"Favorite Napoleonic battle." Topic

What's your favorite battle from the Napoleonic era to play or would like to play someday?

Mine are:

Talavera
Waterloo
Borodino
Ligny
Friedland

Trafalgar

Good Choice!

Quatre Bras
Leipzig

1805 – Haslach-Junginen & Austerlitz
1806 – Auerstadt
1809 – Aspern-Essling & Linz
1814 – Six Days of Glory

Shannon versus Chesapeake

Leipzig.
Albuerra.

Arnhofen.

The one my club has played probably most often, and which seems to offer a great variety of tactical choices for both sides, is Liebertwolkwitz (14 Oct 1813).

For me it's Maida. Such a small battle with so many exotic units and uniforms. Swiss (on both sides), Poles, Corsicans and of course the French and British themselves.

For a small battle, it has generated a lot.of.debate about column versus line and of it was really column versus line.

I've read several book on the battle and have started (not finished) several projects in several scales (6mm and 15mm). I intend to give it another go and finish it some time.

Just played out historical Campo Tenese 1806 down in the southern Italian mountains. Royalist Neapolitans vs. French with a dash of Polish and swiss as French allies. My favorites tend to the unloved battles and make a scenario situation out of them.

Aspern-Essling, Austerlitz, Borodino

My most often gamed is Quatre Bras.

The one I'm looking forward to the most is Tolentino. Still have to finish up the Austrian forces for DBN…

Once we get enough figures done up, Liebertwolkwitz and eventually 1st day of Leipzig.

Waterloo campaign, specifically Quatre Bras.

Castalla, 1813.

Because I'm an American & a Texan who loves New Orleans & has been to the battlefield more than once, my fav is the Battle of New Orleans + the right side won!

Leipzig

Quatre Bras

Battle of Lissa on the naval side.

For those of you answering "Leipzig", I'm curious – do you mean that's the battle you'd _like_ to game someday, or one you have often gamed already? And if the latter, what were the rules and scope of the project (I mean, Leipzig is the MOAB)?

Very much agree with Prince Albert: Maida's a cracking little battle and makes for a perfect wargame scenario.

On a larger scale, Salamanca is a thrilling contest of manoeuvre and counter-manoeuvre, though near-impossible, I would think, to do justice to on the wargames table.

For me, Leipzig is "would like to play". I know the DBN guys did it, so there's at least that possibility …

15mm vs 28mm vs 1/72

Jena-Auerstedt, Grossbeeren, Hanau, Leipzig

Eumulus, Leipzig is doable with DBN. It's still a monster game for sure. The scenario set for the game is just the first day. French victory if they win on day one; the battle is lost if they don't and you can skip the long and bloody denouement.

link

Elchingen, Eylau, Caldiero 1805, Aspern- Essling, Brienne, Leipzig in pieces – the greatest battle of them all….

Smaller scale fights are more interesting, in general. Leipzig can be broken down.

Austerlitz, Eylau, Wagram, Raab, Dresden, Ligny, Talavera

Oh yeah, I forgot Quatre Bras. Working on that one right now. Great battle for gaming.

I've played most of the big ones. The one that felt most memorably majestic and 'Napoleonic' was Borodino.
link

Jena-Auerstedt, Wagram & Leipzig

Borodino
Waterloo

Too many battles to mention because most have different aspects that make them interesting to read about, research and play. I like most of the actions already mentioned, especially Dresden 1813. And if space, time and costs etc were not a problem, The Battle of the Pyramids. (Is there anyone out there who makes pyramids?) LOL
Also interesting to play would be Castiglione 1796, Rivoli 1797, Corunna 1809, Auerstadts 1806, Raab 1809, Albuera 1811, Fuentes de Onoro, 1811, Maroyaroslavets 1812, Mincio 1814 etc, etc

I meant to mention, if you have a suitable scaled snow machine, Eylau 1807 is a good one or if you'd prefer a warmer action, Medina de Rio Seco 1808. Both great to play, in my opinion. Then there are the actions of the Revolutionary period…no, I'll stop there. Like I say, too many different actions and scenarios, each with their own merits. I think we're very lucky in that sense for Revolutionary/Napoleonic wargaming.

Pyramids. One day I wish to game it. Slap another man's name on the Egyptian campaign and most would think they were reading fictional fantasy.

Jena-Aurstadt. I am a fan of the Saxon spirit. By far my favorite French ally.

Aspern-Essling. Charles was, man to man and mind to mind, by far Napoleon's most equal without question.

Wagram. The end of the Napoleonic Era in spirit in my eyes.

Many smaller runners up. Usually niche. Tyrolean rebellion, South Africa, rebellion in Haiti. For big battles though these are my favorite.

Austerlitz. Wagram.

