Grande Armée by Sam A Mustafa (2002):
Napoleonic was the period I wargamed a lot in the 1970’s,
and I possess large 25mm armies for all the main protagonists. Over the
intervening years I have struggled to find a set of rules that captured the
nuances of the period, and I have as a result accumulated a shelf full of
rules! Roughly 10 years ago I bought Grande Armée and although they focussed on
a higher command level than I was looking for, I thought they contained some
‘interesting’ mechanisms. The rules remained untested on my shelf gathering
dust but continued to intrigue me. In the meantime a friend suggested a
mini-campaign based on Napoleon’s late 1790’s campaigns in North Italy using
Principle of War rules. We both bought armies using 6mm Adler miniatures. We
were impressed by the casting quality and the level of painting detail that
could be achieved on these small masterpieces. Unfortunately my friend moved
away due to work commitments, so I was left with a pair of unused 6mm armies
which were put into storage. Last year I sorted through armies I possess that
were not seeing much table action, with the view to either re-vamping or
selling on. I decided that these 6mm armies could be rebased for Grande Armée
and used to test the rules. I checked out various Yahoo groups and blogs, and
it appeared that many gamers preferred using 2” square bases and reducing all
scales to 2/3rd. This was the approach I used and I must admit that
the results looked good!
I re-read the rules and saw a problem; the rules are
primarily designed to refight historical battles rather than pick up battles. I
therefore set to working out a simple mechanism to generate balanced opposing
armies; dicing for commanders, number and composition of forces, unit strengths
and qualities. The mechanism I devised and tested seems to work well producing
varied but balanced forces comprising 15-20 units that fit with the forces at
my disposal. Whilst I was developing this army generation mechanism, I took
part in a WW2 game at the local club using the newly published Chain of Command
rules. I was impressed by the pre-game scouting mechanism and immediately
adapted this mechanism for use with Grande Armée.
I have now played two solo Grande Armée games to test the
rules. I have yet to play an actual opponent, but feel that I now have a good
feel for the rules. The first game involved Napoleon (Great) with 2 large
forces versus Serbottendorf (Average) with 5 smaller forces. Napoleon had to
create a third command to counter an Austrian thrust in the centre, this
created a command problem for the French army. Overall, this was an interesting
game which resulted in both armies taking serious casualties so that at the end
of the 4th turn they both failed their ‘break’ tests. The result was
a draw. The second game matched Augereau (Average) with 4 forces versus Mack
(Poor) with 3 forces. This game resulted in decisive French victory after 3
turns following a swinging French attack overwhelming the Austrian right flank.
The rules are A4, spiral bound, with black and white
illustrations and diagrams. They are well written, nicely structured and
organised. The diagrams clearly illustrate key rules, and there is a quick
reference sheet (QRS), plus a more extensive QRS (called Éclaireur). Finally
there are 4 historic scenarios and a section on how to convert historic OOB’s
into the Grande Armée format.
A key feature of the rules is the use of a flexible time
scale: Each ‘Turn’ comprises a variable number of ‘Pulses’, and the players
cannot be certain about how many ‘Pulses’ will be played in a ‘Turn’. A ‘Pulse’
effectively is an IGOUGO mini-turn. Each ‘Pulse’ starts with simultaneous
skirmishing and artillery firing, which can inflict fairly minor damage to
target units. Skirmishing ability is a differentiating factor between armies,
with the French out-skirmishing the Austrians in the games I played. The firing
mechanism is very quick and simple using opposing dice rolls. At the heart of
the rules are ‘Command Points’ (CP’s). The quality of the C-in-C and
type/composition of the army determine how many CP’s are initially available
for the Turn. CP’s are used to activate your sub-commanders, who vary in the
number of CP’s required (modified by increasing distance from the C-in-C). This
can affect the deployment decisions at the start of the battle; you don’t want
expensive sub-commanders too distant from your C-in-C, or in key areas of the
battlefield. Un-activated sub-commanders will act on their own initiative:
Aggressive sub-commanders attacking, whilst Cautious sub-commanders sit
inactive. How to best use CP’s is the
key decision to be made by a player because you never have as many as you need.
Do you use them quickly and control your sub-commanders in the initial
Pulse(s)? Do you save CP’s for later Pulses and trust some of your
sub-commanders to act correctly on their initiative? You can gain additional
CP’s if you roll a double when dicing for initiative in each Pulse. Winning the
Initiative dice roll allows a player to choose whether to go first or second in
the Pulse, which can be a significant decision (although going first tends to be
the default option). Unit movement is another variable parameter and is done
unit by unit; French infantry move slightly faster than the slower Austrians.
Cavalry move (generally) faster than infantry. Rough terrain slows movement by
a variable amount. All together these rules make moving an uncertain procedure:
you can move slowly, less than maximal and keep good order; or you can push
each unit at full speed and lose your formation order. Close combat (there is
no charge mechanism) is simple opposed dicing (based on unit strength modified
by circumstances). The results trend to be decisive and bloody! You find your
once strong units rapidly deteriorate in strength and will soon require
rallying. An important factor to consider is flank support for your units,
together with combined arms attacks. Direct flank attacks are effective but
difficult to achieve because a unit cannot ignore potential opponents to their
front. Units in towns can be difficult and expensive to assault. An unusual
rule prohibits cavalry from attacking downhill, possibly a justifiable rule but
may catch players out who are not used to such a restriction in other rules
they may have played. Artillery is very vulnerable to close combat but have a
chance to pull back (less likely against mounted opponents). There is no morale
phase; the morale of a unit is part of the strength point rating. After a
variable number of Pulses, the Turn finally ends. At this point units can
recover strength points (if they are sufficiently distant from the enemy), and
‘routed’ units can be rallied (a single chance, otherwise they are lost
permanently). If an army has lost more units than their ‘Break Point’, the
commander must dice to see if the army concedes defeat. This dice roll is
modified by the number of excessive units broken and the number of turns left
to play.
Overall the rules are fast, fun and easy to play. I found
that by my second game the QRS was all I required and I rarely needed to refer
to the main rulebook. The variable time and movement rules are very innovative
and work well. The decisions required by the use of CP’s are key and again make
the players think ahead, balancing probabilities. Close combat is very bloody
and the deterioration of your army is possibly too fast for my tastes. The need
to employ reserves to plug holes that emerge in your army is important and an
aspect of the rules that is vital in a grand tactical set of rules. Cycling of
commands out of the firing line may help but I think would prove difficult. The
army break point system allows the game to come to a definitive conclusion. The
main fault I found with these rules are that they don’t feel especially
Napoleonic. There are no unit formations; no column, line or square. There are
some differential national characteristics in the makeup of the army, but this
is not a strong feature once the game is in progress. The game feels more like
a boardgame but without the hexes. Apart from the visual appeal, miniature
figures are not essential. As with all rules written by Sam Mustafa, they are
well presented and contain interesting game design elements. I am not sure this
is a game I will take to my local wargame club, instead I will use them for the
occasional game at home. The main role I can see for Grande Armée is in a campaign
setting, where large battles can be quickly played to a conclusion allowing the
campaign to progress. This is the primary role of Grande Armée and I cannot
really criticize the rules too harshly for not fulfilling my more tactical
requirements. I do intend to refight some historic battles to see if the rules
work in that context; first up will be the battle of Rivoli.
So my search for a set of Napoleonic rules continues!
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