Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

Gentlemen,

A new interview with the developer of Les Grognards has been posted. See it here :

http://www.battlefront.com/products/les ... v_int.html

Its getting closer.........

Happy Holidays! [:)]
Rick

Colonel Rick Motko
1er Bataillon, 33° Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne
2eme Brigade, 11eme division
IIIe corps, Armée du Nord


Vive l'Empereur!

Its too bad that he doesnt fully explain the RTS to folks as it was answered to me here and on the Matrix website. Folks will think that all you will do is have realtime with some form of speeing up or slowing down the game. Its more than that and he is missing some marketing/PR strategy here by making it sound like just another RTS game.

No, he doesnt think he is advertising it that way but that is how it came across to me. He needs to give more of a description to this game. Otherwise folks will miss the key ingredients.

Bill Peters
Former NWC President, Club Founder, Prussian and Austrian Army Founder, Stefan Reuter's hunting buddy. HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

The game looks fine.
But i am a bit sceptical about tactical aspect of the game.
Hopefully, it will not be another "total war thing".

At this point to me Talonsoft battleground series are the best napoleonic games (I dont like artillery in HPS).

Poruchik Alexey Tartyshev
Moscow Grenadiers Regiment
2nd Grenadier Division
8th Infantry Corps
2nd Army of the West (NWC)

I think I'll pass on this one.

Conceptually, it looks a bit like Austerlitz - NGV for which I had a beta copy.

Playing the AI was fun for about 20 minutes, but rapidly lost it's appeal as, leaving the AI to control areas of the battlefield had it doing some typically absurd things.

I soon found myself trying to micro-manage the entire battlefield to try to get an enjoyable game but, this meant pausing the game every few seconds to cover the entire battlefield. After about 6 hours of game time, the battle had advanced about 15 minutes and I had had enough of it as a game concept.

Since the prospect of trying to find players to play on-line, at the same time, for the length of time necessary for a game of this type is not practical for me, then this type of game is a non-starter for me.

I wish them well with it, but suspect that the market will be for the teenagers who can spare all weekend, or students who can spare all night, to play the game.

Mark

See, that is the problem. Without proper explanation you are left with the feeling that the game cant be saved.

Yet from what I have read it can. Thus you dont have to play it in one sitting. You can save it and come back later on play it again.

I agree with you on the A/I - it had better be very good. This is going to be a sore point with most gamers for a long time - A/I is not good enough in the market. Hard to find a game that doesnt get around the A/I aspect but beefing up the computer player. Either that or its a walkover.

Bill Peters
Former NWC President, Club Founder, Prussian and Austrian Army Founder, Stefan Reuter's hunting buddy. HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

Everyone,

Holy Moley Batman! These guys are as bad as the catholic church was when they stood before Galileo Galilei and his telescope as he tried to prove that the earth orbited the sun.

It was my sincere intention to leave things as they were with just the simple notification at the start of this thread. It really was.

First of all, <font color="orange">Les Grognards</font id="orange"> is NOT a clickfest RTS game like the <font color="orange">Total War series</font id="orange"> is. Let's be REAL clear about that. It is a real time 3D Napoleonic game (with incredible depth) where one minute of real clock time equals one minute of game time with the ability to speed it up 10x. That sets it apart from <font color="orange">the Total War thing</font id="orange"> right away.

In <font color="orange">Les Grognards</font id="orange">, you are the Army Commander. That means you send off your orders to the Corps Commanders and they send it off to the commands beneath them. You can micromanage any unit if you think you must, but it isn't necessary. Some folks have said that they played the Army Commander until near the end where might want to command and micromanage the reserve (Guard?) as it is sent in to finish off the battle. ---- Or not, its all up to you.

Want more information? Go here for it : http://www.battlefront.com/products/les ... rview.html

Read the other interview OR watch their gameplay videos by going here : http://www.battlefront.com/products/les_grog/news.html

I have been actively following this game since before 2001. I will not stand before you with a <font size="4"><font color="red"><b>CONFLICT OF INTEREST</b></font id="red"></font id="size4"> or tell you a lie about it. I am not afraid to share my feelings and I think you all know that. If it sucks, I will say so.

<font color="orange">Les Grognards</font id="orange"> does not suck. It is different than the BG/ HPS that we are used to and it may have higher system requirements than what you are used to, but it doesn't suck like other recently released "Napoleonic" games.

The developer of <font color="orange">Les Grognards</font id="orange"> (JMM) has been absolutely <u>the most accessable game developer that I have EVER witnessed.</u> He will answer <font color="orange">any</font id="orange"> of your questions (unlike another nameless game developer who NEVER seems to come here, let alone talk <font color="orange">openly</font id="orange"> with anyone.)

Go to the game's Forum at Battlefront.com (the makers of Combat Mission) and see/ experience it for yourself. I <u>double-quadruple</u> dare you. [;)]

http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ ... aysPrune=0

There will be a DEMO released that will come out right around the time that the game goes GOLD. It won't cost you a red cent. So, how can it take any skin off of your back to simply take a look?

Lastly, the "latest word" is that this game should be out around the end of February.

Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Rick
[:)]

Colonel Rick Motko
1er Bataillon, 33° Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne
2eme Brigade, 11eme division
IIIe corps, Armée du Nord


Vive l'Empereur!

<font color="orange">PS. Here is an <u>initial</u> list of the game's features :
----------------------------------------

<font face="Arial"><b><i>Feature List</i>

• Authentic Napoleonic style combat from the years 1805-1814.

• Thrilling battles with over 50,000 3D models shown representing up to 500,000 Infantry soldiers, Cavalry and Artillerymen - all fully animated!

• Single player action against the computer and multiplayer with up to 6 people on two sides.

• Internet, LAN and PBEM multiplayer modes.

• Variable speed play from real time 1 minute = 1 minute to accelerated 10x time where 6 seconds of gametime = 1 minute of simulated time. PBEM mode played in 15 minute turns.

• Environmental effects such as rain, fog, snow and smoke.
• Units organized into historically accurate and individually controllable Regiments, Brigades, Divisions, Corps and Armies.

• Huge variety of troops types including; Sappers, Skirmishers, Grenadiers, Fusiliers, Chasseurs, Imperial, Middle and Young Guards, Hussars, Cuirassiers, Dragoons, Gendarmes, Carbiniers, Lancers and Mameluks among others.

• Variety of individually modeled and animated "personalities" such as Captains, Majors, Colonels, Flag and Standard Bearers and more.

• Play as any of 15 different major, minor and city state military powers including France, Russia, Austria, Wurtenmberg, Saxony, Poland, Italy and Naples.

• Exhaustively researched Table of Organization and Equipment for all the major combatants included.

• Over 1150 historical Regiments, 4000 unique commanders and 550 accurate military uniforms included.
• Comes with 10 historical battles including Haslach, Austerlitz, Eylau, Friedland, Campaign of Eckmul, Wagram, Moscowa (Borodino), Berezina, Hanau and La Rothière with the ability to modify or create all new battles with the included game editors.

• Innovative 3 tiered Artificial Intelligence system models the difficulty and challenges of command in the early 19th century battlefield.

• 3 different game editors (Map, Order of Battle and Doctrine) allow you to build your own battles or modify the included ones, create your own armies and customize specific characteristics and abilities of any unit or commander.

• Create maps in size from 6 x 4.5 Km to 30 x 22.5 Km (over 660 square kilometers)

• Ability to create and design your own custom uniforms.

• Variety of camera views supported including exciting 3D Real World and Bird's Eye views plus a 3D Symbolic map and 2D Strategic Overview mode.

• Realistic combat resolution and modeling which takes into account such factors as orientation and density of unit formations, their training, combat effectiveness, fatigue and moral.

• Advanced morale engine accounts for a variety of elements including proximity to friendly commanders and units, weather effects, level of sustained losses, overall fatigue and more.


<u>More features will be added as the game nears completion!</u></b></font id="Arial">
---------------------------------------------------</font id="orange">

Col. Motko,

First of all, from your comments (too busy at the moment to chase the link down) it strikes me that the game is more akin in conception to the recent Bull Run games from Mad Minute. Is this an accurate statement?


Second, I must caution you again against making personal attacks on this board. Neither Rich nor Bill have ever made any secret of their association with HPS, nor have the playtesters (the names are in the game after all). So, trumpeting a "conflict of interest" in oversized colored letters is just that, a personal attack.

FZM Freiherr Gary McClellan
Generalissimus Imperial Austrian Army
Portner Grenadier Battallion
Allied Coalition C-in-C

I like what I have read about the game, and I like some of the ideas and concepts, and the depth that has gone into the design. Sure, it looks like a difficult game to get right, especially the AI, but we could be pleasantly surprised... Rick, there's no need to be angry or defensive if people are cautious or sceptical. We'll soon see for ourselves if the game is good or not and if it is then people will buy it and we'll all be happy, unless our pc's are below the recommended spec.[:)]

<center>[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/Napoleonic/nap.htm"]Lieutenant Colonel Antony Barlow[/url]
~ [url="http://www.geocities.com/anglo_allied_army_stats/Anglo_Allied_Army_Cavalry_Corps.htm"]2nd British (Union) Brigade, Anglo-Allied Cavalry Corps[/url] ~
~ [url="http://www.geocities.com/militaireacademie/dragoons.html"]4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards[/url] ~
</center>

I read the interview and my only comment is...WHEN!!!!![:p]

Lt Col Kimball
Cdr, 2d Bde, Cheval Legere, II Cps, AdN

Well Rick needless to say I think it looks great and look forward to testing it with you. [:D]

<center>--------------------------------------------------------



Herr Windbagenführer General der Infanterie Scott Prinz Ludwig von Saxe-Weimar
Aide-du-Kamp and Webmaster
Heer am Niederrhein

[url="http://www.prussianarmy.com/"]Königliche Preußische Armee[/url]

[url="http://www.networkforgood.org"]Network for Good[/url]

[url="http://napoleonicwargaming.com"]Napoleonic Wargaming - 1NWCG[/url]</center>

Le Tondu

I really don't care whether you think the game sucks or not; or whether it is the greatest game to ever hit the market or not. It is just not what I am looking for in a game and, no matter how large a font you use, or which of your favourite colours you resort to, is going to change that fact.

