""Frederick's Battles?"" Topic

Anyone here use the "Frederick's Battles" variant for "Napoleon's Battles" for the Seven Years War. If so, how does it play out?

Better since it (NB) was originally designed as a set of rules for the SYW.

Dan

Dan, thanks. Do the battles have basically historical outcomes, and fight in a manner similar to historical battles?

As much as any game using rules and played by gamers can be (smile).

Suggest that you might want either wait for Sam's new rules "Might and Reason" for very large scale games, or my favorite "Age of Reason" for smaller battles.

Dan

I tried Age of Reason, but it was a bit too generic for me.

Who's Sam?

I think Dan is referring to Sam Mustafa, author of "Grande Armee" for Napoleonics. His rules appear to have quite a following out there.

Yes, Sam Mustafa is in the final stages of proof reading and laying out the final print for his new set of rules for the SYW titled "Might and Reason". You can find an Yahoo group for the group at link

Dan

For me, Frederick's Battles has the advantage of using a system I alreadyt know and like -- NB. Don't know Grand Armee, though it may be a good system.

Greg Savvinos wrote the "Frederick's Battles" variant about 10 years ago. I'm pleased to report that he has been a major contributor to, and playterster of, the new "Might and Reason" game.

I'm waiting for a final proof copy from my printer, after which the game will appear very shortly.

best,
Sam

I see. Do the rules separate morale from drill in some fashion? This is a major problem I have with rules in this period, Age of Reason -- all troops are graded by some kind of gradation scale, without looking at the differences in drill. This is handled, to some extent, in Frederick's Battles, with the Prussians usually having an edge in battlefield maneuver, although the Austrians are just as tough (or tougher).

An attempt was made to represent it in "Koenig Krieg" too, but it was bolloxed up.

[This is handled, to some extent, in Frederick's Battles, with the Prussians usually having an edge in battlefield maneuver, although the Austrians are just as tough]

That's basically my approach, too. Each army has certain strengths that give it exceptions to the base-line. In the case of the Prussians, they shoot faster and maneuver better. The Austrians have good irregulars (particularly in the WAS period), and then later a professionalized artillery train.

Some people might call these "national characteristics," although I cringe at that term, and prefer something like "differences in doctrine or system."

Ok, well then, the rules sound interesting. What scale are they per-figure, and when will they be available?

sammustafa.com/mr.html

Yeah, I tried that. It's a personal website, so the corporate we filter doesn't allow me to see it (nor anyone else whose company uses websense or similar, I should add).

Sam, I looked at your site last night. Am I reading correctly that all infantry units are identical in size?

Base size, you mean? Yes.

Not in strength or capability.

What's the rationale for a stronger brigade being unable to hold a longer line than a smaller one? Is it just a gaming convention, or do you have a reason for it?

Well, the "brigades" are pretty arbitrarily limited to a game-standard numerical strength, anyway, so four big battalions or five small ones, or whatever, ought to be about the same amount of turf.

But yeah, it's a game convention, certainly. Given the number of questions I already get about how to do basing, even with standardized base-sizes, I shudder to think of the chaos that would ensue if each unit could be a different size on the table.