This is an unsolicited review that first appeared in MWAN 90

I wanted to add to David Barnes' review in Midwest Wargamer's Association Newsletter of General de Brigade, because he admitted that he had not played those rules. I have, and I want to tell other Napoleonic wargamers what they are like.

Since the passing of Column, Line, and Square, tactical (1:20 to 1:40) Napoleonic wargamers have long needed a single set of rules that most people would like, that would unify the hobby. I have spent many years looking for those rules. I have bought almost every set of tactical Napoleonic rules that I could find. None of the rules sets met with enough success to spread across the country, nor were they satisfactory to me. Finally, I started developing my own set of rules, taking the best ideas from all the others.

Then General de Brigade came out. I was surprised and pleased to find that this set of rules included many of the "best ideas" that I had wanted, including: only two different ranges for musket fire, three for artillery, simplifying halving fire casualties at long range; making melee casualties deterministic; solid skirmisher rules; and simplifying movement distances. The rules are easy to learn, and play quickly. With about 6 battalions per player, games last about half an hour per turn.

Winning the initiative is important, since movement and firing is sequential, and a) infantry cannot countercharge, and b) casualties inflicted by the first firer cannot fire back. Instead of the typical "first fire" rule, there is a clever rule where units that fire two turns in a row suffer a -2 to their 21D6 die roll. This encourages units to hold their fire.

Skirmishers are handled well, although players shooting through a skirmisher screen are maddened by the -4 penalty they must pay for shooting at skirmishers, even though there is a larger target behind them. Suddenly, those light companies have some real value and are worth detaching! They may seem too powerful, but when fighting as detached companies, their small formation size makes them vulnerable to frequent morale checks.

One battalion can usually fight off one attacking battalion, but if attacked by two or more, one is likely to get through to melee. Fire and morale results in any one turn may seem skewed and unreasonable, but they average out over the whole game, giving a fairly satisfactory result for the whole battle The devastating effects of a double 6 roll are very important in keeping the level of casualties up to what players expect.

Another truly excellent feature of the rules is the command and control system. Players are free to make small tactical manuevers, but they are held responsible for the orders they were given at the beginning of the game and any new orders they may get from a senior player. No player can deviate from his orders unless he makes his die roll, modified for nationality and situation. Thus we see a powerful attack force idling while their senior command fusses over some other problem. Or units plunge into the attack, even though much greater enemy forces have appeared in their target area.

Even though the basic rules are for 1:20, they can be easily adapted to 1:25, 1:30, 1:33, and 1:40, since all fire and casualties are by figure, and melee and morale is by unit. The rules do not get bogged down in the details of line-of-sight, or the details of formation changes, trusting players to behave decently and allow whatever is reasonable.

Cavalry behave historically, and "chain -reaction" victories over multiple units across a wide expanse of the battlefield are unlikely. Artillery is not super lethal or worthless, it is just right. The British firepower advantage is only about a 10% improvement, and most typical national modifiers are missing. There is very little chrome. If players want indirect or incendiary howitzer fire, they have to add those rules. But in the time scale of the game, you won't miss those options.

Too many rules sets try to reflect national ability in the morale and melee results. These rules correctly reflect the French advantage in their command and control. They are more likely to win the initiative, and their local commanders are more likely to take the initiative. However, a player's personality will still come through, so a quick and smart Austrian player will still beat the pants off a lethargic French player. With General de Brigade, it becomes important to have general figures, each with his rank and formation indicated. The exquisite nature of these rules come out if you have players who are just in charge of other players, but we prefer to let everyone command some figures directly.

The distances in the rules are given in millimetres for 15mm troops. I made my own chart of distances in inches for 20/25mm figures. This greatly speeds up play. I also created a summary chart for the die rolls an officer must make to change their orders.

The game does have some flaws. In the effort to make the rules simple and quick, a few holes were created. Here is how we have plugged them:

1. Units with 25% or less strength are removed from the table.

2. Firing arc for firearms: 30 degrees to each side.

3. Loser casualties for being Pushed Back: 1 in 9. (As it reads now, losers who are pushed back suffer the same casualties as those who retreat or rout, 1 in 6.)

4. Casualties for each turn a unit is in Rout: 1 in 9. Apply at the end of each turn except the same turn that a unit was routed in melee. (The casualties from melee are enough. Players felt that any unit that spends a turn routing should lose men.

5. Charging units do not get cover bonuses.

6. Ignore the Anglo-centric comments on Brigade command in the beginning of the book. He missed the fact that French Brigadiers commanded twice as many battalions often, and that Austrians and Russians almost never used brigades. Let each player command as many units as he thinks he can handle. A good maximum is 8 units. Write orders for whatever level each player commands.

7. Throw out the artillery mounting. They call for 1 gun model for every two real guns. This requires an enormous number of gun models that take up too much space. Instead, use one artillerist figure for every two real guns. Then an eight , gun battery is one gun model and four artillerist figures. The column on the left side of the artillery table becomes artillerist figures not gun models. Reduce a battery's fire as it loses artillerists.

8. Hits on limbered artillery have a 50% chance of hitting the limber and horses. Foot limbers can sustain 4 hits, horse artillery limbers 6 hits. For each limber/horse hit, reduce the mobility of those guns proportionately (e.g.. -2"), or abandon a gun.

So, if you love to play tactical Napoleonic battles, spend the money and get these rules. You will be playing in a very short time and you will enjoy the experience. If enough of you come to like these rules, as I do, we may be able to depose the hodge-podge of other rules sets that exist today, and establish a national standard.

More Book Reviews

1815 - The Waterloo Campaign: Wellington, his German Allies and the Battle of Ligny and Quatre Bras
General de Brigade (Napoleonic rules)
The Glory Years 1805-7: Napoleon and Austerlitz 1805