So what rules are you using for Franco-Prussian war, and what are the pros and cons?
Volley and Bayonet - great for large corps sized battles, simple and great command and control concepts. Has the problem of annoying some people as the figure bases are 3" square.
Warmaster Variant - understood by many due to the Ancients and Fantasy rules. Some just don't like the command system in this though.
Rank and File (by Crusader) - Very simple mechanics (rock-scissors-paper). Almost no command and control so large games are not very realistic in their 'friction of war'.
1870 - Very detailed rules with excellent accuracy and battle sceanrios. Simultaneous move system can mean that novices will have problems playing this.
Black Powder.
Any good? or bad?
1870, very good rules if you like to play at Corps level.
To the Last gaiter Button (TLGB) by Realistic Modelling.
have been using these, and their stablemate on the war of 1866 for the last three or four years.
Pros. Simple.
Clearly laid out and easy to understand.
Allow BIG! battles to be played out in manageable time and space.
Gives the feel of making high level decisions, not low level tactical ones.
Designed from the start with 10mm figures in mind.
Cheap and include a clever campaign system as well.
FUN, FUN, FUN ;D
Cons. I don't really find them cons, and they are in many cases the other side of the coin above, but they are what some might say.
Over simple - with a bit of a boardgame about them (stacking limit, in effect).
Use of squares, a la Peter Pig Squarebashing, can lead to some odd movement/firing situations. I like it cos' no measurement, shuffling of figures etc, but not to everyone's taste.
Only deals with two formations, movement and firing, so no battalion level skirmishers, company columns, etc. The two formations they do deal in, however, make for absolutely crucial decisions in game turns.
Perhaps too powerful cavalry, but they are one shot wonders.
Hope this helps.
Mollinary
I have written my own set that covers the first six weeks of the war. The scale is currently for 25mm but that can be altered. It has been designed for divisional to corps level actions with one dice roll covering both combat and morale. If you would like a set, I can e-mail you a copy, just contact me at "info@sussexartisan.com"
I passed on 1870 and V&B though 1870 has a wealth of scenario information that makes them worth the price alone.
Interesting that someone mentioned the "Warmaster Ancients" variant. I considered these a few years back and even wrote a scenario for the battle of St. Privat on the Warmaster Historicals Yahoo page. You can still find it here:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/historical-warmaster/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/historical-warmaster/files/Franco-Prussian/
The scenario is under the "files" section. I always wondered if anyone gave it a try!
Back on topic, I am still searching for the right rules for very large FPW battles. I am planning to do the entire Frontier battles campaign when I find the write ones. In the mean time, I have ordered a few sets to read including the Polemos FPW rules, To the Last gaiter Button, and I am considering Black Powder based on its rave reviews!
Good luck with you search, Ill be keeping my eyes on this thread.