You may think that makes me a dinosaur, you are entitled to your opinion on that, which is of equally little interest to me.

I am more than happy to try another game if it meets my personal requirements. I thought Crown of Glory might be good, but it failed to live up to expectation.

Skimming the feature list for Les Grognards has essentially the same features as Austerlitz NGV, no matter how you try and dress it up. That format didn't work for me, so I see no reason why this one should.

Mark

<font color="orange">Mark,</font id="orange">
I don't care if you don't play it. Hey, what do you know. We're both ok with that. [:)]

<font color="orange">Gary,</font id="orange">
You are reaching for straws and you know not what the heck you are talking about.

I have made no personal attacks here. I was not referring to Rich or Bill.

I was referring only to <font color="orange">myself</font id="orange"> when the words "Conflict of Interest" was used. By using them, I was saying that I will be up front and open ---- and hide nothing ---- like I always have been when I shared what I have learned about this game.

You see, I was at one time asked to be a beta tester for <font color="orange">Les Grognards</font id="orange">, but I respectfully declined the offer because I wasn't able devote enough time to properly accomplish the task.

With this one, I dare say that <font color="orange">you</font id="orange"> are the one making a personal attack by accusing me of something I didn't do.

BTW, you really can stop addressing me as Colonel. Someone that you trust should tell you that the "rank thing" here is not real. We both have first names for heaven's sake.

<font color="orange">Scott,</font id="orange">
You bet.

<font color="orange">bkimball, (I can't tell what your 1st name is.)</font id="orange">
The latest word is that <font color="orange">Les Grognards</font id="orange"> should be coming out sometime around the end of February.

<font color="orange">Antony Barlow,</font id="orange">
Yes indeed sir. Thanks for your kind words.

<font color="orange">To everyone,</font id="orange">
May you and yours have the happiest of Holiday Seasons imaginable. [:)][:)][:)]

Cheers,
Rick
[:)]



Colonel Rick Motko
1er Bataillon, 33° Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne
2eme Brigade, 11eme division
IIIe corps, Armée du Nord


Vive l'Empereur!

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Le Tondu</i>
BTW, you really can stop addressing me as Colonel. Someone that you trust should tell you that the "rank thing" here is not real. We both have first names for heaven's sake.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Roleplay and the contemporary flair that ranks, titles, uniforms provide is a part of this club. It's not a ladder. It's not a discussion forum for Napoleonic games. It's what we call a roleplaying club, and while roleplaying involves of course that everyone is aware that it's not "real", just like wargaming, historical novels or the theatre are not "real", we still like it that way. So criticizing someone just for adhering to the custom of the club is certainly uncalled for. Conversely, demonstratively *not* adhering to it, basically saying "I couldn't care less for the customs and traditions and the concept of the club", is somewhat out of line. People here have earned their ranks and titles through contributions to the club, and some respect for that is in order.


<center>
D.S. "Green Horse" Walter, Maréchal d'Empire
Duc des Pyramides, Comte de Normandie
Commandant la [url="http://home.arcor.de/dierk_Walter/NWC/3_VI_AdR_Home.htm"]3e Division Bavaroise[/url], L'Armée du Rhin
Commandant [url="http://home.arcor.de/dierk_Walter/NWC/EdM_start.htm"]L'Ecole de Mars[/url], L'Armée du Rhin
Commandant la Brigade de Tirailleurs de la Jeune Garde
</center>

Thanks Colonel Rick [:)]

I have been following also for some time the developement of JMM game (he comes also often to my other club wwww.campaigns-france.org ) and answer to a lot of our question (in French sorry...) and I really wish him the best!

His game concept is very interesting, and I am sure it will be a game for a lot of people and will be part of this club list of games.

Now for Monsieur le Duc des Pyramides who says that
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Roleplay and the contemporary flair that ranks, titles, uniforms provide is a part of this club. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If we were following the roleplay of the time We all (the French soldiers) should speak french and nothing else... Respect the ranks and not ask any questions to higher rank officer without getting the authorisation to do so... [:D][:D][:D]

Anyway, Merry Christmas and happy holydays to every member of this club hoping that Santa will bring you the game you dream about, even if Santa didn't exist in the period we try to imitate.
[:o)][:D]

<font color="green"> <b>Général de Division David Guégan Comte de Toulon, Duc de Nimes</b>
Co 11eme division
III Corps, AdN
Co Division d'Infanterie de la Jeune Garde, Garde Impériale


http://home.earthlink.net/~davidguegan/</font id="green">

<b>If we were following the roleplay of the time We all (the French soldiers) should speak french and nothing else... Respect the ranks and not ask any questions to higher rank officer without getting the authorisation to do so... </b>

You mean you don't do that aleady?

[:p]





General der Kavallerie Philip Graf Roubaud
Kommandant
Vienna Militärakademie
Imperial Armee of Austria