"Yeah, but WHICH Napoleonics?" Topic

Rank these in order of gaming preference/interest:

a. French Revolution/Egypt
b. Glory Years 1805-07 Austerlitz etc
c. Peninsula
d. 1809 vs Austria (5th Coalition)
e. 1812 Russia
f. Defense of France 1812-14 (6th Coalition)
g. Waterloo Campaign

Then explain your top choice.

I'm e, c, f, d, g, b, a.
Though I generally favor the French, they weren't so smug in Russia and immediately after. Peninsula? It all started with Sharpe, and after that the French weren't so smug there either.

Russia and Spain have just the right amount of exoticism relative to Europe.

I'm also intrigued by the use of religion as a rallying cry in the defense in both theatres.

Russia and Spain allow for many interesting small actions too.

For purposes of polling I spose we pick the Top 5 then the Top 1?

Lets see Flash….
I would rank them in order from favorite to least favorite
D,E,B,C,G,A,F

I like the the middle years 1805-1812 and the main reason…I have French and Bavarian armies LOL. This is why Russia is number 2. Bavarians are useless in three of the categories listed A,C,G. I too like the fact that my first two choices allow small and large scale actions. The French were battered and not worth a crap in the Peninsula after awhile, a lot of conscripts.

D, E, B, G, C, F, A

I have nearly every power in multi-Corps strength (Age of Eagles). Lots of Austrians, French, British painted, with Russians and Prussians either on the bench or in the bag.

Give me another year and I should be able to feild anything other than A

C,D,E, whatever.

I like the Spanish underdog, cavalry without horses and cannons being drug around by oxen.

I like Austrian uniforms. I just think they look cool.

I like the idea of the stoic Russian and tons of artillery. You also don't even need to field the French, as there are plenty of allied troops to choose from.

C
G
F
D
E

C and G sorta work sympatico.

Thanks,

John

F for me

E, F, C for me. the other periods don't hold nearly as much interest.

interestingly, one that is left out in 1812 in North America.

I actually chose my British units for my peninsula skirmish to be units that also went and fought in North America. that way i can toss in some militia and be on my way. I have a friend doing Americans.

My favorite period is post 1812. The most gamable is probably the Peninsula.

Love them all, painted them all (17k plus miniatures in 25/28mm), gamed them all….and the 1812-14 war in America, plus battles in India. Army level to brigade battles.
Only theater untouched from a gaming view point…South America. Only have two battalions painted for that theater. Someday that will change.

Prefer the smaller battles of any theater….but a grand battle on occasion stirs the heart and dice. Soon to post up on TMP a game AAR featuring the Battle (action) at Alcolea 1808 Peninsular.

WR

a, b, c, d, e, g, f
I like bicornes and am not a fan of shakoes

B, A

The early campaigns in Italy, adventures in Eygpt, and Bicornes. Some excellent uniforms in the Revolutionary period as well.

Jena / Auerstadt as a decisive turning point in the face of the whole period, as the best of the New meets the best of the Old.

Although it turned out well for the French, it could just as easily have gone the otherway as well. Real interesting period.

D, E, B, etc. Russia vs French make for a my favourite match-up.

f, c, d, e, a, b, g

B,D,G,E,F,C,A.

Glory years. Austerlitz. Nuff said.

1809. Arguably the best of the French Armies.

Waterloo. Great movie. What might have been….

G Waterloo! C Sharpey. But it's all good!

a, c and then the rest equal.
I like bicornes too. And the Austrian casquets. And mirlitons. And bare feet. And stripey trousers. And shoddy Tareltons with white uniforms. And bags stuffed with chickens. Lots of good fashion early on.

B in 15/18 mm
Who does love the colorful uniforms of the Jena Prussians.

H War of 1812 US/Canada

For the rest of that stuff, I will play it only if someone else puts on the game.

g, d, e, c, f, b, a.
Like them all but I do tend to favor the later part of the era.

G, C, D, F, E, B, A

Brunswick über alles!

War of 1812, F G C E D B A
War of 1812 because you havn't got all that silly cavalry getting in the way! The latter part of the Napoleonic wars because at least then the allies can give the French a fair fight as opposed to been walking all over by French supermen, as in most rules.

B. Davout at Auerstadt. As Steve 64 stated "… as a decisive turning point in the face of the whole period, as the best of the New meets the best of the Old."

D – Very balanced and interesting variety of nations/uniforms
C – Grew up reading Oman, etc. so will always be of key interest
G – The grand finale and again, fairly balanced
E – Huge in scope, less so in excitement
B – Would be higher if I could get people to game it
F – Too much artillery
A – A little too exotic with little or no multi-use troops

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The Glory Years 1805-1807

A (however, I couldn't care less about Egypt, or Napoleon's Italian Campaign)
B (a close second)
D
CEFG (I find these equally uninteresting)

1st – 1813 (second half) – (almost) everybody fights at once, some on more than side.
2nd – Eylau campaign – Grand Armee at its peak halted by stubborn Russians
3rd – Peninsula – 'did somebody say these grognards are invincible?'

