Along with World War II and the Civil War, the period of Napoleon is one of the most popular miniature wargaming eras of history. There are many reasons for this popularity:  the status of Napoleon as a great (though flawed) captain, leader, and ruler; the plethora of writing about Napoleon and his time that is available for the non-historian; the relative symmetry of the fighting forces; the colorful uniforms of the armies which lend themselves to representation by miniature figures; and many others.  There are perhaps as many rule sets on Napoleonic warfare as there are books on Napoleon.  Choosing one can be a daunting task, although most often new players will be drawn into the rule set that their gaming friends already use.

Here are the sets that I prefer for various reasons:

From Valmy to Waterloo--When it comes to maneuvering battalions and controlling forces up to a corps in size, these are the best rules.  William Keyser, the author of this set, incorporates an amazing amount of detail into charts that present all the information simply and quickly, allowing experienced players to maneuver a corps in real time (a turn taking 15 minutes of game and simulated time). In my mind, these rules do the best job of presenting the interactions between troops, leadership, organization, geography, and technology.

Napoleonic Fire and Fury--focuses on the brigade as the element of maneuver. These rules are based on the Fire and Fury set for the Civil War (see my Civil War page).  They offer a player the ability to control larger sized forces (multi-corps) at the cost of lessening the details of interactions below battalion level.

One Day Napoleonic Campaign Rules--the division or cavalry brigade is the element of maneuver.  These rules allow for those massive battles like Leipzig to be completed in a day, or play of a campaign over the course of a weekend. An interesting set that uses little paperwork and focuses on the morale of a unit more than its numerical strength for combat power.

Irregular Napoleonic Rule Set--the brigade is the element of maneuver.  These rules fit on a half dozen 3x5 cards so they are easy to learn and easy to teach others.

Website by Jim Doty III

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