Review for General d'Armee

[gorillacrab]

Anyone bold or mad enough to try writing large-battle Napoleonic rules (or even review such rules) needs to start by watching the gargantuan Battle of Borodino sequence from the 1967 Russian version of War and Peace. It’s the biggest set piece in cinematic history, a vision of endless smoke-shrouded chaos, desperate armies, massive surges of movement and bitter combat. And as a gamer you’ll see Bonaparte and Kutuzov struggle to keep some control on this maelstrom of men and events.
Writing about his new General d’Armee (GdA) rules, author David Brown notes that a top priority for his game was giving players the chance to make such viable “Napoleonic command decisions.” And that’s exactly what he does – tossing you the generals’ baton to period command choices in a game engine that does it right. From its innovative ADC-based system to simple yet comprehensive combat systems, GdA offers smooth play with Napoleonic “flavour” that feels right to our group.
The rules let you stage battles with multiple brigades or divisions using individual battalions as the tactical building blocks. An average game might have 3 or more brigades per side, each with 2-8 tactical units (infantry battalions, batteries or cavalry regiments). Sensibly recognizing gamers’ distaste for rebasing, Brown’s rules are playable in any scale and basing system. The rulebook itself runs to 106 pages from the Too Fat Lardies’ Reisswitz Press but you can efficiently stage games using the handy 4-page QRS that is included.
Every game turn is divided into five parts. The first is the all-important Command and Initiative (CI) phase which sets the stage for what follows and gives players all kinds of head-scratching decisions. The key is the Aide de Camp system, in many respects the distinctive core to Brown’s rules. Each side receives several ADCs; think of them as representing the Commander-in-Chief’s leadership skills and army’s chain-of-command competence, as opposed to being individual Aides.
You start each turn dicing for how many of your ADCs are actively available. Next the C-in-C assigns those riders to support key priorities for the turn. ADCs are often dispatched to help motivate key brigades follow orders and advance. Others may urge batteries to beef up fire, order up reserves or commit entire infantry brigades to charge forward. In all the rules provide 12 different ADC Taskings to influence army performance (some tasks demand more ADCs than others) and, naturally, there are never even aides for all your needs. (It feels very realistic to see brigade commanders each pleading their case with the C-in-C for to get sparse ADCs in their sector.)
After ADCs are dispatched, each Brigadier player dices to determine if his command is “Following Orders” and can advance. This requires a 3+ roll on a d6, with ADCs or skilled leader designations allowing rerolls. The CI phase ends with dicing for Initiative, which allows the winning side to both move and fire first.
The turn continues with phases for Charges, Movement, Fire and Melee. Brown’s charge rules are innovative and accentuate his considerable knowledge of the period instead of some wargaming norms. Charges are quickly resolved using a comprehensive table that reflects what kinds of units and formations are involved. Chargers or defenders may be driven back before contact, break, or close ground to fight a melee later in the turn.
Brown’s approach provides richer period flavour and generally satisfying resolutions compared to other systems which simply apply numerical strengths to various unit types when dicing for combat.
Rules for movement, shooting and morale work just as well using the four-page QRS.
Players in our club liked the movement and change of formation mechanics which weren’t fussy and were easily picked up. Rules for skirmisher are equally flexible encouraging their aggressive use to harass enemy lines and batteries.
GdA’s morale rules emphasize the inevitable and sometimes abrupt deterioration of battalions being attacked with Brown purposefully making it much more difficult to “rally” units than I’ve seen in other rules. When the C-in-C does get involved to bolster a flagging brigade it’s an important moment (using the ADC Command Tasking) which can only be used once per game. Also, the rules let you tweak the break point for various unit types (elites, veterans, line) to allow shorter games.
Game mechanics put a lot of power in the hands of the C-in-C player, reflecting historic chain of command. Aside from assigning the ADCs, only the C-in-C can order an infantry Brigade to charge with multiple battalions (using the Infantry Assault tasking) or to shift its position in the battle line.
Gamers being gamers, you might some rules in the 106 pages to take issue with. Yes, winning first fire for your entire force through initiative is a strong bonus, especially if you “hold serve” and maintain initiative for several turns. Some players on forums weren’t keen on infantry columns resolve against cavalry charges although Brown cited historic reasons for his interpretation. The book does not offer major army lists or extensive rules for specific armies; there are some notations for units such as Russian batteries but overall the book is designed for gamers to assign levels for foot, horse and artillery units based on their own knowledge and as they see fit. As well, play demands markers to reflect battalions or brigades with battered morale or various bonuses, but copy and print versions of all markers are provided.
Those quibbles aside, General d’Armee impresses as a game that really does combine fast play, engaging player involvement and Napoleonic flavour. Like Napoleon at Borodino, you’ve got your work cut out for you.
(this review was written after 4 multi-player games with GdA)

[nikharwood]

Thanks for posting this - I've been looking for more Napoleonic rules (not entirely sure why...must be going slowly bonkers...) & have thought about these a lot...

Unfortunately, a load of my gaming is done solo - so that's always a criteria for me with any new ruleset that takes my fancy... based on your experience, do you think that these would be useable / adaptable for solo play at all?

[gorillacrab]

Of course the games are not designed for solo play at all, but I think you could make it work. When I first starting learning the game, I played solo with about 2 brigades per side. What made it "work" is that you have to dice for activation (using available ADCs to boost your odds), to see if Brigades will Follow Orders and advance - which brings some of the uncertainty needed for solo play. There's also the factor that when you unleash an attack or charge, a lot of things can happen based on dicing on the results table. There is a nicely done multi-part series on the rules hosted by the author here:
Give this series a try and then decide if these might work for solo play longterm.
- W