"On your first Napoleonic wargame" Topic

… do you remember which Armies you had faced?
I mean nationalities and quantity.

My case: British-Prussians vs French.

British: 2 Infantry Battalions (300 figures each one aprox).

Prussians: 1 Infantry Battalion (350 figures aprox).

French: 1 Middle Guard Battalion (270 aprox) 1 Line Infantry Battalion (350 aprox) 1 Old Guard Cavalry Squad (100 riders aprox).

It was about taken a bridge.

The french won.

And you?

Amicalement
Armand

My first Napoleonic game was a Borodino game where there were several thousand 28mm figures on each side. I had painted about a thousand of them I think. It was a pretty spectacular display. Even the Russian ambassador was there to see it. This was in 2002.

I was more of a spectator than a player, really.

That is a pretty good way to start, Pictors.

My first one was a division of Airfix French Imperial Guard backed up by a couple of regiments of elite cuirassiers, against some 1806 Prussians. I can vaguely recall thinking why would you bother with anything else but elite troops in an army list.

I was ten or eleven at the time, and had painted them with a mixture of Humbrol enamels and left-over house paint. In my defence, they were correctly based.

My opponent, three times my age, was very patient with me whilst quietly destroying my army and I think it was that, above anything else, that set me on a course and truly awakened my interest into the period.

A refight of Waterloo using Airfix figures and Don Fetherstone's rules – painted fire stick and all. Back in 1974, with my uncle and his friends.

It was all wonderment. God, I miss the simplicity of those days.

Austrians vs. French, 1809, Empire rules (prob. 2nd or 3rd edition)

As the new guy I was given an Austrian Corps at the end of a long column. I spent mos of the day moving along a road. The was a grand cavalry battle and some intense infantry fighting that went on, although I just watched. On the last turn of the game I reached my assigned position, set up my artillery on a hill, destroyed the bridge over the river and won the scenario.

The organisers apologised for my rathr boring role, but I was hooked.

Its entirely possible our esteemed editor was in this game, and he was certainly at the con where it took place in Austin many years ago.

My first game was in a beautiful basement wargaming room, fully finished with period prints on the walls. The table was actually custom-built Gettysburg terrain, but I had no idea! We fielded a couple of corps of 15mm French and Austrians in a meeting engagement, using Empire 2 rules played in a fast and rather light manner. How could you say no to the hobby after that?

My first game was played in the 70's with Bruce Quarrie's rules published by Airfix and was a small fight between 3 British and 3 French battalions. Both were supported by one artillery battery and a Dragons regiment. My opppnent was my father who tought me to love wargaming:-)

I watched a couple of Napoleonic wargames at the school wargames club, but my first proper game was like sharpe210552s – early 790s, Bruce Quarrie rules & Airfix figures.

I can't for the life of me remember exactly what we used, but something fairly similar – a few battalions of infantry, some cavary and a gun or two. British & French naturally.

I graduated to WRG 16xx-18xx and 6mm later in the decade and we also played fair bit of Micro-Napoloenics was a pretty good game.

Anglo Spanish, vs French and Poles. The Spanish caved in and that was the end of the game. About 1000 – 1200 25mm Minifigs. Nearly 30 years ago.

ORIGINS, 2007

French vs. Russians and a Coalition Army (don't remember which)

The rules were Field of Battle

WRG British v French, Airfix and ESCI figures, my friend's collection. I think we took stats for named generals from somewhere else so I had Murat leading one brigade and Ney the other :-)

Some time in the mid 70's (I think), Tricolor rules which I used in defiance of WRG simply because I could understand them, and combination of Hinchcliffe and Mini fig Brits vs French. But who won? I suspect I would have taken the French side, which gives the Brits a decided advantage! Funny, I can remember the first wargame unit I painted was a 30 strong Minifig Scots Greys regt :)

My first game was at Steve Thomas's house. There were 8 guys and the table was 6-8' wide by 30' long. I had my head handed to me by my opponent across the table, I believe was Craig Tyrell.

We were playing Steve's rules which were easy to play and had a lot of fun.

I was playing Austrians vs. French.

Joe

First game was with a history professor as a freshman cadet at the USAF Academy, 1983. French vs. British/Prussian/Russians in a hypothetical 1815 game after Napoleon won at Waterloo.

We used George Nafziger's Pas de Charge rules, written orders with simultaneous movement. I picked up the rules a few years later and realized the prof had "filled in" some missing bits!

