audiobook Napoleon: Napoleonic Rules and Campaigns for Gaming with Painted Miniatures by Matthew Fletcher in History

Review

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A fun and easy to understand rules set- At last!By Thomas HarlandThis is a comprehensive and easy to understand rules set; including history and paint guides.Perfect for someone just starting to game the period but with enough about it to appeal to veteran gamers also.It is not 'stuffy' and does not have the super-detail and endless charts covering every minor eventuality like many rulebooks of the Napoleonic wars.Perfect for fun games and easy to use- buy it!5 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Pretty Pictures but not much else.By Noble by birthI have been wargaming for 30 years and I have to say I was looking forward to this as the people producing this normally put out quality material. This ruleset however is not one of them. The rules are a muddle of old concepts and the army organizations that are listed in the book are a very poor representation of actual napoleonic armies or warfare. There are useful painting guides and lots of nice eye candy but I bought these primarily for the ruleset and they are absolutely terrible. I strongly recommend that if you want a decent napoleonic rules set that you pass on this monstrosity. If you want painting guides and tips it is pricey but could be useful to a newcomer. Overall a very poor effort. I do not feel that I got value for my dollars.10 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Napoleonic Rules for Gamers; Not Rules LawyersBy ElanHuzzah Matthew Fletcher and Foundry! These are a high production quality; playable; fun and intelligble set of rules for a classic wargaming period that has not been well served with rules for 25-28mm figues.The layout and content is visually attractive and simple to follow; with some of the best "real wargaming" shots of figures in action that I have seen. By this I mean that it is refreshing to see that the figures are not master-painted in purpose built diarama - they look like a real 28mm game was in progress! The terrain used is not beyond the reach of the average gamer and this sits well with the overall feel of the set - made by wargamers for wargamers.That said; despite all the pretty pictures - the best thing about these rules is that they are well written; clear; well laid-out and remain both concise and simple. They meet my standard for playability - the rules allow the players to add the complexity. There is no need to create "house-rules" or stop in the middle of the action to hunt for obscure sentences that are subject to semantic arguments.As well as being a excellent set of rules; this work provides an introduction and overview of the history of the period with enough detail to re-stir my own interest which; along with my figures; had gathered dust these past ten years. While those who prefer detailed history may be disconcerted; I found this to be a well thought out approach to what can be a complex historical drama; and understood that while there was much that barely touched upon; the core facts provide the game with the colour and pageantry of the period - and hopefully will further the hobby by attracting new players.I do hope that Matthew and the Foundry provide some expansions. My tentative suggestion is for improved lists for the revolutionary period and the smaller European states (but also the British; Canadians and Americans of the War of 1812) which would add variety; colour and interest while addressing the current volume's sometimes unfair assessments of smaller allied troops relative worth (and importance) during the period.