"Empire players Yahoo Group is hot!" Topic

Hi all

Just posting a quick note that the activity on the Empire Yahoo Group has been thick and fast this month with a highest number of posts since it began in 1999.

link

So if you play Empire napoleonics or want to check it out, get into the group and introduce yourself. Or dust off your old log in and get back in to it. Some exciting things happening.

David
wardepot.blogspot.com
6to20painting.blogspot.com

Thank you no.

Empire of the "Petal" throne? Empire of the Flies? Empire of the 13 Monkeys? Other than these I too must pass. Bill

Hey don't leave now, guys! We're just about to start turn two!

Thanks David
I have been following it and some really intresting information about the period.

William

If you don't have something positive to contribute, then why bother?

If I responded to every single post that DIDNT interest me, I would never get off these forums.

David
wardepot.blogspot.com
6to20painting.blogspot.com

I no longer play Empire David, but I do applaud your enthusiasm for a rule set you like.

Good luck.

Hardly relevant to the 18th C. board unless covering 'Empire bonapartics' in addition to 'napoleonics', but I my self did some'overextended' "advertising" on TMP, so… thanks for the info.

"Empire players Yahoo Group is hot!"

Mind you don't burn your fingers then

We are just yanking your chain a little bit.

… although Becks Dark's comment sums up my feelings about the Empire rules in a most pithy manner. Nicely done sir!

Out of [genuine] curiosity… What are some of the hot and exciting things happening at the Empire Yahoo Group site?

I would browse it, myself, but it's one of those locked-down groups where you have to get permission and they monitor your posts until final approval, etc, etc. etc.

Agree with Will Keyser – and kudos David for taking one for your team.

As for the descriptive "hot" … unless there is a fair amount of female nudity that can be hidden from my wife I would prefer that you refer to the Empire yahoo group as "becoming comfortably warm."

And bon lead pushing to those who push lead no matter what your denomination .. rem this is supposed to be ecumenical!

Cheers!
Beeker

Thanks for the Kudos's's's guys.

Hey, I just thought I would let everyone know what's going on in case some were still interested or hadn't dropped in for a while.

Alt=> Sorry mate, just jumped to conclusions I guess. Alot of that going around here at the moment. I've been warned about mentioning Empire on TMP before by players from the "old days" but hey, I am a positive person and always give things and people a chance. But only get one.

Not sure how much more 18th century is needed than a set of rules that allow you game late 1700s in addition to Napoleonic Wars.

"Advertising"! Advertising what? I have no commercial interest in Empire. I just like the rules and have had some of the most realistic outcomes on the tabletop for the period in the years I have played them and compared them to accounts of battles. But that just my opinion and if it is not yours, there is no need to express it, just move on. Like I'm going to sell up my 13,000 figures and my Empire rules and my myriad of books on battles, uniforms and tactics just because someone says they dont like Empire. What do you expect me to do other than to maybe respond in a hostile way to obvious provocation. Just move along and be happy I don't go off in threads about how I don't like those other rules.

You don't stick around for the 2nd turn? Man that is a short attention span. When you understand the rules, you can play Waterloo in a few hours. But hey, whatever.

David
wardepot.blogspot.com
6to20painting.blogspot.com

"When you understand the rules…"

Empire is like Catholic school.

Everybody who went through it in their youth was traumatized by it, yet the survivors all share a sort of fond reverence for the memory of having our knuckles smashed and our spirits crushed, and we somehow suspect that we're better and wiser now for having lived through it. And we can't help but snort at those young'uns nowadays who have no idea what it was like back in the day.

So BD, is that where you would put WRG Ancients too? Other pioneering rule sets?

I haven't consistently played Napoleonics for years, but that has nothing to do with Empire or any of the other rule sets that flash popularity then fail to take the top spot. Even now when the newb asks "what's the best set" question this is no clear consensus. Not even a front runner.

Empire still gave me the best simulation for Napoleonics for 20 years. For whatever reason now: old school mentality, too many games to play, lazy about actually *learning* a system, or whatever, it deserves our respect for bringing so many Napoleonic enthusiasts to the hobby. Gaming fashion trends come and go, but Empire endures and continues to sell.

Of all the Napoleonic rules sets I have used over the years, the Empire family of rules have been some of the best. There is a steep learning curve to it yes, but if you can get a stable group of people willing to put in the necessary work, the results are rewarding.

Like other complex systems (Advanced Squad Leader and the Europa series of board games come to mind), this level of detail and complexity does not appeal to all.

Speaking of 'continuing to sell', what would help spur sales of Empire and other 'mature' systems is having access to in-print versions. Being a member of the Empire Yahoo group for some time now, I have seen that Scott has some ACW & Napoleonic systems in the design pipeline, but it does not sound like they will make it to a production release anytime soon due to other commitments and the economics of marketing rules systems with limited appeal to a very fickle consumer base.

With the last 'true' version of Empire being 20+ years old now, it is hard to generate enthusiasm for rules that are very hard to come by.

Bart

"I would browse it, myself, but it's one of those locked-down groups where you have to get permission and they monitor your posts until final approval, etc, etc. etc."

Actually Boobies, Art and I are fairly open to new members and postings but we suffered a rash a spam a couple of years back and it took a while for us to sort through the spam members. There were even a few sleeper spammers that had lain dormant for several years before they began posting.

Between the two of us, membership is approved within a few hours and messages get posted in about the same.

After the deluge of spamming we encountered, I think it is a small price to pay to keep the content on subjects Napoleon and not lingerie (Napoleonic or otherwise), but to each his own.

And Dave, keep up the good work. I don't get to play Empire much nowadays but still enjoy reading good after action reports. My original group played hard enough to get to where we were running about 30-45 minutes per Empire hour when we played consistently and enjoyed every minute of it.

Christopher Anders, Co-Owner, Co-Moderator, Empire Yahoo Group

I started playing "Empire", in 1979…..wargamed ALL of the subsequent editions.

Half the fun of "Empire" was liberal interpretations of the "rules"!

Downside was gaming with a group of 8 to 10 "Empire" gamers who would take months to complete any kind of battle scenario that was started!
They would leave the figures on the gametable and reconvene on some future Saturday, which always created problems for everyone! I recall starting a game of "Empire", in November, 1998 & finally reaching a resolution of that same game in early 2000…This group liked to stop indivual gameplay to watch the "Empire/Umpire?", resolve a close combat situation in an isolated part of the huge 16 foot by 6 foot wargame table! Lots of inane chit-chat also characterized all of the "Empire" sessions!

I switched over to a different set of Napoleonic wargame rules and to a completely new set of gamers….start & finish a game in ONE afternoon.

Regards,
Wayne

Did I hear someone mention ASL???

Runs screaming from the room!!!

Bob
Had Empire and ASL while in the Army in the mid 80's.
Deployments got in the way of actually learning both!

Dear David,

I've tried to rejoin the Yahoo Groups "Empire" group, no success, can you direct me to a better way to rejoin?

Thanks David, in advance of your reply(with the steps or link info that will be successful)!

Wayne

Wayne.
Not sure why you can't get on. I will post something in the group to see if anyone else can help. Did you go through the rego and just got no response?

We have done Waterloo in 1 x 8 hour day with 4 commanders. Not sure what others do but we meet for 3 hours every monday night and get a decent battle done every 2 or 3 nights.

David
wardepot.blogspot.com
6to20painting.blogspot.com