"Gearing up for Volley & Bayonet" Topic

The project gets under way..
link

I have recently picked up Grand Armee. What made you choose Volley and Bayonet over Grand Armee.

In a word 'Simplicity' … I've read through GA several times and find it a little long winded. The V&B system is very straight forward in comparison.

Well, the nice thing is that basing for Volley&Bayonet and GA are the same, so you don't have to choose.

I will admit though, unlike GA, there has never been a 'simpler version' of Volley & Bayonet created afterwards… ;-7

I rest my case McLaddie… lol

Looks good. So are you going to make the table-scale bigger to match the bases?

StanleySteve,

You chose…wisely.

John

drummer… No. the extra base size is minimal and I really don't see it having any impact on the actual game.

I'm with StanleySteve. I toyed with changing to GA. There are some cool additions to the rules from its brother VnB. But it simply isn't as easy to pick up and run with. My biggest deal is how to keep track of morale and unit names.
I do wish Frank had created CnC rules for VnB.

Thanks,

John

VnB are a much underated set. Ive never had a bad game with them,, although new players sometimes have to re-adjust their engagement with the game to Brigade level units and General level command decisions ("how do I form square???!").

I started out using beer mats and a tin of DIY shop green paint for sabot bases until I decided to invest in VnB, and then got a shedload of Adlers to do it all as a discrete gaming experience. My 15s retained their AOE
basing……..

Good though VnB is, Sam's GA is really much much better. Its the only game Ive played where all four players
sat in stunned amazement at the end of a substantial first turn until the tension was broken by a loud "Wow!" Sam Mustapha really knows his stuff for this period, and it came through in the game.

VnB2 stretched the rules to breaking point imho, and has complicated individual additional "fixes" to try to develop some extra granularity in the systems – e.g Grenadiers present in some units.

Ive got both sets of rules. It will be interesting to see what happens when "Bluecher" emerges from the Mustapha stable. Meanwhile I'll be introducing more newbies to GA Lite – the fast play version of this excellent set.

Direct link: link

Great stuff Steve, V&B is a great set of rules and I did just this in 15mm for the 1859 Battle of Solferino (Naploeon 3rd and Italians v Austrians). Fully endorse your approach with sabot bases, 90mm square looks good.

Cheers RM. I'm looking forward to trying the V&B system out soon.

Another set I came across a while back are Don Lowrey's 'Easy Napoleonic Rules' which are here : PDF link

These seem like a streamlined version of GA. Has anyone tried these?

Steve I tried multiple times to post this and I couldn't make it work. Anyway,

The easiest way (to make your table larger) is simply to reduce the base size. However, that looks like it won't be an option since you have decided on a large base. If you hadn't I'd have taken a look at a 40mmx40mm or 1.5"x1.5" vase with 6-8 figs per base. Then you table would be able to run games using half scale measurements allowing you to do almost any battle. Simply reducing movement WILL alter the game. Ranges and movement are tied together along with the footprint of Divisions and Corps.

Good Luck,

John

Hi John
Thanks or the comment. It has been published on the blog. The comments come to me for approval before they are published hence it didn't show up straight away.

Steve

Oh, sorry for doing it so many times. I thought it was a glitch.

John

No probs John. Always good to get comments on the blog.

Cheers,
Steve