Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

I'm interested in running a small scale campaign - perhaps kriegspielish in style and of the scale of Napoleon in Piedmonte in 1796 - with some friends and wonder if anyone here has done so before? What tools did you use and what advice could you offer?

This is what I've found over the last few hours on the net:

1. http://www.pratzen.com/pages_en/news.php Flight of the Eagle kriegspiel rules. Haven't found any reviews of them yet.

2. http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/gw_elan.html A set of miniatures rules that includes some campaign rules. Have glanced over the rules but not thought much about them.

3. http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/tools.html It's a tool for converting boardgames to PBEM. It seems to allow you to import maps as bitmap files and dump them under the hex grid, though doesn't look like you can print them out for players - still, they don't need a hex map version and could do with the historical map you use.

Are you using a boardgame to resolve the battles? Not miniatures?

I have never used a boardgame to resolve battles but it would be interesting. We prefered to use miniatures as the terrain (pieces cut out of felt and small buildings) was easier to rearrange. Kind of hard to find every location in Northern Italy ...

Cyberboard allows you to make up your own maps. You could use Google Maps/Satelite and Terrain view to make up your own boardgame maps.

Campaign rules: we made up our own set of campaign rules to track stragglers and recovery from hospital, supply, etc.

I always enjoyed a campaign game.

Colonel Bill Peters
Armee du Rhin - V Corps, Cavalerie du V Corps, 20ème légère Brigade de Cavalerie, 13ème Hussar Regiment
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt and ... more to come)

Hi Bill,

The blokes I'm playing with are using miniatures so that campaign system would be to support those sorts of battles.

Ermm... 'Flavious' on the Les Grognards forum wrote:

<i>"I think one approach is to use the HPS Napoleonic campaign games (Campaign Eckmuhl is one I have, for example) to manage a campaign. Major decisions about operations can be made in the HPS game. But when it's time for a battle, the players can export the OB's and the map, convert them to what's needed in HW:LG, enjoy the battle in full 3D splendor, then import the result (French minor victory, Austrian major defeat, etc.) back into the HPS campaign game, along with the effects (losses) on the units. The actual mechanics of doing this are a little harder than I've described here, but it should be possible."</i>

I suppose this means I could/should explore the HPS campaign system? What I particularly wanted was to lift the free maneuvering into a realm where players had to think about supplies, Lines of Communications, magazines, as well as experiencing FOW, etc. Dunno if HPS will organise that, will it? Also, is there adequate detail about in in the online/help manual?

I've also discovered a system called 'Campaigner'. It seems meant for SciFi gaming but, like Cyberboard, looks like it's fully adjustable.

Anyway, off on holidays for a few weeks. See you in February!

Why don't you use one of the strategic games, like war and Peace or Empire in Arms for the strategic bit then, when you have arrived at a battle (minor combats etc being settled using the strategic rules) transcribe the forces involved to the tactical system? Many years ago, we did that using war and Peace for the big picture and ... can't remember the system but it was essentially the BG system on a board game - for the tactical battles. The transcription bit was a bit complicated, but not hard in concept. At the start of the campaign each unit strength point in W&P was established as a division in the tactical system, with the nominated battalions, regiments etc. Supply was as for W&P with attrition losses allocated between the relevent divisions (rather than being represented by point losses in the W&P rules), according to a formula which had been estabished before the game (eg guards have reduced losses, cavalry have higher losses if moving rapidly etc.

Although we played the tactical battle as a board game, this led to BIG battles, and I think computerisation offers a lot more opportunity for multiple switches between strategic and tactical modes.

Lt Colonel Neville Worland
Chef d'Etat-Major
Ier Corps de Réserve de Cavalerie
Army du Nord

Good stuff Neville but WAY too big for my ambitions, or the minitures rules that the fellas use ('Cold Steel', a good house set developed at the Nunawading Wargames Association, but focussed on sub-corps fighting. Something of the scale of Nappy's early Italian campaign suits, with columns of divisional strength, you see. Realistically, I'm probably looking a kriegspieling the movement of armies of <30,000. Over that and the miniaturists will melt down!

Greetings,

Let me toss in a recommendation for Le Vol de L'Aigle by Pratzen editions. HarryInk mentioned it, but it should be said that it's now on its second edition which has a much more fleshed out supply and ammunition tracking system as well as two optional combat systems. Its got several campaigns, but they're larger than the size you mention. Still, the system makes them quite manageable. I'm looking forward to the third edition where the author promises both the Peninsular Campaign and a link to their tactical rules.

The wesite, btw, has changed and is now http://didier-rouy.webs.com/.

The rules come in both a French and English edition. I decided not to hazard the French and, as I feared, there's a bit of a Franglaise problem, but it's not insurmountable by any means.

Well worth a look, IMHO.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

Gentlemen songsters off on a spree, damned from here to eternity, God have mercy on such as we... -- The Whiffenpoofs

Check out the Napoleon Series. They have a very on-going, detailed recount of the campaign.

Colonel Al Amos
1erè Brigade Commandant
2ème Division de Dragons