Armchair Dragoons Forums
Wargaming => Age of Gunpowder => Topic started by: Cyrano on November 22, 2019, 04:23:23 PM
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If you could see my command centre from which I play Tabletop Simulator -- really all I play these days -- you would see a growing pile of rulesets.
Last night, as these rulesets threatened to topple and crush me, I realized I have a mission -- perhaps even a calling.
I must find ALL the fast-play, grand tactical, Napoleonic rulesets in print, play, and review them.
With this in mind, I must first assemble the list of all FPGTNRs...which spells nothing...
My List:
Big Bloody Battles
Black Powder (Y)
Blucher (Y)
Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (Y)
De Bellis Napoleonicis
Fast-Play Grande Armee (X)
Horse and Musket
Horse, Foot, and Guns
Le Petit Empereur
March Attack
Morale Napoleon
Snappy Nappy
Volley and Bayonet (X)
X: Played, but not on TTS
Y: Played on TTS
If I were to confess it, Black Powder only BARELY makes the list, but I think it is intended as a fast-play system. Note that this is different from a system that plays quickly. Everyone who loves a rule system will tell you that it plays quickly once you get the hang of it. This is a nonsense. If I may be more clear, "Altar of Freedom" is so beautiful for what it does in the ACW that I sort of want to just mod it for Napoleonics. But I wonder if there's anything out there for Napoleonics! "Shako 2" -- a wonderful system -- is not fast-play, whether or not you think you can play Wagram using it. By the same token, neither is ESR. We will not here speak of LFS, GdB, CaG2, NB, AoE, RtE, GdA, &c., &c.
So, to begin, which systems am I missing?
I will then begin building TTS sets and YOU. Yes YOU will help me play them!
Best,
Jim
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Hmm, not sure it's a mission or a calling. It could be a sickness. :whistle:
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Thank you for this necessary public service. I hope the painful slog will not seriously undermine your sanity.
To keep things fresh, Tim Tilson has put together a number of scenario books for Black Powder. We've given them good plays and they are pretty challenging. I'd guess these would be adaptable to many of the other systems listed.
https://www.wargamevault.com/product/238601/Wars-of-the-Bourbons
Its far too late to worry about that ;)
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Thank you for this necessary public service. I hope the painful slog will not seriously undermine your sanity.
To keep things fresh, Tim Tilson has put together a number of scenario books for Black Powder. We've given them good plays and they are pretty challenging. I'd guess these would be adaptable to many of the other systems listed.
https://www.wargamevault.com/product/238601/Wars-of-the-Bourbons
Its far too late to worry about that ;)
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Before this goes public -- Facebook -- I'm trying to normalize the list. Here is what is certain to make its way to the tabletop::
Big Bloody Battles
Black Powder (Y)
Blucher (Y)
Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (Y)
De Bellis Napoleonicis
Fast-Play Grande Armee (X)
Horse and Musket
Horse, Foot, and Guns
Le Petit Empereur
March Attack
Morale Napoleon
Snappy Nappy
Volley and Bayonet (X)
Here is what will be excluded and the reasons therefore:
Age of Eagles (NFP) (p)
Carnage and Glory 2 (I need not elaborate.)
Empire in all its iterations (I need not elaborate.) (p)
Et Sans Resultat (NFP)
General d'Armee (I need not elaborate.)
General de Brigade (I need not elaborate.) (p)
Le Feu Sacre (NFP) (p)
Napoleon's Battles (NFP) (p)
Napoleonic Command (NFP by its own admission)
Shako 2 (NFP) (p)
(p) = I've played this. More for my own reference.
This is going to take some doing.
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Volume V of Horse & Musket will cover the Napoleonic Wars.
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Added.
Size of hex grid?
Also, keep weird terrain to a minimum. My quest for redoubts is killing me.
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Added.
Size of hex grid?
Also, keep weird terrain to a minimum. My quest for redoubts is killing me.
Hex size is dynamic and representational depending on scenario. It's pretty much like C&C.
