Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

While i do not want to mess around with the Napoleonic series anymore, what Paco has posted has caused me to want to take the files from the 4.0 version of the game and use them as a "Retro" set for the gamers to use in the latest updates. These will use the OLD 15 min. PDT files. The scenarios will be RENUMBERED to go along with my format I used for most of the games. That is I used a numbering system that was easier to follow.

This will not be hard to do. Given time I will do the campaigns too.

I will post these for the game clubs to post on their sites and NOT a forum venue. I also have no plans to post a website at this time so the clubs will be the "holders" of these files.

I should have the "Scenarios" and "Data" folder files done this week. Will include a scenario list too. The names of the battles will remain the same. "Retro" will be at the end of the PDT files used in this set so as to differentiate them from the ones that WDS uses.

Note: NONE of these files will be for use by WDS in an update. This is no knock on them. This is so we always have the correct ones to use.

I will make sure that the Bridge cost is correct.

You will be using the PDT file format as per ver. 4.00. Many did not have that installer. I am making the files available for those of us that do not care for the Waterloo/NRC file format.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Fantastic! That's great Bill.

According to this thread, will WDS update the existing Napoleonic Battles games to the 10mins turns in the future updates?

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Sous-Lieutenant Luc Liu,
2ème Compagnie du 8ème Régiment d'Artillerie à Pied,
Artillerie Divisionnaire, 2ème Division, 1er Corps d'Armée

"According to this thread, will WDS update the existing Napoleonic Battles games to the 10mins turns in the future updates?" - Luc's question

No, Luc, this is my own project I am talking about. And anything that WDS is going to do you would have to discuss with Rich Hamilton who heads up the Napoleonic Battles series.

Their plans were to take the EC and WC games and update them to the Waterloo/NRC format. This was done in the last update (4.06). Once we saw how it affected the games I decided to post the old scenarios and PDT files for everyone to access.

One thing I found out last night while working on this is that the Alternate scenarios sometimes have a "H" designation which is incorrect. This was my mistake and has permeated the files since the EC game was released. I also will be reorganizing the scenarios to have a better title. I will create a list that shows the old and new scenario names so folks will know which scenario in my set corresponds to the ones in the WDS set.

Its up to the club how they want you to report these scenarios I am working on. My call would be to use my list, use the older name already in the Dept of Records and just continue to use the same name as before for club purposes. The only difference could be that the play balance for the NEW 4.06 format might be off.

But I am providing this for our members that prefer the older 15 min. format I came up with that makes PIKES faster to travel on than ROADS and so on. In the new format you can whip down a ROAD as per PIKE and that is really not my original intention.

Its Rich and David's product of course but there was no consideration made to play balance or intent of MPs and rates when they changed things. This could definitely result in the Bavarian VII Corps being caught in "Hunt for Davout" and so on. See this image to see what I mean (Roads are brown, Pikes are light gray in the attached image.

While Davout still will be using the road, the Bavarians have access to that Pike roadnet.

For the large campaign scenario it becomes much more pronounced.

Why put a Pike in the terrain set if it was not going to be BETTER than a road! That is why I originally set the MP rate to be different for Roads and Pikes. Why research the roadnet to find out where the better class roads are if they are all alike? Makes ZIP ZERO SENSE.

The older Battleground series, I believe, had Roads and Pikes using the same rate. That was its fault.

Lets not bow down to Battleground and Talonsoft as the perfect emulation of a Napoleonic series. Because of the phased play you have skirmishers blocking routes of an entire division if you do not use SINGLE PHASE (meaning no Melee at the end) and the BLITZ was effecting done away with USING MY MOVEMENT SYSTEM to all of you that favor the Waterloo format back in 2000 when Eckmuhl was released.

Paco reported wiping out an entire brigade of Ken Jones Austrians in a playtest game of EC and John Tiller took their advice and he and I worked in a No Melee Elimination optional rule. BIG DUH GUYS! Its a no brainer to avoid the phase play. Its ARCHAIC and I for one am sick and tired of hearing that its superior or even worth playing. John more or less abandoned it. Why resurrect it?

So yes, these files will be for gamers like me and Paco and Andy to use to recreate the ORIGINAL INTENT of the title. We playtested the game for two years. I am not sure why Rich and co. want to toss those hundreds of playtest hours and findings out the window. Its their product and they can screw it up all they want but some of us still have the 4.00 installer and have the files that we put out originally.

And yes, I plan on doing this with any of the games that get changed where we note that the play balance is going to be tossed out the window by future updates. That much I will commit to doing.

All of the original files will have this scenario file format:

R (for RETRO) followed by the rest of the scenario name. If its different than the original name I will be including a list like I am doing for Eckmuhl.

