Highway to the Kremlin
You must also permit the option of Bonaparte to advance on the other capital of Russia -- St. Petersburg -- or the potential of an independent Ukraine via Kiev [a la Charles XII & Mazeppa] to "nibble" the Tsar's empire away from him...either before or after the fall of Moscow... as valid options for l'Empereur in September/October.
OR to have him do an "1807 along the Passarge" in the vicinity of Vitebsk/Dwina. The French should not always think they have to retreat in the 1812 game if they take Moscow and no immediate surrender occurs. In 1807 Bernadotte and Soult were instrumental in urging Nappy to stay on the Passarge/Vistula line rather than pull back behind the Vistula after Eylau... wound up being a wise decision.
Editors Note: St. Petersburg is not an option in the game. There will be a number of variables that go into determining what happens when the French reach Moscow. At that point, either the Russians surrender (unlikely but a French win), they agree to negotiate (which means roll again in a fortnight), or they refuse to talk. The factors that will play into this are French morale and supply (if the Russians have enough clout to break the LOC it bodes ill), who holds certain cities, and overall losses suffered by both sides.
NapoleonGames.com
I will echo the views of the website, it is nicely done, keep up the good work. I am looking forward to the 1812 and Italy games. One suggestion: I have enjoyed the "Habit of Victory" articles, but could you have a links page that shows all the articles available. I am not able to visit everyday, so I don't know if I missed any.
Editor's Note: To read today's installment, click on the word "[continued]" on the home page. The idea was not to make the whole book available at once. That way, when the book is published it would still have undiminised sales potential. And, it might keep people coming back to the site. The installments are changed every weekday, and you can read yesterday's installment when you are there, so to read everything you need to visit the site three times a week, either MWF or TTh and on the weekend.
Struggle of Nations
Have just spent an absorbing three days playing Struggle of Nations with two friends. We played the game on a set of maps drawn to the same scale as all the others in the series and found it to work perfectly well; the original maps always seemed much too small. Did you ever produce a scenario based upon Leipzig? Pleased to hear that you're entering the Peninsula and Russia; any news of release dates? I guess the re-release must be in the offing soon. Keep up the good work.
Editor's Note: I haven't yet created a Leipzig scenario for Strugle of Nations, but I did some preliminary design work on a game at "1806" scale (1.1 mile hexes). This scenario would begin after Blucher crossed the Elbe, sometime around October 11-12. The map would mate with the "1806" map, which shows in the bottom left corner of the map on the Study Folder for "Napoleon at Leipzig." It would take three map panels running diagonally from NW to SE, each panel being 95.5 km x 65.5 km. The whole map area would extend from Calbe on the Saale to Frauenstein (long) and from Pegau to Herzberg (across).
Operational Napoleonic Games
It was a great pleasure to discover that OSG was still going and that extensions to the Napoleon at Bay system are still ongoing. Most recently I have played the 1815 version of the game from COA. I also own the NAB, 1809 and 1813 versions and I hope to get some more versions as they come out as my nearest opponent is a big fan (and very good player) of the series. All the best for the future and I hope that OSG and GMT continue to keep serious wargaming going.
Operational Napoleonic Games
Although I have the original "Bonaparte in Italy," as with "Napoleon at Bay" I felt the later edition would reflect more insight and thought from even more experience and study of the period by you. Also, it helped a bit to have some pix of the the map and counters on your site. Joe Youst has become my favorite map designer.
I do think that your operational Napoleonic games need to be supported because they really are the only ones out there, available consistently, that address this subject with a sufficient level of sophistication. I like to support projects which I think have merit, if only for that reason alone. In my later years, board gaming has become more difficult than it was for me in my twenties. Obviously, the "ease of use" with the PC also makes a big difference. Yet the better concepts and design remain in the board game medium, and that is really what impresses me.
I hope you will be able to continue the series as there are a number of new people to the hobby who don't even know who you are! Amazing.
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