How to Get People Into Gaming Napoleonics...

...when it appears to be a losing battle!

All has been quiet here recently- too quiet, but there are some good reasons for this.

First off, I have been beavering away on my 20mm WWII Soviets for a game coming up sometime in January.  The good news is that I have been making excellent headway on assembling a 1944 tank brigade and motorcycle battalion, and have managed to maintain strict (for me!) project discipline so that I can now see an end in sight by the new year.

This means that I have consciously been avoiding the temptation of looking too closely at Nappy forums and blogs, for fear of distraction and of getting sidelined by all the new rules, figures, and other assorted goodness that seem to be pouring out of the hobby cornucopia these days.

The other reason I haven't been active on the Napoleonic front is that simply it has been proving a tough sell to other members of the club here, particularly in 28mm.  This is due to a number of factors as follows;

1)  Many members are more focussed on 15mm or even smaller through having played DBR or similar sets. 
 

2) The learning curve; none of the guys here are familiar with Napoleonics.  And admittedly it is a complex period, in terms of time frames, uniforms, tactics and organization.  Some members find the whole thing rather intimidating, if not absolutely overwhelming, for the beginner.

3) Nappy Grognards have a bad rep (go figure!), and people are simply hesitant to dip their feet into the piranha-filled pools that are various fora out there in order to seek more info (it is worth remembering that we are in Japan, and the exhortations by Crusty Old Purists for newbies to "Look It Up For Yourself At A Library" simply isn't an option here, so the Internet represents the best place to hunt for references).   

In this context,  even "helpful" advice along the lines of "Check the 1820 manuscript edition of the French regulations for Light Infantry in the Gironde archives" is pretty well worse than no advice at all.
 

4) A bewildering choice of rules, from skirmish to battalion-based games all the way up to corps level.  

Surely we all welcome the current bumper-crop of Napoleonic rules.  But as with so much in life, there is a reverse side to the shiny gold coin.  While variety is good, there is a downside in that first of all, gamers have to decide on which of the many new rule sets everyone can agree on.  No mean task!  And how can someone unfamiliar to the period even begin to make a judgment on which one set best suits their temperament, time, budget, and gaming philosophy?

A lot of Nappy rules require a good number of figures with specific basing conventions.  This can be a problem in that even if there is common consensus on a given set of rules, it can take a while to assemble the minimum number of miniatures- the "critical mass"  required for a decent game.  This is much less of a problem with, say, WW2 games.

But before this, it is necessary to get people hooked on the period in the first place, let alone on a particular set of rules.  Those new to the period need to find themselves gaming early on with whatever number of miniatures are available at the time - and they have to find themselves enjoying the experience if they are to stick at it.  

I suppose that initially one could use cardboard counters.  But in a period where I feel the visual appeal is paramount, cutout counters are not exactly ideal for getting the juices flowing amongst the wavering and uninitiated.  I need to persuade prospective gamers early on that of course they want to part with their time and money, and to invest in Perry and Front Rank miniatures in expectation of More Joy to Come!

Now, all this has resulted in me back-pedalling the era.  I was thinking of doing DBN, but what with so much DBR being played, I very much doubt whether the system offers a different enough "flavour" from the usual gaming experience so that it makes people want to rush off and spend money reserved for their kids' education on a container load of Perry Miniatures instead.  

Furthermore, at the level of representation of DBN there is a good argument that the smaller scales really do suit these particular rules best.  An argument hard to counter except for personal reasons (i.e. I'm well and truly committed to 28mm with hundreds upon hundreds of the buggers!).

A daunting situation all round.  But there has been some recent light at the end of a darkening tunnel, and it's looking as if there is the beginning of some interest in doing Napoleonic skirmishing.  Well, this is an ideal level of representation for 28mm, people don't need a whole lot of figures to start out with (or shall I say,  get hooked on...), and I have a number of rule sets that may fit the bill- Sharpe Practice by the Two Fat Lardies, for example.  

But in the interests of simplicity and ease of play, I have also been working on a set of small-scale rules based on mechanisms from, of all things, Wings of War- but that is the subject for another post!

Now there will be nary a redcoat in sight, as I will initially be doing Freikorps and petite-guerre actions in Central Europe and France in 1813-1814.    Eventually of course, I want to work my way up to larger games.  I was intending on using General de Brigade, but I will be closely following reports on how all the recent new rule sets that have been vomiting forth from the wargames press these days play out.  

If Nappies do end up taking off here, I'll try to get people to commit to at least a brigade.  With all those great plastics out there now, at least cost is no longer an excuse!