A Few New Flags for 1815

Napoleonics was my first love in wargaming before falling down the rabbit hole that led to the period of floppy hats and tricorns. While I've mostly concentrated on adding flags to the shops that can be carried proudly by Warfare Miniatures, I've had it in mind to expand to other periods. There's been a lull in Mad for War for the last few weeks while we've been going over the manuscript again in light of lessons learned knocking Mad for War Essentials into shape (don't worry, we're still on pace for late spring/early summer). It's not in my nature to be idle so I decided to wade into the future (of the BLB period, that is) and produce a few new flag sheets...

Well, ok... my OCD kicked in and I ended up with over 120 units - the entire French army for Waterloo (suitable, of course for any part of the 100 days campaign)! They are divided into divisions, which is how I normally set out collecting an army. Regiments were only issued one eagle in 1815 and this was carried by the first battalion. Opinions seem divide as to whether or not the infantry flags had fringe, but I decided to include it. If you fall into the camp of "without", it is easy enough to trim them off when you cut out the flag!

These will be available at Warfare Miniatures USA (in the US and Canada) and the League of Augsburg store (for the rest of the planet), though it may be a couple of days before they are posted...

Right! I'll have more flags for 1815 later this year. There are also a pile of naval flags (for both 28mm and 1/1200), WSS, and whatever I manage to find time for on the way!

A YouTube Channel for the League of Augsburg!

Barry Hilton has started his long promised commitment to video content. He has made a short introductory video to Mad for War which I have uploaded to YouTube on a League of Augsburg channel. My hope is that both Barry and I will use this channel to support Donnybrook, Beneath the Lily Banners, Republic to Empire, Victory Without Quarter and Mad for War. 

We have a few instructional videos to upload over the next few days. These provide a walk through the core mechanics of the rules for Mad for War and a couple of short example games.

It would be great if you would subscribe to the channel and support our continuing crusade to bring 17th century gaming to the wider wargaming community. Thanks in advance!

The link is here. Click and have a look!

Mad for War Trailer

Learning all the way but was fun to do.

Republic to Empire

Just a quick note to announce that Republic to Empire is now available in PDF form. As with BLB you can order hi-res and lo-res versions. What you choose depends on your preferred method of viewing. The lo-res version is designed for fast viewing on tablets and laptops. While you CAN print this version, the resolution won't be great. The high-res version looks great on tablets and PC's, especially on HD monitors, but may be slow to load. The hi-res version is designed to allow you to print sections (or the whole book if you want, though with ink prices these days it would probably be cheaper to order a book)! You order your copy in the League of Augsburg shop today!

'The superb presentation and wonderful pictures might lead the casual observer to believe that Republic to Empire is the equivalent of a coffee table book – a visual spectacle to be admired. And so they should be but there is far more than that! The rules are very well researched, clearly explained and most importantly, eminently playable. They are admirably suited to big battles but also to smaller games. Barry has introduced mechanisms designed to reduce the all seeing and instantly reactive abilities of the wargamer while rewarding initiative and forward thinking. This development really does help reflect the realities of the tactical battlefield of the time. Suffice it to say that this is NOT just another set of Napoleonic rules – it represents a real step forward in reflecting Napoleonic warfare on the wargame table' - Charles S. Grant

Le Roi Soleil

Le Roi Soleil Miniatures is the new stockist in North America for Warfare Miniatures. Besides carrying the full line of Warfare Miniatures, Le Roi Soleil also stocks Beneath the Lily Banner, Republic to Empire, all of the counter sets for these games, and the Quindia Studios flag range - as new products are released, Le Roi Soleil will add new products. Although primarily a mail order company at this time, over the coming months they will begin to represent Warfare Miniatures at shows and will be providing stock to local game stores. Now is your chance to start those Glorious Revolution armies and avoid the high shipping fees from across the pond!

Apologies for the lack of posts recently - I have multiple projects in the works and hope to return to regular posts soon...

Cover Sketch for a New Book

With BLB2 behind us, the next book is on the way - no rest for the wicked.

This will be for the Crimean War, working title is FOUR EMPIRES, and you will need a copy of REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE to play. However, even if you don't use our rules, this book will be a great reference because we intend to cover the armies and uniforms in detail from a wargamer's perspective. Of course there will also be tons of photos of well painted minis on fantastic terrain, all the rules you need to bring R2E to the Crimea, and a turn-by-turn battle report.

