Soldiers Of Napoleon

[vodkafan]

Anybody got any opinions on Soldiers Of Napoleon rules? I only read about them for the first time today in the July WI, have read all the reviews I can find online, they have piqued my interest.

[SJWi]

Vodkafan, as I only found them myself on the Gripping Beast website yesterday the strict answer to your question is "no". However  having looked at the various reviews and U-Tubes online I'm going to give them a punt as (a) Warwick Kinrade has a good reputation as a rule-writer and (b) with the card activation system they are a bit "different". I have several sets of more traditional rules but my gaming group quite like sets that add some "friction" or "fog of war". As one review pointed out people will either love or hate this concept.

[has.been]

James, keep me informed as to how this goes.
If it gives our Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish a chance
against Digits French Juggernaut I am in.

[olicana]

I too, being a Piquet player of long standing, and a fan of GMT card games to boot, like the look of this.

I have some reservations about the level of play as regards to unit scaling and how it might effect the game if 'battalions' were all the same size. If someone could tell me that starting all units at 'four stands' could work, frankly I'm in.

My difficulty lies in the fact that I game one level above. That is to say I use divisions not brigades and I decide my division strength in units by simply dividing the numbers therein by 1,000. E.g. 4,500 - 5,499 men is five units - no big units no small units, just five the same size units. (cavalry by 500, BTW).

Normally, rules work pretty well regardless of the scale the designer envisaged and I think this might be the case here. With a little imagination, would this work using this set of rules? E.g. Divisions for brigades and one size of 'tactical' unit; or would the game lose something very valuable in not having different sized units.

Advice appreciated.

I play Peninsular.

[vodkafan]

Olicana, these are good questions; I did think of your armies when I first read about these rules yesterday.

[vtsaogames]

...My difficulty lies in the fact that I game one level above. That is to say I use divisions not brigades and I decide my division strength in units by simply dividing the numbers therein by 1,000. E.g. 4,500 - 5,499 men is five units - no big units no small units, just five the same size units. (cavalry by 500, BTW).

Normally, rules work pretty well regardless of the scale the designer envisaged and I think this might be the case here. With a little imagination, would this work using this set of rules? E.g. Divisions for brigades and one size of 'tactical' unit; or would the game lose something very valuable in not having different sized units.

Advice appreciated.

I play Peninsular.

Don't have these rules but think a set that allows different strength units would also work with identical size units. Deciding all your batallions are 1,000 strong, cavalry regiments 500 strong doesn't sound like a huge leap. Interested myself but my crew might rebel at yet another set of rules. I await an AAR.

[olicana]

Don't have these rules but think a set that allows different strength units would also work with identical size units.

I'm sure they will 'work' with all same size units, why wouldn't they, but would the game lose something of its flavour. I've seen a couple of reviews, and an interview with the author, and variable unit size seems to be a big thing - my question might be better phrased like this:

Would the combats become very samey if all of the units in the game are the same starting strength, or is there enough other variation in the rule system to still make things interesting?

[gorillacrab]

Those wanting an early AAR can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsnyz9pSLRk

I am very tempted by these rules though, like others, I know my full game group will NOT appreciate a new rule set (having converted them to General d'Armee!)
In both board and the rare tabletop rule set, having to make hard decisions instead of merely advancing is a good feature of this kind of card system. We'll see what kind of "legs" this one has - a bit concerning that the earlier 2 Soldiers of.... systems came and went fairly quickly in terms of availability.

[CapnJim]

Hmm.  Been following this, and read some reviews,  I'm tempted.  My group so far plays Black Powder for Napoleonics, but I may have us give this a spin.  We'll see...

[SJWi]

Gorillacrab, my mates have also all bought General D'Armee and indeed I bought the rules and token set only 1 month ago. However I see these as something a bit "different" from traditional rules. I think some will love and others hate the card-driven activation. I can see us using both rules for slightly different types of games . As for his other two rulesets, I didn't look at Soldiers of Rome but did have a quick look at the Crusades set .From memory they required a specific basing system that made them a no-no for me, plus they had no big commercial backer. Yes Northstar sold them but no advertising and they were never seen on the Show circuit etc. I think the tie-up with Gripping Beast will make them more widely known.....plus they claim to be "basing agnostic". I've got them on order.   

[Norm]

Wargames Illustrated magazine did a video about the game a month or so ago and the latest magazine issue (July No 415) has an article on the system.

[TomMcC]

We've played it a couple of times now.  Allowing for us getting used to rules, both games were really fun.

If you've played Sam Mustafa's Maurice or Longstreet or boardgames like Paths of Glory or Combat Commander, then you will be familiar with card driven games, with multiple options on cards.  SoN has 3 options on the cards, 'pips', and event or a rally option. A nice mechanism is that if you choose a rally option you give victory points to the opposition.

The 'pip' mechanism takes a bit of getting used to as a player can only do one thing; e.g. shoot or move, but not both.
Most other games allow activated units to do more than one thing, such as move and shoot. So there's a learning curve there, on how best to work the pips. 

If you've played Maurice or Longstreet, then you know the power (and sheer joy) of a first fire card, and there's something similar or some card events here. And as a French player in one game, I really enjoyed getting off-table artillery support.  Much hilarity for both sides ensues from playing these cards. 

A really nice idea to always make the player a division commander and perhaps in the middle of a battle, so that the player can receive support from off-board artillery or a visit from a corps of army commander and perhaps reinforcements.

The game set up was good with players choosing a deployment stance and combat option for their division; i.e. whether to attack, probe or defend (I forget the exact terms now).  We really liked this aspect and the limited divisional focus in the middle of a bigger battle.

So I'd say it's a good fun game on a club night. We will play it again, though I don't think it will replace rules like Black Powder that allow a full battle to be played. 

If you can afford it and want a fun game, I say give it a try.     

Hope this helps,
cheers,
Tom

[olicana]

The 'pip' mechanism takes a bit of getting used to as a player can only do one thing; e.g. shoot or move, but not both.
Most other games allow activated units to do more than one thing, such as move and shoot. So there's a learning curve there, on how best to work the pips.

We play a lot of Piquet so this will not be a problem for us, and we also play a lot of other card driven games on the table-top - most notably Commands and Colors.

I've decided to take the plunge before all the reviews are in - ordered my copy this morning, before  GB sell out (I have a feeling they might, given the hype and buzz).

[gorillacrab]

SJWi, all the talk about hype and first-edition sellout has roused me to place my order - it will be interesting to follow progress in the weeks that it ships over here to the Dominion...

[SJWi]

TomMcC, thanks for the feedback. Although I haven't got my copy what you have said completely resonates with me having read all the reviews and watched a couple of U-Tubes. With my little gaming group I see these rules as a fun, almost "beer and pretzels" game leaving something like "General D'Armee" for bigger more involved games.