"Napoleonic Rules (Take 2)" Topic

(The initial Napoleonic Rules thread was destroyed due to a glitch)

I'm looking to get into Napoleonic wargaming but I've no idea what's out there. I'd like to use 6mm scale and field a large force.

Any recommendations on a rule set?

Thanks all

When you say a large force, do you mean lots of figures or a large formation like a Corps or Army?

Hi Rich

Both I think

Plenty of bases at least, to give that epic feel. I guess with 6mm I can place more individual figures on a base too

So many to choose from.

There are basically two types of game:

Army level games (multi corps) with lots of figures on large bases, here you can choose from Volley & Bayonet, Polemos, Grande Armee or the newer Blucher, there are probably others.

Corps (or smaller) level games with battalions being the base unit (usually made up of several smaller bases) here you have lots and lots to choose from – Le Feu Sacre, Shako, Blackpowder, General d'Brigade, Lasalle to name but a few.

Recommendations are too subjective to be useful, all the above work just fine and deliver reasonably authentic results, which one you would prefer I can't answer.

I think the core choice is between large "brigade" bases with multiple battalions/regiments on them (and thus less bases) and smaller "company" bases which combine into lots of units. It's hard to break the large bases down but they look great, it's easier to combine the small but they can get fiddly.

Essentially you have two schools of thought – use the same base size as for larger figures (say 15mm) and stack loads of figures on them – looks great but you end up playing the same size game you would in 15mm. Or use the same number of figures as you would in 15mm and have huge amounts of units – can look epic but a tad fiddly (I'd rather go with the large multi unit base rules than do this personally)

Overall as long as your basing convention remains consistent you could play all of them, don't be fooled into feeling restricted because your basing doesn't align with a ruleset.

But I do think you have an essential choice between those two types of game

Napoleon's Battles: 4th edition out recently and it gives a good game.

Age of Eagles is another game where brigades (or large regiments). It is very similar to Napoleons Battles, but does allow you to field divisional artillery batteries, rather than having their effect factored into the brigades overall fire power.

If you want to command a corps or two per player, Naps Bats/Age of Eagles are my favourite.

That's a lot of options

I might throw them all up into the air and see what sticks :)

I do like the idea of having lots of bases and all of the gear used, represented by a model/figure

Other than that, no idea where to go next. Perhaps Napoleon's Battles 4ed because it's rather new and there'll be people asking questions on an active forum.

I prefer very large scale in 6mm so Blucher (or the earlier Grand Armee) is my preference.

I still like Napoleon's Battles 1st edition from Avalon Hill and found no reason to upgrade. Granted, I haven't played Napoleonics in a decade. Usually you can get it dirt cheap on ebay. It works well for 6mm since it's stand based, not figure based.

link

Hi

Bear in mind that 'lots of bases' = lots of fiddling around!

With rules whereby a 'unit' has multiple bases this can become an issue – especially if the 'unit' is a battalion or regiment.

If the 'unit' is a brigade or division then having these spread over several bases will still be 'fiddly', but less so than the above.

There are loads of rules around, so perhaps search the forum and read up on how they go about things and see what appeals.

To cut down on the fiddling around:

Base your figures on steel bases. Then buy some sheet magnet and cut unit trays. So if your battalion has, say, 8 bases 20mm wide by 20mm deep, just cut a piece of sheet magnet 160x20mm and put all your bases on it. Now you can move the unit as a whole.

Plus you can make new unit trays for new rules in just an hour or two. That's what I do. All my 6mm are on 20mm wide bases and I can put them together as needed.

Anyone out there playing Carnage and Glory? I played for the first time a few weeks ago. Seems to be a good system to introduce new players. The computer does a lot of the calculating but, I know we all love to throw dice.

Throwing dice in game keeps us away from the gambling tables. LOL

Our group plays Shako 2, battalion level. We have large battles just under 7000 figures on the table, the games lasts 10 hours.
Recently the Battle of Dennewitz, 2400 figures 6 hours.
Smaller games 3 hours.
A battalion is 12 figures, cavalry 6, artillery 2 guns, all in 28 mm.

I agree with wrgmr1, my group mainly plays Shako2. Our units are slightly bigger battalion 16 figures, cavalry 12, artillery 2 guns all in 15/18mm

@The Wargaming Company – Well, I'd be fibbing if I said I wasn't interested

A new edition of a Napoleonic wargame, and therefore probably an active community so questions can be answered.

Thanks for all the information

@The Wargaming Company – I have an issue with the Yahoo Groups because when I last joined, I had no way of hiding my email address from public view. I checked the members list I had joined and as far as I could tell, my email was the only one visible for all to see.

I checked the settings and I tried to 'Edit' my personal info but it didn't give me the option. I had to leave Yahoo Groups as a result.

Strange though, why everyone else's email is hidden but mine is visible. Perhaps I'll give it another look

Your email is visible *to you*.
It's not visible to everyone else.

@Dexter Ward – I never considered that

Thank you

What do you think of General de Brigade 2nd edition deluxe?

I think GdeB is a fine set of 'old-school' rules with large units and lots of modifiers. It doesn't play that fast; you can probably manage a game with a division a side in an evening.
If you want to field a large force, it;s not the right set of rules.
For that I'd say Le Feu Sacre, Volly & Bayonet, or Blucher.

Blucher looks a good idea for me, as you can use cards instead of minis. That's a big plus because I can't paint and don't really like to paint

The Miniatures Page may not be for you then 😀

They've been a friendly bunch – so far :D

@Mark68,

Could you give me an e-mail please:

I'm at j*w*h*0*7*1*4@yah*oo.co.uk

(deleting the asterisks)

Email sent

@Mark68

Any set of rules can be played with markers (the size of a base) instead of figures. There are also paper figures available

You did say 6mm so …..

Can often pick up armies on ebay, or pay someone to paint for you

Have a look at 3mm ( picoarmor.com ). They are surprisingly easy to paint (blob 3 or 4 colors on)

I haven't yet found the perfect set of Napoleonic rules so I don't have anything to recommend. Realistically there is no perfect set of rules because everyone has different expectations

If there are other Napoleonic players locally, then play a couple of games with them, to see what style of rules they like and whether that works for you

John