1st – D (1809 – Danube & North Italy)

Very even Campaigns, an inspiring variety of actions. Victories and defeats on both sides. Mainstream Napoleonic warfare with all arms well represented and balanced. Confed of Rhine contingents add colour.

2nd – B (1805 -1807 The Glory Years)

Some amazing feats of generalship, manouvre, marching and fighting by unquestionably the finest army of the period. Ulm, Austerlitz, Auerstadt, Friedland are the best and a myriad of smaller actions such as Haslach-Junginen, Elchingen and the Crossing of the Wkra.Towards the end at terrible Eylau eventually facing the toughest Russian army ever fielded in the period.

B. Glory Years 1805-07 Austerlitz etc
D. 1809 vs Austria (5th Coalition)
G. Waterloo Campaign
F. Defense of France 1812-14 (6th Coalition)
A. French Revolution/Egypt

C. Peninsula

E. 1812 Russia

Top being D. 1809 vs Austria (5th Coalition) because of figures on offer in 28mm…

For me it's B,D,G,F,A – top being D purely through access to suitable figures with B a close second but not enough choice or decent ranges on offer….If the figures were there (complete ranges) then it would be B without doubt.

I like C too, with small battles and actions, but the ability to take on 3 european armies whilst being French is too good an opportunity to miss in wargaming and anyway, I can play British with Allies in Waterloo…..

Currently I'm looking at doing 1809 forces with the ability to build to 1813 /1814 forces by judicial swapping of batalions…

C G E D … Though mainly in the Bavarians and the Austrians.
A B and F not really interested in tbh…

C because the British are there, the Pirtuguese and Spanish too. All three have interesting colourful forces. French have lots of their foriegn auxilleries there too. See saw campaign. Lots of smaller scale battles aswell as a few biggies. A lack of cavalry means less horses to some up the will power to paint.

G Plenty of interesting what ifs. Dutch Belgians. Boney loses. Only downside is …. No Portuguese or Spanish.

E I'd paint up some Russians and French for this… As a skirmish game. Not to keen on painting up an army.. Of have to base them on Snow bases so they'd look off if I used them for non retreat battles. I'm not do interested in the actual campaign… But the trials of the retreat do.

D after the British. My next favourite army is the Austrian. I like the characterful infantry units. The Grenzers. Transylvanians, grenadier battalions… Regimental facings. Cracking army. Also Bavarians look pretty smart. The Tyrolian rebellion is an interesting tale. Not so bothered about the details of the campaigns… More the Austrian army and the Bavarians.
War of 1812 now I'd stick that in between E and D, the Swedish Russian war id put in before E.

A is a bit two early. Oddly I only like the look of the Prussians.. Austrians look silly, French look like tramps, Brits look like they still wear their AWI uniforms, Russians look boring…

B … The bad guys on the ascendency!! Boo. Though the Austrians look alot snazzier now and the French have smartened up alot. Alot of the battles are huge. I like to see battalions in action.. Not brigades or divisions and I think all the good battles here are huge.

F…. French have the 1812 uniform, the smartest French uniform but alot of the time they seem to be shown wearing great coats. Which I dislike to see on the table too. Looks very drab. Also lots of Prussians now wearing the most boring uniforms of the whole war.

C,
D,
E,
F,

All equally interesting to me, Tend to zone out on E after Borodino.

Pretty myuch equally. Although personally I would term F "The War of Liberation"

A. I'd like to do more, but haven't had time to do much more than read and disquise scenarios. Particularly interested in the 1799 Italian campaign.

B. Interesting for research, but not particularly interested in the wargaming aspects.

G. The Waterloo campaign is ok, but I regularly game Murat's Italian Campaign

F D B E G A C

Love the French 1812 uniform and the 1812-14 period is more evenly matched than many of the other periods

Like 1809 as well with the proviso that all of my Austrians (and I have lots of them) have shakoes – not a helmet in the lot

Like the Glory days but all my French have shakoes with the exception of a couple of officers in bicornes

Never really did take to either Waterloo or the Penninsula for some reason

bbb,d,c,e,f,g,a
Primarily the Glory years. French with bicorns & shakos, white & blue uniforms, Austrians, Prussians, and Russians as adversaries.
Austerlitz, Friedland, Eylau. What's not to like?

