Notice: Due to issues with the processing of VAT on deliveries to the EU a limit has been put in place, restricting orders to a maximum of £135. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.
> Forums
Reply
123
> General > General > Hi from a newbie.
TOPIC: Hi from a newbie.
PM Keeno
Standard User
Posts: 7
Hi from a newbie.
Keeno
17th Jul 2016 11:00:56

 

Hi to all,

I'm not sure if this is the location to post 'Hello' sorry if it's not, I couldn't see a new members spot.

Just joined this forum as I'm considering dipping my toe in to this crazy fun world of 6mm.

Why? Well I have a 12 year old son who is a PlayStation generation kid, I found him with my old warmaster figures, (I forgot I even had them), they are dusty, chipped paint, sorry looking, but my lad had set them up and was pewing away, I suggested we repaint them and and we can battle away. He was full on yes!

I was up to renovate that old warmaster crew with him, so started looking online to see if you can still get the units, and I found this Baccus 6mm site, Napoleonics!!! sign me up, lol.

Now here's the reason for the post, I'm looking at the British V's French 'battle pack' that comes with the rule book,  flags, bases and troops, is this a good way to start? (I assume it is). How long would a game using that set up take on average? Are the rules quick and free flowing? 

Just looking for a basic guideline, I am a newbie to this and just seeking advice for a dad and lad project.

Sorry for a long winded first post by the way.

Best wishes

Keeno


PM I am a spambot
Standard User
Posts: 87
Hi from a newbie.
I am a spambot
18th Jul 2016 05:03:56

Hello Keeno, Welcome!

British versus French tends to mean either the Peninsular War, or the Waterloo Campaign.  For the Peninsular War, you would want the earlier British troops.  For Waterloo, the 1815 ones.  The Peninsular War lasted many years, and had many more battles.  If I decided to do Waterloo then I would be trying to find out how to do all the allies in Wellington's army, of whom about 1/3 were British.

I am afraid that I will annoy Peter intensely by suggesting that the Napoleonic - Boxed Starter Pack British 1806-1812 vs French 1806-1812 has far too much cavalry, particularly heavy cavalry.  I ended up painting most of my British Heavy Dragoons as Spanish cavalry when I did the Spanish army.

If I start a Napoleonic army from scratch, what I usually do is buy an infantry booster pack of the main infantry type, then buy other bits and pieces as necessary.  For a British Peninsular War army this would include one ordinary pack of light dragoons, cannon, some Portuguese (using either the later British infantrymen for earlier Portuguese, or the earlier British infantry for later Portuguese), and possibly some riflemen.  If your army got large enough, you could have some British hussars as well.

Don't think that there was much French heavy cavalry in the Peninsular War, either.

Must admit that I didn't enjoy the Polemos Napoleonic rules when I tried them.  That said, version 2 might be well be better than version 1 that got with my pack.  The alternative that I use (and recommend) are the DBN rules:
http://www.dbnwargaming.co.uk/

I don't know why they quote the price in dollars.


Email dourpuritan PM dourpuritan
Standard User
Posts: 1064
Hi from a newbie.
dourpuritan
18th Jul 2016 08:31:24

Hi, I also got involved in Napoleonics through the Peninsular War. I agree with Spambot's approach, where using booster packs is a good way to start. I also didn't really take to the Polemos system (apart from the ECW rules) and instead use Sam Mustafa's Lasalle. The advantage of these, for a newbie, is that the armies are organised through the army builder lists, so you know exactly what you will need. There are also twelve scenarios for a 6'x4' table, all of which can be used in any Napoleonic theatre, and all can be tweaked with extra trrain to provide an infinite variety of games. My only quibble is with the Polish list, which does not include the Vistula lancers for the Peninsula, but I use them anyway. Lasalle are available from Sam Mustapha's site as a download at honour.com 


A little goes a long way

PM ithoriel
Standard User
Posts: 62
Hi from a newbie.
ithoriel
18th Jul 2016 10:00:46

I agree on the use of booster packs to build an army ... unless, like me, you know from the outset that you're eventually going to want at least one of everything in which case get an army pack and some boosters :-)

To add to the confusion on rules, I like the Marechal D'Empire version of the Polemos rules, though I'm fascinated by the smart phone app Baccus were showing off yesterday to let you use the General De Division rules with nothing but the app. I suspect the prediction of it being available in about three months months may be more hope than expectation but I live in hope too!

