Rules for Napoleonic wargames: spoilt for choice or just $#@%! confused?

My recent post reviewing the Napoleon at War rules generated some interesting comments and also prompted the unanswerable question; which set of rules are the best for large-scale Napoleonic games? (Although to be fair, the question was couched as “in our opinion”).

Wargames rules have come a long way since "Little Wars"

We are truly spoilt for choice with rules for Napoleonic wargaming, as this list from Deep Fried Happy Mice demonstrates. The worry is that he does not have them all listed either (not to mention the many free sets of rules)!

That is part of the reason why we three amigos at the ANF have been trying a few different sets of rules. We have written and posted a review of most of them (see the tab ‘Evaluating Rules’ above). As Julian said in response to some comments to my post reviewing Napoleon at War, we have settled on Shako with a selection of the rules from Shako II, plus some of our own, and have dubbed the result Shako-ANF. While I like to joke about Mark and Julian being SS-Oberstgruppenführer and SS-Obergruppenführer respectively, where SS stands for Shako Stasi (ha, ha!), I don’t think any of us thinks we have the ultimate Napoleonic wargames rules yet—just the best set that any of us has seen in our time of wargaming since the late-70s/early 80s and, most importantly, the set that suits us best.

For each of us it is a matter of what we want in a set of rules. More game or more simulation? Something that can be easily completed in a single evening of wargaming, or as set that suits a more leisurely approach?

Then there are the specifics of the rules. What figure scale do they use? How long will a turn take to play? How do they manage time and command and control? Do they allow for Napoleonic unit formations? How do they treat higher-order (brigade/division/corps/army wing) formations? How do they restrict the player’s ‘helicopter view’? Do you get units slowly whittled down, absorbing a certain level of casualties before ‘breaking’, or are combat results dealt with quickly and decisively with the loser obliterated or ceasing to be effective? How devastating is artillery fire? And so on...

Fortunately there are plenty of reviews amongst our blogger friends to give those interested an idea about each set. Here are just a few examples to assist you; and perhaps to confuse you further!

• Peter Anderson (Gonsalvo) has written in detail regarding the Piquet, Field of Battle rules that they have used to stage battles of various sizes within their group and at conventions.
• Napoleon’s Battles seem to have a large following. MurdocK has made some comments about them under my post about the Napoleon at War rules, Rafa Pardo has used them for many solo battles and has posted a lot of information on his blog and website.
• Black Powder are used by many groups, especially for large, multi-player games (at least two of the recent games of Borodino used these rules, the Hall of Heroes in NSW Australia and the Kiwis in Christchurch NZ. We used Black Powder at games that we joined when we visited the Napoleonic Wargaming Society in Perth last year and earlier this year. I have not yet posted our thoughts from this experience, but ‘Vive l’Empereur’ has written a review of the Black Powder rules.
• ‘Vive l’Empereur’ has also written a review of Grande Armée and has a different impression of Shako from our own. MurdocK has recently posted a report of a game using Shako at the Dak-Kon convention in BC Canada.
• Amongst the many players using General de Brigade are James and his group in Tennessee and the Mortimer Street Marauders in the UK.
• Ben ‘Rosbif’ has numerous battle reports using the NWA’s house rules ‘Cold Steel’.
• ‘Pushing Tin’ used his own Valeur et Discipline rules for the Borodino re-fight that he and ‘Crafthole’ did in September;
• Wargamerabbit (aka Michael) has posted details and instructional videos for the set of rules that they have developed.

The net result of all this? Most of us settle on a set that suits us best, but we are always wondering about the latest set to be released, not to mention some older set about which we have recently become aware. Choice is a wonderful, double-edged sword!