"Empire Board" Topic

Is there any point to this board? Look at the number of posts compared with the other Napoleonic boards. If so why? Is it because Empire is so out of date, complicated, and long winded it can't appeal to new wargamers? If so is there an arguement for a Empire-lite or just consign the rules to history and move on?

People still use it, it was a innovation used through many revisions, possibly a new version coming as well, and is electronic space so small there needs to be closet room cleared out to make room for something else?

Our group still plays it and I've been playing it since 3rd edition was published

It's no more 'out of date' than any other rule set: by that metric age invalidates a rule set, so, for example,TSATF anniversary edition should not be published because its 40 years old – ?

Complicated: no, but it is complex. It was written at a time when a gamers attention span was not a consideration for either rules development or writing style.

Long winded: obviously that's subjective and as above why should page count be considered a negative – ?

Like any other complex rule set Empire initially demands the attention of the player but with time and continued play the complexity fades away

Why is this even important to you – ?

Triple negatives? No positives? Empire is not in a popularity contest, so numbers of posts is irrelevant. There are other places Empire is discussed besides TMP. Empire 7 is being developed and designed to facilitate Napoleonic wargaming with updates to enable Grognards and new recruits alike to enjoy hours of gaming camaraderie.

Bill leaves dead and almost dead boards up so the content isn't lost. I believe that what he told me. Look at Principles of War; six new threads since 2019, and I don't think any of them have anything to do with the rules.

Wow four responses in one day. Save one I've started all the recent discussions. Has no one out there anything to post or do you all use the Facebook group instead?

Here's a question: what is DUB cavalry?

Thankfully DUB term came in IV and I use III, Dubious Useless Badly or something like that,

Speaking for myself, I used to play it many years ago. I look at the board out of nostalgia -- not because I play it anymore.

I have lots and lots of Prussian Landwehr and Cossacks, they do nothing good most of the time except keep the enemy honest.

I check here often for any new postings and I also use this board as a reference library for whatever I may be working on at the time. I suspect many other Empire gamers use it as well this way.

Our group has always used Empire and continue to build "armies" and develop scenarios. It doesn't appeal to everyone, nothing does that or we'd just play one game, but it resonates with us. We're aged mid-20s to mid 60s BTW.

Is it ironic calling a system attempting to model events from over 200 years ago out of date? #flamebait

The group that I play with is interested in the understanding the system and mechanics of the period using Empire as laboratory simulation. There's also a fair bit tinkering and houserulism involved as we play.

Some "modern" rules take an approach of condensing aspects of battle down to the things that the writer considers most significance. I don't fault the approach – every soldier needs water but I can't think of any Napoleonic ruleset with water consumption rules. But if you do want a rule set a broad set of modelled features, Empire may be the starting point.