When I first started wargaming with miniatures I talked myself into running a convention in Mannheim, Germany (Mannheimercon) in 1981. The convention included a number of tournaments one of which was a Napoleonic tournament using Empire II written by Scotty Bowden. We selected Empire II for the tournament although Scotty Bowden's Empire III had just been published because it did not lend itself to the type of games we had planned and as far as we could tell there were only five or so copies in Germany.

This caused consternation to some of those who owned a copy of Empire III, but the rest seemed satisfied with the decision. Besides we scheduled a super game on the gym floor with 19 corps and used it as an Empire III workshop. Even the die-hard Empire III owners decided that the Empire II rules were better suited to the tournament format.

Four-Set Format

That format used four set scenarios which each player played once. Although he faced a human opponent his score was actually based on his performance verses other players who played the same side on that scenario. The scenarios themselves were not balanced as each players score was compared with the players who had played that same side.

Additionally, each scenario had units already engaged when the play started, there was little time wasted in set up and approaches-to-contact as in WRG ancients. Some of the units were fatigued, blown, or even in rout when the players assumed "command" and started to play.

With the format we had a good deal of fun and generated a lot of discussion. Players watched and discussed the scenarios afterward and all were familiar with the experiences of others. We posted the results and players were able to play other games as play in intervals between tournament rounds.

The scenarios took about two hours thus using only eight hours of valuable convention time to play the tournament. Scores were based on enemy units destroyed, routed, fatigued, and captured as well as terrain objectives. Most of the scenarios involved less than ten units per side which made set up easy after play.

Format for ACW

At Rheincon a year later, the same format was used for an American Civil War tournament by Jerry Dau, but by that time there were more copies of Empire III in the area and no one wanted to use Empire II and since Empire III did not lend itself to the format we did not run a Napoleonic Tournament. Despite efforts by Rudy Nelson to re-introduce the notion of Napoleonic tournament play in the 1980's with Guard du Corps (his system was like the WRG system using points and lists) no serious efforts were made in the area of Napoleonics tournaments. In 1993 at the Siege of Augusta, I we attempted again with a new set of rules, Avalon Hill's- Napoleon's Battles.

Napoleon's Battles lends itself to the tournament format that had worked in Mannheim, set scenarios and round-robin play. At the Siege of Augusta players' scores would also be based on a comparison of the scores of other players playing that side in that scenario. We drew nine players, seven of which played all three rounds, again it took only two hours to play a scenario, some less, giving the players plenty of time to play in other games and even compete in the NASAMW (WRG) tournament.

The scenarios were also played by about ten visitors who got an introduction to wargaming with miniatures. As the tournament progressed the players discussed the scenarios and their experiences. It was almost as if we had veterans who had experienced the same battle from different places on the field.

The latest attempt was a FEARCON 1993 in Fayetteville N.C. with six players and four completing the required three games. The player response again was positive despite the initial concern expressed by some that the playing areas were fairly small. The games were played on the same size fields with starting locations and status marked. The playing areas were two foot squares with terrain features represented in three dimensions.

Scenarios

Teutonic Nightmare

The three scenarios were based on historical situations with a historical twist. They ranged in time slot from 1807 to 1813. The Teutonic Nightmare pitted Mack's lethargic Austrian legions against the inept Bavarians. Situated in southern Bavaria in 1806 the scenario assumes that the Austrians under Mack elected to try and breakout of Napoleon's noose. The Austrians have been confronted by the Bavarians who have occupied the high ground dominating the escape route.

Clash of the Titans

In the Clash of the Titans, the Old Guard is ordered to counter-attack the Russian Imperial Guard that has swept Dupont's division from the field at Friedland in 1807. Historically, Dupont managed to hold the Russians at Friedland, but in this scenario we assumed he failed and the Old Guard must reestablish the situation.

Clash of the Midgets

In Clash of the Midgets an anemic French corps attempts to force its way west and back to the rest of the Grand Army from a garrison mission in a Polish/Russian/Prussian city. The revived Prussians of 1813 stand in the way dispatching their "finest" Landwehr to block the French escape. The French must exit on the opposite board edge, and guess what, the Prussians must stop them.

The situation in the Clash of Midgets offers many problems for both sides. Napoleon's Battles rewards the use of combined attacks but even these, given the quality of both sides, lends itself the realization that there are no sure things in this system. Both commanders roll one D10 and modify the result, they then compare their modified roll to that of their opponent. The difference between the results determines the outcome of the action.

If the action is a fire attack (The rules allow units in good order to fire at targets with in range, this simulates the organic artillery and skirmishers of the brigade). and the shooting unit's result is higher it scores one hit, if it is twice the defender's score then it scores two hits. Any other result is no effect.

If the action is a close action, (this simulates the fire fights and bayonet attacks as well as the skirmish and artillery fire during the approach), then the attacker scores hits for every point of difference in his favor in modified die rolls up to a total of the defender's rout number causing the defender to rout. Likewise, if the defender wins the comparison then the attacker takes casualties (hits) up to the attackers rout number and then routs.

