"Corps level rules/ games for FPW or 1914 WWI...?" Topic

I have been yet to find a good set of rules that handles corps or multi-corps battles easily for either Franco Prussian War or early period WW1. Volley and Bayonet and Great War Spearhead could fit the bill but I'm not fond of either set.

Any other suggestions. I'm not looking for dumbed down rules either (a la Square Bashing, no offence!), just something not to complicated.

Except those mentioned there are not many rules covering this scale and period. Principles Of War? Basic unit is the battalion (3 bases) and the rules cover all the XIX century untill early WW1. You can read a description of the game mechanics for the Napoleonic variant that plays very similar:
TMP link
The game uses a roster to keep track of the strenght of each unit (randomly determined at start), this feature has made it a ruleset that one either likes or dislikes.
link

You could try Polemos Franco-Prussian War where the larger variant (Kommandant der Armee) has 1 Base equalling 1 Infantry Brigade.

Cheers,

Martin

Have you looked at the 1870 rules?
grandtacticalrules.com

They are specifically designed for large battles. FPW era not WW1. Base unit is a regiment (3 bases each 1 battalion) Created for 6mm gaming, but could be used with 10 or 15mm as well.

You could try 'Battles with Brusilov' for WW1. They were designed for corps-army size battles and in game structure look similar in approach to 'Fire and Fury'. I think they were intended to be part of a series, although the version I have is aimed at the 1914 campaigns.

Thanks for the input.

A second plug for "1870". Even if you choose not to game with them they are an invaluable resource! Simpy packed with informationa and scenarios.

For multiple Corps in the FPW I ended up writing my own, heavily based on Richard Brooks 'Terrible Swift Rules'. Manouvre units are divisions, HQs are Corps or higher. Available here:

PDF link

I would hestitate to call these 'rules', more of an aide memoire. You don't have to uses hexes, squares work OK too.

For 1914 I wrote a WW1 version of Megablitz (imaginatively called Kaiserblitz), which works fine for multiple Corps in both 1914 and 1918, but it doesn't work for trench warfare. I've done First Ypres with it. IIRC it is in the files section in the Megablitz yahoogroup.

I've seen a 1914 version of V&B with battalion sized elements which looks OK too.

I wrote a supplement for Piquet called Home before the Leaves Fall. These have 2 scales – with each unit representing either a Corps or Division

Avaialble free at

link

These rules are Grand Tactical. Game the Western Front in 1914 on a 9 by 5 table.

You could try Fire and Furia Francese at this site wfgamers.org.uk

"To the Last Gaiter Button" does this very well – TMP link
- provided you don't mind square-based games. The rules come with everything you need to run the campaign – except the armies.

I don't know the rules but the publisher of "To the Last Gaiter Button" mentioned above has a variant for WW1 named "Playing Leap Frog"
link

"Playing Leap Frog"

Possibly the best name for a game I've seen.