Napoleonic rule set for 2 -3 hour play time?

Started by nemesisuk, 19 June 2019, 06:19:12 PM

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nemesisuk

I am thinking of investing in Napoleonic 10mm Pendraken figures, but before I do, is there a rules set which has a play time of 3 hours? This 3 hour limit is because the club I go to does not allow games to be left set up because the hall is used for other purposes.

The only other option we have is to take pictures etc at the end of the night and the following week set it all back up where we left off. We have done this before with other games, but it is a pain in the Glutomus Maximus.

Norm

To spare you any trouble with the Glutomus thingy ma jig,

Have a look at these three

Black Powder (Warlord Games) small scenario.

Colours & Guns by Iain Dickie and Gareth Harding, produced by Magister Militum, designed for 3 hour games in 10mm!

Napoleonic Wargaming by Neil Thomas, published by The History Press.

Nick the Lemming

We often played Lasalle in under 3 hours (with 1 support, 2 might be pushing it), and I've played loads of games of Bluecher in under 3 hours.

Steve J

Bloody Big Battles gets my vote. We just played Wavre and 8 Turns in a couple of hours and to a conclusion. Also it felt right if you know what I mean? Manouevre to start with followed by attritional attacks and a final breakthrough.

Black Powder and Neil Thomas' Napoleonic rules are also worth checking out as already entioned by Norm.

Chad

Rules will depend on the scale of game you want to play and the detail or otherwise you want in the game.

T-Square

My vote is for Black Powder.  We play some larger games in 6mm in 2-3 hours.  It's a good set of rules that keeps you playing until you reach that point when enough of your commands are broken or shaken that you are forced to leave the field.  A number of the players here really like them.

Chris Pringle

Quote from: Steve J on 19 June 2019, 10:08:51 PM
Bloody Big Battles gets my vote. We just played Wavre and 8 Turns in a couple of hours and to a conclusion. Also it felt right if you know what I mean? Manouevre to start with followed by attritional attacks and a final breakthrough.

Thanks for the vote, Steve.  :-)

Nemesis: at OWS we usually kick off around 6:30 and are packed up by 9:30, so BBB was designed for exactly that Monday night club slot, to fit a while battle on 6'x4' and fight it to a conclusion in an evening.

BBB is geared toward fighting historical scenarios so it does take a bit of planning and preparation. If you just want to be able to turn up without too much thought and put a division on the table for a generic tournament-style encounter, where the rules do the set-up work for you, you would be better off with other rulesets such as some of those recommended above.

But if you fancy doing the whole of Aspern-Essling:
https://pushingtinwargames.blogspot.com/2019/06/aspern-essling-1809.html
(This wasn't an OWS club-night game, but it does look nice!)

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/

nemesisuk

20 June 2019, 01:18:03 PM #7 Last Edit: 20 June 2019, 01:22:07 PM by nemesisuk
Thanks to all for your replies and help.

Also, are the rules people have suggested contain all required to play, for instance army lists for playing a generic battle?

Dave Fielder

Often it is not about the rules you use but the scenario you design. If you want to try Leipzig in 2 hours then 500,000 troops combatting in that time to a conclusion is not really going to happen. If you design a scenario with approx. 6-8 units per side then it all end well ... for the winning general that is.

However, some rules are more elegant than others. Bloody Big Battles is a complete package that is very elegant, as the recent Battle of Wavre proved between me and Steve J. I also like Black Powder which will give a good game, the rules do need some preparatory work to ensure you have all the local rules understood - Black Powder allows a lot of flexibility and people will have a lot of interpretations about how Napoleonics is played. Whatever you settle for make sure you enjoy the system, nothing worse than a beautifully painted army with a set of rules that brings no joy.
Romeo and Juliet is a Verona Crisis

petercooman

Quote from: Steve J on 19 June 2019, 10:08:51 PM
Black Powder and Neil Thomas' Napoleonic rules are also worth checking out as already entioned by Norm.

another vote for Neil Thomas, but i might be biased, as i use almost all his books  ;D