No idea what manufacturer the 25mm figures were. They weren't Minifigs. But whatever they were, they were GORGEOUS!

Ed

1975, Alamogordo NM: The six or seven members of the Alamogordo Wargamers club (all the rest were high school students who seemed liked grown-ups to the 7th-grade me) were about to get into another evening of Avalon Hill/SPI boardgaming when a young officer, Lt Ficks (Fickes? I never did learn the spelling) from the local Air Force base showed up and starting unpacking superbly painted 25mm Napoleonics. In the thousands! (At the time he had over 4000 painted – I wonder how large his collection eventually got?) Our collective eyeballs popped out of their collective sockets!

In short order the vast armies were arrayed on the floor of our game room (i.e. the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce – a single room cinder block building). Lt Ficks ran the game – we just said what we wanted to do and he told us how far we could move, how many dice to roll for shooting and melee, and what we had to do when we needed to check morale.

I was given a bunch of French cavalry. Now at the time I knew very little about the period or the tactics, but I did know that my cavalry couldn't shoot and that therefore I needed to charge the enemy if I wanted to hurt them. So without preparation or subtlety, I advanced towards the enemy (they were Prussians, I was told) as quick as I could and launched an attack. To my surprise, I overthrew the first line of infantry immediately, and subsequently proceeded to beat up everything that came my way. Of course, after all these years I can't remember all the details, but I do remember that my hell-for-leather attack was the decisive event that led (that evening) to a French victory.

It was a year or more later, and many more wargames completed, before I learned enough Napoleonic history to realize that the French cavalry I was given that night were in fact the Guard Cavalry in its entirety – and that the Prussian first line I overthrew in my mad dash were battalions of Landwehr infantry. Not so impressive in retrospect, but I went home that night convinced I was a natural Napoleonic tactical genius, and I knew I would want to play Napoleonic battles for the rest of my life. I was wrong about the first part, but very very right about
the second.

Rick Wynn

Sometime late last year, I bought my first boxs of Victrix and Perry plastics and played a game against my best friend as soon as I had glued enough together for two small infantry units each, playing my own rules.
We now play Black Powder every Thursday, although still on a very smale scale compared to most here. I have a 6' x 4' table with a few buildings, trees and recently a stream (blue piece of cloth).
The British always fight the French. The standard unit size has been dropped to 16 figs, with the 24 man unit being considered large (I'll one day adapt them all up to 24 and 36) with cav squadrons represented by 6 figs. The Brits have 4 infantry regts including one large and one highland plus a rifle company, one unit of hussars and one of artillery, the French 4 line including one of Old Guard (posing as young guard as everything else is Peninsular) and a combined Voltigeur unit, 1 Carabinier squad and 2 artillery.
I gradually add more and more, and am enjoying every game.

Dundee University, multi-player battle with probably 800 figs a side, using a 2 page set of rules using cards written by Dr Beveridge c 1975-6 ? I had my own painted Minfigs 25mm Austrians, (4 battalions of line – each 14 figs, one of Hungarian Grenadiers, a squadron (8 figs) each of hussars, of lancers, dragoons and cuirassiers) – at my end of the table, facing a 12 year old whose entire 'army' was Old Guard defending an Airfix Waterloo Farmhouse.

More than a few years ago, as part of a campaign game I was commanding an Austrian corps facing a couple of very determined French corps trying to throw me out of a series of villages – 15mm figures, 1814 setting, nice terrain; I just dug my heels in and was too stubborn to admit when I was beat, and the French eventually retreated when they reckoned it was not worth what it would take to dig me out

I didn't do a lot of maneuver, but it was a fun game and have been doing it since

I forgot to mention that my brigade included the Empress' Dragoons. which I unwittingly left exposed to an artillery battery. After the dragoons routed from the field without doing anything other than absorbing cannon balls, I was given an amused but stern admonition from the prof that the Empress would be displeased.

It was 1975.. played Column line and Square.. English and allies against the French..I had a single Russian Grenadier Battalion..and I was hooked..moved on to Empire after that then some club gr4own house rules that used 1 to 30 ratio so a French battalion was 24….

French versus British using WRG 1685-1845 ruleset. Played all day and loved it.

No, I don't. It would have been in the mid to late 70s with figs from Uncle Duke.

