"Quick Play Rules" Topic

I am looking for some quick play rules for Napoleonic's and was wondering if anyone has tried 321 Fast Play Napoleonic Rules SM6, the link to the rules are; link
I also notice a reference to another set of, what I think is quick play, rules called Shadow of the Eagles.
Has anyone tried any of these rules and if so what is your opinion.

Shadow of the Eagles is not very quick play.
Have a look at DBN and the Neil Thomas One Hour Wargames

What length of game are you looking for?

What do you want a unit to represent?

I would also recommend DBN.

Neil Thomas is a leading light of fast play rules that make sense for the period. He knows his eras and writes rules with the rationales for his choices. Bob Cordery's The Portable Napoleonic Wargame is another example.

I saw that 321 has a shoot move melee turn sequence. I can see how that would incrementally speed up play.

My go tos for quick Napoleonics are either Neil Thomas or possibly The Portable Wargame. It depends how much abstraction you are happy with and whether you like strength points.

Bloody Big Battles is pretty quick as well.

In all three cases I prefer to fight entire battles instead of skirmishes.

Martin's OHW variant rules for Napoleonics worked great for me doing Waterloo in 2 hours three times at Historicon 2024!

Chipco's "Le Petit Empereur" plays quite quickly; doesn't require hundreds of figures.

Shadow of the Eagles is not very quick play. Have a look at DBN and the Neil Thomas One Hour Wargames

Thanks, in that case i will not research Shadow of the Eagles. As for DBN, i have tried it and it works, although i find the urban fighting rules less than optimal. I also feel its optimised for 12 elements +/- a few per side and within those bounds works very well. I will look out for Neil Thomas One Hour Wargames, one hour is a bit short but its certainly in the quick play zone.

What length of game are you looking for? What do you want a unit to represent?

I currently use a figure game conversion of the old SPI napoleon at war and depending on figure numbers can give me a good quick play experience, perhaps 4 hours. But i wanted to know what else was out their in the 4 hour zone. As for scale, i prefer refighting entire battles, but as long as i can get a good game i will play any scale, with the exception of skirmish.

Bloody Big Battles is pretty quick as well.

BBNB is a good set of rules, but not a quick play set of rules. I also prefer full historical sized battles.

@pfmodel, then Neil Thomas is not for you. I haven't been able to get any of his one-hour games to last even that long. Most go 30-35 minutes in my experience.

Like DBA, you can play DBN as "large" by using double or triple sized armies. I have played DBACW that way.

You could use Horse,Foot and Guns if you wanted DBN, but bigger. They are pretty fast play.

How about Snappy Nappy?

How about Snappy Nappy?

I have snappy nappy but have not tried them yet, that is a good suggestion.

then Neil Thomas is not for you. I haven't been able to get any of his one-hour games to last even that long. Most go 30-35 minutes in my experience.

I took a quick look at the rules and based on its Rock paper scissors like system, i feel they would be very quick indeed. They do look interesting and certainly has a place, but i suspect i would play them out rather quickly. I have tried the larger DBN games, 3 corps per side, but i think it works best when you pair up players with a corps each and use them for multi-player games. I do like the rules and they certainly hit a sweet spot.

I second Snappy Nappy. Realistic outcomes. Based at brigade level, Command at the Army/corps level. Easy to adapt to figure scales.

I've reworked the Neil Thomas One Hour rules to have a bit more depth and generally a multi player game with around nine or ten units per side takes between an hour and a half and three hours. Depending.

So far Ive used them for Ligny, Waterloo, Wavre, Quatre Bras, Friedland, Aspern Essling and Eylau (this latter based on the BBB scenario).

I'm not sure why you say BBB isn't quick play , I've never had a game last more than a couple of hours, even Gettysburg.

Would you say that "Blucher" are fast play rules? How does Blucher compare to Snappy Nappy?

@Gonsalvo "Martin's OHW variant rules for Napoleonics worked great for me doing Waterloo in 2 hours three times at Historicon 2024"

Great! That sounds like fun, I'm glad you found them useful. What was the ratio of British to French wins? One of my pals has played my Wavre scenario six times and the French have never won!

I'm not sure why you say BBB isn't quick play , I've never had a game last more than a couple of hours, even Gettysburg.

I have only used BBB for Napoloenics, with Austerlitz, if i game to the end of the scenario (8 game-turns) it generally takes 4-5 hours of solid gaming. It gets me a game within a day so is good, but its hard for a figure game to get down to 2-3 hours. Too many figures to move around i suspect, so perhaps unless i go down the 12 elements per side rules its not possible.

has anyone seen blood and bayonet napoleonic rules?