No date has been set for release... watch this space!

Goodbye TMP

Recently I noticed the editor of The Miniature Page posted a poll, "Rate Republic to Empire". This sort of thing is meat and potatoes for websites and forums - I've run the occasional poll here. However, for some reason Bill Armintrout chose to start his poll with this...

Writing in the June issue of Miniature Wargaming, authors Bob Barnetson and Bruce McFarlane reached this conclusion about Republic to Empire:

...the gaming experience is simply awful.

My issue is not with the poll, or indeed, with any comments posters might make, but with the editor himself. I have sent him the following letter...

Hi, Bill.

My name is Clarence Harrison and I am one half of the team that created Republic to Empire and I'd like to know why you chose this quote from an article in Miniature Wargames for the one liner in your poll...

    ...the gaming experience is simply awful.

I'm writing to let you know I don't appreciate this. The game has been reviewed in Wargames Illustrated, Battlegames, and Soldiers & Strategy as well - all with positive results.

Charles Grant wrote this about Republic to Empire...

“The superb presentation and wonderful pictures might lead the casual observer to believe that Republic to Empire is the equivalent of a coffee table book -  a visual spectacle to be admired. And so they should be but there is far more than that! The rules are very well researched, clearly explained and most importantly eminently payable. They are admirably suited to big battles but also to smaller games. Barry has introduced mechanisms designed to reduce the all seeing and instantly reactive abilities of the wargamer while rewarding initiative and forward thinking. This development really does help to reflect the realities of the tactical battlefield of the time. Suffice to say that this is not just another set of Napoleonic rules – it represents a real step forward in reflecting Napoleonic warfare on the wargame table.”

As a result of your poll I see so far that 140+ have voted they have 'never heard of it' (which seems strange to me since it has been the subject of numerous threads on TMP), so their introduction to the rules is your one line. The authors who rendered that quote tried one game on a 4x4' table.

This is the SECOND time you've started a thread with this quote (link) and my partner and the author of the book placed his response there, though this was to the reviewers not to you. I'm not speaking for him now, but I am removing the link to your page from my site which has been there for ten years. Not a big deal for you since TMP draws far more traffic than I do, but from now on when I'm on some of the other forums I frequent and people ask' "Did you see the thread on TMP about..." my answer is "I don't go there any more."

I'm off to remove my link to TMP from Quindia Studios. It's a shame, really, because I LIKE the news page. My main issue is with the forums which frequently seem to bring out the worst in some of our fellow wargamers. Here is one of the most recent gratuitous and pointless threads which is typical of the kind of thing you find on TMP. From now on, you can find me here or on one of these forums...

Fighting Talk
Steve Dean's Painting Forum
Lead Adventure Forum

R2E Weekender in the USA

Barry Hilton has been running mini-conventions in the UK we've been calling 'weekenders'. These are two day affairs featuring huge tables, thousands of figures, and a chance to play Republic to Empire with the author. Last night Barry and I discussed the possibility of running these events in the USA, near my home in Chesapeake, VA. I'm wondering if the level of interest warrants him flying over to run the game. Chime in, either here or on the Fighting Talk forum, if you would be interested in attending such an event and if so, if you could supply troops for the event (not required)...

The Battle of Almarez - Saturday

Last game and with a third variation on the set up. This time, Barry moved the village to the east end of the bridge and there were THREE fords, though two of them were hidden. The village was held by the 43rd Light Infantry while the 95th Rifles defended the obvious ford. The French actually missed one of the fords in the beginning of the game that might have spent doom for the French. A deserter had been captured before the game and placed adjacent to Marshal Ney, but though he was noticed, none of the French players thought to try and question him until turn five or six when the ford on the southern half of the table was revealed...

For the French, the 82nd and 50th line assaulted the village, supported a few turns later by the Legion du Midi and 2nd Westfalien. The remaining French infantry began inexorably to push the 95th back across the ford.

One of the innovative mechanics in Republic to Empire (and the upcoming 2nd edition of Beneath the Lily Banners) is the rules for Fighting in Built Up Areas (FIBUA). The rules fit seamlessly into the rest of the game, making it easy and fun to include farms, villages, forts, etc. - something I use to avoid in other rule sets. There are also rules for pioneers and engineers that give you the chance to model cool vignettes!