Probably 1970? ish? When the first airfix napoleonic figures came out. Home made rules, based on Featherstone, including "shapes" and "stick".

I am with Chouan.

1971 from the small booklet of "Discovering Wargames" by John Tunstill.

Painted Airfix English and French around a building. Maybe 50 miniatures each side. French won when they killed the English commander with the flag.
I still have those miniatures in the collection. They stand besides my vast collections of several periods…. but they were the first.
WR

Unpainted Airfix French v British and played on the floor. The figures were glued onto cardboard strips and as the unit took casualties we snapped the figure from the base. Must have been 1972 maybe. I remember once that Craig's mother came in with sandwiches and stood on a couple of battalions of infantry :)

Airfix French vs British, circa 1973, but at least we painted them (incredibly badly). The rules were called Fast Rules in a four page, trade paperback sized booklet with a red cover. We quickly moved on to lead and CL&S.

First real battle- Waterloo Campaign using the Avalon Hill boardgame as the map, and Napoleonique rules (That in itself was a lucky accident) in Howie Muir's attic. Age 14.
As I recall, the French failed to seperate the Prussians and the Brits due to our complete misunderstanding of the terrain and situation, Ney was 'ambushed' from the woods at Quatre Bras, and half the Prussian army was ugly der Kreigspeilers 25mm (possibly the worst figures ever cast),spray painted gloss grey, on green cardboard bases due to lak of mobilization time. They took positions on hills made of my dad's piled medical journals, and we ate fried ham sandwitches and argued a lot.
We have come a long way, Baby!

late 80's replaying Wagram with Empire I

late 80's replaying Wagram with Empire I

late 80's replaying Wagram with Empire I

Late 70's in the back room of Wargames West. There were seven or eight players. A pickup game if I recall, but as for what rules and scenario ????. I remember having French and having to withstand several Prussian attacks when suddenly an enormous force of Russians emerged out of a wooded hill area on my left forward flank. Gods, that was a shock. I can't remember a single thing afterwards, may be for the better. Right afterwards I bought the core of my army, a large number of 15mm Minifig French, carried on the shelf at the store. Those were the days.

@Fredloan: At least you were excited about it.

Sometime in the 1980s, Prussians vs Bavarians in my friend's dad's garage (he had a large sand-type table, but filled with flock instead – it was ace!) using 15mm figures – probably Minifigs?

Anyway, "both sides vied in the commission of errors" but it was a cracking game!

Plastics here too. No rules, I came up with my own. British vs. French against my cousin. Figures placed on stands (they were dividers for plastic parts drawers) A six was a stand kill on regular dice. Two packs of infantry, 1 pack of cavalry and one pack of artillery per side; all Airfix figures.

I had a copy of Empire II at the time but didn't have them with me. Besides, I never could figure out how to organize a contingent with all of those percentages and such listed in the army organizations ;-) I had Heritage figures back in Texas (I was visiting the grandparents in N. NJ) but couldn't get anyone to mentor me or take me seriously enough to either let me play or to give me some hints. I never did play an actual game of Empire II. My next foray was the purchase of Prince August 25mm Napoleonic molds in high school. Cast up quite a few and painted up about 3 or so battalions. At least by this time, I knew about priming! lol

Can't remember the rules (threw them away, they were that good), but the guy we played with was a Francophile and the Garde (his entire army was guard) always won. He said you modified the victory conditions to reflect how badly you lost, not the chance of winning. He doctored the guards' stats and after the magic of learning a new hobby wore out, we found someone who played CLS and never looked back.

Scruby French and British. In 1965 that's just about all there was.

Some point in the late 80's on a subbuteo pitch with some books underneath for hills plus homemade trees. All laid out on our mums dinning table. My older brother started us on 15mm minifigs, beer mats for basing. He had the French and I did the Brits with a sprinkling of Prussians. Can't remember the rules, little A5 photocopied booklets. Looked great however the amount of detail in the rules scunnered us for 20 years. The General de Brigade rules got us started again.

Played my FIRST wargame in 1958 when I was a high school senior! A gob of SAE 30mm German/ Americans with plastic "Panther" and "Walker Bulldog" !!

My first Napoleonic battle was 1992 with Adler French, Russian, Austrian and Dutch armies at a meeting of Wargamers in Houston, Tx.

After that experience, I painted up the 7th Div. and the 24th Div. of the Russian Army complete with 6 full batteries
of line artillery, 2 Pulks of Cossacks, and a Reg. of cuirassiers.

