"Do you think most play it at your reduced scale?"
All my L'Art
de la Guerre games so far have been 15/18mm. The why of that seems to be historical, as most of the gamers playing ALDG seem to have come from Fields of Glory and DBM, which was dominated by that scale. My history is a bit longer and I have about 6 armies in 25mm as well, which is the dominant scale for "Warrior". This was an evolutionary process, as the 15mm Warrior players migrated to DBM, then FOG, then back to DBM. Thus creating a filter of game system over scale.
Looking at Mad Axemans battle reports, I would say over in Europe, the mix of 25mm /15mm is about 30/70. But that is just a guess.
So, if there is no-one in your area, and you are under a economic constraint, you may want to try 10mm, so you can build two armies easily enough. And while you could play against a 15mm army, 10mm uses the same sized bases, just double the number of figures, it wouldn't look right.
"...cool from a hobbiest perspective (making a diorama!)"
A 10mm camp however would look ok, as it could be full of tiny figures. I have see camps with animal pens, rows of tents, dancing girls. Really nice dioramas. Then, there are my camps...;}
"Where do you source your minis?"
I finished my last 15mm painted army in the '90's, my Anglo-Irish. So most of the figures you see have been battered in boxes for over 30 years. They are bent, have broken spears and ankles beyond counting. They are well loved toys, not display pieces.
However I am now painting up 3 fresh armies using Jamie Fishes "Thistle and Rose" line, but I bought them over 20 years ago, then lost interest in painting them, due to Warrior moving on to 25mm scale, see above. But they are perfect for L'Art
de la Guerre. Hordes of Early Germans, Mithradaitics and Gaul’s will soon be flooding the boards. Jamie stopped producing that line over 10 years ago, but there is a web site, run by the “Mad Axeman”, that is doing a better job of hobby support than I, and has a page dedicated to a list of suppliers of figures at.
http://www.madaxeman.com/main/15mm_ancients_suppliers.php
"What two armies would you suggest I start with?
You should pick armies based on your preferred style of play. If you are methodical, go heavy infantry, like Roman or Greek. Like to charge in there and mix it up, go Knights. Like the steadiness of foot (4 hits per unit) with more hitting power, go 2 handed weapons or Impetuous, Early Germans, Anglo Irish. Like to play in terrain, go loose order, Vikings, Gaul’s, Irish, Scotts. Elephants? Indian. Good solid Cavalry, but with control, Byzantine or Mongol.
It really depends on your style. If you like to play with Tiger Tanks, your temperament would be suited to either Knights, Parthians or Palmyrans. If you like Stuarts and Sherman’s, then Mongols and Byzantines. Combined arms, go Roman or Low Countries.
"What scale?"
What your local group is using. I would default to 15mm otherwise.
Thanks for your posts!
You’re Welcome. Feedback provides me with incentive to do more.
Oh and dude.... do you need me to make you some terrain?
Oh dude, burn.....
Seriously, Ancients players often get chided on having lousy, even ugly terrain. "Felt Warriors" is probably the kinder derogatory name I’ve heard. My terrain is actually a step up from the “Ancients” norm. I have depth on them. Our local group is trying to hang "Gully Man" on me as a nickname, as that ugly piece is in every game of L'Art
de la Guerre I play.
There are valid reasons or this over other games. It is because with ancients, we actually have to play on our terrain. With large units. We don’t hide behind them for cover, we have groups of units, up to 10” long that have to move through the brush, woods and fields. This is not a couple of independent tanks, with a range of 32”, where their exact position can be altered a bit to fit the trees. Our groups of units are most effective if they are edge to edge in a straight line. As you can see on my sloped hills, this is difficult. (note to self, take the styrofoam cutter to that hill)
Then there is transportability. With Ancients the placement of the terrain is a game in itself. Getting favorable terrain can make or break an army. It is an adversarial system. If you want terrain, and you are going to your opponent’s house, he is under no obligation to provide it for you, so you must transport what you need yourself. Try transporting this landscape:
https://philsmartianfront.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-second-battle-of-sheboygan.html
A couple of boxes at least. Over top of your army.
A few pieces of felt take no room what so ever.
The second reason is effort. Ancient armies using Warrior™, DBM, and FOG were more than twice as large as an army with L'Art
de la Guerre. After all that effort, you just want to play. So terrain fell by the wayside. Can I make nice woods, which I cannot put any units in, or 3 more Cataphracts for my next great army?
That ugly gully of mine? That is a piece of precision engineering especially made for L'Art
de la Guerre. The gap in the center will fit a 4 element group exactly, while meeting the maximum length of 240mm. And it looks like an ugly gash in the ground. It also transports easily, and is rugged.
I actually do have a nice selection of terrain available to me, but they are too large for L'Art
de la Guerre. Which has a 9.5” limit all round.
Thanks,
Phil
Deathwatch 
AdMech 
Necron