More pics from the action. The 95th was pressed back across the ford and formed into line. They managed to hold out for a couple of turns before being pushed back to the hermitage on the hill. The French captured the village, nearly wiping out the 43rd (who lost their colors in the process), but once again failed to capture the bridge and shelling from the RHA  and fire from the Spanish regiment forced them into retreat (The French commanders inadvertently tried to push their worst unit, the Legion du Midi across the bridge first). Despite the capture of the village, the game was a marginal victory for the British, denying the French both crossings.

However, a third crossing had been found and as with the other two games, had this battle been fought without the need to explain the rules or with the addition of a single hour, the outcome may have been much different as again the mounting pressure of the French was a turn or two away from making things very hot for the Allies!

Up next, a three part series of our Beneath the Lily Banners games...

The Battle of Almarez - Friday

For the next round of our Republic to Empire, Barry and I wanted to try something different. Though the terrain and goals were essentially the same (though the ford was moved), the starting positions of units were different. For one thing, each side had two squadrons of cavalry which failed to make it onto the board in the first game. Secondly, four companies (12 models) of the 60th Rifles were placed in the village and the French were told they needed to be rousted out in addition to capturing the bridge. One of the main reasons for this was to demo the Fighting in Built Up Areas (FIBUA) rules.There's a good pic of the village from this battle on Tyler's blog, as well as shots of some of the NPCs who got in on the action. Finally, one brigade of the 24th Light, the 2nd Westfalien, and the Legion du Midi entered near the northern edge of the table (near the bridge)...

The action started quickly. The 5th Hussars swarmed over the bridge, only to turn away from the combined firepower of the Spanish muskets and cannons. The 95th Rifles fell back as the cavalry turned toward them and the 2nd Westfalien splashed through a ford. Two battalions of the 66th line and two battalions of the Hanoverienne Legion close in on the bridge while the 26th Line, 82nd Line, and 50th Line assault the village.

The 5th Hussars were routed by the arrival of the KGL who successfully pulled up from their charge to avoid being disordered at the end of the bridge. The 66th formed up to charge the Spanish. Though it looks like the French infantry were in dire circumstances with the KGL on their flank, the cavalry were TOO CLOSE to mount an effective charge and their combat factors would be severely reduced in melee.

In the end, the first battalion of the 66th were routed as well. The French captured the village, but the bridge was still in dispute. I think we called this one a draw as the KGL were disordered in the face of the enemy, the French were in a good position to send three more battalions across the bridge, plus they still controlled the ford... if we could have played a few more turns, it may have been a French victory, however it may be interesting to note that Donkin's Brigade never arrived on the table, with the bulk of the fighting being done by the Spanish, KGL, and British Light Battalions. This shows with the proper scenario, you don't need to have huge armies to have a fun game. While the French had twelve or thirteen units, the British side only consisted of five infantry battalions, 1 cavalry regiment of 2 squadrons, and two half batteries of guns...

One more to go, with yet a different set up...

The Battle of Almarez - Thursday

This is the first of three posts to show some of the photos I took of our Napoleonic game. These aren't true 'after action reports' because I didn't have time during the games to keep accurate notes. We ran the game three times during the con, each time with the same objectives, but slightly different set ups to feature different aspects of the rules. We made minor changes to the orbats, in some cases fielding 'brigades' of two battalions to accommodate as many players as possible. Something to note for the 'this game is too complicated' crowd... we managed six or seven turns in three hours with four or five gamers per side who had never played the rules. Subtract from our time the 45 minutes taken for introductions, assigning commands, explanation of the command system, and other mechanics as they arose... experienced players could probably manage ten to twelve turns with division sized armies.

Thursday afternoon was our first game. The French started crowded in the south on the road from Almarez. The Spanish were deployed defending the bridge, with the Light Brigade marching onto the table behind them and Donkin's Brigade from the 3rd Division, supported by two guns of the RHA, moving up from the south on the west side of the river. Barry is the guy holding the scary playsheet which actually opens into a six-page screen - which by the way is the only thing we needed to run the game. The only thing I remember looking up in the book is the movement rate and command radius for generals...

