"Command and Colors Napoleonics - First Take" Topic

I played a game of Battle Cry and liked it so much that I purchased C and C N and the Austrian Expansion. CCN adds much complexity to the rules compared to the ACW Battle Cry. I expected some but I think what really surprised me was such a variety of troop types. Having been a miniatures gamer in the past, I miss the 3 dimensions of miniatures on the table. I did not even sticker the wooden blocks as I do not like the Stratego look at all. I am looking at my options to make CCN enjoyable visually to me. I like an idea that I played BC on, a grassed mat with 3 inch hexes (larger hexes than the board), with miniatures. I had been reducing my hobbying expenses so the prospect of spending money needed to be spent on the mat and the miniatures is going in the wrong direction. I am not complaining, just thought I would talk about it. I have solo gaming so far to learn it and as I was playing, I realized that playing on a board with the name of the game in the center and terrain with pictures on it instead of 3D needs to change for me to enjoy it for the long haul.

I adore the game. If I was doing it with minis, I'd probably do 2mm or 3mm to get the massed look.

Battlelore (original) worked on smaller hexes with, what?, 10mm minis., so CnC Napoleonics should work with the smaller figures on the original CnC game board. I truly agree about those stickers--that was no fun. I made the mistake of getting both the original ancients and Napoleonics. Drove the urge to play the games right out of me.

We use 25mm Napoleonic figures mounted for Napoleon's Battles link

We've done French vs British and vs Austrian. We've also done Ancient games using the C&C Ancients with Romans vs Romans, vs Barbarians, and vs Greeks.

Jim

Think of the stickered blocks as pre-painted minis. As a friend of mine put it, finally we can field an army of Spanish without having to paint them.

Also, I prefer laying the blocks down, unless we're playing on a higher than usual table.

I'm painting figures right now for a fellow who is playing Commands and Colors Napoleonics with miniatures.

link

We play CCN on Hexon terrain with 15mm figures. Looks great!

You could use smaller scale figures directly on the terrain boards.

Scomac, I am impressed by your Austerlitz game! My favorite battle! Thank you for displaying it. May I ask about the game mat and scale of figs in it and where you obtained it or how you made it? I was thinking of 3 inch hexes and wondered how yours compare? Thank you.

ColCampbell, I am equally impressed by your mat, figs and terrain! Thank you for displaying. May I ask about your mat? I have played Napoleon's Battles but with 15mm figs, so I am guessing you are using larger hexes with the larger figs. Thank you.

I see myself as unlikely to start a new miniatures collection for the game. The money and the time don't seem well spent for me at my age. Right now I am using a different sort of game piece instead of the blocks, but I plan on getting Travel Battle at some point and maybe utilizing the figs (assuming they will someday sell the figs separately) for the armies.

One thing I just thought of is, do those of you who play C &C N use the scenarios exclusively or do you set up what you want (or a combination, of course). I was wondering how well the game plays if you do not use the provided scenarios. ( Maybe I am overthinking it. )

Regarding the picture above, you would certainly want to do a better job of providing terrain features that match the hex layout. I could see a lot of questions arising about: is this a hill hex? is this a field hex? etc.

Rusty:

Making your own mat is actually quite easy. Like you I enjoy the game but not the look.

I made the mat by marking the CENTERS of the hexes rather than the edges. Here are more details on how I did it:

TMP link

When you place terrain in a hex, mark the outline with scatter. So for a forest hex, add trees and then fill the "hex" with ground up leaves, twigs, that sort of thing.

For a village I make a paper street square and put buildings on it. If occupied remove buildings as necessary. The square underneath identifies the hex as town.

You can use a lot of terrain you have or make a little custom set with some pink board and paint (you probably already have these).

I actually used 6mm Seven Years Wars minis as they were convenient. I could get two 60x30 bases per hex. Gave a nice little impression. Now I use my 15mm Napoleonics.

Here is the game in action:

Here's a portable wargame "Battlefield In A Box" I made. The most expensive part was the nice box ($20). Again, I generally use 6mm with this. You could easily make a hexed version!

link

P.S. The mat with the pale hexes above is almost certainly a Hotz Arts mat. But you can get hexed mats from them or from CIgar Box…loads of off the shelf choices.

I am not a huge fan of hexes so went my semi-invisible route. In person the hex dots on my mat are very easy to see. But they are also easy to "ignore" and they kind of disappear.

Yes, that is a Hotz mat. Glenn got the version with fields already painted.

Wow! Thanks everyone and Thank you, Extra Crispy, for the instructions. I still have to figure out size, but the triangle/dot idea looks like the way to go for me. A friend has a mat with 3" hexes and I thought I would go with that and maybe use some Litko 3" hex bases with it. But I saw that Hotz Mats makes the Command mat in 4" which would allow me to put my units into line when I wanted the look, as opposed to the column of divisions that the game board forces you into. 5" seems larger than I want. I am measuring flat to flat. I will let everyone know what I come up with. Again, thanks for all the help.