Battle Chronicle: Playthrough

This week’s video is a full playthrough of The Barn at Dawn, the introductory scenario from Battle Chronicle: Retreat from Moscow, which is a cooperative Napoleonic skirmish game focused on survival, isolation, and hard decisions. Set during the catastrophic 1812 retreat, the game strips away grand tactics and sweeping manoeuvres. There are no lines of infantry trading volleys, no elegant battlefield choreography. Each miniature represents a single exhausted French straggler. These men are cut off, freezing, and desperately trying to escape enemy territory while Russian patrols close in.

The first scenario is played on a compact 2x2 table using six French figures and a reinforcement pool of twelve Russian line infantry. The Russians are controlled by an automated system. They do not “think” in the human sense; they follow simple behavioural rules based on distance and line of sight. Beyond that, they advance relentlessly. Reinforcements arrive twice per Russian turn, meaning the longer the French linger, the worse their situation becomes.

The tension in this game does not come from complex mechanics. It comes from decision-making under pressure. Each French character has three actions per turn: move, shoot, search, or fight. An aimed shot costs two actions. Loot can be discovered at designated points across the table, but searching takes time, and you do not have time. Food, firewood, and bandages may save a life later in the campaign, but stopping to search could mean being overrun.

This first game is intentionally simple. It introduces movement, survival, reinforcement mechanics, and the automated Russian response system. Later scenarios expand the table size, increase complexity, and introduce additional narrative twists. But even here, the pressure is palpable. Reinforcements recycle through the pool, so while only twelve Russians may be on the table at once, the French can face far more over the course of the game.

If you are interested in historical tabletop wargaming, Napoleonic miniatures, cooperative skirmish systems, or narrative campaign design, this playthrough demonstrates exactly how the rules function in practice. More importantly, it shows how a game can create tension through meaningful choices rather than mechanical complications.

Cavalier 2026 Show Report

The 2026 Cavalier Wargames Show in Tonbridge once again proved why it remains one of the most respected and enduring regional tabletop wargaming events in the UK. Held annually at the Angel Centre and hosted by the Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society, Cavalier has become a true “season opener” for many gamers across the South East, myself included.

After the long winter stretch between Warfare and February, Cavalier marks that moment when the show calendar properly comes back to life. It’s a chance to reconnect with fellow hobbyists, meet subscribers and friends, browse traders, and soak in some of the best demonstration and participation games the region has to offer. While it may not be as vast as some of the larger national conventions, Cavalier consistently delivers a high standard of presentation and organisation, making it a favourite among historical wargamers, miniature painters, and tabletop gaming enthusiasts alike.

Are you rolling your dice wrong?

Every tabletop wargamer knows the feeling: you line up the perfect attack, pick up a fistful of dice… and roll absolute disaster. Again. It’s easy to joke that our dice are cursed, disloyal, or harbouring a personal grudge against our beautifully painted troops. But what if the problem isn’t bad luck at all? What if we’ve been rolling dice “wrong” for years?

In this video, we take a cheerful deep dive into one of tabletop gaming’s most enduring bits of club folklore: the idea that how you roll dice might actually influence the outcome. It’s a topic that sits right at the intersection of probability, superstition, and the wonderfully odd culture of historical and miniature wargaming.

We explore a whole gallery of familiar techniques. There’s the dramatic flick, launching dice across the battlefield like plastic artillery. The long tumble, beloved of casino players and guaranteed to send dice rolling through terrain pieces. The chaotic high drop, which sounds like a bag of gravel hitting a tin roof. We also look at pre-roll shaking rituals, lucky (or banned) hands, and the ever-popular dice cup or tower for players who’d rather let gravity make the decisions.

Along the way, we gently untangle the myth from the maths. Dice are, after all, simple randomising tools governed by physics, not feelings. As long as they’re rolling freely and fairly, the results are effectively random. But that doesn’t mean rolling style is meaningless. Far from it. The way we roll dice affects the pace of the game, the clarity of results, and the shared drama around the table. It’s part performance, part ritual, and part social contract between players.

For historical wargamers and miniature hobbyists, these little habits are part of the wider joy of the hobby. We already spend hours painting figures, building terrain, and recreating battles from the past. A few dice-rolling superstitions fit right in with that blend of history, storytelling, and playful imagination.

This video is ultimately a celebration of those quirks. Whether you’re a careful cup-user, an enthusiastic flicker, or someone who shakes dice like you’re trying to wake them up, you’re not alone. Dice may be random, but the stories and laughs they create at the table are anything but.

More Retreat from Moscow Testing this weekend.

More playtesting has been underway this week, with even more sessions lined up for the weekend and into next week as we hammer out the final refinements to Battle Chronicle: The Retreat from Moscow.  Each game nudges the system a little closer to where we want it. Tight enough to hold together under pressure, but flexible enough to let the story breathe. 

The system will be a co-operative narrative skirmish campaign booklet, built around small groups, hard choices, and consequences that carry forward. Every playtest has thrown up something useful: a rule that needs tightening, a mechanic that sings, a moment of unexpected drama that reminds us why we’re doing this in the first place. That’s the quiet magic of playtesting, because it exposes the cracks and the gold in equal measure.

We’re keeping our powder dry on a release date for now. There’s still work to do, and we’d rather get it right than get it rushed. But with each session, we’re getting closer to a system we genuinely believe people will enjoy putting on their tables. In the meantime, here are a handful of photos from the latest playtest session—small glimpses of a project steadily taking shape.