"Large scale rules?" Topic

Is there a Napoleonic rules set at the scale of one base = one regiment/brigade?

I'm not that familiar with existing rules sets but I want to learn. Thanks.

Volley and Bayonet by Frank Chadwick and Greg Navack, Snappy Nappy by Russ Lockwood, and Sam Mustafa's Grand Armee come readily to mind as in print now games where a stand represents thousands of men. Each are very different games, but I'd start with those. There are others, to be sure!

Peter

Horse Foot and Guns by Phil Barker is another.

It is yet to be published (but you can get the draft version for free which seemed pretty much finalised some years ago).

link

Scale is a base is 1000-1500 cav, 1500-2500 inf or 18-24 guns.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your interests) it covers 1700-1915, so you have to wade through a lot of rules about other periods to play a Napoleonic game.

Phil Barker's rules are an acquired taste. Sample:

+1 if shot at by enemy all of which are beyond:
* 200p if the shooters are foot, dismounted or an SP or Laager, and the target is not artillery.
* 400p if the shooters are Smoothbore, Mixed or Portable Artillery and the target is neither artillery, a BUA or an SP.
* Half maximum range if both shooters and target are Artillery or naval.

Pass the aspirin, please.

Thanks to the suggestion above, I searched around regarding Grande Armee because Sam M. has a good reputation where I'm from. I was intrigued to see that someone has done "pocket scale" Grande Armee where the inches are all converted to centimeters.

That sounds something like what I'm looking for. I want to do Borodino at some point.

Chipco perhaps?

Someone has mentioned Grand Armee.

Another choice would be DBN. Very simple mechanisms and one base is a brigade. It's available to download for a few pounds.

Polemos Napoleonics (Marechal d'Empire).

Regards

There is a free version of Grand Armee, or there was, think it was available on the site of the guy who now sells them (deep fried cripsy mice or something I think)

Cheers

Jaz
6sided.net – Start Your Wargaming Blog Today

It's called Fast Play Grande Armee or FPGA. Yeah, DBN is another popular choice for this scale. I'd say VnB and DBN are both still actively played. I am unsure about GA.

Thanks,

John

All,

I have a rather extensive list and collection of Napoleonic Rules on my Yahoo group that you may be interested in? It list over 500 sets. You can check it out here;

link

Look for the LG Rules.xls spreadsheet

And yes you'll have to join, but you can always unjoin as well when finished to detract from the regular comments that usually get posted about joining groups! Cheers,

Chris

link

Grognard, many, many thanks for putting this together! What a great source of information!

Don't forget Russ Lockwood's Snappy Nappy. Some people – not me – hate the title, but it is a good, extensively play tested set of rules for big battles.

So DBN is like DBA and uses 12 bases for an army? I understand that they have a Borodino scenario… I wonder how well it actually represents the situation?

Grande Armee is the one to go for – had more interesting and well thought out mechanics than V&B – IMHO. YMMV of course, but I would say start there and see if that gives you what you want.

Hi, actually DBN uses @ 12-14 stands to represent a Corps. You use historical OB's. It isn't your regular DBA 12 element game.
Thanks,

John

Thanks for all the advice. I downloaded the FPGA set. I am intrigued by converting it to centimeters (or perhaps simply 1/3 scale) and getting really huge battles going. All the suggested sets sound interesting, though.

another vote for Sam mustaphhas set.

Google Keith Mcnelley's fanatastic web site in NZ for a load of resources for this scale of gaming – including a Borodino scenario, terrain map and orbat for GA/VNB

heres the link:

link

I agree with 1815 Guy – as someone who has started playing again, after many many years, it was FPGA that got me re-started – our group have moved to the full Sam Mustaphhas' Grande Armee and are really enjoying it and the big battles!

You should check out DBN, it plays really well, especially with the attrition system, ideal for quick games or the big historical battles.

Try "March attack"on Crusaders website
crusaderpublishing.com

not exactly one base but close enough

Ive done Borodino with FPGA and 10mm minis at a con a few years back. It was an awesome game. It looked great, I figure we had over 2000 figs on the table. We messed up the deployments a bit, allowing th commanders to start their arty wherever they wanted. Not reccomended. Still, an awesome set.

Bear in mind that for FPGA you need to put some thought into troop ratings and leadership ratings even moreso. Your subordinates can really screw you. Its also pretty loose, in hat you can tinker with it without destroying its central mechanics (then again what game isnt like that?)

I like Volley & Bayonet, as mentioned. Horse, Foot & Guns is a very dense game, both in text and play – though excellent as a sim.

We play Grande Armee and are very happy with it. You should note in view of the scale, that if you play on a standard table like 5 on 7 foot, this gives you roughly 35 square km of battlefield, which seems largely sufficient to reenact a lot of historical battles.