One way to attempt to understand the world of Napoleon is through wargaming in one or more of the various scales of miniature figures. Another is to become that figure and join a recreated regiment and transport yourself to the Napoleonic period. This approach to history has produced a unique international organization known as the "Napoleonic Association" (N.A.). Formed in Great Britain in 1975, its success has been due to the unique blend of interests and activities covered through reenactments, and has spread to the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

With a reputation for accuracy, authenticity and attention to detail, the reenactment section has recreated a number of regiments that fought in the Napoleonic Wars. These regiments conduct tactical weapons demonstrations (limited-scale battles), encampments and have participated in ceremonies on the field of Waterloo.

The regiments represented within the NA. are:

British:
• 1st Battalion, 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles)
• Royal Artillery

French:

• 9ème Demi-Brigade d'lnfanterie Légère
  
• 1er Bataillon, 2lème Régiment d'lnfanterie de Ligne
  
• 1er Escadron, 5ème Régiment des Cuirassiers

Austrian:

• 2. Bataillon, K. und K. Infanterieregiment Nr. 4, "Hoch und Deutschmeister"

Prussian:

• Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 11, 2 Schlesisches Infanterie

Saxony:

• Königlich Sachsisches Infanterie-regiment "Prinz Friedrich August"

Several affiliated British regiments also participate in these activities.

The rattle of musketry, the roar of cannon, the sights, sounds and smells of early 19th Century warfare are all part of the dose of 'painless' history offered on a first-hand experience basis to both members and spectators alike.

The N.A. publishes a 60 plus page quarterly journal, free to members. The Association also includes a wargames section and in addition has published a series of booklets such as "Italian Line Infantry;" "Prussian Reserve Infantry, 1813-1815;" "The Swiss in the Service of France;" "The Portuguese Regular Army, 1806-1815;" "The Royal Saxon Army, 1810-1813;" and others.

In the following letter Paddy Griffith of The Wargames Development Group in England discusses the 'Committee Game; and its implementations.

A technique which has been much discussed in "Wargame Developments" of what we call the "committee game." This can be used either in conjunction with a miniatures game or as a game in itself. It has some links with FRP techniques, although I do not think it is identical. Readers of THE COURIER may at any rate like to hear about it, and form their own conclusions.

The starting point is the perception that not all military decisions are made either by a single person or in the front line. In wargames it is almost invariably a single wargamer who makes a decision, and he represents a "man on horseback" who is very close to the centre of the fighting -- yet in real life there is much more to the business than that. Councils of war, strategic planning groups, staff "think tanks" -- these and many other types of committee are often the real sources of decision. Readers of Tolstoy's "War and Peace" will recall the vivid scene in the allied conference the night before Austerlitz: that is the sort of meeting in which truly fateful decisions are often made.

If you are going to play a battle of Austerlitz with miniature soldiers, therefore, it makes sense for the allied team to hold a planning conference before the action is moved over to the table top. They will have plenty to talk about -- hammering out the different national aims of Russians and Austrians; soothing down problems of protocol between the two allied sovereigns; comparing intelligence; agreeing to share logistic assets; deciding who will have the place of honour; and -- most importantly of all -- deciding just precisely which plan is going to be adopted. All of these things cause endless problems in alliance warfare in any era, and it would be unrealistic not to try to represent them in wargames.

The important thing in a committee game is that each player should represent a particular personality who has something to contribute to the discussion and something he hopes to get out of it -- something to play for, in other words, and some chance of getting it. Regardless of the final outcome of the battle, the player may be awarded a personal victory if he achieves his aim in the conference -- eg., if he gets is plan adopted, or gets his division into the place of honor. It is bad game design if members of the committee find they cannot contribute anything to the discussion, or see no way to influence it. The ways in which one influences discussion, of course, are very different from the ways in which one fights a battle. The best parallel, perhaps, it the game "DIPLOMACY."

It is up to the game designer, therefore, to brief everyone about the general situation, and then give private personal briefings to each of the players. No player should know everything, since one of the weapons in debate can be the withholding (or even falsifying) of information. The aim of the committee as a whole should be to discover all the information available, and then to make a plan on that basis. It is often surprising how unsuccessful a committee can be in either, or both, of these endeavours.

