The main problem with gaming this period is that the easiest available material on the tactics of the war/period was written 50 to 60 years ago. Much of this information is now clearly completely or partly wrong.

This leads to the idea that you can fiddle with a set for another period (typically SYW or Napoleonic) to do these wars. Any set that actually does another period properly is very unlikely to work for this very different period.

It also means that many of the sets designed for this period have parts which are clearly wrong. For example most of the sets mentioned have pistol firing, 'inferior', French cavalry - compared to charging, 'superior', 'British' cavalry. Yet the evidence that this is wrong is overwhelming.

The above does not means that you can't have some good games with some of the rules, just that they are not necessarily very historically accurate. The biggest problems come when you try to do historical battles. In my experience because they are historically incorrect they make doing real battles difficult.

Nick

Agreed. Sometimes you have to make the best of what's available and ignore or tweak
elements you think are no longer valid.

Chad

Hi Again

Books of John Lynn - "Giant of the Grande Siercle" & "Wars of Louis XIV" are still relatively easily available and Noseworthy is good in parts.

Take your point that you have to the tactical snippetting bit from books covering wider period to get to the essence of these fascinating wars.

Surprised that designers go for the inferior pistol-firing French cav in this period as that does not seem to mirror the battles of the period where their reckless aggression was more a feature as were the aggressive French infantry who seem to sneer at musketry as beneath contempt

okay then 

I have decided on Black Powder with the rules amendments by Last Hussar many thanks for them.

The basing I will be using will be 30mm x 30mm for infantry and cavalry as that's how the WSS stuff I have already is based, 6 infantry and 3 cavalry to a base, 3 bases per unit as again that's how the WSS stuff I have already is based. Artillery 40mm x 40mm bases again already based like that.

So what do you all think ?,  will it work okay with the rules or will I need to increase the number of bases.