Tabletop Battle Tactics Deluxe Edition by Henry Hyde (PDF format)

Based on a series of articles written by the author for Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine, this volume pulls together all that tabletop tactical advice under a single cover for easy reference.

Wargamers interested in any period from ancients to WWII will benefit from the oversight and advice contained in these pages, outlining how each troop type evolved its own tactics to counter its enemies and make best use of new technologies as they arose.

The advice contained here will help you make the best of your infantry, cavalry, artillery, chariots and elephants, through to the radical changes brought about in, for example, artillery from the late 19th century onwards. Most of the information is completely generic, with a few examples to help you understand how different arms and tactics are represented in popular rulesets like Black Powder, Hail Caesar, Chain of Command, Warhammer Ancient Battles and others.

You also get to put into practice all the theory learned in the first part of the book, pitting yourself against a determined enemy in challenging circumstances! With beautifully rendered maps that wargamers will instantly recognise represent easily-available gaming terrain, veteran wargamer Henry Hyde presents no less than seventeen scenarios in this edition, each of which can be adapted and staged using your favourite armies.

The content spans the globe, launching you from ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium, soaring across medieval and renaissance Europe, and taking in the conflicts of more recent times that might be in Russia, the Western Desert, Iraq or Afghanistan. Or why not transpose these scenarios to Middle Earth or Death Fields? Skeleton armies or modern special forces, Wellington's riflemen or Goblin archers, or Grognard cavalry charging into the firepower of the British Bulldogs—these lessons and scenarios apply equally to them all.

All the scenarios are infinitely replayable, enabling them to be used just for an evening's gaming fun or as exercises for the more seriously-minded student of tactics. They can be used with whatever rules you prefer, and the author considers the different approaches that might be needed when using a selection of popular rulesets. Any of these scenarios will also provide hours of gaming pleasure for the solo gamer, as well as for players with live opponents.

And you don't have to be a historical wargamer to benefit from these tactical lessons: mass fantasy battle players will find useful information here too, realising that a regiment of dwarves armed with spears really isn't that different from a regiment of ancient Romans! And of course any sci-fi gamer can make instant use of scenarios that also work well for WWII.

Informed by Henry's more than five decades of experience in the hobby, in which he has suffered both victories and defeats, this book effectively summarises that vast experience and condenses it into a series of lessons that you will find informative, entertaining and, most importantly, extremely useful when planning your next battle!