Napoleonics

Without ready access to a cup of tea and a madeleine, I cannot accurately recall the precise order of events that made Napoleonics my first (military history) love. Certainly there were the 1/32 Airfix figures, but there was also a book from the local library on the Waterloo campaign with an orange hard cover (the slip cover having long disappeared) that I read and re-read.

Eventually, despite my mother’s misgivings over their small size, I graduated to the Airfix HO/OO figures, which included cavalry and artillery and the fantastic battle set complete with farmhouse and wagons that I still own and use. Then, when I grew up to be a serious wargamer (about age 12 or 13), I sold them all off and bought metal 15mm Minifigs, French and Prussians for the 1813 campaign. Having acquired enough for Scenario 42 (of course) I then purchased no more for almost 20 years, by which time Minifigs had been through a couple of resculpts and my figures were out of scale with pretty much everything on the market.

Fast forward a few more years, and the solution appears in the form of the Too Fat Lardies rule set ‘Sharp Practice’. Not only does this ideally match the numbers of figures in my collection, but my wife had also developed a fondness for Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels (not entirely unconnected with Sean Bean’s televisual interpretation of the character). So I may even be able to tempt her to participate in an occasional game.

However, the full Napoleonic experience can only really be achieved with big battles. The essence of the period was the development of battlefield manoeuvre and combined arms (infantry, cavalry and artillery) and you're not going to recreate those with a hundred or so figures. So, accepting that this was only going to be achievable in a small scale and with some professional help, I moved to Canada.

Well, more precisely, soon after I did that I joined the Napoleonic Miniature Wargames Society of Toronto. They welcomed me with open arms and introduced me to the joys of Polemos Napoleonics and Baccus 6mm figures. Despite my extremely spotty attendance record, Glenn Pearce and co have remained good wargaming friends. The club has moved on to using Glenn's own contribution to the Polemos library, Ruse de Guerre, but when this project confronted me with the need for a way of playing large horse and musket battles I plumped for the Maréchal d’Empire version of Polemos Napoleonics.

Grant’s scenarios are on the small size for MdE, but it is a level of abstraction that works for me. The rules have an apparently clunky combat mechanism in which the attacker attacks, then the defender has a go, next the attacker follows up any success they had, the defender responds and then there is a resolution phase. But everything I have read on the subject of Napoleonic combat describes just such a process, in which bodies of troops approach each other and engage in fairly protracted firefights until one side or the other loses its nerve and falls back. The old cliché of French columns storming up to thin red lines and being repulsed by a single volley and a bayonet charge doesn't seem right. Plus, I'll mostly be playing solo, so no opponent to whine about the slow process and long delays.

For armies, I was able to obtain Baccus figures, available ready painted back then, from the excellent Reinforcements by Post. I think Neil intended to shut up shop a while ago, but the website is still there, so don't take my word for it. I also acquired some of the beautiful Total Battle Miniatures buildings when they offered them pre-painted, so the real estate looks pretty spiffy too.

Skirmish actions will be played with Sharp Practice (SP) in 15mm and big battles will be fought with 6mm and Maréchal d’Empire (MdE) for the following scenarios : 1(MdE), 4(SP), 6(MdE), 7(MdE), 9(SP), 10 (SP), 12(MdE), 15(MdE), 16 (SP),