There's a limited number of terrain types in the base module, and we ain't adding any more. We have the generic "entrenchments" and "fort." No redoubts, ravelins, covered ways, counter-scarps, wadis, sink holes, blue holes, or extinct volcanic cinder cones.
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Added.
Size of hex grid?
Also, keep weird terrain to a minimum. My quest for redoubts is killing me.
Hex size is dynamic and representational depending on scenario. It's pretty much like C&C.
There's a limited number of terrain types in the base module, and we ain't adding any more. We have the generic "entrenchments" and "fort." No redoubts, ravelins, covered ways, counter-scarps, wadis, sink holes, blue holes, or extinct volcanic cinder cones.
I was worried about cinder cones...very worries...
What I mean re: hexes is the board is how many hexes wide by how many deep?
C&C only comes in three sizes: Basic, Epic, and Grande Battles; whatever that latter is. The first, I think is 11 X 20 or so, and the others get bigger.
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13x9
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Is the new map for Horse and Matchlock bigger?
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Is the new map for Horse and Matchlock bigger?
It's the same number of hexes, but the hexes are double the size.
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I like the new counter art :bigthumb:
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I like the new counter art :bigthumb:
Ilya did a nice job. As an illustration of how OCD certain game developers are, he and I had an exchange over the art for the arquebusiers. I felt like the original illustration had too long a barrel. He wanted to be sure that the illustration reflected the weapon being a wheellock since horse won't tolerate matches. We also had to do a bit of deep diving to find all of the leader portraits for some of the less well-known leaders from some of the smaller conflicts.
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Well, it paid off - most impressive! Looks like I'll have to wait for the PnP version to become available. I'm particularity interested in trying some of ECW scenarios.
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If you're interested in Thirty Years War tactical battles, you can find some great scenario information in Battles of the Thirty Years War by W P Guthrie.
He was a wargamer who was fascinated by the period. You would probably find it easier to get the two volume set by inter library loan, since Greenfield publishing has closed shop.
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Note made - thank you very much :bigthumb:
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If you're interested in Thirty Years War tactical battles, you can find some great scenario information in Battles of the Thirty Years War by W P Guthrie.
He was a wargamer who was fascinated by the period. You would probably find it easier to get the two volume set by inter library loan, since Greenfield publishing has closed shop.
I have both Guthrie volumes in hardback. They can be had from Amazon, but they aren't cheap. They are however, hands down the best source in English for details of the battles of the Thirty Years War. The detailed OOBs alone are worth the price.
I can tell you that Guthrie was definitely consulted for Horse & Musket. I would be surprised if Ben Hull hadn't used these heavily for his game series.
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Glad you enjoyed the books. Guthrie tried very hard to finish a third volume covering the fighting in France and Italy before cancer took him.
I think someone finished it from his notes and incomplete first draft. renamed it Actions of the Thirty Years War.
https://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfcatalog.php?period=1630
One of the criticisms that Will got a lot was his belief that the Swedish charge was an actual charge that Gustavus Adolphus adapted from the Polish cavalry. Others maintained it was more of a controlled trot, like Marlborough used.
Would you know if this debate is still ongoing?
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One of the criticisms that Will got a lot was his belief that the Swedish charge was an actual charge that Gustavus Adolphus adapted from the Polish cavalry. Others maintained it was more of a controlled trot, like Marlborough used.
Would you know if this debate is still ongoing?
Yes, very much so. I was just discussing this with someone a few months ago, in fact. Outside of Guthrie the consensus really leans toward the trot. I have to admit I think Guthrie was right and I buy his argument. It's clear that GA learned a great deal during the Polish campaign that he incorporated into the Swedish army for the German campaigns.
I've heard of the third book, but don't yet have it. It's very much on my list.
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If it helps, Will got a lot from the Swedish General Staff's studies, Sveriges Kreiges.
He had a heck of a time finding someone to translate it into english. He kind of lucked out by finding that the military attache in the Swedish embassy was into military history.
According to him, the Swedish military are fully on the side of a charge. He thought the actual Swedish horse, like the Gotland and Smaland regiments, were trained in both, and used the tactic that was most appropriate in the particular situation.
