Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

I'm looking for a decent read on the battles before and after the Leipzig battle. Say something covering 1813. I'm having trouble finding anything that pertains specifically to this time frame. Are there any books out there about this? Thanks!

See the Bibliography in the Notes.pdf file that comes with Campaign Leipzig. it is near the end of the file. Has a good list of works to read on the campaign.

If you can read German there is A LOT more to read on the campaign. Plotho et al wrote a tremendous amount of works on 1813. If only someone would do a good translation of many of those works into English.

I cannot read the old German characters. Literally gives me a headache trying to do so. I found it MUCH easier to learn the Russian alphabet and do some light translation work of a Russian map key.

See my Bibliography and if you find a book I missed let me know as I am always on the hunt for a GOOD work in English.

Note: Digby-Smith's book is narrative at best and not really worth the expense. It is filled with errors.

Check out Nafziger's Napoleon at Leipzig book by Emperor's Press. They have it on sale over at http://militaryhistorypress.com/

That is the third of the Nafziger work on 1813.

He has an 1814 book already done but EP has been sitting on it for TEN YEARS! Can you believe that? Oh but if another Waterloo book were done they would have it out in no time.

I am so sick of everything "British Army" its not even funny. Its not the British I am against - its the bias by military authors and publishers towards them.

I will now buy books in foreign languages that deal with any other topic on the Nap Wars before I ever buy another volume on Waterloo.

You watch - the 200th anniversary of the 1813 campaign is next year. Just watch how few books on the campaign come out in comparison to what you will see in 2015. I may even sell my Waterloo DVD with Chris Plummer and Rod Steiger. So sick of Waterloo.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

General,
Your answers are always so thorough and in depth. I am truly blessed to have such a great general leading me!!
thanks Bill!

Gary,

I heartly recommend you "Napoleon against Russia" by D.Lieven for the period of 1812-14 in general and for actions around Leipzig in particular. Describing the whole war it can't possibly be very much detailed. But as a first read and a general framework that can be augmented with details it's excellent.

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Sir,

I will definitely look into this, Thank You!! Give my compliments to your Russian Army

Napoleon's Grande Armee of 1813 by Scott Bowden also has a lot of information on the battle.

Bowden's book is mainly order of battle info and how the army was formed. As a resource for detailed info on the battles it is not the source to look for.

Petre's book on the 1813 campaign still remains for me the best one volume account on the campaign. Dated, yes, but I found info in it that helped fill in the gaps that Nafziger, Digby-Smith, Chandler and others had left out. Especially WHERE and WHEN units were located. This is essential when you design a historical scenario. Just ask Warren Bajan sometime about our research on the Battle of Dresden. I think that we amassed more information on that battle than the folks that have written the books! Nafziger's account is VERY confusing in his Vol 2. He goes back and forth in time during his account. One minute you are reading about events of the morning of the 26th and the next you are into the late afternoon. Hard to get any continuity using his account.

Also note that his maps are not "At Start" positions so you will have to read the text and look over the map to fully understand where units started. The action during Leipzig on the west side of the river for instance - the map is after the Austrians had advanced some ways towards the French (Dresden Garrison reinforced) position.

Hope that helps. I love Petre's account of the Battle of Hainau (not to be confused with Hanau) where the signal for the Prussian attack to begin is a windmill bursts into flame. What a scene for a movie!

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Petre's book is great!, and can be found online for free in Google books.

Thanks Al - I forgot that most if not all of Petre is now up on Google.

I am not much for reading online but for those that want to keep their book space down its great.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

I bought the book to free up space on my hard drive! Unfortunately, I did not get an edition with the full fold out maps, just barely legible shrunken copies.