"Field of Glory Napoleonic v2" Topic

Just a note to say that FoGN v2 is now available for purchase through Amazon.

There is a FOGN Facebook page with more information and chat for those interested.

How different is it. I have 1st edition and both army books, and don't really want another set of rules.

It is significantly different in a range of ways. All of them are improvements.

Probably the single biggest actual change is in deployment/mission. Each player can select one of six 'strategies' and the ways these interact with each other provide much more variety in how the games play out. There are a number of minor changes to make some troops types more historical and balanced (light infantry and guard for instance). Perhaps the most important change though is how much clearer the writing and more logical the layout is.

We have been playing it for quite a while in competition in Australia and NZ and I have also played in a couple of large historical refights using them. V2 works wonderfully for either. It is probably my favourite set of rules in any period at the moment.

Martin

Some videos on the rules can be found at:

YouTube link

You had me at clearer writing, and logical layout. I always thought there was a great Napoleonic game somewhere in those rules.
Order placed!

Is it the same basic game? Or is it a radically different rewrite? Basically are the underlying mechanisms similar?

Also – sell it to me – I have v1, plus both army books – why spent another £70.00 GBP or so?

It is the same basic game. The underlying mechanisms are the same.

In terms of 'selling' it to you, in addition to the improvements I have already mentioned:

It is more decisive/quicker for a range of reasons (eg it is harder to fall back in proximity to enemy, changes to rallying, etc)

Command and control is more important. In V1 most armies had had enough command PIPS, even with very limited commanders. PIPS are more valuable for a whole range of reasons in V2 so there is more reason to buy better generals.

The lists are improved to make sure armies have a more realistic amount of artillery as well as incorporating years of feed-back about classification.

Martin

Have to agree 100% with vdal1812. The original was sadly lacking in the Editing department but the concepts deserved a wider audience than they received.

Just checked out the You Tube videos.

Well done to Brett and Richard, more rules authors should take the time to do this kind of thing. I think the diagram format is much better than guys sitting round a table rolling dice.

We can all do that. How the rules are applied is more important than "Luckily, on this occasion, the French player rolled a 5"!

Cheers – I'm probably going to stick with v1 for the time being, because it feels wasteful when I have all 3 books!

Did you incorporate the most important change, and now have the early war list book as Vol 2, and the late war as Vol 3? Not only are they out of order on the shelf, but you did this to NAPOLEONIC wargamers, of all people.

LoL
Nice point on the book order Last Hussar!
Not sure if we have a chance to change that (ToN is currently with the typsetters) so it might be something of continued annoyance!

On having all 3 books already, if you are not playing tournaments and don't want to fork out your hard earned flip for 3 books, you could get away with just buying the v2 rulebook and using the existing army list books. The excel list builder (downloadable on the FoGN Facebook page) has the updated points and Richard has posted a file there with some guidance on using v1 army lists for a v2 army.

The Rules are on the same framework as v1, but they are a massive re-write. Some new rules have been added, and many v1 rules (which were either little used or did nothing but add complication to the game) have been stripped out or simplified.
As Martin pointed out, the main 'completely new' game system in v2 is the deployment system.

I bought these rules on the basis that they are advertised as being able to recreate battles from 1792. The French Revolution is my current area of interest and so they had appeal. Having received them and quickly looked through them, I was disappointed to find that the authors do not appear to fully understand the composition of the Demi-brigades formed during the Amalgame of 1794. Now wondering if their efforts will produce games that give a flavour of battles during the early period.

In what way? We haven't even seen the lists for this period yet?

Martin

Martin

I appreciate that but if the apparent understanding of the background to the creation of the Demi-brigade is flawed it leaves me wondering what those lists for the early French Army will be like. I will be very interested to see what those lists are like. I will also read through the rules to see how they intend to capture the flavour of the period.

Does it still use the same rating system for elan and training, Special capabilities and attachments.
(Yes, I am creeping towards getting them, but having spent so much time and money on V1, I need to know I can port across my stuff such as army list and markers)

Same rating, capabilities and attachments system. Army lists may not 'port across' exactly, due to list and points changes but the differences aren't usually huge. Markers, etc should be fine.

The first comp where some will have the printed rules is happening at Cancon (Canberra, Australia) this weekend.

Martin

The points won't be a problem, as I'm using a spreadsheet for army design*, and I'll just change the data page (assuming points are in the book, and its just a matter of over-writing the numbers)
I've been doing the 1809 army lists for French and Austrians, so the list isn't a problem either – I mostly use the book for ratings, ignoring min/max. What I have found with that is I end up with very few artillery *units*, but a lot of *attachments*.

*I'm rather proud of this spreadsheet, it generates a nice printable OOB in the style of the book, plus another tab where it tells you how many bases and (roughly) figures you will need.

However at the moment Wargaming budget is on figures, so will look at buying in future rather than now. Also Australia is a bit of a trek.

I do like the rules – like the original Warmaster they grabbed me immediately. Think I will have a problem selling them as a game to my club members though.

I know what you mean about working on Austrians. I have quite a large collection of them but find myself painting even more, just to cover every possibility. Painting Landwehr and more Dragoons at the moment.

Hopefully the release of V2 will encourage some players to give it another look in other parts of the world.

Martin