Lots of good stuff here - thank you.

I've looked at Blucher (and also at Maurice - a very different set of rules, I know). I think the abstraction of the former may be a bit much for me. I do like the idea of saying this small block of figures is this (named) unit and this other is another. But I am aware that the bigger battles I want to fight (especially on an 8' x 4' table (the biggest I can manage at home)) will involve necessary abstraction.

I've been blessed with seven sons (and a daughter). All but two of them have been my partners in gaming (a few still are) so I've never felt the need to find a club or other players. But all that will change when my youngest sons leave home (3 to 4 years, I expect).

fsn's questions are good ones. I don't want to endlessly refight one or more historical battles. I like playing plausible fictional campaigns. At the moment I think I know too little of some of the 'side-shows' (not intended disparagingly) of the Napoleonic Wars to establish a desire to acquire some of the smaller armies. I clearly need to read around a little more.

Much to ponder!

Quote from: henjed on 14 August 2025, 10:43:27 AMI am aware that the bigger battles I want to fight (especially on an 8' x 4' table (the biggest I can manage at home)) will involve necessary abstraction.

fsn's questions are good ones. I don't want to endlessly refight one or more historical battles. I like playing plausible fictional campaigns.

If you get Napoleonic Austrians and French for 1809, I think there is lots of potential for what-if campaigns based on that. And even if you just stick to historical French vs Austrians battles, provided you're not too fussy about headgear, there are so many that it could be a long time before you need to replay any.

As for rules, I suggest you look at Shugyosha's "Ultimate Napoleonic Wargame Rules Review and Comparison":
https://wargamingeverything.home.blog/2022/07/31/the-ultimate-napoleonic-wargame-rules-review-and-comparison/
It's a couple of years since it was last updated so it misses some more recently published rulesets, but it's still a pretty good overview. (Disclaimer: my own BBB gets a good write-up there.)

Good luck with finding the right ruleset and armies for your tastes.

Chris

Look for the free set "Valour and Fortitude" on the Perrys web site. There is also General d'Armee from the Lardies. First is free tut oder be paid for. Both come with lists. I have played both, and enjoyed them.

Blucher has a supplement included (Gneisenau) which you manoeuvre to contact on a map. This will determine what troops start on the table, the terrain, and when/if reinforcements turn up.

Quote from: FierceKitty on 14 August 2025, 01:23:49 AMI can only urge that you judge 7YW tactics by some informed accounts that rely on contemporary documents in the Christopher Duffy tradition, rather than by rehashes of Featherstone and Grant stereotypes.

I do.
Go with Napoleonics.

QuoteLook for the free set "Valour and Fortitude" on the Perrys web site. There is also General d'Armee from the Lardies. First is free tut oder be paid for. Both come with lists. I have played both, and enjoyed them.

I'm a fan of Valour and Fortitude.

It's the game that Black Powder 2.5 should have been.

It has a flexible core, which is really quite difficult to grasp.
The author's dedication to squeezing all the rules onto 4 sides of a4 does few favours for learnability.

It is extremely well written, and readable.
But the terse format means every definition apears once, and once only.
This is extremely good practice in technical writing and avoids multiple references getting out of step.

But one of the key factors in learning is repetition.
So you may find your first few passes through the rules extremely hard going.

Hints:
1. Begin with the understanding that valour tests and fortitude tests are the big morale checks (Valour for units, fortitude for brigade morale).
2. The heavy paragraph about target priority mostly boils down to. Attack the closest enemy that hasn't been attacked yet, or lend support to another unit's attack on the closest. (I know that's not exact, but its close enough until you decode the precise words).
3. The appendices about terrain and its effects are very keyword heavy. Draw a little map and label the features until it makes sense.
4. A Facebook group contains a mass of contributed supporting goodies. Translations of the rules, army lists for a wide range of conflicts, rule discussions, scenarios. Facebook maintained my interest when I was struggling to comprehend the rules.
5. The fans will claim the rules work for any period (indeed there are army lists stretching from the Punic War to North Africa in WW2 - big time shift, little geography shift). I believe they work well for around 1700 - 1865.

I have V&F somewhere - I can feel the Little Wooden Men getting a run out!