For my sets I will update the PDT files to make sure that the Bridge movement rate is correct.

I will NOT be tinkering with the sets that WDS releases. That is up to them to fix their product, not me. The purpose here is to recapture the original file set that came with each product I worked on. That's it.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

I want to post that I have no feud with Rich on the Napoleonic series. As I have said recently, they are adding in nice artwork, several nice new things in the main program and so on. Just read that I am trying to PRESERVE the old files and intent of the work I did. That's it.

Whatever they do with the games is their own business. We have the editors and can update ANY of (a COPY) of the scenarios to fit our own viewpoint of history. If you think that the Waterloo French OB is incorrect you can fix it and publish your own version. Its as simple as that.

I am leaving the core files along and using COPIES to recapture the original play balance of the game. There is no doubt that the large Eckmuhl Campaign scenario is going to play MUCH faster now that units can "Zippity - Doo Dah" down the roads at the same pace as on a PIKE. My files will restore the original intent AND play balance that we are used to.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Can someone confirm for me on this: Is there a LEGACY subfolder in the Scenarios subfolder of your Eckmuhl Campaign 4.06 game?

I am seeing this folder and wondering if it wasnt something that I created. Please help out an old, forgetful gamer here.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Thank you for letting me know, Bill.
It's great to have your "Retro" game files for the game balance.

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Sous-Lieutenant Luc Liu,
2ème Compagnie du 8ème Régiment d'Artillerie à Pied,
Artillerie Divisionnaire, 2ème Division, 1er Corps d'Armée

Hi Bill

Some games have that subfolder, eg Waterloo and BPW for example. Others don't. Eckmuhl and Wagram do.

Thanks Bill. Indeed, pikes vs roads is a big deal. And not just for EC and WC but also for Waterloo, as I found out recently:

- On a tactical level: playing Quatre Bras scenario- the French can outflank Allied left flank in 8 turns forcing a completely different type of battle ignoring cross roads all together.
- On an operational level: giving up on the idea to play the large 3 day Waterloo scenario. The thick road network just negates the historical axes of advance and enables armies to advance at the speed of 70 (inf) -115 (cav) km per day in multiple directions.

Just to clarify – I suppose in case I do want to use latest update from WDS but to fix Pike-Roads issue. The solution would be to copy PDT movement values from your Retro version as of 4.00 and copy pasting it into the latest WDS version?

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General-Mayor Alexey Tartyshev
Kiev Grenadiers Regiment (Grenadier Drum)
2nd Grenadier Division
8th Infantry Corps
2nd Western Army

(I don't play with Rout limiting ON)

If you want to use the 4.06 WDS PDT files BUT want to use the old PDT file values for Road/Pike .... might open up a can of worms. I have not gone over their PDT files to see just ALL that they changed. Best to just use the "RETRO" versions that I am going to post. But really you could just copy their PDT files and change the Pike rate to be half the cost I suppose.

Their scenarios are the same as mine. They just use the newer PDT file. No use really to make copies on your end. My set will allow you to play with the original values but with the Bridge cost corrected if needed.

The MP allowances that they use are different than the ones we used to use in the 4.00 version. No idea at all how it works over a full move.

I spent a lot of time figuring out how the 15 min. version could be modified from Battleground over to the brand new JTS series (2000).

The primary reason why Rich and co. are having issues with the Blitz is their 15 Min. PDT file format. The units whip down the road or in open terrain. I played Salamanca not long ago and it was wild at how fast the units were moving. That is what pushed them to want to use the Manual Defense Fire or use the Dual Phase format (Move/Fire + Melee phase at end). If they had cut back the amount of area that is moved through in a turn + use No Melee Elimination then the Blitz goes away. Yes, you can still hit one unit and open up a gap but a good commander sets up his line in such a way as to take that into consideration.

I am playing David Andrews in the full battle of Austerlitz and neither of us allow a "Blitz" to happen. We are both veteran players and know how to use depth in our lines to stop mass cavalry charges or infantry attacks from blowing open a defensive position.

I must reiterate that I suggested to Rich that he use the Waterloo/NRC PDT file format for EC/WC to get the series aligned. Given time I might put out 10 min. versions of the scenarios for those of us that like that format. Go to Squadrons too. Frankly I am not sure I have the mental energy anymore to do that. I would rather go out and ride my bicycle these days!

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Quick update:

Got a good start on this project today. Worked mainly in the evening in deciding how to organize the scenario file naming.

The Legacy subfolder has all of the original scenario but I plan on going a step further and renaming the scenarios to be in date order. The one-scenario full map for the entire campaign scenarios will be near the top of the list.

