RichardT1815 | 26 May 2021 7:53 a.m. PST |
Folks, I am getting back into Napoleonics after a long hiatus. I used to play Napoleon's Battles, but was wondering if people still enjoy playing with these rules or have moved onto a different set of "Grand-Tactical" rules. I'm not trying to start a which is the best rules debate, rather than see if I should be looking elsewhere. Thanks. |
T Corret | 26 May 2021 8:10 a.m. PST |
Try Snappy Nappy. My son says it is a sprint into a knife fight! One of the best parts of the game is the ability to game entire campaigns in a day. When you search online, specify "game," or you will get English diapers. |
Editor in Chief Bill | 26 May 2021 8:18 a.m. PST |
Sadly, the current publisher of Napoleon's Battles has been found guilty in court of stealing from a sculptor, which has left a 'stink' around that publisher and their products. |
Mister Tibbles | 26 May 2021 8:48 a.m. PST |
The 1st edition of NB is easily available on the secondary market. I like 1st edition, but I'm not a hardcore gamer. If you play games solo, pick what you like. :-) |
Stosstruppen | 26 May 2021 9:36 a.m. PST |
Napoleon's Battles are my favorite rules. You can easily find affordable 1st edition sets on ebay or FB regularly. Avoid second edition (horrible printing and proofreading), third or fourth are ok if you can find them. |
Eumelus | 26 May 2021 11:04 a.m. PST |
My group uses our club-modified NB ver 1, and I expect we shall until we all kick the bucket. I write original scenarios for all historic battles, being not particularly happy with the published ones. Bob and Craig, rest their souls, were great guys and very accepting of the fact that wargamers would tweak their rules to match their club's preferences. |
Attalus I | 26 May 2021 11:38 a.m. PST |
Blucher is a good ruleset that works with any scale, & easy to learn & play. |
raylev3 | 26 May 2021 11:57 a.m. PST |
Today, you're spoiled for available Napoleonic rules. What rules you'll enjoy will depend on what level of command you want to play, and what level of decision making you want. For example, if you want to make tactical level decisions you'll want a set of rules that allow you to decide whether or not to form square or what of the available formations you want to use -- probably a set where the basic maneuver element is a battalion/regiment. We prefer Age of Eagles because we prefer higher level decision making. In AoE, the basic maneuver element is the brigade. This allows you to easily play scenarios with a full corps or even an army. You don't need to get wrapped up in tactical level decisions because your subordinate commanders do that within the brigade's area of responsibility. (Volley and Bayonet is another set of rules where the brigade is the basic maneuver element…easy to learn, too.) Having said that, we've also played tactical level games, which normally means you're fielding a division. We've used, and enjoyed, Black Powder and Shako when we want a tactical level game. In the past our group used Napoleons' Battles and Empire (multiple editions), but we've left those behind. At best, they're very dated and/or complicated. But be warned, there are a lot of rules available…decide what decision level you want and then research a few sets. |
svsavory | 26 May 2021 12:47 p.m. PST |
I used to play Napoleon's Battles and I always liked them. This past weekend we tried Age of Eagles (2nd edition) and found them to be very enjoyable. |
AussieAndy | 26 May 2021 6:50 p.m. PST |
I like Age of Eagles too. However, I suggest that you see what everyone else in your neck of the woods is playing. You may have a preference for Age of Eagles or Napoleon's Battles, but that mightn't do you much good if all the other gamers refuse to play anything but Blucher. |
Major Mike | 26 May 2021 7:24 p.m. PST |
Just used Bloody Big Battles to run a large Napoleonic campaign last year. Around 8 Corps on each side. |
Saber6 | 26 May 2021 8:23 p.m. PST |
Another vote for Age of Eagles. You don't even need to change your basing! |
ChrisBBB2 | 26 May 2021 9:41 p.m. PST |
Major Mike, thanks for the mention of BBB. A nice review of BBB for Napoleonics is here: wargamingftb.net/?p=4009 Collected reviews of BBB are on the BBBBlog: link |
pfmodel | 26 May 2021 10:34 p.m. PST |
