Chef de Bataillon Rules by Scott Bowden & Jim Getz
Published by The Emperor’s Press
Available from Stratagem Publications Ltd. 18 Lovers Lane, Newark, Notts, NG24 1HZ. Price £15.00

One of the more unexpected pleasures of the second First Empire Show, apart from finding that Ian Barstow was so grief stricken at having to include Brune in his “Fighting Marshals” series (see Issue 24) that he has shaved his beard off in penance, was the discovery of a pile of the above rules on sale from good old Duncan Macfarlane. These having been awaited by your humble scribe since 1990!

Not that Duncan has been slow in bringing them you understand it’s just the by now customary Scotty Bowden gestation period.

Breaking New Ground

To say these rules break new ground is a bit like saying Columbus bumped into something. In twenty five years of Napoleonic gaming I have never seen anything quite like them.

Now before the anti Bowden lobby out there starts to crank itself into gear let me just give one direct quote from the authors which while taken from this set could well have served as a postscript to the loved or loathed Empire rules from the same stable. “ Our rules have been, and continue to be, successful because they are not written for the lowest common denominator of the gaming public. We have focused on the experienced gamer and the novice gamer that wants to learn about history by doing it, just not reading about it. Not every one agrees with this perspective, nor must they.”

I include this because I happen to believe it to be true and not as some form of elitist statement. It is also by way of an over due explanation as to why people have found Empire so hard to get along with i.e. they were never intended to be easy. Also, in my view, a review writer should be honest about his approach. I happen to like what these two have done in the past but I am aware that many people in Britain have found that Empire was not for them. However, even if I had reservations about their work this new set is such a different approach to the period it would be well worth the price of admission on that fact alone.

So what’s all the fuss about. Well having produced a Grand Tactical set in Empire the authors have turned things on their head and produced rules where the Brigade is the largest unit you will ever use.

Indeed, this is the one for the John Cooks of this world, now you too can “Form three sides of a circle”! Phrases like “Forming line to the right on the head of an inverted column of companies at close interval using the “En Tiroir” technique” should make them feel quite at home. Even if they don’t there’s probably enough material for about four more articles explaining just where the authors have got it wrong.

However don’t let this put you off. It is all well explained and there are plenty of illustrations. Also there are two distinct levels of play concerning movement and manoeuvre one for those who just want to get on with it and the other for would be Potsdam drill masters. The rules work with both systems and they give the same results, so at both levels troops are only allowed to imitate their historic counter parts in both permitted formations and evolution’s on the table.

All it means really is that if you want to be a historical smart ass when moving your units around the table you can be. If not, you don’t have to, the rules will take care of it anyway but you won’t learn as much.

Word of Warning

A word of warning here folks we are talking serious units. Would you believe French Line Battalions (6 coy organisation) at 144 (that’s ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR) figures! For those a bit slow on the maths that’s 1 figure = 5 men or put another way, using figures based for Empire, 18” wide by three real ranks deep of metal. God am I glad I don’t play Austrians! Anyone who can afford to play these rules in 25mm can they please contact the editor as I need a loan. Me, I’m going to double up in 15mm and go for 1:10 and 1 inch equals twenty yards.

However, panic not, it appears that as long as you stick to the basic principals, mucking about with the troop ratio and ground scale does not effect the game and you can play in any figure scale you like.

One of the many novel approaches in the rules is the table layout, well illustrated in the scenarios section. Shown as 6 by 12 foot tables these are always played from the six foot end, length ways. The reason given being that the cut and thrust of small (sic) unit actions will always need more depth than is normally available to gamers and that it was/is so difficult to keep bodies of troops in anything passing for order that you will wind up going straight on most of the time anyway. Besides which fancy out flanking manoeuvres, as opposed to wheeling, were ordered at a higher level so you battalions may be part of such an event but not the instigator.

In large scale battles we tend to minimise the effects of terrain, by rationalising that it would have been the battalion commanders problem to reach the objective we have given to his Brigade/Division commander, while we get on with being Napoleon. Well bad news, this time you are the battalion commander. The same fences and hedgerows that you chuck your twelve figure battalions over with a passing phase of disorder are now a serious tactical consideration, as you try to assess if your 144 figure monster will get there and reorder, by company, before the enemy gets to you. How many figure based rules do you know that include 20 pages on terrain ? Well these do.

Terrain

This means that you can never have too much terrain and that the rule mechanics take account of every square inch of space available so every step forward is a potential problem for holding your formation together. No more playing on billiard table surfaces for you me lad. Even if you can’t physically represent the problem due to lack of material the rules enable you to account for it. There’s even special rules for fighting in graveyards!

Other chapters include the detail of command and control with many special features to reflect the new range of problems and decisions at this level of action, movement, manoeuvre and drill, fire and close action combat, urban fighting and engineering operations and of course all you need to know for artillery (usually up to battery strength) and cavalry as well as infantry.

Any bright sparks amongst you might like to work out the cost of a full strength 25mm, Austrian light cavalry regiment, at 1:5 before you proceed any further, those of you capable of fielding a Brigade must have had your 25’s for along time or have just one the Lottery

The rules are ideal for trying out detailed parts of larger actions as well as made up games so you might like to try part of the assault on Essling or some such. The eight scenarios included in the rules give a good mix of ideas to start out with.

The production is in soft back format to the high standard we have come to expect from American publishers and includes sections detailing national organisation and strength tables for all arms of the combatant nations similar to those found in Empire. There are also quick reference charts, die-cut counters for various game functions and two overlays printed on clear plastic for Shrapnel and Howitzer burst patterns.

In summary their written construction and rule mechanisms make it easy to see that the concept of having to keep plans of operation simple at Division and Corps level, due to the short comings of lower echelons, long advocated as historical fact by the same authors in Empire and by other writers of high command based rules, is indeed well founded.

To say that they have brought Squad Leader to Napoleonics would give a false indication of their complexity and in truth if they even approached that level I personally would not be interested. However it is that sort of “in your” face wargaming they are aimed toward.

If you are looking for a new departure in your Napoleonic gaming or want to increase your front line knowledge of the period without dressing up for the part, I would strongly commend them.