Saxons - difference between 1866 & 1870

[Blaker]

Thanks Chad that helps   

Speaking of rules - any suggestions to game the Italian Revolt of 1848-49 and the Hungarian Revolt of 1848-49?  Hmmm and of course, suitable minis for the armies involved.?  If this needs to be another topic thread, please, move it I dont want to disrupt this lively discussion on 1866 which I find very interesting and very very helpful.

[mollinary]

Cameronian - I'm all for the non-spikey approach.  On the whole I think this is a very civilised forum compared to some I could mention, and everyone seems to go out of their way to help - but if I have inadvertently "spiked" anyone, I too heartily apologise.
Blaker -  being a megalomaniac when it comes to little metal men I like rules that allow me to have huge battles in a reasonable time frame. After a fair bit of experimentation this has led me to the Real Time Wargame rules sold by Keith Warren of Realistic Modelling.  They have two similar sets for 1866 and 1870, both (now, since SALUTE!) contain campaign rules and a system for fighting only part of a big battle if that is all the figures you can muster, and both give a flavour of the period that I find irresistable. And they are simple enough for even me to understand, which is a pretty powerful combination!   I have all Bruce Weigle's fantastic sets 1869, 1866 and 1870, and consult them all the time on OOBs, scenarios,, etc, but I still come back to the Real Time rules. 

Mollinary

[Blaker]

Cool Thanks Molinary I will look those rules up.   I am basically looking for rules that will allow me to game on a table no larger than a 4ft x 6ft and easily understandable for kids ranging in age from 10 to 16.. I teach wargaming classes during the summer months and have been wanting to introduce the lesser know conflicts prior to WW2. Hopefully opening the eyes of the younger generation.  Ive been doing this for 15 years and been using Pendraken  minis for at least the past 10 years.

Some classes the kids paint up armies and them play with them and then they take them home. Some classes, I paint up all the armies (this is starting to hurt as I get older) and the kids learn to play the battles.  

During the early years of these classes, I was painting up to about 160 armies a year so the kids took home painted armies, then I wised up and started having the kids paint their own armies and then they got to take them home  

I have found that everyone on this forum to be very helpful and very informed about all the periods that are discussed. This has to be one of the "Best" Forums on the web as to the quality of members - Thank you Dave, Leon and the rest of the Pendraken crew for having this forum  

[mollinary]

Blaker,

    These rules might suit you very well. They are essentially designed for a corps on corps action, and work on a 7' by 5' table, but I am sure they could work on 6' by 4' .  10" equals a kilometer in ground scale, so your table would be about 7kms by 5kms.  Don't be put off by the square measurement and movement rather than using a ruler.  It has a bit of a boardgame feel, but you soon get used to it, and it gets rid of a lot of fiddling/arguing over whether troops are just in range, or if all the battalion is in a wood.  The stacking limit (yes, also a bit like a boardgame) of 8 units in a 1km square alsio requires you to think carefully about deployment, and sequencing of the movement of reserves. This is something I really like, as it is what I feel a general should be doing.  Also the rules have only two basic formations for infantry -  a manouevre formation and a combat formation. In manouevre formation you have more flexibility in terms of distance to move and ease of change of direction, but cannot fight. Once you change to combat formation, you cannot change back to manouevre during the game. This means you have to think very carefully about when to make the change, with what proportion of your force, how far from the enemy, facing which direction.  Mistakes made at this stage are very difficult to correct, unlike most wargames.  As you can tell I am sold on these, and hope others who try them out like them as much as I do.

Happy gaming,

Mollinary

[cameronian]

I'm sold on Field of Battle (1866 variant).

[Leman]

I too am converting my FPW and APW to Real Time Wargames rules. I am also looking forward to the publication of Paris, City of Light, which is the FPW Republican phase of the war. These rules could well take off in the Liverpool club.
DP

[Chad]

I have Field of Battle on my list to try.

Chad

[cameronian]

Chad, I've done two sets of cards for FOB 1866 and am well on with my rules revision; if you can wait until July I'll send you a set (pdf). The cards can be downloaded from the Piquet-FOB-Files section over at Yahoo Piquet (I'll be putting a French/Prussian set up before Christmas). In fairness to Brent Oman you should really buy a set of FOB, mine are a bit 'bare bones', Brent's are much more explicatory.

[Chad]

Cam

I do have FOB and have been working my way through other rules. They are next.

I have done Black Powder data sheets, which worked ok. Currently trying 'Die Fighting' for an 1870 game and will then try an 1866 game. July is a bit of a wait, but any help is appreciated.

Chad

[cameronian]

OK, give me a couple of months, I'm almost there but busy with work at present. You might want to print and cut the cards, they were designed to be printed on special pre-punched sheets but I'm sure good quality card and a guillotine will suffice. BTW I never use measures, calipers for movement and range sticks for shooting.

[Chad]

Cam

Have joined the Piquet Group. Saw your pics. Most impressive. Are they based as per the standard FOB basing?

Cheers

Chad

[Hertsblue]

Also, since we're all enthused by the period (a minority period), and we're all into 10mm (a minority scale) perhaps we should be a bit less spikey with each other (here I hold my hand up as a guilty party) or am I being abnormally sensitive?

I too must plead guilty to oversensitivity. Put it down to temporary loss of sense of humour, for which I apologise.

Nice figures, by the way.

[cameronian]

Nice figures, by the way

Too kind. The Saxon Artillery looked like leprauchans until I splashed a bit of army painter over them!

[cameronian]

Cam

Have joined the Piquet Group. Saw your pics. Most impressive. Are they based as per the standard FOB basing?

Cheers

Chad

Thanks for the kind comment. No. My figure scale is 1 figure = 70 men, 1cm = 25m, 1 stand = a half battalion or one battery or one squadron (jaegers s different, 1 stand = 2 companies). Movement and ranges will be based on this.

[Chad]

Cam

What are the base sizes?

Chad