"Rules for the Franco Austrian War 1859" Topic

Can anybody recommend a good set of rules for this war. I am contemplating Principles of War or even adapting a Napoleonic set but just wondered if anybody out there has a better idea.

The only rule set I know of which is dedicated to that war is Furia Francese. As it happens I have a few copies left in stock at £2.50 GBP each….. ;-)

Tony
ERM/Platoon 20

Larry Brom's Chassepot and Needlegun (from And That's The Way It Was) comes with inserts on troop ratings for using the rules with the 1859 and 1866 wars (plus Crimean). The new Field of Battle rules from Piquet cover 1859. So does Victorian Warfare from Saga. All 3 of the games have 1 unit = 1 battalion.

Volley and Bayonet is good for higher level actions (1 unit = 1 brigade).

We ave used modified Fire and Fury with success.

There is a set of modified Fire and Fury rules for 1859 on this site – wfgamers.org.uk

Bruce Weigle, author of "1870", should be releasing rules for the war in the near future. Aimed at 6mm play, other scales such as 10mm/15mm could be used. The system is based on "1870" and will have the same high production values terms of including scenarios, maps and information on the war. The book should also cover the 1864 Prusso Danish War.

Back in the 1980s, Xeno Games released a mini system called. 'Century of glory' which had army lists for the wars and others wars between 1848 and 1900.

Now if you are looking at using rules from another war, then I would agree with HWICCEE that the Fire and Fury ACW rules for 1859 would be better than a napoleonic era set of rules.

Broglie: Out of curiosity, what scale would you use? Pendraken have a 10mm range, and Baccus have the French and Prussians available in 6mm (Austrians soon?).

Tony: Are the Furia Francese, the same set that were available on the internet (if so, what is the production quality)? Are they a Fire and Fury variant?

Would any of the Austrian Napoleonic figures be suitable for 1859 or 1866 AUstrians (say in 6mm or 10mm)?

Many thanks to all who responded.

Le Coq Feu
I am using 15mm Essex French and Lancashire Games Austrians although I would like to look at the new Old Glory Austrians.

Tony Barr
I used to have a copy of Furia Francese but gave it away many years ago.

I will have a look at Piquet as I like the idea of one unit representing one battalion.

I did buy a copy of "1870" and was impressed by the publication but did not use the rules themselves so I would probably buy a set dedicated to 1859 when it is released.

HWICEE, Rudy Nelson

I think perhaps I will give Fire and Fury, suitably amended a try. Do I have to but their ACW set and then use the modifications on the website or what??

Thanks again

Principles of War actually works very well for this period. I've played a lot of games with it. It also has the advantage that the basing is very similar to Bruce Weigle's rules, so a PoW battalion becomes an 1870 (or 1859) regiment. As well as Furia Frances, and in the same sort of vein is Warfare in the Industrial Age (I think – books still packed from moving house).

John Watts

Thank you for your post.

I have to admit that I planned to use PoW but only in the absence of anything specifically written for the 1859 war. I have had some good games with PoW so I am no knocking them in any way. I do like rules that are period specific or even campaign specific.

I might write my own or even adapt a Napoleonic set. I think this is the last war which could be played using an adapted Napoleonic set.

Regards

I poseted the variant my group uses onto the NapoleonicFireandFury Yahoo group (FuZ.pdf). We used these for battles from Denmark to Mexico as well as Bohemia and France.

Thank you Saber6.

I will check that out.

Regards

Gentlemen,

I have just had sight of a very high quality pre-production copy of Bruce Weigle's new rules for 1859 and 1864. Entitled '1859 Grand Tactical Rules for the Second Italian War of Independence, also Includes Complete Rules for 1864 – The Second Schleswig War', it runs to 132 pages, with a separate charts insert.It follows the format of the previous 1870 booklet with orders of battle, many illustrations, 7 scenarios each for 1859 and 1864. The finished product will, I understand, be available in about three weeks.

Mike

Gefreiter

This is excellent news. I hope it will be announced on the TMP page. I certainly will buy the book even if I do not decide to use the rules. The 1870 book was well worth the money as it is a font of information and very atmospheric.

Thanks for the information.

Gefreiter, is that a stand-alone set, or is ownership of 1870 required as well ?

Pete

Good Point Guthroth

Hello Pete

They are stand alone

Mike

Gentlemen,
The "1859/64" rules have gone to press and I expect to have them in hand in 2-3 weeks (finally!). Like "1870" they've got a lot of historical/background info; the booklet is also 30 pages longer than "1870" since it covers two wars and an additional play scale. Gamers will now be able to fight Solferino-sized engagements in the original grand tactical scale (where one stand = one battalion), half-scale (one stand = half-battalion) or quarter-scale battles (one stand = one company) with the same armies. All the original "1870" rules are still there, but have been rewritten in a few places to clarify or correct the original text in response to user feedback. The concepts that were developed for the "1864" Austrians, incidentally, will be carried over into the next booklet in the series, covering the campaigns of 1866. Thanks for everyone's encouragement and patience; I'll post a birth announcement when "1859/64" is on-hand and available.
Bruce

I will look forward to that.

