Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.

[Nathan Ross]

The whole debate really rests on the quality of the ground (terrain and features) of the nominated battle site so... reverse engineering the campaign that leads to that site is entirely futile.

In fairness to Fuentes, I don't think he was particularly intending to construct a campaign that led to Virginia Water - rather than he favoured a westwards route from London and VW was the first available high ground that might fit the bill.

As I said, I don't find it compelling either. However, move a little further west and we might have a few reasonable options, on the route up to Surrey and Bagshot Heaths and towards Silchester. Just past Sunningdale might work, at a push:

   

Obviously it's no overwhelming terrain feature - but few of the sites that any of us have discussed are that. And (as I'm sure I've said before) Suetonius Paulinus had no access to accurate topographical maps of the entirely of England. He had little enough that we might call a map of any sort. All he had to go on when choosing his battle site was the available ground that he could see with his own eyes close enough to wherever he was positioned at the time. All topography is therefore relative.

As I've also said many times, I think he was in St Albans when he made the decision to fight, and he therefore looked directly north-eastwards at the high ground of the Chilterns, and that's where the battle was...

It's worth considering these topographies relative to Tring...

Ah, now that's more like it!