Angus  Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames

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REVIEW

NAPOLEON

Napoleonic Rules and Campaigns for Gaming with Painted Miniatures

by Matthew Fletcher

Published by Wargames Foundry

Price £25

Available in the UK, EU and USA from Casemate Publishing

Wargames Foundy  Napoleon  page  (off-site link)

Review by Bill Gilchrist  of the South-East Scotland Wargames Club

Angus lent me his copy of  NAPOLEON by Matthew Fletcher and Kevin Dallimore, and I foolishly promised to write him a review in exchange.

The basics - NAPOLEON is a  232 page A4 sized hardback full colour book, with over 400 colour photographs and illustrations, including many Knotël prints, plus numerous diagrams, maps and other illustrations. In addition to the numerous photographs of Foundry painted miniatures, which makes it all look like a Foundry catalogue, there are also lots of  photographs of games in full swing.  It is noticeable in the large battle photographs that the infantry units are not based as per the rules. 

It is not just a set of rules in fact the bulk of the book is made up a guide to the main armies of the later Napoleonic Wars - French, British, Russian, Austrian and Prussian - covering the uniforms, special rules and army lists for the main campaigns from 1805 to 1815. 

 The forces in the army lists are defined in terms of Units, Divisions and for cavalry Brigades.  The basic Infantry unit for most armies comprises 6 stands of 4 figures.  Only the Austrian army gets larger 8 and 10 stand infantry units.  An infantry Division consists of from 2 to 6 infantry units with attachments.  So a Division in the Army Lists is not a historical division e.g. French divisions could have more than 12 battalions, it is a command structure for the rules.  It could represent a Brigade, Division or Corps depending on the scale of game you are playing.

 There is a tutorial section on painting. It shows a figure (the classic French Old Guard grenadier) being painted by Kevin Dallimore in full-on three layer style with good close ups showing the ‘difficult bits’ such as the face.  Also in addition to the tutorial there’s also a section by the author himself on his style of army painting.

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 The main rules take up 68 pages with a further 13 pages given over to advanced rules covering such diverse subjects as pontoon bridges, grand battery fire, ground conditions, setting fire to buildings, friendly fire and ambulances!  

 Command and control is only used in the rules for units that are within engagement range - effectively charge reach of the enemy.  They have to be issued standard orders using the initiative of the commander figures.  Units marching and manoeuvring outside engagement range are not subject to command and control.  Most rule systems I have seen would make the manoeuvring element more subject to initiative.

 The rules are well structured with numerous diagrams showing  allowable formations, angles of fire and how to move units into close combat.  The rules have comprehensive  firing charts and amazingly for once there are no long charts of firing or melee factor modifiers.

 Special rules for the different Armies allow for national and tactical variations. Examples are that French Divisions due to their tactical flexibility get a variable number free moves at the start of the game and British infantry lines get to re-roll shooting misses in some circumstances.
 
As with all rules there are certain elements that can only be tested by playing them. I was not totally convinced by the sequence of the morale system in the rules when I first read through them. Having now played them in a game involving multiple divisions I think the morale system works well. Units get worn down by casualties to the point were they will simply always fail if forced to test. Just make sure that you have printed enough command cards.
 
One promotion I saw said that "For the gamer, Matthew Fletcher has created a truly unique set of rules that are simple to understand and play; rules that will provide an evening of fun and entertainment for all." My conclusion is that he may well have done so.

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A couple of issues with the rules.
 
Units routing, running or destroyed make it progressively more difficult for their Divisional commander to successfully activate command cards. With 2 units gone most Divisions will find it extremely difficult to activate any units so a game could grind down to a near halt.
 
There seems to be an anomaly in that troops within engagement range must have activated command cards to move or shoot whilst troops outwith engagement range can move and fire always in the Movement and Firing phases.  Can troops within engagement range who have not fired in the Reveal Command Cards phase fire during the Skirmisher Fire or Volley Fire phases. 
 
Page 49 - What is an unattached unit?
 
Page 56 - There is a diagram showing a cavalry breakthrough move which given the sequence of the rules could never happen! The unit in front of them is shown as routed but that only happens in the Morale phase which follows Close Combat Resolution phase. What's that about?
 
So far I haven't found a FAQ or forum for the rules to resolve the few issues I've found. Let's hope Foundry discover the need to support the rules with a Yahoo site, or other on-line forum. 
 

For a game report, see Journal 39

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