A thick heavily illustrated and very colorful rulebook. Ground scale varies with base size varying. Bases represent battalions. There is no figure scale I can find. The rule book seems split fairly evenly between the rules and organization and leader rankings for the nationalities involved. There is also a brief section on scenario and a short sample scenario.
A set of rules for Napoleonic land combat written by Peter Gilder and first published in 1970.
Designed with 25mm figures in mind, the figure scale is 1 to 20, 1 gun to 2, 6” to 100 yards, with a game turn representing about 30 minutes. The game uses 15 phases with order writing and simultaneous movement.
An adaptation of the American Civil War rules Fire & Fury the rules are nicely presented with a chatty presentation covering all aspects of the game in a style tailored to beginners especially in the opening chapter and introduction.
Graphics are very good, evocative of AH’s Napoleon’s Battles. Finer points of the rules are well illustrated. A single tear-out page containing critical charts and tables can be found at the end of the book. Several scenarios are included containing graphic representation of each army’s organization.
Figures are mounted in a manner similar to Napoleon’s Battles with 1 figure equaling 90 actual soldiers. one inch equals 120 yards. A game turn represents 30 minutes. The rules require 10-sided dice. Optional rules are few and scattered through the text for example, a rule limiting Austrian commanders from leading from the front.
There is also an attractive website associated withe the rules and an expansion for 18th century conflict. In addition to an online store. there are downloadable player aids and scenarios. One useful aspect is the inclusion of moderate sized battles in the scenarios. not everyone is ready to game Leipzig or Waterloo.
A game turn consists of a roll for initiative followed by alternating player turns composed of 3 phases, movement, fire, and melee. Leaders impact die rolls that allow the brigade size units to act. Casualties are indicated by removal of multi-man stands. Stands are grouped into formations though brigades themselves are also considered at a lower level based on the nationality of the army and the year of the scenario.
Book 1 of Napoleon’s Battles offers some generic formations for the main combatants. Shown above is a Russian corps with two brigades of infantry and a separate artillery force. Commanding officers’ ranks are indicated by the number of figures per base as well as the size of the base. Each regimental group includes a command unit with ensign, commanding officers, and musician. I have used larger bases for artillery than shown in the rules as it was difficult to cram all those pieces on the base size the rules specified.
The total number of figures here is 124 which gives some indication of just how many of these little guys is necessary for a game. A corps sized formation would likely be as small a force as one would field using these rules. Also worth considering is, that for infantry, the scale is 1 figure = 120 men. To recreate any reasonable size battle from the Napoleonic era would likely require hundreds of figures on either side.
Most of the figures shown above are Heritage/Empire, the artillery and crews and most of the mounted officers are Battle Honors, and the figures on the regimental command bases are by Stan Johansen.
GDW even more than SPI and Avalon Hill could be all things to all gamers, from RPGs to board games to miniatures rules. Volley and Bayonet presents a shift away from the more fiddly and detailed tactical rules of the time towards something which in some sense is closer to a board game than one with miniatures.
The rules cover land warfare in the 18th and 19th century between massive armies. As such, the ultimate unit is the figure base representing roughly a brigade. The number of figures mounted on the base is meaningless though for 25mm, the recommended number is 10 through 12 with an appropriate label naming the unit. A person could if they wished mount as few or as many figures as they wish. The base size and label are really the most critical pieces of information.
Scale is also along the same lines with an inch = 100 yards. Each turn equals an hour of time. The goal is to allow players to game very large battles in a space around the size of a ping pong table.
The rules do not present the kind of competitive format as in WRG games. They are intended to simulate engagements rather than promote a contest of equals.
The rules are still in print. The quality of the rules shows an understanding of miniatures play that the authors achieved through experience. Of course, supplements abound.
An interesting and unusual supplement for the American Civil War, this slender book provides scenarios for battles in the eastern and western theaters. It includes a few smaller battles requiring a few bases of figures. A scenario will include a map of the terrain as well as a breakdown of the units available and the strength points assigned to them.