Several turns in, each side has made good use of the Exploitation concept in the rules (which allows units multiple actions if enough Manoeuvre Points are available) and the battle is nearly joined...

The Hanoverienne Legion moves to capture the bridge with the 26th Line in close support. The 95th Rifles spread out on the west bank to slow them down while the two battalions of the Spanish Zaragoza regiment inches closer to the bridge.The Spanish units were much admired throughout the weekend and several people went in search of their own boxes of Victrix early French from the dealer stands to make their own conversions.

This is how our table looked for most of the convention...

The Hanoverienne were thrown back, though they rallied in good order and the 26th made the next attempt, but now the entire Light Brigade was formed up in defense. General D'Heroique led the charge and succeeded in routing one of the Spanish battalions, but was sadly killed in the melee. The 43rd and 52nd managed to stand, reform facing the enemy, and the 26th suffered mightily from short ranged volleys. In the distance, you can see the second French brigade massing to attempt to force a second crossing, a ford revealed by a French spy, though our three hour time limit had been reached so it was declared a victory for the British.

Everyone had a blast and several players were prompted to return to have another go on Friday. I'll post pics from that game in a day or two and after all of the Napoleonic pics are up, I'll show the three rounds from our award winning Beneath the Lily Banners game!

Time to Go Home

Tomorrow I'll be heading for home. At times the schedule we set for ourselves was very hectic, but it has been a fantastic trip! Barry Hilton and I won two awards for our 2010 Historicon games:

PELA GAMEMASTER AWARD 2010 and
HISTORICON BEST THEMED EVENT 2010

I'll be writing more about the event and my experience when I have time to do justice to the post, but for now here are two shots of the action, one from each game...

The first is the Battle of Almarez game I've been nattering on about on this blog and the second was our Grand Alliance Battle of the Boyne. I'm off to finish packing and then off to bed!

The Battle of Almarez, August 6th, 1809

The British won the battle of Talavera, but were forced to retreat all the same as French reinforcements arrived. The British formed a new defensive position behind the river Tagus. All of the crossings were well defended, but that might not have been the case if Marshal Soult had been more decisive. One crossing near the village of Almaraz was held initially only by a force of 1000 Spanish Line Infantry and a small detachment of guns. The bridge across the river is described as "broken" but it was apparently still passable by foot. There was also a ford nearby.

Historically, Wellesley had four days to prepare his defenses and he positioned General Craufurd and his Light Brigade to reinforce the Spanish. At this time, the Light Brigade consisted of the 43rd, the 52nd, and the 95th. He also attached Donkin's Brigade to Craufurd, though this brigade had suffered heavy casualties at Talavera, loosing around a third of it's strength (read 24-man battalions rather than 36). This brigade included the 87th (the Prince of Wales' Own Irish) and 88th (Connaught Rangers) line as well as a handful of the 60th (more riflemen, this time with red facings). Soult dispatched Marshal Ney (finally) to take the crossing, but Ney found it too well defended by the time he arrived.

But what if Soult had been more decisive or Ney was able to pull off one his famous night marches and the French could arrive before the British reinforcements? Say the allies start with only two Spanish battalions and a weak battery of guns on the board when Ney attacks with elements of the Sixth Corp. The British reinforcements would arrive during the game.

This is the scenario Barry and will be running for Historicon. The forces are listed below and have been modified both to meet my collection (the 75th and 45th substituted for the 87th, etc) and to provide enough units for a multi-player battle, though the organization may be modified depending on how many players and commands are needed...

Third Division, Craufurd

Light Brigade
43rd Light (30)
52nd Light (30)
95th Rifles (30)

Donkin's Brigade
88th Line (36)
74th Line (24)
45th Line (24)
60th Rifles (12 skirmishers)

Attached Cavalry
1st KGL (12)
RHA battery (2 guns)

Spanish Brigade
2 Battalions (24)
half battery of foot artillery

Loison's Division Command by Marshal Ney

First Brigade
26th Line (2 battalions, 36 each)
Legion Hannoverienne (2 battalions, 30 each)
Legion du Midi (24)

Second Brigade
32nd Light (24)
66th Line (2 battalions, 36 each)
82nd Line (30)

Attached Cavalry
5th Hussars (12)

Divisional Artillery
1 battery (4 guns)

