Franco-Prussian War

[Chris Pringle]

Just noticed my links in my last post had an http too many. In case anyone was stymied by that and would actually like to see them:

Bloody Big BATTLES! Yahoo group:
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info

My BBB blog:
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.co.uk/

Chris

[magwr]

Hi,

All the beautiful pictures of the figures so fanatstically painted has swayed me to buy the pendraken range.

I noticed a mention of the rule set 1871 [I presume of the 1870/1866 stable] being showcased at Colours, which i hope is Colours in the UK in september. Who will be doing the game? As i would like to see the rules in action.

I have been wanting to get into the F-P war for a while but had never found a good set of rules until i stumbled across 1870 a couple of months ago, as yet haven't played them as been wavering between various manufactures and scales.

Nigel

[mollinary]

Bruce Weigle himself will be doing the game, with various of us UK guys helping out.

Mollinary

[magwr]

Thanks mollinary,

Will find the game during downtime in running the wings of war participation game, that we always run at various shows.

Fantastic that the rule author/designer is going to be there.

Will it be possible to join in at all?

Nigel

[Techno]

Hi,
All the beautiful pictures of the figures so fanatstically painted has swayed me to buy the pendraken range.
Nigel

And as that was your first post......

A very warm welcome to the forum, Nigel.

Cheers - Phil

[mollinary]

Thanks mollinary,

Will it be possible to join in at all?

Nigel

I know Bruce wants to make it a participation game, so hopefully you should get a shot. Come along and say hello!

Mollinary

[Leman]

Hope ypu've got enough space to stage the 1870 scenarios. I did it in 6mm and found I didn't have enough space for the likes of Mars La Tours. I also found the games tended to go on forever, which is not my cup of tea either. The ruleset, Bloody Big Battles has solved both those problems for me. The strength of the 1870 rules for me, these days, is the wealth of information and orbats included. The same strengths go for 1859, 1866 and I assume the forthcoming 1871.

[cameronian]

I'm coming down for the weekend myself so I'll see you there; have been trying to meet up with Bruce for years but one thing or another always gets in the way.

[magwr]

Hi,


Javier, Do you spray your figures with a Matt varnish, to protect them?

Although I have the 1859/1866/1870 rule sets, I also have 'they died for glory'  I like the wealth of information in the 1870 lot, but feel the TDFG would be a faster play to start with. What rules sets do people use and what is the preferred ones out of curiosity?

Found a yahoo group for TDFG but it seems dead as I tried to join but no reply to my request. I have found an errata document for TDFG but it's missing some charts, is there a source for the complete errata?

Look forward to meeting people at colours and having a crack at the game.

Nigel

[cameronian]

OK Javier, time for the Austrians now 

[Steve J]

Will it be possible to join in at all?

It should be Nigel. Those of us helping out are to make sure that there are actually some chaps playing the game from the off. Bruce staged a game at Triples (?) a couple of years ago and hardly had any interest at all . I will be there for some of the day but am helping out on another table as well, so really need to clone myself .

[Le Manchou]

I never tried other rules on the period but I like very much Bruce Weigle rules and scenarios, I played 1870 many times: Wissembourg twice, Froeschwiller twice, Spicheren twice , Mars la Tour, St Privat, Borny, Beaumont twice and Châtillon, and this winter 1859 rules scenarios Melegnano and Magenta. The original 1870 rules were slightly biased in favor of the French in my opinion but with the new QRS available in the Grand tactical rules website, I find the rules very accurate. I don't plan a change of rules even if Mollinary's report on his St Privat battle in 2010 with TTLGBR was very interesting and impressive (I don't want to rebase my 16 000 Franco-Prussian miniatures!).

[Leman]

I played they died for glory for many years - in both 15mm and 10mm. Would still be up for a game of it with my 10s, although I have a preference for Les Gens Braves. Many years ago Wargames Illustrated/Miniature Wargames produced some articles on additional rules for TDFG from which I produced a Whistles and Bells playsheet. If interested in either or both PM me your address Nigel and I'll bung a copy in the post.

[magwr]

Hi,

Steve J, put me down as a helper for the game at colours. I will need to help set-up the wings game first. I will be able to help from then on. I expect I'll be needed occasionally to give some-one a break at the participation game, otherwise should be okay for the best part of the day to help out. With the occasional retail therapy forays of course.

Once I've done the business with wings will hunt the F-P game out. I will be easy to spot as i will be wearing a pale blue wings T-Shirt.

Nigel

[Chris Pringle]

Nigel,

Since Leman has mentioned my "Bloody Big Battles!" rules, let me add some more info about BBB. The initial reason for developing BBB was to make it possible for four players to fight the biggest FPW battles, on 6'x4', in an evening (3 to 4 hours play). The rulebook includes a complete FPW campaign of 9 linked scenarios for 9 of the biggest battles of the war. We fought the whole lot, 3 per day, in one 3-day weekend, 12 hours a day including breakdown and set-up time between games.

Whether BBB is your cup of tea depends very much on what kind of game you are looking for, of course. You can find some reviews on my BBB blog.

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

[magwr]

Hi Chris,

Oddly enough i have looked at all the stuff i could find on your rules since Leman mentioned them in his post.

I tend to buy several sets of rules as i like to play a particular period at various levels, from Battalion [or smaller dependant on period] level to Army.

So i have already placed an order with Caliver books for the rules and the european supplement, ealrier today.

Plus was going to join the yahoo group as well, when i noticed your post.

nigel

[Chris Pringle]

Oh, great - thank you! I hope you'll like the books.

Chris

[Leman]

I too like the layered level approach which is how I use my 6mm and 10mm figures. The 6mm do duty on the big scenarios with small-scale terrain (3mm). The 10s fight smaller more detailed actions with either 6mm or 10mm terrain pieces depending on the level being played. I also tend to use the 10s for old-style imaginary scenarios using a rule system such as Field of Battle 2.

[Leon026]

This thread is just... beautiful. Amazing work.

[Leman]

Agreed; it's a painting primer in its own right.