GGGGGGGGGG then the rest
The world changed in just four-five days of campaiging. From 1815 to 1914 Europe was dominated, totally, by what happened on 18th June. There are so many counterfactual histories of what might have been, a plethora of diaries, lectures, histories of what did happen, the revisionist historians telling us it was all down to the Prussians (not unreasonably but………..)
Basically three guys faced each other across a surprisingly narrow table. One guy has an elite bunch, but with brittle morale, as "nous sommes trahis" seemed as prevalent as "vive le Emp etc". The next guy has a very mixed lot, whom he has unfortunately scattered all over Belgium for reasons of logistics and cos' he wants to be sure he can get home, if it all goes pear shaped. The last guy has the choice of running for home or gambling on a battle still going on when he gets there.
It's a wargamer's dream……

As for "Waterloo. Great movie. What might have been…" How I do agree. What we do have is great, but, somewhere in Dante's inferno, Sergei Bondarchuk is suffering for what he failed to do with the facilities granted. How could Dino de Laurentis have chosen a director with his track record? (try watching War and Peace or Quiet Flows the Don)

a. French Revolution/Egypt
f. Defense of France 1812-14 (6th Coalition)
g. Waterloo Campaign
c. Peninsula
d. 1809 vs Austria (5th Coalition)

French Revolution battles are smaller. Same can be said for 1814. This allows you the ability to do an entire battle OOB at Battalion level. Both also say some of Napoleon's best performance under pressure and difficult situations.

Waterloo because it's Waterloo.

1813 because it's a monster with tons of different nationality (and thus uniforms) involved and huge battles.

Peninsula for skirmish level (i.e. Sharpe, etc).

1809 because I had to have a 5th choice.

I have to put in an extra vote for A. I think that the French Revolutionary period is much under-rated. Arguably the art of war was in a greater state of flux and the armies more different from one another than the later empire period (for which I also have a few thousand figures). Consequently it is a more interesting and intriguing period to game. I also like the small scale actions that involve the commanders, who later rose to greatness, serving in their early years as regimental or brigade commanders. Finally it is a great period to research because it is relatively unexplored, especially in English. Finally the period also casts us Brits in the more modern and fashionable role of gallant losers.

In order to complete the set task re other periods; it would be (f)1812-14 Central Europe, then (d)1809 Austria, then the (c)Peninsular. However like Ashenduke I like them all, the only reason (b) and (g) don't feature in my rankings is that I don't yet have the figures.

Having said that, with regard to my first choice, I must admit some bias;

link

Regards

Garry Wills
caseshotpublishing.com

C, A & B at present, then F,D,E,G.

In my years of playing Napoleonics, I've done Waterloo, 1812-1813 and 1809. So now that I'm back to it after a long hiatus, I want to do the bits I haven't done before – right now it's the Peninsula, because the only Allied armies I've never painted before are the Portuguese and the Spanish and my buddy with the Brits needs some help.

I'm fascinated by the Revolutionary wars, because they weren't dominated by a single personality, the uniforms were in a very transitional phase from 18th Century to 19th century, everyone was involved at one point of another, and there was a lot of fighting I know very little about (hence, an excuse to buy more books!). I wanted to do this with my gang in 28mm, but was over-ruled. There's another TMP thread on what historical period is under-served, and I think its this one. The Brigade Games French Revolution stuff looks lovely, as do the Trent minis, but I can't afford to do it and the Peninsula together, so it will have to remain The One That Got Away.

I also haven't played much of the Glory Years. It seems too one-sided to me, with the French Imperial Army and its commanders in their prime, and the Allies not having begun to catch up. But I think it would be fun to play with 1806 Prussians, because I think they are unfairly maligned (the troops, not the leadership) and probably could have done better with better leaders and a bit more luck. Waiting for the Russians would have been a good idea, too.

But at the rate I paint, I'll be lucky to get decent-sized Peninsula Armies together, and if I do, I will probably then go into 1809 or 1812-1813, since my French can do double-duty for those and I'll only have to paint one side.

Mark

Hate these rating questions. I have to keep going up and down. Memory isn't what it used to be. What was the question? Oh yeah.

c. Peninsula
g. Waterloo Campaign
e. 1812 Russia
f. Defense of France 1812-14 (6th Coalition)
b. Glory Years 1805-07 Austerlitz etc
d. 1809 vs Austria (5th Coalition)
a. French Revolution/Egypt

I think the French Revolutionary Wars do not get the attention they deserve. Bonaparte in Italy is rather fun to game. However, I just can't get into Egypt.

As for the rest of the Napoleonic Wars, I like them all. All time favorite is d. 1809 as you can paint and game all the German Allies, Poles, Austrians, lots of cav, guns, maneuver, good chances of battles going either way, lends itself to big campaigns, etc. Only thing missing are Russians. And yes, you can add the British for Walcheren. Or you can chuck the constraints of the poll and I would just say, I enjoy gaming 1809 (and that includes the Peninsula).

My 2 cents.

-Rick

Well I've have been playing Napoleonices since I was about 9 or 10 (now 42) and I love them all. I do however have to say that having been interested in the period for so long it is starting to get a bit stale and my next venture will be the Revolutionary period. Loads of big battles no-one has heard, the early battles of Napoleons Marshals when they could think for themselves, campaigns where British, Prussians, Hessians,Austrians and even Russians rub shoulders. Victorious ramapaging Spanish ! Piedmontese. I'll stop now I'm slaivating !
So to sum up A – followed by the rest equally depending what I've read last !

C. 'nuff said!