While I have not covered napoleons battles, I covered a number of rules in this Video Its broken up into scales and time stamps are provided. I have purchased most of the "Army Scale" rules, but have only done an in-depth analysis of DBN , which I have to admit has pleasantly surprised me. My next analysis will be The Age of eagles, which is also impressive but looks likes its mainly focused on 25mm very large playing area battles. I will need to see if I can cobble a smaller game out of the system, but I lack sufficient knowledge of those rules to provide an answer now. At the highest scale BBNB is probably what I will mainly focus on, but I am finding its taking a lot longer for rules to arrive from the US than the UK, so that is on the back burner right now until the full rules arrive. A good web site is link |
nsolomon99 | 27 May 2021 2:36 a.m. PST |
For an Army level, whole-of-battle rules set I am currently using 4th Edition Napoleon's Battles. I am waiting to see how Empire 7 looks when it come out next year but NB 4th is available right now and proving as good as ever for an Army level game. The 2nd & 3rd Editions of NB were not good but the 4th Edition reads smoothly and tweaks the things that needed tweaking in 1st Edition (e.g. fighting in BUA's, etc) I could not recommend the Charts and Tables from 4th Edition though. I have found that user developed Charts & Cards from the Napoleon's Battles IO Group are excellent and very effectively smooth and speed play. |
Gonsalvo | 27 May 2021 4:17 a.m. PST |
I'd give a look at Filed of Battle as well, my personal favorite, and quite different from all of the others. There are indeed so many Napoleonic rules options available! link |
Onomarchos | 27 May 2021 6:12 a.m. PST |
I also really enjoyed Field of Battle. Here's a direct link to the PIquet website. link |
miniMo | 27 May 2021 8:00 a.m. PST |
Our group has gone on to DBN, with Snappy Nappy a close second that we will happily play if someone's putting on a game. The DBN author has whiled away lockdown putting up game play vids, these give a good feel for the game to see if you might like it: YouTube link |
Saber6 | 27 May 2021 9:41 a.m. PST |
pfmodel: Age of Eagles is really scale/size independent. Most games I have seen (other than my own) are 15mm, even the ones run by the Author. Take a close look, I've been using them since the playtest in 2004/2005. |
pfmodel | 27 May 2021 3:37 p.m. PST |
Saber6 – Thanks, i have to admit initially being disappointed but when i read the rules i got rather excited. There is a lot of basic principals which are really rather good, i just need to complete my in depth analysis of DBN first. |
Lascaris | 27 May 2021 9:42 p.m. PST |
Take a look at Et Sans Resultat (ESR) for army level napoleonics. For us it gives a great feel for decision making at army/corps level. |
4th Cuirassier | 28 May 2021 5:29 a.m. PST |
the current publisher of Napoleon's Battles has been found guilty in court of stealing from a sculptor Wow, really!? |
IUsedToBeSomeone | 28 May 2021 8:01 a.m. PST |
As the only people I can see associated with the latest edition of Napoleons Battles 4th Edition are Partizan Press from the websites I see it mentioned on, you might want to change that statement, Bill. Mike |
Musketballs | 28 May 2021 10:24 a.m. PST |
AFAIK: Partizan Press are the publishers of the latest (4th) edition, but are not the copyright holders for it. It's the copyright holders (who bought the rights from Bob Coggins before his death) who had some kind of dispute going on. A unfortunate case of 'terminological inexactitude'. |
Mark52 | 28 May 2021 2:18 p.m. PST |
Our group enjoyed Grand Battles Napoléon by Siegework studio. Northstar a d On Military Matters I think carry them. |
John Simmons | 11 Jun 2021 4:53 p.m. PST |
Greetings, Try "Warfare in the Age of Napoleon" for the low level Battalion action where you are a Divisional General or try "ESR" where you are now the CORPS command leading a number of Divisions where Command Decisions count. What is nice is the fact that you can base your figures so that you can play both for two very different game systems. |
Rome Bruce | 23 Jun 2021 10:15 a.m. PST |
Take a look at Absolute Emperor YouTube link It is easy to play, you can get gaming with few units, and any basing system works just fine. |
bpreston | 13 Jul 2021 3:19 p.m. PST |
Field of Glory 2 is set at the same scale as Napoleon's Battles (you field a Corps). |