It is a good idea for the game designer to decide in advance just which subjects are going to be important in the discussion -- eg., protocol, logistics, offensive/defensive posture, right flank/left flank &c. Maybe there will be about six items on the "agenda" (even though the players may not be given the agenda in advance). Each player must then be told what his view is to be on each of these issues -- or told that he is free to make up his own mind, within the constraints of the character he is playing. If the game designer has done his work properly there will be sufficient disagreement over each item to make the discussion interesting, but not so much that agreement is totally impossible. Equally alliances should not be made too easy to form: there should not be simply a united front of all the Austrians against all the Russians, but on some issues there should be some Russians disagreeing with the view of the Tsar, and vice versa for the Austrians. It is not difficult to work out how to set up a discussion of this sort, although you can never be quite sure what will happen once it has started.

About 6-8 players are best, and you should aim for a discussion lasting about 2 hours. You may or may not have a chairman -- or in the "Austerlitz" case you will have two, in the shape of the two emperors. The game designer need not be present at the discussion, provided that his briefings are clear and unambiguous, and all the players know the physical rules of the game (eg., whether one player can have another arrested, or if they can fight duels, &c.). In fact it may be best to allow no action other than simple discussion. That in itself can give you plenty of fireworks and mental challenge... and you may even make up a plan at the end.

When you have made a plan you can test it in the miniature game, on the table top. All the players will have that much more interest in the result, because they have been committed to a particular operational concept during the heated discussions which went before. They will be rooting for their own particular solutions, rather than just mildly (and unrealistically) accepting everything that the commander tells them.

In "Wargame Developments" we have played a number of different committee games. In one, each player held a particular ideological position for how a Chinese communist cell should plan its revolutionary strategy for 1927. In another, the committee included experts in land, sea, air, economic, guerilla, propaganda and 'secret weapon' warfare, and had to plan the best way to defeat an enemy country which was separated from the homeland by 80 miles of sea. In another committee the various naval, naval air, marine and logistic departments had to plan the attack on Tarawa, while in yet another the Roman Senate met to decide what should happen when Caesar had just been murdered.

These games can sometimes be hilarious, if you get colourful characters to play controversial roles; but they can also be quiet and thoughtful events with a lot of serious calculation of odds or optimum strategies. They can be highly historical games, and it is nonsense to dismiss them purely as a branch of FRP, or as nothing more than knockabout fun. Why don't you have a go at them yourself? -- PADDY GRIFFITH

Dixon Miniatures announces that their address is now:

For some time now my miniature gaming group (Old Colony Wargamers) has been debating the value, or otherwise, of running a small miniature gaming convention in the local area. We eventually decided to run a single day event and, giving ourselves five months to organize the whole thing, we set out to find a location.

Eventually we found a nearby high school that was willing to rent out its cafeteria for a Saturday. This gave us a large well-lit area with plenty of tables and at a reasonable price.

Now that we had a firm date we could begin to advertise. We made up flyers (complete with map) and sent them out to all the gamers and groups that we knew in the area. We made up posters for display in local hobby shops (along with a supply of the flyers) and lastly we made sure that the entry was included in THE COURIER convention calendar (ED NOTE: This was not a "perk." THE COURIER will publish details of any gaming event that is brought to our attention. Because of time constraints associated with typesetting, printing and posting we must receive details at least three months before the date of the events).

We found that a couple of the local hobby stores were willing to attend in the hopes of doing some business and we charged them a modest sum for the privilege. The entrance fee was set at $4.00 for the day. Preregistration was cheaper, but we received almost no preregistrants. At the end of the day attendance was over 60. People were drawn from as far away as New York and Maine, but the majority of participants were from the greater Boston area. Not many of the attendees were in the 12-16 age group; perhaps an indication that interest in minature gaming is still very low amongst teenagers. Those that did turn up were interested in playing 'The Sword and the Flame' and even had nicely painted 25mm figures along with them.

