Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

I know, the 7 Years War preceeded Napoleon by some 40 years, however I also know that quite a few of you are also members of the EAW club. Given the scope of the battles in the 7 Years War, the Napoleon game engine seems more appropriate the French & Indian War engine.
Heck, you could even add in The War of The Austrian Succession, or most anything from 1700 onward, it really wouldn't be all that different.

Is there interest in games for these time periods?

Ensign William Davis
23rd (Royal Welsh) Fusiliers

What about the Franco-Prussian War of 1870?

That was against A Napoleon!![:D]

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
General, 1ère Brigade, 19ème Division, VI Corps, L'Armee du Rhin
President, Colonial Campaign Club
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Its a tossup I guess but frankly the melee system in the EAW series is very hard on the attacker. Its more for linear warfare so I would guess that a modified EAW engine is best.

However, a modified Napoleonic engine would be nice too.

It would be nice to see an entirely new engine with better command control rules, etc.

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)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

There was a mod for Eckmuhl 1.01a depicting battle of Blenheim. The War of Spanish Succession. It was done by Rich White. Glyn Hargreaves and your humble servant playtested it several years ago. It had reduced stacking so that players have to stick to linear tactics. I can even try to find the game files if you find it interesting.

The main question is that we can't make custom maps. So you either use 1.01a patch which drives me crazy or forget about 7 years war, historical battles for Russian campaign etc. [V]

<center></center>
<center><b>Eyo Imperatorskogo Velichestva Leib-Kirassirskogo polku
General-Mayor Anton Valeryevich Kosyanenko
Commander of the Second Army of the West </b></center>

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ernie Sands</i>
<br />What about the Franco-Prussian War of 1870?

That was against A Napoleon!![:D]

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
General, 1ère Brigade, 19ème Division, VI Corps, L'Armee du Rhin
President, Colonial Campaign Club
</b></font id="gold">

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I thought of that war too, but it would be more in line with the ACW series, or so I would assume since it used weapons and tactics of the same time period.

Ensign William Davis
23rd (Royal Welsh) Fusiliers

The Napoleonic series, with its cavalry charges, would model the Franco-Prussian war better. Same would go for a game on the Crimean War.

The ACW series doesnt allow for charges and with its lack of NME allows Forrest's 600 man cav regiment in one of battles I played to suddenly go bye bye. Try finding that in any text on the period. [;)]

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)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

Cavalry charges would certainly be required for the Crimean and 1870 wars ... but against breechloading rifles, especially chassepots, the cavalry would need very favourable conditions to make a charge worthwhile.

In a test scenario of Froschwiller I created a while back, Prussian columns advancing across open terrain often got shot to pieces or routed by French fire, even before they came within effective range of their own needleguns!

In that test game, cavalry was really only effective against skirmishers or in limited charges into exposed enemy flanks in support of an infantry attack.

To use cavalry in traditional Napoleonic style charges would under most circumstances end in the cavalry failing to reach the enemy line without suffering massive casualties. A line of infantry - even disrupted and highly fatigued infantry - should normally be sufficient to deal with the cavalry.

But to prevent cavalry charges in 1870 would be historically inaccurate. Players need to be free to make the tactical mistakes that were actually made in this conflict.


Lt.Col. Rich White
4th Cavalry Brigade
Cavalry Corps
Anglo-Allied Army

Well said Rich I agree regarding cavalry in the Franco Prussian war.
Firepower without doubt virtually prevented frontal assault but cavalry as you describe still had a role in battle - mainly around surgical type attacks (to open flanks as you say) also around screening, scouting and pursuit as well as in combined arms attacks for exploitation.

Salute!



General de Brigade Knox
Baron de l'Empire
2e Regiment Gardes d'Honneur (the regaled pheasants)
La Jeune Garde
CO. 1er Brigade, III Division Cavalerie Legere, III Corps Armee du Nord
http://www.aspire.co.nz/colinknoxnwc.htm