"Recommend some rulesets - please." Topic

Hi all, I currently play the period with my dad using an almost diceless ruleset from the 70's. I'm looking to see what else is out there. I'm using 20mm armies, currently approx 1 model to 50 men ratio. Quick play would be a bonus, as it can often take us more than an hour to unpack the armies and lay them out if we wish to use (nearly) everything we have. The plan is to get something easy to learn, quick and give a good feel for the genre and buy it as a present for my father. (where I say I'm – I am using his collection whenever we play as I am only just getting back into historicals having been introduced to wargaming via them then going off to play sci-fi and fantasy (yes the GW route – I was young and naive and confused ok? ). I know the reputation of the Napoleonics boards on here, but also that it's got a lot of knowledgeable people too so I figures it's probably the best place to start. Thanks :D

The Napoleonic rules by Neil Thomas are a good start for a quick game.

I suggest die fighting 2.

It seems to be very good, and builds on its previous version.

Black Powder?

While I am not a Napoleonics Player here is my cant

The Neil Thomas Rules give a fast and fun game.Battles involving two armies 4-8 units each will take abut 1 to 2 hours.

Black Powder rules are good, but require a bit of work to prepare army lists etc, though they have ready generic lists in the book for Napoleonics. Battles involving two armies of 6-10 units each will take about 2 hours.

There is a variation of DBA called Horse Musket and Gun which might fill the bill.

Paddy Griffiths Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun is a old book with lots of interesting rules. You get a skirmish, brigade, divisional and corps game in one book. Simple mechanisms that should produce a fast and fun games.

That is my cant.

Piquet Field of Battle?

Diceless? The Compleat Brigadier?

I agree that Neil Thomas' Napoleonic rules are a good start. Pretty flexible in basing. Yahoo group for support. link

I'm currently becoming a firm fan of Command and Colours Napoleonic. Much depends on whether you like the C&C card activation, some don't. Just draw some dots on your table for hexes and you're good with any scale.
Is the Paddy Griffith the one where units had a rating (A-elite, b- good etc) and as you took damage you reduced your rating? If so, used to play a lot of that one with the old Airfix, had good games. (could have been Bruce Quarrie- either way, old school and fondly remembered).

I second MajorB and Mark RedLinePS. As you have posted the request in both the Napoleonic and 18th Century focus groups, I recommend Black Powder and/or Field of Battle. Both cover the bulk of the 18th and 19th Centuries and are fairly fast flowing and straightforward in my opinion.

alien – Can you send me an email, I have a question. Thanks

twohourwargames@yahoo.com

JezEger

Yes that is the one. They re-published the rules in one nice book.

I cant say enough about Age of eagles, great rules and well supported.

DBN? Certainly fast.

You write C18th though you also say Napoleonic. I've written a SYW set of rules that could be of use & would readily email the to you if you gave me an address.
The beauty of them is the price (free!) so they can readily be discarded if they don't fit the bill.

Thanks folks, some food for thought. the ones we use at the moment have a set of tables for working out casualties from firing etc, and only use 2D6 for morale. The thing that slows it down is the amount of units we put on the table

Ed, you have mail.

Shako is about 1:50 ratio and uses only a six sided die. We can do throw down games in one evening.

Napoleon at War is quick too but a smaller unit scale. Still fun.

Another 'Shako' recommendation – nice rule mechanisms and easily learnt. I've heard good things about AoE but have only ever played F&F, its ACW stablemate

Another strong recommendation for Shako 2. This is a system which has stood the test of time.

Shako 2 is a fairly easy system to learn, and generally gives excellent results. We have played this for years and never grow tired of it. The command system can be modified to taste without affecting the core rules. You can use pretty much any basing system as well.

Shako 2 uses actual skirmishers (not just dice modifiers) which move and fire independently, and can screen, delay, harass artillery,etc. and IMHO it handles blown cavalry better than most rules. It also includes army lists and ratings for all the major and most minor participants of the Napoleonic Wars, so there is no need to buy any additional "supplements"

Message sent.

Third recommendation for Shako 2. I don't even own any Napoleonic period figures anymore but keep hold of these rules. While I've not played tons of Napoleonic rules, this set seems to "feel" right. I personally think the command system and the orders system (you need to have a drawn map showing your direction of attack) really seem to capture the period well. Played Waterloo with this system and always gave a fun game.

The seminal WRG 1685-1845 is still my favourite.

WRG? I guess each to their own but rules design has moved on from the micro managing design of this set and ones like it (Tabletop comes to mind.)

I like the concepts of Shako 2 but I will say that the command and control system is a bit of a problem (although I agree with keyhat that is would be fairly easy to modify or change the command system without affecting the core rules.)

Black Powder – quick introduction to period.

General de Brigade for when you want to get serious