Amongst the demonstation games put on by club members the most popular were 'On to Richmond' (ACW) and 'The Sword and the Flame'. We found, however, that there was no shortage of participants for any of the Scheduled events. Altogether it was a very successful day, enjoyed by all. The club members are now convinced that such mini-conventions are well worth the trouble to organize; both to help the club treasury and for the forum they provide for meeting other gamers in the area. - ROB MCLEAN

A second edition of Empire III is now available, we understand. It includes some 3 pages of rule clarifications. We have also been told that Empire Games will be introducing a set of Napoleonic campaign rules for EIII at Origins '83 as well as a set of Ancient Rules called ANCIENT EMPIRE. For more info write to Empire Games Inc., P.O. Box 5462, Arlington TX 76011.

Walter Lipman of The Armory was kind enough to send these figures based on their sales for the 1st quarter of 1983. It provides some insight into what periods are being played.

1. GHQ Micro Armor
2. Asguard 15mm Ancients
3. Minifig 15mm Napoleonics
4. Heritage 15mm Napoleonettes
5. Iron Brigade 25mm ACW
6. Citadel 25mm Medievals
7. Minifigs 15mm Romans
8. RAFM 25mm Siege Eq.
9. RalPartha 25mm 1200 A.D.
10. PMC 1/285 WWII AFV

The General (published bi-monthly, $9.00 for 6 issues) Avalon Hill Game Co., 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21216. Published by Avalon Hill, the General is primarily of interest to players of the many board games put out by that company. The January/February issue follows the usual format of an in-depth analysis of a particular game (in this case its "Struggle of Nations" Napoleonic game), with interesting and informative articles on other AH products. In this issue some rule variants and clarifications are given for the naval play in 'War and Peace' followed by a study of the strategy options of both the Federal and British player in the same game. Other features include a Russo-Turkish war scenario for "Wooden Ships and Iron Men," and an update on some rules changes for 'Vive L'Empereur.' There are also regular columns on 'Diplomacy' and the ever popular 'Squad Leader.'

The Grenadier ($12.50 for 6 issues) POB 2365, Oakland, CA 94653. This independent game review magazine has been published rather irregularly in the past, but should be becoming much more regular in the future. The January issue (No. 16), contains reviews of GWD's 'Guildford Courthouse' (including a historical perspective); AH's 'Guns of August'and People's Wargames 'Kamev'. Additionally there is a German Ground unit OB for 1939/40 in Europe, an overview of computer wargames, a short review section and a couple of news/views columns.

The Heliograph - A newsletter devoted to Colonial Wargaming and inspired by the popular "The Sword and the Flame" rules. The subscription price has increased to $3.00 for 10 issues, which is still very good value. Write to Tony Adams, 301 North Wille St., Mnt. Prospect, IL 60056.

Announcements of your convention here are FREE. However, The Courier must receive your notice at least 4 months before your conven tion to assure timely appearance in these pages.

NanCon 88 - IV: Featuring Role-playing, Boardgames and Miniatures, and including a large dealer and open gaming area.

Adventure Expo 83: Fantasy and Historical Miniature Gaming, Starfleet Battles, A D&D tournament and a miniature painting contest. There will also be a dealer area and an S.F. art show. Registration is $4.00 or $5.00 at the door.

Gateway 1983: Wargames, S.F., Fantasy, Sports and Family game tour naments will be featured. There will be something for everyone from novice to experienced player. Preregistration is $1 3.50 for all three days, or $15.00 at the door.

1st Annual National Model Soldier Show: Featured attractions include a painting and conversion competition, a 100 seat movie theater, an auction, and several demonstration games. There will also be tournaments in Ancients, Renaissance, Armor, and Napoleonic periods. Admission will be $3.50 at the door.

The Emperor of Buffalo Convention: Tournaments in 25mm Ancients (WRG), D&D, Ace of Aces, Boardgames and Armor. In addition there will be Historical Miniature demonstration games, a dealer area and a flea market.

Suncoast Skirmishes: Many, many miniatures events covering all the usual (and many unusual) periods. Tournaments galore with prizes. There will also be FRP and Boardgame tournaments, a dealer area, a painting contest and seminars by hobby personalities. Preregistration for three days is a very reasonable $7.50, or the price is $10.00 at the door.