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Before this goes public -- Facebook -- I'm trying to normalize the list. Here is what is certain to make its way to the tabletop::
Big Bloody Battles
Black Powder (Y)
Blucher (Y)
Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (Y)
De Bellis Napoleonicis
Fast-Play Grande Armee (X)
Horse and Musket
Horse, Foot, and Guns
Le Petit Empereur
March Attack
Morale Napoleon
Snappy Nappy
Volley and Bayonet (X)
Here is what will be excluded and the reasons therefore:
Age of Eagles (NFP) (p)
Carnage and Glory 2 (I need not elaborate.)
Empire in all its iterations (I need not elaborate.) (p)
Et Sans Resultat (NFP)
General d'Armee (I need not elaborate.)
General de Brigade (I need not elaborate.) (p)
Le Feu Sacre (NFP) (p)
Napoleon's Battles (NFP) (p)
Napoleonic Command (NFP by its own admission)
Shako 2 (NFP) (p)
(p) = I've played this. More for my own reference.
This is going to take some doing.
You've omitted "Divisional Commander" - a miniatures rule set designed by members of my Wargames Club and available on Wargame Vault. However, since it's for miniatures, I'm not sure if it would qualify as quick-playing.
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I ended up pulling Guthrie out last night for some research as I was doing some work on Horse & Musket. His writing is really what I wish I had for every period. The accounts of the campaigns, battles, and even minor actions are just superb. Between he, Nosworthy, Chandler and Duffy I have everything I could desire in terms of military history.
Glad you enjoyed the books. Guthrie tried very hard to finish a third volume covering the fighting in France and Italy before cancer took him.
I think someone finished it from his notes and incomplete first draft. renamed it Actions of the Thirty Years War.
https://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfcatalog.php?period=1630 (https://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfcatalog.php?period=1630)
One of the criticisms that Will got a lot was his belief that the Swedish charge was an actual charge that Gustavus Adolphus adapted from the Polish cavalry. Others maintained it was more of a controlled trot, like Marlborough used.
Would you know if this debate is still ongoing?
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Big Bloody Battles
Black Powder (Y)
Blucher (Y)
Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (Y)
De Bellis Napoleonicis
Fast-Play Grande Armee (X)
Horse and Musket
Horse, Foot, and Guns
Le Petit Empereur
March Attack
Morale Napoleon
Snappy Nappy
Volley and Bayonet (X)
How is your quest for a Napoleonics AoF going, Jim? Have you played Le Petit Empereur and Morale Napoleon, yet?
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Oh, and Jim, are you aware of this?
https://www.vaevictismag.fr/en/first-empire/210-waterloo-1815.html
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The Jours de Gloire system is neat!
I am currently trying to hunt down Le Petit Empereur. Noble Knight has it and the expansion, but shipping from the US... :-\ Given how old it is, is there a PDF around somewhere maybe?
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Can you not buy directly from the publisher?
https://www.vaevictismag.fr/en/
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Oh yes, the Jours de Gloire games are no problem for me to get at all!
I was referring to the Le Petit Empereur (https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147431119/Le-Petit-Empereur) miniature rules and expansion (https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147432773/Chipco--Expansion-Pack-1) from Chipco.
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Okay, cleared up my last messy post.
Chipco is selling PDFs via PayPal (to be found on their Facebook page, couldn't find a website).
I have ordered the 15$ pack of Le Petit Empereur, Age of Gunpowder and Chrysanthemum Throne.
Waiting for the files now. LPE should come with the expansion. :rockon:
From scrolling through the FB page, they have also kept improving the rules over the years.
Unsure whether those Noble Knight is selling are an old in print version?
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Alright, Curtis sent them within a few hours. Time to dig in!
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Excellent! :bigthumb:
Have you played many of the 'Jours de Gloire' system games?
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I have the Premières Gloires pack (Rivoli, Zürich, Montebello, Marengo) and Arcoli.
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I downloaded the base rules and the Waterloo Vassal mod . Seems like a nice system.
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Okay, the Chipco games need some reformatting. ;D Only six pages long but just a wall of text. :o