The rough terrain board layout and is based on a map of the location that depicts the site of a raid on the same area in 1812. Fort Ragusa and the redoubt at the bridge would not have been there in 1809, but the structure on the hill south of the river would be there. The crown of Cerro del Tesoro (Treasure Hill) was the site of the Our Lady of Waters Hermitage. During 1808 and 1809, both the Spanish and French occupied the area and the hermitage was most likely destroyed during the fighting. The Spanish built a strongpoint on the hill in 1808 and the French expanded it into what became known as Fort Napoleon. The Spanish strongpoint can be the abbey I already own (R2E pages 63 and 69) and can be the site of the Spanish half battery (By the way, there is a complete step by step article on the construction process for this model in Battlegames 18).

The Tagus was quite a substantial obstacle during the Peninsular campaign - details from the 1812 raid mention a pontoon bridge 200 meters long (the object of the raid) which would work out to a little over 19 inches! I think in true wargame style, making the Tagus 10 to 12" wide would still look imposing without eating up too much table space. The ford was to the east of the bridge, but though it's existence was known by the French in 1809, it's location was not. The ford was four feet deep and apparently could not be spotted simply from the banks as Oman mentions French hussars failing to find it for several days. Again, depending on the number of players, the ford may be known at the beginning for game purposes so as many people as possible can get in on the action.

The Almaraz Bridge (known by locals as the Albalat Bridge)...

Historically, accounts say the bridge was destroyed by the Spanish, but apparently foot traffic was still possible (maybe by planks laid across the gap or maybe it was only missing a chunk that prohibited guns and baggage trains - not sure). Since I don't plan on making the bridge a permanent part of the river board, I can't copy the bridge exactly, but I can mimic the style of the arches, etc. I have also modeled the bridge with a chunk blown our of it and planks across the gap.

The village of Almaraz was several miles to the north and not really needed, but I modeled a few small cottages to stick in out the way spots for atmosphere. Again, the exact details will be modified on the fly to preserve game balance. I don't normally worry about having perfectly balanced forces, but the object of this game will be to introduce the rules to many people who have never played REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE and give as many people a chance to throw some dice as possible.

Historicon Schedule

The event list for Historicon 2010 has been up for a couple of days. Barry and I will be running six games over the course of the convention, three for each of our books:

The Battle of Almaraz - Spain, 6 Aug 1809
Thursday 4PM, Friday 8 PM, and Saturday 9AM (each game is scheduled for 3 hours and 8 players)
GM: Clarence Harrison with Barry Hilton
Sponsor: League of Augsburg and Quindia Studios
Napoleonic 28mm, Rules: Republic to Empire
After the battle of Talavera, the British were victorious but forced to retreat all the same as French reinforcements arrived. The British formed a new defensive position behind the river Tagus. All of the crossings were well defended, but that might not have been the case if Marshal Soult had been more decisive....

The Battle of the Boyne - Ireland, 1 July 1690 - Theme Game
Friday 10 AM, Saturday 2PM, and Sunday 9AM (each game scheduled for 3 hours and 8 players).
GM: Clarence Harrison with Barry Hilton
Sponsor: League of Augsburg and Quindia Studios
Pike and Shot 28mm, Rules: Beneath the Lily Banners
Two armies consisting of Danish, French, Dutch, Huguenot, German, English and even Irish troops met on the banks of the River Boyne near Drogheda. Both were led by men insisting that they alone were the rightful King of England…

I find it funny they've been listed as "GM: Clarence Harrison with Barry Hilton". More like "GM: Clarence Harrison watching Barry Hilton." Well, at least with Beneath the Lily Banners. I filled out the registration so I guess I got top billing. Anyway, you can grab spots in one (or more) of these games if you preregister. In the event that all the games fill up (and I honestly have no idea what kind of interest they will generate), you're welcome to come by anyway - if it's at all possible, we'll find something for you to command as long as there's room at the table!

Waterloo Weekender

Barry Hilton hosted the first REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE weekender over the... err... last weekend. Kind of a mini convention where he booked a hall in a hotel and the participants payed a fee that included room and board. The battle was Waterloo featuring two 6x12' tables of stunning League of Ausgburg terrain and over 2000 pro-painted models. You can read about the build up and subsequent glowing reports from the event on the Fighting Talk forum. The first pics are going up over in the League of Augsburg Gallery and include relevant notes on the action and the rules. Here is one of the first nine shots posted with more to come!