Additionally, there is a section in the back of the book which utilizes the GDW game A House Divided as the basis for a campaign game. Instructions are provided for transferring a battle from the game board to the table top using generic units from both North and South. The actual game board is included in a rather dull black and white so owning A House Divided is not a requirement to playing a campaign though the actual board game will look a lot nicer.
Probably the simplest and most colorful group of vehicles available to the gamer are the warships of the 18th and early 19th century. This period has the romance of faraway places and epic battles that has inspired more than one author. There are multiple rules sets to chose from and several manufacturers of lead miniatures in a variety of scales.
These particular ships are made by Figurehead, a British company. Because of this, American distribution can be spotty but the ships can usually be found. Ships can be purchased individually or as fleet sets. The ship designs are generic though the super large ships would clearly only belong in certain fleets. The scale is 1/2400, pretty small though reasonable and providing a reasonable match for common size hex mats either bridging two hexes or resting in one.
Painting is tricky. The ships include a reasonable amount of detail on the deck including ship’s guns but like most of the Figurehead output, there is not the precision that one associates with a manufacturer like GHQ who offer a similar but more expensive range in 1/1200 scale. The most interesting ships I have seen are produced by Langton Miniatures.
Some popular rules for this period include Close Action, Heart of Oak, and Ship o’ the Line. The beauty of these miniatures is that it is not necessary to own hundreds.
According to people who play it, a captivating experience. Rules are highly detailed. The game is played on a board with ships extending across two hexes as in Wooden Ships & Iron Men. I have yet to try this one out. Clash of Arms has focused heavily on naval rules beginning with Harpoon though this series of rules is now sold independently.
The great granddaddy of Napoleonic naval rules, Ship o’ the Line was the precursor to Avalon Hill’s popular boardgame Wooden Ships and Iron Men. These are the same rules but purely for miniatures. Similar but for ancient naval warfare is the boardgame Trireme by Battleline and later Avalon Hill.
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Napoleon’s Battles
At one time, perhaps under the urging of S. Craig Taylor, Avalon Hill flirted openly with miniatures rules. Napoleon’s Battles was meant to allow the massive battles of the Napoleonic era be gamed with a reasonable number of figures. Sadly, even at 1 infantry figure equals 120, the number of figures for even a small historical scenario seems enormous. The format provided follows the standard 3-book format, the first, an introduction to miniatures with information on basing, painting, history, organization, etc., the second, the actual rules basic to advanced and optional, and the third, the actual scenarios including fictitious ones. Supplements amended and revised the rules while adding additional scenarios including the enormous Leipzig scenario in the red module. Module 2 also introduced a tie-in to AH’s Empires in Arms game allowing the game to serve as a campaign and battle generator for miniatures.
Since I first saw them, I wanted one of these little spiral bound books from England. The Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society shown on the book’s cover was a wargaming group started by George Gush who wrote quite a bit on wargames and wargame rules.
The rules specify no scale for time or distance and no figure ratio. However, unit sizes are provided with specific British and Austrian infantry regiment numbers and all other nationalities under a generic category. These are combined in battalions of 30 men and 3 officers. Cavalry regiments consist of 20 men and 2 officers. A gun detachment has a single gun and 5 men.
Play appears to be simultaneous though this is not stated. Sequence proceeds with order writing, retreats, charges, additional movement, firing, and morale tests.
Movement allows a half move and fire or stationary and fire twice. Terrain includes roads, linear obstacles,breastworks, woods, hills, and buildings all of which have varying effects on movement. Breastworks and buildings deduct from musketry rolls, woods can block fire after 3 inches. Line of sight is required for a hit. An artillery template is provided covering canister, ball, and shell.
Morale tests occur as a result of a variety of events and require the roll of a single die which is modified by additional factors. The rules also include the use of saving throws which tend to benefit officers and infantry under cover. Generals are immune to fire but can be captured.
The rules suggest that men can be mounted on bases. Formations offered are column, line, square, or open order. Column has a frontage of 8 men or less, line more than 8 men for movement. Open order 1″ between individual figures, 2″ between movement trays. For melee, line is 2 ranks or less, column more than 2 ranks.
In other words, much that one would expect from dedicated British hobbyists before more formalized rules conventions. There is no date on the rules, they do not appear to have a copyright. The booklet is 32 pages in length.