"Imperial Bayonets " Topic

I seem to be having trouble locating a copy of this book. I did find one for $153 USD but is it realy that good of a read to spend that much. I have others on the subject including Rothenberg's, Muir's and Nosworthy's so is Nafziger's worth the search?

I've been after a copy myself for years now. It is a really good book but it's not $153.00 USD good. I wish Mr. Nafziger would put out a new edition but from email exchanges on the subject with him it doesn't seem likely.

Unless you really, really want it I would not suggest it is worth that price. Of course, it's easy for me say that when it is sitting on my shelf! It is fairly dense going (like his 1812 book). Given the other books that you have I think you can give it a miss.

wooo hoooo! I didn't know my copy was worth that much; and it's in mint condition!

Too bad I like it so much….

I guess teh answer is 'it depends.' Much of the material he used to compile it can be found on the web, in various archives and through sources like Google books. The issue then becomes one of language. The source documents are often only available in the original languages, which may or may not be an issue for you. I got mine for $35 USD about four years ago and it has been a departure point to go back and find the original material to go beyond what George could cover in the space allowed.

The other reason I say,'it depends' is why you want the material in the book. If you play brigade level games, then you can probably skip it unless you are curious. The references you listed along with some others like Ney's 'Military Studies' and the British Drill Manuals will probably cover it for you. If you play battalions level games, then it might make more sense to cowboy up and pay for it.

I hope that helps.

I have found Imperial Bayonets to be superior to the other three. Nosworthy just has too many errors and assumptions to be a good source for the period. Rothenberg's is OK, but only skims the surface and I haven't found it to be that helpful. Muir's book is good, but deals mostly, but not exclusively, with the British and the artillery section could be better.

If you have Muir and Imperial Bayonets, you have an excellent picture for the period.

It is too bad that it is now so expensive, but if you want a good book for the period, and I haven't seen a better one on the topic in current Napoleonic literature, then for me it would be a necessity, especially if you don't read in other languages.

Sincerely,
Kevin

Don't know whether this will help but I just picked up a copy of this book for 46.00 Euros at the Waterloo gift shop at the battlefield in Belgium. If I recall correctly, they had a few more copies left in stock together with a very good selection of other Napoleonic goodies. You can probably find a contact number of the web and I believe they are capable of shipping. Even with airmail postage there is quite a savings over the second hand price.

Kent

Don't give up your search, it is really worth it once you get a copy. I used it as a base for a huge percentage of my own designed rules for many section and storngly recommend it. Muir also as Kevin says is a good book to use as well.

To me it is worth $1,000 or more and I would never part with it, too much valuable information in it not to own it or keep it.

I really enjoyed how he broke down the Napoleonic cavalry into 4 tiers for example of quality and how he convincingly showed their command control problems or advantages depending on nation and the placement of officers and nco's, brilliant work.

Regards,
Shane

Shane,

Excellent summary and very well said.

Sincerely,
Kevin

Shane,

You may also want to look at a couple of old articles Nafziger wrote for the Courier back in the 1980s. They cover recommended unit ratings for the British and French in Empire III terms based on a statistical analysis of desertion rates for both armies. I don't agree with all his suggestions, but they are certainly interesting and a good deal more granular than anything I have seen in any rules I have read. If you are interested, email me offline ay bagration1812 at yahoo.com and I'll send you a copy.

mate that would be great, I enjoy everything written by Nafziger, I respect him a great deal. I will email you today.

Thanks again

Shane

"Imperial Bayonets" covers some very interesting material, but must be used with extreme caution, as math and Nafziger are not friends. The first third, a time and space study of common manuevers, is full of errors. Most noticable are that numbers derived in the text are not the numbers that are listed in the tables, but other errors lead to erroneous conclusions about the relative merits of the Prussian and French systems and the 9 and 6 company French organizations.

NSN

Thankyou Bagration,

I recieved the information which was of a great help to me, Nafziger has a great grasp on the subject and understands fully the idea of troop effectiveness and Eliteness for my mind.

Shane

You are quite welcome Shane.

Incidentally, most of the material in Imperial Bayonets can be found in articles that Nafziger wrote for the Courier, EE&L and other magazines/journals during the 1980s and 1990s. Much of this can be found in the Magweb archives if you are a member.

Imperial Bayonets is out of print, and I don't have a copy of the book. I have over 100 Nafziger books, many on the Napoleonic era, just not that one.

Click on the link and enter "Nafziger" into the search engine, or scroll down my home page and click on the "Napleonics" link (left side) about halfway down.

And yes, if you search through MagWeb.com, you will indeed find a considerable amount of Napoleonic information.

Dennis from OMM
onmilitarymatters.com