With a bit of further REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE news, Mark Severin of deepfriedhappymice.com has added a very detailed review of the book to his Rules Directory. Very nicely done and Mark actually read the book before commenting on the rules.

More terrain articles are on the way, but real life has intruded on my hobby time as of late and I've gotten precious little accomplished on that front.

A Method to My Madness

I wrote a post a few months back on modeling your Napoleonic forces without the crutch of using army lists (No Army Lists? No Problem!) and I felt like it was time to look at the concept again, this time using a slightly different approach. Sticking with my 'Combat on the Coa' theme, let's look at my French wargames army for REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE based on the 6th Corps under the command of my favorite French Marshal, Michael Ney.

My list is drawn from Donald Featherstone's book Campaigning With the Duke of Wellington & Featherstone. This is one of those treasured volumes that I have returned to over and over for wargame info on the Peninsula theater. Again, I don't have detailed brigade strengths for the Combat on the Coa, but other sources show the French battalions to be quite small. If I stick with my 1:30 ratio that I used for the Light Division, I would end up with units or 16-20 models! That's not really what I want, so my solution is to reduce the number of battalions on the historical order of battle and increase the number of models per unit. Below is my ultimate goal, with the units I have finished in red.

Loison's 3rd Division

Brigade Simon

26th Ligne (2 battalions of 36 models each)

Legion du Midi (24 models)

Legion Hanoverienne (2 battalions of 30 models each)

Brigade Ferey

32nd Leger (24 models)

66th Ligne (2 battalions of 36 models each)

82nd Ligne (36 models)

Loison's Divison did the brunt of the fighting at the Combat on the Coa battle. All of the line regiments were made up of 4th, 5th, and 6th battalions and should probably be rated as Recruits, but it's hard to play a game a fielding an entire division of such troops. When I amass more troops, I would field them that way, but for now they get to be elevated to Drilled, with only my poor allied units - the Legion du Midi and the Legion Hanoverienne - suffering the yoke of the Recruit rating. Just for the sake of balance, I've rated the 32nd Leger as Veteran for no reason other than the e'spirit de corps such units tend to display. The 32nd was also severely understrength (or maybe present as a half battalion?) but I added a few models to bring it in the line with the rest of my Division. The 82nd Ligne is on the painting table...

In the future, when I go to add more troops, I will draw from the following units from the 6th corps, building one brigade at a time, with strengths again built on numbers near the battle rather than those actually present on the day: 

Mermet's 2nd Division

Brigade Bardet
26th Leger (36 models)
27th Ligne (2 battalions of 36 models each)

Brigade Labassee
50th Ligne (2 battalions of 36 models each)
59th Ligne (2 battalions of 30 models each)

Marchand's 1st Division

Brigade Maucune
8th Leger (36 models)
69th Ligne (3 battalions of 24 models each)

Brigade Marcognet
39th Ligne (2 battalions of 30 models each)
76ht Ligne (2 battalions of 36 models each)

Cavalry

Lamotte's Brigade

3rd Hussars (12 models)

15th Chasseurs (12 models)

Gardanne's Brigade
15th Dragoons (12 models)
20th Dragoons (12 models)

The cavalry strengths are based purely on what works best on my small game table. I have two boxes of the Perry Dragoons on order and they will be added to my army soon, possibly appearing at Historicon in support of my French!

I'll more on the subject of army lists in a few days...

The Reviews

Being involved in publishing a book in some ways is a very surreal experience. Barry Hilton and I spent over a year working on Republic to Empire. We sent the manuscript away to the printer on October 2nd, 2009. I got the proofs for approval on October 24th and gave the ok to run the books. Barry received delivery of the books on November 13th and I got my first copy on November 27th (for those who don't know, Barry and I live on opposite sides of the Atlantic). After the initial buzz in cyberspace, people seemed to retire to actually read the rules and start to absorb them and things went... quiet.

Finally, in March 2010, people seem to be getting minis on the table and the reviews are starting to roll out in the mags! Wargames Illustrated February 2010 has a review by Robert Townsend and Battlegames Jan/Feb 2010 has a review by Steve Gill. Both are very favorable reviews. My favorite line about Republic to Empire comes from Steve Gill's first sentence:

Many powerful wargaming beasts stomp out of Scotland, the Isengard to Nottingham's Mordor, and this beautiful set of Napoleonic rules is one of the most impressive yet.

