it isn't a game in it's own right, but it almost is! Right, I'm zipping it now...

Thank you. This is a bit of a departure from the usual, so it's nice to know other are enjoying it as much as me.

I am behind on the Great Khan's defense of the shiny belt. Gimme time, we'll get there.

@@TheJoyofWargaming I'm so far behind in what I want to get done I can't fault you at all. And I'm getting further behind because I bought the huge big box of Ogre. 85 minis to assemble. 😱 This weekend: And in this corner 25 to 30 Orcs versus 25 to 30 demons and Ogres, the two-legged kind. Possibly use FFOL rules. That is, if I get a few other things done first.

Brother, you're gonna laugh when the balloon finally goes up. Guarandangteed.

I think the 10 days represents a failure of intelligence. The defenders spies did a terrible job analyzing the threat, and as a result they got caught with their pants down and had to scramble to mobilize in time.

@@TheJoyofWargaming I agree absolutely. But dextromania does not know how badly the left screwed it up about intel and I think they should start to move without any consideration about that 10 day figure. Just a thought. Thanks for your videos and series!

TradCath, but not very radical.

Oh fun fact, me too and same! I don't run into many of us out there in the wild. I just learned about the hobby and have been watching videos trying to get an understanding of it all and yours have been awesome and I want to thank you! The world building I think is especially interesting but it definitely seems like I've just scratched the surface.@@TheJoyofWargaming

@@belyy_rusky There are a lot more of us out here than the industry wants to admit.

That's a good thought. That level of detail is handled very abstractly in these rules.I'm I'm assuming all of the towns have defenses of some sort whether it's rivers or forts or city walls doesn't really matter, the big thing is that it slows down the route of an army and provides a checkpoint for maintaining supply lines. So is army's move they do have to stop and pacify the countryside and these sieges are essentially how they do that.

@@TheJoyofWargaming What about occupation forces? If someone win siege, he should spend at least 1 additional day for prepare "cooperative" city Council. Should he give part of his troops for militia purpose? Maybe 1:100 ratio to secure order in city? Maybe each new day, new Council recruit 25(?) militia so this is another 8 day you need to spend in city for 200 militia (secure city). One thing that is little bit confusing. Rolling dice with making decision is great, problem is "weight" of option. You and I can go and buy lottery ticket, but also we can just role dice. So options are win / lose and all we need is flip the coin and start being millionaire :P. Or maybe role d20 with 20, 5 times in row? That lead to "better roleplaying" in solo wargaming. This is very hard because you need to think about: -information that this side or even person know; -his motivation; -etc. I already watched series. IT WAS GREAT. Ending with skirmish and "escaping" princes was amazing. I need to buy this book. I wanna to play solo with ancient theme, and have more sides that can intervene if one side start losing. Main sides Rome, Carthaginian and minor faction like Gauls, Greeks, Egypt. And most important "War is simply the continuation of political intercourse with the addition of other means".