One Day Napoleonics Campaign, by Bob Bergman, allows gamers to play an entire miniature wargames campaign in a single 8 - 10 hour day. Units represent about 3000 to 4000 infantry, cavalry units represent about 1000 cavalry, and individual artillery units represent 24 to 30 cannon of the appropriate type. Bergman uses standard basings for many other rules sets.
R.J. Denning presents Green Jackets, a set of free wargames rules for Napoleonic skirmishes. Requiring just 10 to 15 figures per side, the rules have a unique card-action point system that forces players to make strategic decisions about when to activate their units.
The Bicorne and Musket free wargames rules from Peter Morffew cover the French Revolutionary Wars. Designed for a 1:50 scale, the rules have a somewhat different method for determining casualties: add fire or melee factors and then subtract the roll of a d6. The difference is the number of casualties. The rules set also includes sections on the history, tactics and battles of the period.
Oozlum Games has released a new free wargames rules set: Huzzah! It is designed to simulate conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars.
While I have not played it, I have read it through and there are some very interesting ideas here. Unlike most miniatures games, there is no firing phase. Instead, units are assumed (correctly, I think) to be firing their weapons throughout the turn. Here's what the authors say:
Huzzah! assumes that action is continuous and so it dispenses with artillery and musketry phases. Instead of working otu the results of firing, what is important in Huzzah! is whether units succeed or fail when they advance through a hail of shot towards the enemy. Hence Huzzah! has a threat system, which tied to unit and command group morale allows the cohesion of units and the armies to be tracked ... By modeling the effect and not the minutiae of what happens when units close, Huzzah! also simulates a variety of possible outcomes without recourse to number crunching.
I am intrigued by what seems to be a revolutionary, yet obvious design decision. I can't recall another rules set that uses this mechanism. In one way or another all rules sets seem to use discreet firing phases. Some break this up into smaller phases, such as Squad Leader's Prep Fire and Moving Fire phases, and others allow "opportunity fire", but they still are separate phases from firing.
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
