Napoleonic Rules For 6mm?

[SJWi]

I've had thoughts about gaming Napoleonics for many years now, but a trip to Waterloo last weekend has finally tipped me over the edge. Together with some of my mates we seem to be erring on the side of 6mm both for ease of painting and visual effect. We use 6mm for ACW and think it looks great. I know there are lots of rulesets out there but am after recommendations that give a good game with the real feel of Napoleonics in this small scale. One of my mates is very knowledgeable about the period so they need to tick the "accuracy" box, but equally don't need to be too complex as the rest of us will give up. I have Reisswitz Press' "General D'Armee" but find them a hard and slightly confusing read, hence this post! We are looking for multi-Division level rules which preferable cater for single-base units.     

[Martello Towers]

Grande Armee by Sam Mustafa (now available on Wargame Vault from Scale Creep Miniatures) ticks quite a few of your boxes.

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/290284/Grande-Armee

Can definitely fight the larger battles, and there are some scenarios in the book to play as well as rules
A base is a Brigade.
Here're a couple of reviews of the rules to help you see if they gel with what you're after.

https://deepfriedhappymice.com/html/rulerev_grandearmee.html

https://marksgamingblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/review-of-grande-armee-rules.html

[jon_1066]

Blucher is also the same scale and multi corps.

[SJWi]

Thanks for both suggestions. I actually own a copy of Blucher but had quite forgotten about them! I actually saw "Grand Armee" on Wargames Vault yesterday but as they were by Scale Creep didn't realise they are by Sam Mustafa.  I'm always intrigued when an author writes two sets of rules for the same period. Any idea what the big differences are? Scale of battle with simpler mechanics? I've also just seen that the Perry's have up-issued their quick-play "Valour and Fortitude" rules which might do the trick, but more investigation needed.

[Norm]

Shoot over to the Perry’s web site, they have a free download on V2 of their rules. These are also going to appear in free printed form as a supplement to the  next issue of the Wargames Illustrated magazine.

[SteveBurt]

Grand Armee and Blucher are at the same scale. The former is more detailed and plays much slower; Blucher is very streamlined and I think is better.

[Cat]

DBN works great for big battles, and looks great with lots of figures on a stand.
 
The author's vids are shown with 15mm, but as with most all rules the figure scale doesn't matter very much, it's the base sizes/distances that are key.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DBNwargaming/videos

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

If you have plenty of miniatures Et Sans Resultat looks interesting.  I have pottered around with this but never palyed a full game and found it was a lot of work to manage solo.
Le Feu Sacre  (Too Fat Lardies) and March Attack (Crusader Publishing) are now older rules but give a good game but are probably as complex as General d'Armee.
From what I have seen, Valour and Fortitude look like great rules.  I have been thinking about getting some more 6mm figures painted and having a bash at these.  You could probably get into these rules with a smaller figure count.  It is also probably a good place to start for a new group and then branch out into more complex rules later if that is desired.

[SJWi]

Cat/Ethelred, thanks for the last two posts of suggestions. DBN looks interesting but checking the website I'm assuming it is US sourced and I can't see a UK stockist. I've dropped them a line and I'll see what they say.  I've never seen the Lardies "Le Feu Sacre" on the table, so don't suppose it sells well in a congested market. However it is now at v3 so hopefully had its glitches sorted. That said I always found the early TFL rules hard to understand! I've seen ESR as it has now launched as its 3rd edition in UK. However as well as the core rulebook it appears you need to buy £35 worth of command and unit cards per side which is a pretty hefty financial commitment. Is this true or are the cards just "nice to have" extras?

At only £7 for the PdF I might give Le Feu Sacre a go, plus investigate the free Perry rules a bit more whilst waiting to hear more about DBN .

Thanks     

[gnu2000]

Feel free to try mine. They are free!

Not for players focused on forming square, but for megalomaniacs tossing a coin to decide whether or not to commit another brigade or two to capture a hill. :-)

http://paintingshed.blogspot.com/p/napoleonic-squares-v2-may-2023.html?m=1

[Cat]

Cat/Ethelred, thanks for the last two posts of suggestions. DBN looks interesting but checking the website I'm assuming it is US sourced and I can't see a UK stockist.

They are indeed UK, but direct sales.  Yorkshire accent is quite a giveaway in the vids!
 
For those of in the US or elsewhere, to buy hardcopies of the rules send him a note with your shipping address and he'll send an invoice with the shipping cost added.  The website's cart isn't set up to handle international shipping.  (PDFs are avaialble too.)

[Inkpaduta]

You can also download the DNB rules as well. That is what I did.

[vtsaogames]

Valour and fortitude are nice rules. The base units are battalion/cavalry regiment/battery. They use more than one base per unit since infantry and cavalry can have different formations.

Volley & Bayonet are moderately simple rules. Each base is a brigade (or multi-battalion regiment). Each base is 3" square, though you can modify this and other distances to fit your space and budget.

[SJWi]

Chaps, thanks for the info. I've since had a reply from the author of DBN and can purchase a hard-copy in UK for abut £20 inc P&P .  I don't think I will persuade my mates to look at Le Feu Sacre as I think they are waiting for "General D'Armee" v2 which is on the horizon. I can buy Volley and Bayonet in UK but will wait to see them at a show before going any further.   

[Cat]

Whatever way you go, looking forward to seeing pictures!