If the scores are tied then the defender and attacker both take a hit. The winner in an action that results in the rout or dispersion of its opponents takes one hit.

Units have a set of rout and disruption numbers. When their casualties reach those numbers the result takes effect. Disrupted brigades can not issue fire and suffer penalties in close combat. Routed units are running away. Units also have a dispersion number that when reached causes the unit to be removed from play as combat ineffective.

In the case of the Clash of Midgets, the units have rather low dispersion, disorder, and rout numbers and keeping them in the field is difficult. While in Clash of the Titans, the Guard unit's numbers are very high and they will not go away so the casualties will be higher. Dupont's corps starts the scenario beat up and most of the units are within four hits of being dispersed.

The Teutonic Nightmare introduces another problem in the rules and that is command and control. Mack's command radius is a mere three inches, his subordinates are initiative level four so forty percent of the time they will respond. To make matters worse, Mack has command of the cavalry force. It is very difficult for the Austrians to generate a coordinated attack across the whole front. The Bavarians also have command problems but are on the defensive and control problems are mitigated by not having to move or attack across the whole front.

The scenarios are played on a two foot by two foot area with the units within range at the start. Because Napoleon's Battles permits the units to pass through each other the congestion is not a handicap. The confined battle field allows the actions to be resolved quickly. Usually the players can get the required six turns of action in less than the two hours allowed in the tournament format.

These scenarios were not designed to be balanced, but it turns out that they are remarkably balanced, this may be more a function of the rules rather than the skill at which the scenarios were designed. In the Napoleon's Battles system the modified D10 rolls can never be lower than one or more than ten which always seems to give both players a chance, however small, of winning any given fight.

The Teutonic Nightmare, Clash of the Midgets and Clash of the Titans scenarios have all been won by both sides and frequently the scores have been close. On numerous occasions the battles have ended in complete blowouts before the required number of turns. The Old Guard has routed and Davout's French corps has been crushed by Bulow's Landwehr. Computing the results of the battle based on the unit costs as outlined in the rules and by the assignment of terrain objectives. In Clash of the Titans, the two center hills are worth ten points each or about the same price as a battery of guns. In Clash of the Midgets and Teutonic Nightmare unit point values are awarded for each unit the French or Austrians exit off the opposite edge of the playing area. In both cases the points equal the unit cost in the rules. There are also terrain points available for both sides. But in the case of all the scenarios, the player is not so much playing the opponent he/she faces as the other players who played the same side in the scenario.

Players' final scores are based on the comparison of raw points scored by all players of that side of a given scenario. The highest score receives five points, second place receives three points and all others receive one point. It is rare that one player will be first in all his scenarios so the scores tend to be close. It is possible to win all your cross table battles and still end up in third place if the margin for victory was slim.

Scenario Twists and Turns

Each of the scenarios has some interesting twists and confronts the gamer with unique problems. If someone is interested in setting up a tournament for a convention I can make the following suggestions. Keep the scenarios' area requirements small by putting the units into contact. This does not mean that their can not be some that are not engaged but it means that less time will be needed in starting play. Provide the players with a situation card, remember that they need to know what the "mission" is but not how to attain it.

Therefore do not say you must exit point "X" by going down road "Y", just tell them they need to exit at "X" let them figure out how to do it. To avoid an off table move, provide restrictive terrain on the flanks, burning villages, heavy woods, rivers, etc. But also the mission and victory conditions can also serve to keep the units on the "board". Avoid too many units in every scenario. Remember that balance is not required for the scenarios but makes it more fun to at least know you have a "chance" to kick butt.

The playing aids, rulers, dice, casualty markers, status markers and tables, need to be available for each scenario. Tables and charts need to be in two copies, one for each player. I xeroxed the tables and unit information and put them in document protectors which worked well. We also marked the start locations for all units on the terrain board to keep it fair and ease the setup problems. It is also important to give the players elbow room on either side and in front of the boards, we gave ours about two to three feet between playing areas. Even with that extra space the tournament took up very little convention area.

In all the tournaments we let the players round up their opponents which makes them happy and at the same time makes running the tournament easy. The players just inform the coordinator that they are playing and which scenario. The coordinator makes sure that they are not duplicating a scenario side. The coordinator sets up the game and starts the players. When its over the players and the coordinator compute the points and post the scores.

Scenarios can also be designed by the players at the start of the tournament or before and submitted to the coordinator with all the charts needed for both sides. This allows the players to use their own units and terrain in the tournament but it also means that others will use their units when they play the scenario. It does ease the wear and tear on the organizer's figures though.

Because the scenarios remain set up between games they offer an excellent way to introduce new or potential wargamers to the hobby. Of all the eras represented in miniatures the Napoleonic Era is the most visually stimulating and elegantly refined while at the same time it can be brutally fast and violent. The new gamers and visitors at the Siege of Augusta played or watched the small battles with relish. We recruited several into our club. (Note that at the Siege of Augusta we had between 400-500 nongaming visitors who took the tour through the gaming area.) This is also an excellent format for converting board gamers to the hobby as well.

Scenarios

Teutonic Nightmare
Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Midgets