Hi John,
Thanks for the comments. The rules can seem a bit daunting, but I was lucky enough to have another fellow to run through them with so we learnt it together. It took a few games to get things down (and it's also easy to forget a rule here or there if you aren't playing regularly) but using Dave Parker's quick reference sheet posted to the files section of the group by captainquincy makes things very straightforward. It has all the info you need, and anything else you can just check the book for. After a couple of games you won't need to check the main rules at all.
Here's a link to the QRS, but the link won't work unless you are logged into yahoo (and a member of the group, of course!):
PDF link
There are quite a few other useful files on the group, but for starters I'd suggest that you print that QRS out, laminate it, and just play a game or two. Use the historical set ups at first so you don't have to worry about deployment rules, and play a battle you know reasonably well and have figures for.
If you don't have figures, you could always use John Acar's VASSAL module to play (and this is an excellent vehicle for play over the internet, too).
I hope that helps, and I'd recommend you give it a go. It's a very good solo game too, so if you like to potter around by yourself then you must give it a crack sometime!
If you have any questions that come up feel free to fire away here or PM me privately.
Cheers,
Aaron