Very cool! In Wargames Illustrated March 2010 there is a great objective based scenario written by Barry that features unbalanced forces that is a refreshing departure from matched armies picked from point based army lists. There will be more articles in the coming months and Republic to Empire will be featured on the convention circuit this year (including here in the US at Historicon). Rule questions are starting to appear on forums and several blogs I visit on a regular basis are posting play tests (like JAM).  The buzz is starting again...

Orders of the Day

Last week I finally got my hands on some of the cool Order Markers for REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE. Each set comes with 14 counters, two of each Brigade Order. They are available in five different national sets, each with their own distinct shape.

The small tokens shown above with the Order Markers are Manoeuver Point chips and are available separately in bags of 30. Every game turn players will accrue a number of Manoeuver Points (MPs). These will vary from turn to turn. They will have to be allocated to brigades and units in order to make them obey orders. These chips can be placed behind each unit or brigade to keep track of your MP spending!

In addition to both of these, there are also Condition Markers to denote various Resolve and Disorder status...

You can get your own sets of these great game aids at the League of Augsburg shop! I should point out that none of these items are required to play REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE, but they may enhance your game.

Speaking of something that is not required, I am never one to leave well enough alone. For me wargaming is as much about aesthetics as the rules. I want my games to look as good as possible! The Order Markers seemed to stand out a little too much on the table so I sat down and gave my French set the Quindia Studios treatment...

Basically, I assembled my counters - I recommend super glue as the super shiny plastic seemed slightly resistant to my first attempts with plastic model glue. Then I sprayed the models with black primer - I think it would be hard to brush on a case coat, again because of the glass-like smooth surface of the counters. I painted the entire counter with the same colors I use for my French coats: Foundry Deep Blue Shade (20A). Then I simply drybrushed the counters with Foundry Deep Blue (20B), leaving the original color on the bottom third to create a gradient. Finally I drybrushed the top third of the counter with Foundry Deep Blue Light (20C) and outlined the indented lettering with the same color (not necessary as they were perfectly legible without it, but I already mentioned my inability to leave well enough alone). Still not satisfied, I decided to add mud spatter in the same manner I use on some of my units and finished of the bases in the same manner as my troops!

It may sound like it was a lot of work, but I actually painted these seven counters in about an hour. The second half are on my painting table and they have provided a nice distraction from painting buttons and crossbelts while still keeping me on track with Napoleonics. My British counters will get the same treatment with Foundry Terracotta (37A-C) in the coming weeks to break up the monotony of a 36 model unit of the French 82nd Line which is on deck...

Stay tuned!

11 in 24

Charging on!

 

Barry has started a new feature in his gallery on the LoA site to illustrate unit types and sizes for playing games with REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE. Hopefully it will become a handy reference source for players building Napoleonic collections. His site will concentrate on the 100 Days Campaign and I may try to do something similar with my area of interest in the Peninsula.

Starter Scenario for REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE

REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE is the Napoleonic rules that I worked on with Barry Hilton. The general impression I've gotten from reading forums and blogs is that people think the rules are complicated. The game play is smooth and free flowing with minimal need to refer to the main text once concepts have been mastered. New players usually pick up the key mechanisms within three to four game turns and our play testers were able to run games using only the quick reference sheet.

REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE can be used for all scales although they are primarily written for 28mm scale Divisional to Army level games. However, during play testing, most of my games were played solo with only a single brigade per side. The mechanics work perfectly fine for games of this size with one simple rule change: No Manoeuvre Points are required to maintain Brigade Orders. Manoeuvre Points are still required to allocate new orders to brigades or issue Single Unit Actions.

Playing games in this fashion is the perfect way to learn the rules or introduce new players to the hobby. A game of this size can be played in about two hours, possibly less once you've got the hang of the rules.

Vive L'Empereur!

Just a quick post to get a pic of a couple of my French battalions on the blog (and get 'French' listed in the sidebar). These are Foundry models and the flags are my own. This photo is one of many featured in REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE. For those unfamiliar with the rule set, you can see a preview of the book here.