"Charles was, man to man and mind to mind, by far Napoleon's most equal without question."

He did commit some serious gaffes in 1799, though, when he was still learning his trade.

It depends whether we are talking figure or map/board gaming. The bigger battles require hundreds, and more probably thousands of figures and massive tables. Usually one ends up reproducing just a small part of the whole battle. A board game gives more options.
The battles that I would like to fight are
Waterloo Campaign
Aspern-Essling
Borodino
I suspect these are impractical with miniature figures

@grahambeyrout: it is perfectly feasible for a small group of 4-6 players to fight these battles in their entirety, on a typical 6'x4' wargames table, in an evening or long afternoon. The BBB ruleset was designed for exactly that purpose. See eg,

Matt Bradley's ("Pushing Tin") combined Waterloo & Wavre game:
link
and his combined Ligny & Quatre Bras game:
link
and Aspern-Essling:
link

And "Colin the Wargamer" on Leipzig:
link

And my own reports on Dresden (impressively done remotely via webcam):
link
Borodino (already mentioned above):
link
Waterloo:
link

See Shugyosha's 'Wargaming Everything' website for some good comparative reviews of army-level rulesets:
link

Collected reviews specifically of BBB are here:
link

DevoutDavout,

Weren't the Saxons allied with the Prussians at Jena-Auerstadt and the French at Leipzig (for part of the battle). They seem to have had a definite ability to pick the losing side, unlike the Bavarians.

They were allied with the Prussians at J-A. While the Prussians fled like insects, the small very outnumbered Saxon force withdrew in form by drum. Pausing many times and in good order forming up, repelling French advances and then turning and carrying on.

The Saxons were allied with the French after Napoleon saw this, and decided to save them from the Prussian thumb, while also taking them into the army as 9th corps. They fought in the 1809 campaign with the French under Bernadotte. They showed as well then under him. I am, I believe the only person who does not love or hate Bernadotte. But now I am really rambling.

Kulm
Raab
Lissa
Albuera
Maida
North Point MD

I wish those BBB games had figures crammed on to the bases. Going figure light in a big battle game doesn't do justice to what I imagine it should look like in my opinion.

I certainly agree that if Mark had gone for more figures per base it would give a better massed battle visual effect. (I wish he'd get round to flocking them, too.) Matt's bases are crammed full, though, and I suppose his gorgeous games prove your point!

Eylau
Borodino
Aspern Essling
Leipizig
Austerlitz

Matt's bases are crammed full, though, and I suppose his gorgeous games prove your point!

That is true. If my group ever gets back to Napoleonics I am hoping we use BBB. I am thinking that large division bases packed with figures would look amazing. It would certainly fit the BBB approach to battles.

Cheers, Marcus Brutus. Well, maybe the imminent "Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles!" (NBBB) scenario book in press now will help to tempt your group back to Napoleonics. It covers battles when Napoleon was Emperor and where he commanded in person:

The Wars of the Third and Fourth Coalitions (1805-1807) – 4-scenario mini-campaign

Austerlitz

Jena/Auerstedt

Eylau

Friedland

The War of the Fifth Coalition (1809) – 3-scenario mini-campaign

Eckmühl

Aspern-Essling

Wagram

Napoleon's Invasion of Russia (1812) – 2-scenario mini-campaign

Borodino

Berezina

The War of the Sixth Coalition (1813) – 5-scenario mini-campaign

Lützen

Bautzen

Dresden

Leipzig

Hanau

The Final Battles (1814 & 1815) – 2 stand-alone scenarios

La Rothière

Waterloo

My top 2 are;
Wagram (by far my favorite)
Jena

Followed at a fair distance by;
Waterloo
Aspern
Raab

Ah yes, Wagram: "With 300,000 men on the pitch, this little scuffle was even bigger than Solferino. You'd think it might leave no room for maneuver and just be a dull slugfest, but it was a fantastic game. No shortage of slugging it out, to be sure, but plenty of movement, and a real feel of punch/counter-punch, like two heavyweights trading blows, reeling back and then surging forward again. Awesome."
link

The Battle for the Keys to the Chastity Belts.

I think Maida is the ideal wargaming battle. If the British had managed to get some calvary then it would be a textbook example of the "starter battle" that you see in the back of every set of rules. There's a core of British and French infantry, some colorful allies, artillery on both sides and the French have horse. It comes out to a reinforced brigade/light division per side, and the terrain has hills, woods and a fordable river.

If I want to go up a level in size, I like Alamoncid in 1809. A full French corps against a Spanish corps. German allies. Interesting terrain but not too hard to model. Figures can be reused for fighting Talavera as well.

Haßlach – Jungingen 1805 one French division under Dupont against the Austrian Army at Ulm