Napoleonic miniature rules

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone likes Napoleonic miniature wargaming and if so, what ruleset do you like best?

Personally my favorite is Carnage and Glory II. It is an outstanding, realistic set of rules that lets you focus more on strategy since it is a computer program that takes care of casualties, morale, and many other tedious things I usually hate to bother with in other rulesets. I highly recommend it!

[Krusader]

Is there a link for a trial version or something?

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

http://home.att.net/~npmarsh/

This is his website. Not trying to sell his ruleset on here, but it is excellent. I use them with a buddy of mine when we get together. It is a battalion level ruleset, which I prefer to regimental or higher. I met the author at Historicon here in the USA...it is a huge miniature wargame convention held once a year. He is a Brit that lives in Conneticut, puts on some great games at Historicon with gorgeous 25 mm minis. Last time I went he put on the battle of Vittoria. The computer rules are great, there are many unpredictable things that can happen which you have a hard time doing with the conventional dice rules. I.E. arty running out of ammo, units refusing to charge due to poor leadership, etc. It also keeps track of fatigue, and has many realistic qualities of the period.

[Beirut]

Oh Lord, give me a bottle of Stolychnaya and let me play the Russians.

That looks like a wild game! Risk on steroids.

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

The next battle we plan on playing out is the Battle of the Fletches at Borodino.

[JAG]

Oh Lord, give me a bottle of Stolychnaya and let me play the Russians.

That looks like a wild game! Risk on steroids.

PLEASE don't tell me you have never even heard of figure wargaming or 'real' wargaming - as I like to call it I can guarantee you that near where you live there will be a wargaming group, they are all over the world it is a huge market. I normally rate how good a computer wargame is by how close it gets to a figure wargame - thus the total war series isn't bad, so I play it a lot ;p

I have been a wargamer for years now, probably getting on to around 10 years, it beats computer wargaming hands down, time and again.

Crafurd - I have never played a computer rule set before, though many people have told me they are actually very decent, and I have seen them in action at conventions before.

As to Napoleonic rule sets I have played so many it is hard to remember the names of them all. A great site - and has rules section on it - is this one http://www.napoleonguide.com/miniatures_rules.htm I have played all of those I think, and Shako and Napoleans battles are the best. A few very funny things in both sets though, which you can always ignore - such as in Shako if a cav unit is sent into melee vs a inf unit in line, the inf line then has a very generous chance to form a hasty sqaure, if successful the cav do not have a chance to stop the charge and then have to proceed to get thrashed by the square!

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

Yeah, Ive tried just about all of those rulesets, and I love that website, have used it many times. The thing I dont like about Napoleon's Battles is that it is more abstract than Carnage & Glory, but the thing I do like about it is that it is better to use for extremely large battles. I prefer battalion level rules, but if youre fighting Waterloo, Napoleon's Battles isnt bad. Also a lot less miniatures you have to paint. The best thing about Carnage & Glory to me, is that it takes care of a lot of the tedium, like calculations and things you will almost certainly forget about such as artillery running out of ammo, how much fatigue a unit has, etc. It also has an outstanding program for unit qualities and leader stats, much more complex than the other rules. It really makes me feel like Im watching an actual battle take place from the era. I cant wait to put on the Battle of the Fletches, we had done it before with another ruleset, but arty had unlimited ammo, etc....cant wait to do it with this ruleset. The computer determines all chances to form square in front of a charge, and whether the cav can stop etc...very cool. The game also runs much more smoothly and I end up less cross-eyed at the end of it.

(I havent tried Shako yet, Ill have to check that out)

[Beirut]

PLEASE don't tell me you have never even heard of figure wargaming or 'real' wargaming - as I like to call it

Well, it's like sex with two women at once; I had conceived it, but until I saw pictures of the reality I never really knew what I was missing.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Where can you order the rulebooks for these games in the UK? Napoleonic history, the peninsular war in particular, is my pet history subject, and I've always meant to try wargaming, but have never gotten round to it.

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

Yeah the Penninsular campaign is also my fav. Not sure, but I know you can email the author on the link I postedabove. He's a really nice guy, and a Brit, so Im sure he'd do something for you.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Excellent. Cheers Bob.

I'd prefer if you left the light division outside the forums, by the way-it might get a little crowded otherwise.

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

Hehe, I'll try to share.

["Black Bob" Craufurd]

Oh and I see your from Wales....I'm a huge fan of the band Budgie. I just got to see them last year at a small concert over here. (I think they're from Cardiff) Best show I've ever seen.