Will the UK distributor be Caliver Books as I am going to a show he is attending in November in Antwerp

I assume that Caliver will be well-stocked by then; they get their copies from a stateside distributor, who has usually been pretty good about getting new products out to his customers. I will also be able to supply individual copies direct when they arrive, but the postage — especially overseas postage — makes this a very expensive proposition.

Bruce

Cool!

Furia Francese is a set published by Freikorps which I have modified (heavily) for the 1864 war. It is fairly simple, requires order counters to be issued to units each turn. They are not the same as Fire and Furia Francese that one can get from the net (and is a Fire and Fury variant).

I am looking forward to seeing Bruce's work as I had a copy of his 1870 rules and rather enjoyed the effort.

You may want to look at Piquet's new rule set Field of Battle. They cover this time period or Hallowed Ground by Piquet which allows you to game in three different scales like Grand Tactical, Battalion, and Company. If you can find a set The Age of Bismark covers this period as well.

VicCina

Thank you for that. I will check out all possibilities. I seem to remember seeing the Age of Bismarck many years ago but not since. However Piquet is alive and well as far as I know.

For the moment I am awaiting the new 1859 rules.

Regards

Well, 2-3 weeks have passed, any news yet ?

Pete

I spoke to the printer today -- the one who promised that I'd have the 1859 booklets in "2-3 weeks". He regrets the delay, and now maintains that he'll send them to me by the end of next week… which means that I should finally get my little hands on them about 25 Oct. Oh, well. Thanks for your patience, folks -- I'll post the word as soon as I get them.

Bruce

Gentlemen,

I have heard from Bruce that he has now received the 1859/64 booklets from the printers.

Mike

I'm about to venture forth on my first space combat campaign, playing the Jovian Confederation using the Lightning Strike rules by DP9.

We had a playtest game that went very well, and the rules seem very interesting – lots of possibility for ship type interactions.

So, if any of you have played these rules, or in a campaign using this background, do you have any opinions on the rules? Any glaring holes we should be wary of? Advice for a rookie space-jockey playing against a group of veterans? ;)

Cheers,

Christopher

PS – were ship design rules ever published for Lightning Strike? I only know about the basic rule book (2nd edition).

I'd guess that's the BUG striking.

John

THAT was definitely not Bruce.

Mike

Can't Wait!!! I love this war!!!!

Folks, I'm happy to announce that the "1859" rules booklets for the Second Italian War of Independence – which also covers the 1864 Second Schleswig War – are now in my hands. Finally. The rules are a development of my earlier "1870" FPW rules, so will be familiar to many, despite necessary modifications to accommodate muzzleloader-equipped armies using different tactics, doctrines, and organizations. Because "1859" incorporates a number of clarifications (and a few additions) resulting from five years of "1870" feedback, the "1859" booklet will be in effect the definitive version of the 1859-1864-1866-1870 series. The booklet runs about 135 pages, and like "1870", is about 80% supporting material: historical notes, OBs, 14 scenarios, bibliography, lots of pictures, etc. The whole thing is in color, and is spiral-bound 11 x 8.5 inch format, just like "1870". Besides the grand tactical playing scale appropriate for the large Italian battles, two smaller scales are intended to accommodate more modest engagements -- so depending on which scale you chose to play in, your individual troop stands can represent battalions, half-battalions, or individual companies within basically the same rules. Unfortunately, it'll be at a few weeks before dealers get their supplies, so for those who can't wait, I'd be happy to mail individual copies worldwide; the price is USD $30, which for this introductory period will include shipping. Please contact Kathy at ksugrue at hobbitrontics.com for payment options. Be sure to give her your mailing address, too! Thanks!
Bruce

Bruce,

I would love to pick up a set of your rules but the website you listed doesn't work. Have you got a new site to go to?

Victor

Victor,

email Bruce at this address

bruce1859@cox.net

Mike

Woo HOO !!

My copy of 1859 arrived this morning direct from the US (posted on Friday).

Kathy at ksugrue at hobbitrontics.com is a very nice lady and very efficient.

They now have Paypal as well.

Pete – who already has the figures for 1864, so is off to plan a game for Friday night …..

Everyone's been misspelling the domain name for contacting Kathy about Bruce's Rules (1870/1859).

Her email is ksugrue (at) hobbitronics.com

Don…

I recently purchased "1859" and can highly recommend it. It uses the same basic system as "1870" which I have played a lot and which is my favorite set of rules.
Both "1859" and "1870" contain lots of background information about weapons, tactics and a very good bibliography. Bruce Weigle has done the wargame community a great favour with his work!

Michael

Anybody know if any company in the UK is stocking the 1859 rules yet? Don't see them on Caliver's site…

Yes, please advise…

Dave at Caliver said he was expecting them in about 2 weeks. So that probably means after Xmas. They are a 'must buy' set both as rules and as an introduction to the period.

Caliver has these rules on the website now.

I saw a copy of the 1859 rules at Orc's Nest in London. If you are after a copy give them a call on 020 7379 4254 to check that they still have a copy in stock.

I have a copy of both 1859/1864 and 1870. A very fine read with lots more than just a set of rules. If you really want a good resource all in one publication for all of these wars then you should get these. They contain rules, scenarios, orbats, references for other reading and v nice pictures. Both available from Caliver. Bruce Weigle also runs a friendly website resource that has errattas and other info. All in all good value – and I am not even on commission.