Some of our readers have commented on our omission of Napoleonic materiel, in fact, some may suspect that under Aram's prompting we are trying to drag people away from that popular period. Actually Dave Geisz and I usually play Napoleonics, using 30mm flat figures and a much altered version of "Le Kriegspiel" which some of you have purchased in my 1966 translation from the French.

Three things have held us back on Napoleonics:

First, the wargame and collector clubs and societies throughout the world, not to mention the publications of interest to their members, contain a vast body of information on the weapons, tactics, organization, and uniform variations of the period, while excellent books, color prints, paint your own uniform cards and what have you are out practically everywhere. One hesitates to try to expand upon such a massive documentation.

Second, we have attempted to provide articles, battle reports, and so forth with photographs of miniatures, and most of our efforts in this direction have convinced us that the Napoleonic armies under our cameras are really hordes of vampires whose images -cf-ase to appear on film.

Third, our own wargame rules and usages are a little out of the ordinary and comments on them might lead to some confusion, so perhaps this would be a good time for a few notes on our basic system.

Le Kriegspiel provides for fire by base, with four or five infantry figures on a single rank base. Although we currently use no gradations in musketry power, melee or combat power for each arm is graded by five categories, irregular, light, line, elite, and guard, with powers in the infantry arm ranging from 1/4 point for militia, all the way up to 2 points per figure for Guard Grenadiers, cavalry ranging from ~~ point for irregular cavlry to 2.5 points per figure of Imperial Guard Horse Grenadiers or Royal Life Guards.

The basic infantry move, which may allow for change of formation, loading and firing, etc. is 5", or if hexagons are available, one hexagon, with 10" for light infantry. A road move in column of route, or a bayonet. charge without change of front or formation, and without firing, which must be directed at melee, is up to 10".

These movements are obviously simplified, originally because the rules forbade subdivision of movement into less than one hexagon. As approximations, however, they reflext the relative capacities fairly well.

Cavalry, divided into heavy and light, moves 10" with 2 changes of front of 30 degrees, or may file off and form 10" oblique to the rear, with a 5" walk move 90 degrees to either side. Heavy cavalry when galloping no more than 30 degrees to either side of line of direction in a straight line can move 15", light cavalry 20", with staff officers (when used) moving 30".

Organization (and this will cut some Napoleonic enthusiasts to the quick) is fixed. Four cases of foot or two of horse are the standard tactical units. The reason for this is to permit the two primary maneuvering arms to form all possible tactical formations for the arm. For infantry these are line, double line (representing a short column) column, and square, for cavalry, single and double line. No unit may attack through a formed friendly unit, but units side by side can usually support one another.

Chief pecularities of these rules are:

a. Very low fire effect: Each base may hit with a "6" at 15", "5-6" at 10", "4-5-6" at 5" or less. Thus a 20 man unit firing at point blank range from a single line formation has an average effect of two casualties. If one of the bases rolls a 6 at close range against an attacking unit at close range, the casualty is an officer and the attack is halted half way from its target. This, however, only applies to the unit being attacked, not to supporting units not being charged.

b. The retreat move consumes the losing unit's turn after the melee, and is shorter than normal because the unit has just been moving in the opposite direction.

c. The winner, unless of lower combat value, rarely suffers casualties from cold steel.

d. Cavalry is less powerful, unit for unit, than the corresponding infantry, but, because of its greater potential for flight suffers fewer melee casualties or the average when beaten.

e. Five out of six melees end in rout.

f. A base under 50 percent may not fire, and a unit under 50 percent must retire from action, fighting only if attacked, unless it is in flight at the moment its casualties exceed 50 percent, after which it will run off the board without fighting at all.

g. Artillery is represented by 5 figures and 1 cannon for an artillery section. Since the gun represents 2-4 pieces and each man 25. it is therefore not so powerful per gun as it would be if each gun represented 25.

What you may call your basic unit is up to the player. I use mine for the center companies of a post 1809 French battalion in the case of line infantry, with one battalion in 6 being massed grenadiers, another in 6 being voltiquers, presumably the massed flank companies of the center company battalions. Dave Geisz's may be considered very weak British battalions of 500 men, or halves of a full battalion. The tactical unit serves in the rules, mainly to govern the lowest level at which the commander can sub-divide his formations, i.e. instead of placing each man, he places units.

We find that these rules produce a lively game representing in a general way the tactical possibilities of the era. Whole battalions do not, as a rule, grind away in a prolonged melee (of which very few Napoleonic cases may be found) or disappear in a single volley. In fact, the average score at close range, 1 hit per 10 shots is only about twice as good as what the British claimed as an outstanding performance in the Peninsular War. Shattered units must, however, be protected routed ones shielded and reformed. Cavalrymen are not incredible Paladins, nor the foot soldiers each worth two of Davy Crockett at a turkey shoot.

The peculiarities cited above are offered to clear up, or render more interesting the confusions which may be brought on by discussions or battle reports which may appear on "Le Kriegspiel" style battles in future issues.