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Hi, I was looking for a good Napoleonic Wargame.
Any games that could be recommended?

Thanks

The obvious choice would be Black Powder, personally I find it a bit generic and bland. I've heard good things about General De Brigade. Shako gets mentioned but I have no idea on the quality of the game.

I have noticed that you tend to find more old school gamers playing General De Brigade and the newer players tend to play Black Powder.

This website might help http://www.napoleonguide.com/miniatures_rules.htm (That website is also an excellent secondary source for research.

Theres a few free rules sets http://www.jimwallman.org.uk/wargame/index.htm#18cent

I have not actually found a Napoleonic rule set that satisfies me. I use an adapted version of some War of Independence rules.

It does not need to be specific miniature...
It can also be regular Napoleonic boardgames.

I have the following in my possesion:



and



I was intrigued by the first one...less so with the second, but both good games.

Avalon Hill's War and Peace is perhaps the best strategic game.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/626/war-and-peace

Commands & Colors is a fantastic game. If you want to play full battles, I think this is the best option because it has a great depth to learning curve ratio and getting the entire run of the C&C Naps boxes is a better deal by far than trying to do something similar with miniatures. If you do want to do miniatures, you might try something for a smaller scale of play like Sharpe Practice. There is a second edition of Sharpe Practice coming out soonish.

The problem with C&C is that there are too many dierolls. Stratego Waterloo is much less luck and more deep thought - kinda like chess.

I'm a pretty big fan of General De Brigade, though I haven't played in forever. It always gave me a pretty good feeling of what I thought the Napoleonic battles would be like.

Fairly affordable rule set as well. Works with 15mm and 28mm alike.

I have heard good things about Blucher and it is on my 'To Buy' list.

Blucher has been an 'interesting' game. Among those I play with it has those who like it and those who really don't.

It is at a the level of brigade per unit, and ignores all the formation stuff that many Napoleonic fans expect. As such stuff was usually at a lower level than brigade it assumes that low level commanders sort out those details as needed and otherwise ignores them, and you just decide where your brigades should be. So some in our group are not interested in it now, as it takes away what to them is the main point of Napoleonic miniature games - the combined arms and the formations that go with that (columns, lines and squares).

Blucher is good as a game that lets you play big battles fairly fast, and it has a very interesting mini campaign system, but if you want to make the decisions on formations etc then it isn't so good.

I've played and enjoyed a couple of other Sam Mustafa games apart from Blucher, and have recently bought Lasalle, another Napoleonic mini game (though you could go with counters/top downs, cutouts etc). I haven't played it yet as I'm awaiting mini armies that I've ordered. Lasalle is much more about the lower level tactics, formations etc. Units are battalion/regiments and geared for encounters between division size forces, so small part of a bigger battle, rearguard actions, isolated engagements etc.


Avalon hills War and Peace, wow there's a blast from the past. I played that a lot as a teen.

Empire in Arms was the better strategic game (IMO) that used to get played when I was at uni, but also more time and effort compared to War and Peace.

Command and Colors I've only got the ancient version of, but it is a good system. I imagine the Napoleonic one is good. I'd argue that planning for and handling the uncertainties of 'luck' is part of and parcel of any good wargame. Of course it can go to far, but too little luck like chess can be just as bad.

On Computer, Victory and Glory has just come out. It is strategic, with a fairly nice battle sub game. It however pretty simple and easy to beat. I'm hoping they make it a bit harder or tweak some stuff soon. It has the advantage of being quick to play a full 10 year game.

Ageods Wars of Napoleon is supposed to be good if you are into monster computer games with monster learning curves to match. I find, like a few of their games, that it can't decide what to be. It is strategic, but at the same time you get involved in too much low level detail IMO. I also (and am not alone) suffer a fair number of CTDs and gave up on it.

Black Powder is easy to pick up and easy to modify if you want more flavor.

General de Brigade is a good set of rules as well but takes a bit to wrap your head around everything.

If you'd like to start out small, Song of Drums and Shakos by Ganesha Games could be an option. Each player fields ~6-12 models, and you won't have to worry about rolling buckets of dice, as you'll never use more than three D6.

And as been said, the second edition of Sharp Practice (scheduled for the end of the month) could be worth looking into. I know I will

My group plays with Black Powder or Sharpe's Practice for 28mm and Napoleon's Battles for 15mm.

Nap's Battles is great and not too dicey.

Skirmish Game: Song of Drums & Shakos
http://www.ganeshagames.net/product_info.php?products_id=49
Battle Game: One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas
http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/One-hour-Wargames-Paperback/p/7180

It's sold through regular bookstore distribution in a lot of places as well. I ended up getting the ebook.

It's a great way to get started even if it uses the same basic approach for multiple eras (just like the Song of X and Y series from Ganesha Games does). It's a great primer on how wargames represent things and how to give a different era the right feel with a small shift in the rules and how good scenarios can make more of a positive impact on your experience than highly detailed rules with a lot of minutia.

TFL (Too Fat Lardies) have just released 'Sharpe's Practice 2', which is a pretty popular (and well designed from what I have heard) 1700-1850 skirmish game.

Nice if you want to go 28mm and start with less than a legion of miniatures!

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/

I was in on the KS for Alessio's Quelle Affair, played it once so far and it was fun and balanced. I don't know if it's available generally yet.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/178572/waterloo-quelle-affaire

Another voice for drums and shakos. Great game.

puree mentioned it, but I'll second the recommendation for Lasalle, especially if you're looking for a tactical level game with battalions and squadrons as the maneuver units.

We use Black Powder as a framework and modify it if we feel like it. The supplements add a lot of stuff to the basic game.

I also recommend Avalon Hill's War and Peace.

The scenarios are larger scale campaigns. Its a hex grid board of Europe from Spain to Russia and you use cardboard squares to represent troops. If you have the time, there's even a scenario for multiple players. Each player plays a country and controls their country's economy buying troops and waging war.

Avalon Hill made a number of games with this grand scale format. I also remember playing their WW2 game called Rise and Decline of the 3rd Reich. Awsome stuff!