Christian Hecht wrote:
Gentlemen, does anyone know a worthy series of Napoleonic boardgames?
The only one that caught my attention was the "La Bataille" series of Marshal Enterprises.
http://www.labataille.me/Home_Page.phpIt seems rather detailed for a boardgame.
Besides infos about the games there are also many interesting articles spread over the webpage regarding many aspects of the Napoleonic period, surely worth to read.
It depends what level you're looking for...tactical, grand-tactical or operational. I've never played the La Bataille series, but I've looked at it and it seems to be the best fit in the tactical/grand tactical space, outside of miniatures rules.
There are others such as Napoleon's Last Battles, I think. Boardgamegeek would probably be the best place to look:
https://boardgamegeek.com/ .
If I was in the market for a Napoleonic grand tactical baordgame, though, I'd be looking at
Simmons Games' "Bonaparte at Marengo" and "Napoleon's Triumph" (Austerlitz). It's a real departure from the hex-based factor-counting and column-shifting traditionally associated with board wargames and is well worth a look, particularly since the map and if I remember correctly, the rules, can be viewed before purchasing.
Avalon Hill also produced "
Napoleon's Battles" which would be the nearest thing I've seen to Squad Leader for Napoleonics, (but without the mind-crushing complexity) Although it came with sample cardboard counters it's a miniatures rules set, but if you're into solo play it can played out in the JTS NBs editor (with a few tweaks), thanks to its 1" = 100 meters scale (as can the similarly-scaled "
Age of Eagles" rules). Both use the brigade (or "brigade equivalent" e.g. small division, large regiment) as the basic manoeuvre unit, so the big battles can play out surprisingly quickly.
Hope this helps...