Napoleonics

 By Tom Burgess,

Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the 1976 Bicentennial of the American War of Independence (AWI). That excitement has been kindled of late as we will soon be approaching the 250th Anniversary. About a year ago I suggested to Henry Turner, prolific provider of 3D files to print countless 6mm armies, that he might want to consider an AWI line as we approach the 250th.  He was probably planning this all along, but I like to think I gave him the idea to produce this excellent “Colonies Asunder” range of 6mm to 15mm wargame miniature files.  I’m taking full credit anyway!

By Jim Naughton

Part one of this story here

Introduction

The 4^th Edition was published seven years ago.  You may ask why I’m reviewing it now.  There are a couple of reasons.  First, there are new offerings in the figures market in 12mm/15mm scale. Although theoretically aimed at other rulesets, they can be easily applied to Napoleon’s Battles.

And because Napoleon’s Battles (hereafter NB) uses small bases, a ‘sabot base’ or piece of plastic card, a movement tray or similar device can take figures based for NB and apply them to other systems.

In effect, figures are a fungible asset and can be used for multiple rules.  So I recommend those entering Napoleonics for the first time, to have a look at various systems, and base your figures in a way they can be multifunctional.

By Jim Naughton

Introduction

The Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars are sometimes regarded as the ‘Second’ World War, with the Seven Years War regarded as the ‘First.’  Battles raged on all continents save Antarctica and Australia as small forces of the primary contestants sought to seize colonies or disrupt colonial empires.

America’s War of 1812 was triggered by Britain’s high-handed naval policies – in turn a response to Napoleon’s Continental System.  A Corsican general brought the war to Egypt, handily defeating the Sultan’s armies, but failing in face of unavailing British seapower.  A little-known British General’s career took off in the Indian Subcontinent fight

ing native armies with some connection to French mercantile influence.  That career reached its zenith when the Corsican adventurer and the British General clashed at Waterloo, bringing Europe six years of fragile peace.  Clausewitz’s On War and B.H. Liddel Hart’s Strategy have their roots in the Napoleonic Wars.

By Mitch Reed

In our last article, we did an overview of all the games in the Commands & Colors series by Richard Borg. In this article we will compare how the core game mechanics are tweaked for two of the games that take place in the black powder era, C&C: Tricorne (CC:T) which covers the American Revolutionary War, and C&C: Napoleonics which covers the wars in Europe that started about twenty years later and shows how the subtle changes in the rules give you a unique period flavor for each game.
Each game uses the same basic mechanics that is shared throughout the entire C&C franchise, however, changes in how combat dice are calculated, the dice themselves, and some unique rules give each game a different experience and is not just a “re-skin”.

By Tom Gall

The Wargaming Company, publishers of the Napoleonic Ruleset announced on December 19th they have been working to create their own line of figures for ESR.

This is especially exciting as of all the Napoleonic rulesets, ESR is thoughtful in their packaging. When you buy a particular formation for ESR, you’ve always received the exact number of figures that you needed to field that particular formation. Truth be told, I’ve often found an extra figure your two in the pack.

For me, as I’ve been working to paint and base my ESR army this is extremely helpful. I don’t need to be stressing over having to buy yet another package of something to meet some correct minimum so I can play.

I had a sit-down with Andy Rourke the designer of Coalitions from .  The game is an open sandbox that covers the politics behind the entire Napoleonic period.

By Tom Gall

The Wargaming Company makers of Et Sans Résultat (perhaps better known as ESR) have started to update and release their line of campaign books. The first in the refreshed line is To Assure My Dynasty, . These new campaign books are collectively called Series 3 to set them apart from past volumes.

With the book in your hands, the very first thing you’ll notice is, it’s a hardback. The prior series were spiral-bound volumes. Definitely a noticeable increase in quality but what about the content?

The campaign guide is 184 pages, all in full color. The book is broken up into several sections, first giving you a bit of background about the peninsular war, the countries, armies, and personalities involved in the conflict.

The next section covers how to use the book, with guidance on the size of the table, players, how to set up the maps, working with rosters, and how to handle scenarios that last for an extended period of time. After that is the campaign, 13 historical battles broken up into two logical parts. Last but not least is an extensive guide to the army uniforms each unit wore.

By: Ron Winkler

Although game rooms in other areas of the country may be open, California game rooms are still under lockdown. Consequently, I felt it was time for another solo game just to keep my wrists loose for rolling dice. The choice this time was the Battle of Quatre Bras using Snappy Nappy rules.

Although the rules recommend an infantry stand represents 2000 men, cavalry 750, and a single gun 24 guns a player is allowed to vary from these recommendations. Since my 15mm figures are mounted on a 40mmx30mm stand with eight infantry in double rank and 3 Cavalry in single rank, I decided to have a stand represent 1000 infantry, 375 cavalry, and 12 guns but kept the unit size as recommended at 2-3 stands for infantry, 2 for cavalry and 1 for artillery. Overall, it made the forces a bit larger in appearance.

by Troy A. Hill

The Covid-19 pandemic is having both deleterious and beneficial effects on the Table Top Miniatures hobby. From missed conventions and abrupt halts, then sputtering starts to in-person gaming at Friendly Local Gaming Stores (FLGSs), the pandemic has really rocked the table-top gaming industry back on its heels.

But, I’m seeing a trend on many of the social media platforms: either new gamers are entering the hobby, or existing gamers are picking up new armies, or new games to try. One area is in the Napoleonic gaming world. I’ve seen several “New to the hobby, where do I begin?” posts just in the forums and pages with Warlord Games.

I’m in that same boat, and I’m happy to share my trials and tribulations, so any gamers jumping into the great unknown of Napoleonics can learn from my mistakes.

In this piece, I’ll share what I learned about researching, and the models I’ve begun with. I’ll also include images of the Warlord British Line Infantry models, and the process I went through assembling and painting them. You might want to read the image captions separately from the text of the main piece.

Et Sans Résultat or better known as ESR is a Napoleonic ruleset that we’re devoting several stories to over the next few weeks. In this edition, we’ll be looking at one of the essential elements of the game. Minis!

Miniatures, of course, represent your army on the tabletop. In ESR a single stand represents an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, a formation commander, an artillery battery or a reformation area. The size and shape of the base and the miniatures mounted on the base specifically identify what the unit is.

As with all miniature war games, one of the early choices you must make is what scale will you play it in. Many games select the scale for you and don’t let you choose anything else. ESR offers the rules such that if you want to play with 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 25-28mm or other scales it’s a snap. The quick reference sheets .