I have played many games with this force and have acquired since then a army of French containing over 70 battalions, an army of Germans/Prussians of 15 regiments plus French and German/Prussian artillery and cavalry all in 6mm. I am now painting Perry 28mm Russians with a plan to have a small force of French and Russians to fight a skirmish game with as the ol' peepers are getting tired of 6,10,15's !!!

At Langley AFB (1980)was in a D&D club, on a weekend night went to game store in Norfolk and a massive Napoleonic game was going on. Watched a while and we left, but during the week talking we thought it looked fun so each picked a country (Prussian's for me) and went back bought a lot and mounted and played (? rules) with them UNPAINTED. After painting a period no unpainted were permitted.

Played part of Borodino (2nd Russian Corp vs. French 3rd Corp). Plastic Airfix figures. I "modified" French line figures to look like Russian grenadiers by adding a plume. Used 1:30 scale modified Frappe rules. I had 2 divisions of Russians & a Dragoon brigade & Hussar brigade. Was fun. French won. That was way back in the late 1970's.

French V British. With about 6 battalions and 3 guns a side of Airfix and Esci figures. The rules were WRG and I wish I still had them.

I just had a selection of plastic 1/72 figures which my grandad would buy for me on pension day when I went to visit, from the model shop round the corner

I'd paint them up and fight battles on the kitchen table. There were no rules.

Probably why the french always lost!

F

Mine was Austrians vs French using 30mm flats I have forgotten which battle it was suppose to be.

My first war game was with Britains using H.G Well's "Little Wars"

My first Napoleonic game was in 1974 using unpainted Airfix British and French with sellotape movement bases; the rules were those contained in Charles Grant's "Napoleonic Wargaming". Sadly, I sometimes feel that the search for increased "realism" had resulted in a reduction in enjoyment.

15mm Black Brunswicker and Gordon Highalnders versus Old Guard Artillery and Portugese cacadores!

My first game was in 1971 (I was 13…) and featured a force of perhaps 400 British and Brunswickers (all Airfix, many conversions based on a series of articles from Airfix magazine -- except of course for Highlanders which Airfix produced) against a similar sized French force of Aixfix and Jack Scruby figures. We had to 5 French artillery boxes for those 8 marching figures per box to make a single French battalion of 36(extra guns were used to make "spoils of war" trophies after games).

The rules used were Column, Line, and Square. The game was a hard fought affair with the British losing by a hair. But it got us playing CLS on a regular basis -- it was really the only game/period we played for more than five years!

Over those years, the Airfix were replaced by metal figures, mostly Der Kriegspielers, but with some Hinton Hunt and Rose/Gammage figures mixed in (picked up when one of the group went to the UK) and, eventually, Minifigs. We played more historical scenarios as the number and variety of figures grew.

1977 while stationed in Athens, Greece with the USAF. Airfix figures, Airfix Quarrie rules and my buddy Terrence. Where did that go?….

Well I guess I'm with the majority.

Airfix British and French, WRG, 1975. Started painting in 1973 so this year is 40 years of painting. It took me two years to paint up enough figures for a game. I managed to convince a number of members from my board game club to play at my house on my ping pong table which is still being used today.

That first game introduced me to three classic wargame types. The rules lawyer, the cry baby and the debater. Only this time it was all rolled up into one person. I had a very small house at the time and the table was in my living room. My wife was very puzzled as to why anyone would ever want to play a game with people like that. I was as well but slowly I managed to weed out players like that from my circle.

Now my table is in the basement, but my wife thinks all we do is tell jokes as she hears nothing but laughter all day long.

It was sometime in the mid-70s at a guy's house. I can't even remember the rules set (maybe Frappe?). But I do recall that it had a random method of determining where howitzer shells landed. I fired one at a column of Young Guard, but the accuracy die roll caused the shot to "drift" into Napoleon's lap, where it went off (the rules also made one roll to determine if the shot was a dud, air burst, or ground burst).

This ended the game rather quickly.

Sydney about 1968, Rules unknown, I turned up at the wargames club, in Bexley's I think, that I had to catch two trains to, and was taken under the wing of an old guy ( i'm probably older now than he was then ) I was given a battalion of Airfix Highlanders to command against I think French Cuirassiers and at the end of the afternoon I knew I had a hobby for life.