So you CAN access the older scenarios and PDT files via the Legacy folder by starting up the game, canceling out of the Selection menu and pick File -> NEW and then click on the scenario file you want to play.

What my set will give you is:

1. Easier access to the scenarios. They will be in the Scenarios folder along with the rest of the ones currently in the game.

2. The Scenario Description will conform to the WDS format and be easier to read. The paragraph spacing will make it look nicer.

3. The Scenario Titles will be revised to show whether the scenario is (H) Historical or (V) Variant.

4. The Scenario Files will be better organized. Here is a sample scenario file and scenario title names:

R05_Abensberg-V1.scn - Title is: R05. Approaching Abensberg (V1)

R is for RETRO ... V is for Variant.. V1 is the first variant.

The old name for this one is: A03. Approaching Abensberg - you can see from above that Abensberg is now in the scenario file name. Makes it easier to find and corresponds better to what the scenario is all about.

You guys are more than welcome to just use the files in the Legacy folder. This newer set is mainly to organize the scenarios better. Remember that this was my first game and I was a raw recruit at the business.

So kudos to Rich and WDS for adding in the Legacy subfolder. It DOES retain the old scenarios. The old PDT files are still with us too. They are in the DATA subfolder.

Maybe Rich would want to change the naming of the scenarios to correspond with the new format. Its certainly a lot easier to figure out where to find a scenario now.

For the Campaign files:

I WILL be adding in the older versions with a full set of EC campaign scenarios. The Campaign file will have "RETRO" in the title. The campaign scenarios will be in their own subfolder in the main folder just like how I did it for the later games. They will not be in the main folder. Its pretty easy to use Ultra Edit to change the path statement in the Campaign files (.cpd).

The BEST way to use this set of files is to COPY the entire game folder, dump out the WDS scenarios from the Scenarios folder, unzip mine into the Scenarios folder, add in the rest of the files too. Using a COPY of the game will save on issues once you update your original copy of the game. If you want to use the updated main program, editors then you would just copy the updated game and do the process of unzipping my files all over again after you remove the WDS scenarios.

I plan on calling my folder that is the copy of the EC game "Campaign Eckmuhl - RETRO"

So again, for those of you that find this too confusing: Rich kept the original files in a LEGACY folder. The older PDT files are in the DATA subfolder so you can still use the 4.06 version of the game to play the older format/MP allowances, etc. I have not checked the Bridge MP value yet.

Instructions will be included with the ZIP file when I finish with this project.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Addendum comment: I noted while going through the scenarios that the header and the scenario description did not always agree as it pertained to whether the scenario was Historical or Alternate. This new set I am going to release will fix that.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

A quick note: I saw that the Bridge value is currently set to 6 for the EC PDT file. The older Main Program used the Path value which is 4. I will do some testing with the Bridge value set to 4 and see if it works.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Thanks Bill, I appreciate you doing this. For some of the scenarios as mentioned, the new movement rates have really changed the playability.

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General de Brigade, Ed Blackburn
3er Brigade, 1er Division,
5eme Corps d'Armée,
La Grande Armée

Ed - you can always use the Legacy versions found in that named folder as described above. Kudos again to Rich Hamilton and team for including those in the latest update. Again, it was my suggestion that they use the Waterloo/NRC format for the default version. If they change the Pike movement rate to be better than the Road MP cost it would bring the series more on a par with historical usage.

Pike = Chausse' as found in the Petre and other books. A Chausse' had a better road surface and could withstand the constant pounding of the horses, gun carriages and wagons. Though they did suffer during inclement weather, you are not going to see them go through as much damage as a regular road did during that period (potholes, uneven surface, etc). Its why I went with a better movement rate for Pikes in all of the PDT files I built.

I took a break from the work this weekend but will work on the remaining scenarios that will go in the Scenarios folder tomorrow. I have the Campaign (CPD) and campaign scenarios to work on after that. A bit slower on that but will eventually finish them off this month. The main slowdown will be inserting a new path statement in the campaign .cpd files. I have to think up a strategy for Ultra Edit that will work. Maybe something like this:

"Any text string that has a .scn at the end gets a 1809-EC/ text at beginning" - I am going to go up on an Ultra Edit forum I used to use and ask the smart guys if they can figure that one out. It will save me a LOT of time and might actually make the entire process take just minutes to do.

Ultra Edit is a great program. Rich Hamilton recommended I get it back in 2010 I think it was. I used to install it at work for our Tech. Staff but never looked into what it could do. There are other products (MultiEdit, etc) out there that do the same thing but UE has been one of my most used tools by me for the last 13 years. Thanking God that I have never made a major error that was destructive to the files through all of that time.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)