The wargaming rules in this book have been designed by the well-known military historian, Paddy Griffith, and combine simplicity with fun and speed. No less than seven types of wargame are explained: the traditional skirmish and Divisional games, the brigade game and army level game, which all involve the use of model soldiers in battles of varying scales; the generalship game, which is concerned with how a general on campaign divides his time; and finally, a map kriegsspiel and a tactical exerise without troops.
Although the author is a late convert to the joys of Napoleonic wargaming, he soon began to see why so many wargamers love the period. As a result, he set out to write several sets of rules that would use similar game mechanisms to those in his other PORTABLE WARGAME rules, and that would enable him to fight a range of small, medium, and large battles on a relatively small tabletop. This book is the result. Please note that all the rules have been designed to be used with a gridded tabletop made up of squares or hexes.
Following the success of his previous publications "Wargaming: An Introduction and Ancient and Medieval Wargaming," Neil Thomas presents a new volume devoted to the intricacies of Napoleonic wargaming. Thomas sets out his wargame rules, the principles behind them, extensive army lists, how to set up a game and a battle report describing a war game in progress. The appendices provide a full range of support material such as figure sizes. "Napoleonic Wargaming" also includes historical background and the art of Napoleonic warfare to provide essential contextual information for players. This book is an invaluable tool for wargamers and coincides with the bicentenary of the wars themselves.
As the wars of Napoleon ravage Europe, chaos and fear reign and the darkness that once clung to the shadows has been emboldened. Supernatural creatures – vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and worse take advantage of the havoc, striking out at isolated farms, villages, and even military units. Whether they are pursuing some master plan or simply revelling in their newfound freedom is unknown. Most people dismiss reports of these slaughters as the rantings of madmen or the lies of deserters, but a few know better... The Silver Bayonet is a skirmish wargame of gothic horror set during the Napoleonic Wars. Each player forms an elite band of monster hunters drawn from the ranks of one of the great powers. Riflemen, swordsmen, and engineers fight side-by-side with mystics, occultists, and even those few supernatural creatures that can be controlled or reasoned with enough to make common cause. The game can be played solo, co-operatively, or competitively, with players progressing through a series of interlinked adventures with their soldiers gaining experience and suffering grievous wounds, and their units triumphing... or falling in the face of the shadows. It is a game of action and adventure, where musket and sabre meet tooth and claw.
A set of simple, fast-playing rules for wargaming the conflicts that re-shaped Europe in the period 1815-78. This important, yet often-neglected period includes the Crimean War, the Italian Risorgimento, the wars of Bismarck's Prussia against Denmark, Austro-Hungary and France and the Russo-Turkish war. Tactically it saw armies struggle to adapt Napoleonic doctrines to incorporate important technological advances such as breech-loading rifles, steel breech-loading cannon and the first machine guns. The book includes brief analysis of the essential strategic and tactical military developments of the period, a set of elegantly simple rules which are fast-playing and easy to learn, yet deliver realistic outcomes. A selection of generic scenarios, covering diverse situations such as flank attacks, pitched battles and meeting engagements, is supported by army lists for 28 different armies. There are also 12 historical scenarios, ranging from the Battle of the Alma in the Crimean War to Sedan in 1870, the decisive battle of the Franco-Prussian War, each with historical background, deployment map, orders of battle and any special rules for that engagement. Useful appendices include a guide to further reading, an overview and price guide to the many scales and ranges of figures available, and a selection of useful addresses for the gamer.
The Portable Wargame has been developed over the past ten years to meet the needs of wargamers who want a fast, easy to learn, simple to use set of wargames rules that don't require the player to purchase and paint a large collection of figures and that can be staged on a small dinner table, a large coffee table, or something even smaller. The rules are designed to be used with a gridded tabletop made up of squares or hexes.
Black Powder is Warlord Games' first publication. It is a beautiful book in its own right with hundreds of color photographs taken by the Perry brothers of the most exquisitely painted model soldiers from their world-renowned collection. The rule book's intention is inspire a collector to play gentlemanly games with their own collections of soldiers with friends where the emphasis is on the spirit of the age of musket, not the letter of the rule. With decisive battles from the key wars of the period, such as El Teb, from the Sudan War, Ntombi River from the Zulu Wars, Alma from the Crimean War and Freemans Farm from the American War of Independence, as well as two fictional scenarios from the American Civil War and Napoleon's Wars, there really is something to keep everyone happy. It is a hearty publication and not for nitpickers or miseries. There are some good gags in it, but it also plays well and enables players to conduct a very big battle in a civilized period of time, leaving them more time to chat about the highs and lows and what ifs. Rick Priestley is best known as the famous Warhammer and Warhammer 40000 author, the world's best selling table top miniatures game and Product Director for Games Workshop. He lives in Nottingham. Jervis Johnson is also an internationally renowned games writer and luminary in the gaming world. Jervis also lives in Nottingham but has a very posh voice.
Chosen Men is a set of fast-action skirmish rules detailing the bloody skirmishes between light troops in the Napoleonic Wars. The primary focus of the game is on soldiers and NCOs in light 'flank' companies, as they scout ahead of larger forces and take part in man-to-man actions against enemy skirmishers. Although the game allows for the formation of accurately sized companies of light infantry and cavalry if you wish, these formations are broken down into small groups of up to a dozen men. For the most part, officers are not swashbuckling super-heroes, but staunch commanders who rally and direct their men to achieve the battlefield objectives. Although the game uses an alternating action turn sequence, officers can use their influence on multiple units at the same time in an effort to steal the initiative. With all rolls resolved using standard 6-sided dice, this game combines a classic wargaming feel with modern wargame mechanics.
