The Miller's Tale: Recent Episodes

Mike Whitaker

WAB, WECW, Dux Britanniarum, IABSM3 and many other wargames rules, mostly in 28 and 15mm.

View Details

Episode 13 - in which Mike finally gets to catch up with former Dux Brit partner-in-crime and rock god Andy Hawes, in a wide-ranging discussion covering everything from understanding bias in history to digging for Time Team at Sutton Hoo. This chat was recorded on the 12th June and has taken a little longer to edit than I really wanted, but here it is.

Useful links:

  • Sutton Hoo
  • Wargaming the Age of the Anglo-Saxons event (July 26-7)

  • Time Team

  • The Sutton Hoo 2024 dig parts 1, 2, 3 (on site), 4 (micro-excavation of the Bromeswell Bucket)
  • Live updates from this year's dig parts 1, 2

  • Book for Posh Lard 2025 here

And just to prove you probably have seen the Sutton Hoo helmet, here it is in all its glory...

View Details

Episode 12 - in which Mike has a chat with the Mighty Dux himself, Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies, over a range of topics including Chain of Command 2, Patreon, Pint-sized Campaigns and even, very briefly, Dux Britanniarum.

And hi to the folks I missed at OML this past weekend!

Useful links:

  • The TFL Patreon.
  • Book for Posh Lard 2025 here

Watch this space for another interview Real Soon Now!

View Details

Episode 11: In which Mike catches up with Mike Hutchinson of Planet Smasher Games, a past guest on Meeples and Miniatures and creator of (among many other things) Gaslands.

Useful links:

  • Planet Smasher Games
  • Mike's podcast with Glenn Ford, Rule of Carnage
  • Osprey's (pre-)order page for Pacific Command
  • The Space Gits Kickstarter
  • Mike's book "The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design"
  • Hereward Wargames Show! (FB page)

You know, if I did those more often, I'd spend less time remembering how all these moving parts go together to get it up online in all the right places :DThat said? Watch this space for episode 12, in a couple of weeks.

View Details

Episode 10: In which the podcast reaches double figures, and Mike has his first ever guest, namely James Morris!

Links from the episode:

  • James' website: mogsymakes.net
  • James on social media: Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and probably mogsymakes anywhere else you can think of!
  • Midgard Heroic Battles videos from TFL:
  • Midgard Heroic Battles. An Introduction
  • Midgard Heroic Battles Part 2: A Look at a Typical Force

  • Pre-orders:

  • From Too Fat Lardies/Reisswitz Press in the UK
  • From Karwansary Publishing in Europe

  • James on the 20 Sided Gamified podcast

  • That Partizan backdrop.....

View Details

Episode 9: in which Mike once again attempts to remember how the heck the Heath Robinson-esque collection of RSS feed generator, local webspace and heaven knows what else all hooks together. And attempts to get caught up, and rambles about a 40-year old wargame...Links from this episode

  • Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro filament printer
  • XTool S1 laser cutter
  • Tales From The Periphery - my new podcast
  • The BattleTech portal page
  • Brutal Cities MDF terrain

Read more »

View Details

There were, it appears, a number of issues some folks were having with the most recent podcast episode.
* Like an idiot I added ID3 tags, which some podcast players don't like on M4A files. Thanks to Roger B-W for spotting this. * When I built the new server, I missed copying one change to a small but essential configuration file off the backup, which meant the episode wouldn't play in Firefox. Thanks to Dave Brown for reporting that. * I also changed the server that handles the podcast files from HTTP to HTTPS. This shouldn't make any difference, but you never know :D * Some podcast feed services cache the incorrectly-tagged version, so even though I fixed it you still might not have been able to play it. Thanks to Neil McGurk for flagging that this may be an issue.

So. Here's a fresh post, so it creates a new podcast feed entry, linking to a copy of the correct file, so the feed services can't cache it. If you've been having problems, try this and see if it resolves it.

View Details

Episode 7: In which Mike talks about umpiring. And the obvious elephant in the room...

Links to things mentioned in the podcast
* Element Games' GW Contrast Paints page (no, I didn't buy the bundle - I'm not that mad!) * Hereward Wargames Show * WarWorld Scenics demo video

If there's anything I missed, please let me know. I'm keen for any feedback, obviously enough - you can comment here, or if you'd rather it wasn't public, by email to podcast@the-mill-house.org.uk.

View Details

Episode 6: In which Mike talks about responsibility.... (ooo! scary!)Links to things mentioned in the podcast* Titan Terrain NZ * The Terrain Tutor's YouTube channel and Kickstarter * Hereward Wargames Show * Posh Lard * The club's Omaha Beach game * Crisis Point

If there's anything I missed, please let me know. I'm keen for any feedback, obviously enough - you can comment here, or if you'd rather it wasn't public, by email to podcast@the-mill-house.org.uk.

[Apologies - I do appear, on editing this episode, to have had more of the tail end of a cold than I remember - I've done my best to edit out the heavy breathing where I can :D]

View Details

Episode 5: In which Mike talks about (among other things)... boats and trains?
Trust me. There's method in the madness.

Before anyone comments - yes, this is just over the hour, which came as quite a shock when I came to do the assemble edit. This is pretty much the upper limit on length I'm prepared to go - any longer and you'll get more and shorter podcasts!
Read more »

View Details

Episode 4: In which Mike reviews Too Fat Lardies' "I Ain't Been Shot Mum"...

No, I know I'm not the first. See, the plan is, to review things not when they're brand new, but when I've had time to beat them into submission and figure out what I really like and don't...
Read more »

View Details

Episode 3: In which Mike gets caught out by summer holidays and Real Life.

Please note: the majority of this podcast was recorded in early August, hence some of the remarks and news items are a little out of date - they are, I hope, still as valid as when they were made.
Read more »

View Details

Episode 2: In which Mike attempts to remember how this podcasting thing works!
Read more »

View Details

Episode 1: In which Mike introduces himself, and discusses Kickstarters, magazines, and the concept of context (and related things) in wargaming.

Read more »