 


Growing old is mandatory, growing up is entirely optional!

PM Glenn Pearce
Standard User
Posts: 404
Hi from a newbie.
Glenn Pearce
18th Jul 2016 02:19:33

Hello Keeno!

Good for you and your son. You have stumbled upon the perfect company and site to get you going on an adventure that is designed exactly for someone like yourself.

The largest or biggest set that Baccus sells with two basic armies, rules, bases, flags, etc. contains everything you will need to get started except basing material. To buy these things individually will cost you more. So it's good value. It will take you a little while to paint all of them but even that can be a source of enjoyment for the both of you.

Although they reflect a certain time period 1806-1812 etc. the armies supplied are actually very small and will limit you to small actions and are best suited for fictional encounters. To play the larger historical battles will require more figures. As your knowledge of the period grows you will be able to determine exactly what additional figures are needed.

The rules are always in the top 10 Napoleonics when people are looking for rules and they are one of the very few designed for 6mm, but useable by pretty much any scale. The bases are also designed for 6mm and offer a world class look when finished and are extremely flexable for use in other systems should you ever want to change rules.

The Polemos rules are sophisticated and have a bit of a learning curve. Once understood and mastered the enjoyment is second to none. The author is here and on the Polemos Yahoo site to help you with any questions that you may have. There are also a number of expericed players to help you as well.

The length of a game will depend on it's size. Small encounters can be over in and hour or two, bigger ones 4-8 hours. Your a long way away from an 8 hour game.

Once your up to speed the turns do flow. Keep in mind that most rules that are very quick from the start are generally lacking in substance and you will probably get bored with them.

So by all means if your looking for a father and son project then you should certainly consider taking advantage of the Napoleonic Polemos two army pack that gets your attention. Sadly no such thing existed when my kids were young.

Best regards,

Glenn


PM Nick the Lemming
Standard User
Posts: 208
Hi from a newbie.
Nick the Lemming
18th Jul 2016 02:52:25

I'd go with infantry and cavalry packs, with soem artillery too. I also found Polemos more aimed at experienced gamers, so might not be great for a 12 year old (I started at about that age, using the old WRG rules, and they were probably a bit too complex for me at the time). I'd go with either Lasalle (Sam Mustafa) for relatively small engagements, or Bluecher (Sam Mustafa again) for large scale engagements (like waterloo). The latter also have a card set so you can play while you paint the figures up. In both cases, the rules aren't terribly hard to pick up on so you should be ok.

 

edit: And I'd avoid DBN like the plague that it is. The whole DB* stable is easily the worst rules set I've ever had the misfortune to play.


PM Whirlwind
Standard User
Posts: 412
Hi from a newbie.
Whirlwind
18th Jul 2016 09:51:17

 

Hi Keeno

A while ago I did a short narrative campaign using British and French Baccus 6mm Napoleonics, various scenarios and the Polemos General de Division rules.  I'm not a good photographer (and I was even worse a few years ago!) but hopefully it gives a flavour of the kind of battles that you can create using relatively small forces:

Battle of Canabrava

Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo

Action at St Rodrigo

Action at San Munoz

Pursuit of the Rear Guard

The Vital Bridgehead

I do think that both sides need a bit of extra infantry to add to the infantry that come in the starter packs.Maybe just a pack or two, plus a pack of skirmishing infantry for both sides.  The cavalry and artillery supplied in the pack should be fine for a start.

I think the rules are quick and free-flowing and pretty intuitive when you get the hang of them.  It takes a little while to get used to the tempo points/order points mechanic (the command and control mechanic in the game) and a little longer to get used to how combat "works", particularly how the bases interact when things get a bit messy and confused.  If you are used to wargames, you will probably have to "unlearn" a couple of things in the combat and move mechanics.

All the best

John

 

 

 

 


PM Keeno
Standard User
Posts: 7
Hi from a newbie.
Keeno
19th Jul 2016 11:26:23

Thank you all for the responses above, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to respond.

You have all given me good directions to investigate, this is bigger than I thought, 6mm in name only! Lol.

Whirlwind, just had a quick look at those links you posted, wow! Sweet!

The booster pack seems a good way to go if I had a definitive army list to aim for, and the two army pack seems a good way to go if you want a complete starter game, similar to buying Warhammer 40k boxed set, ie you get all you need to start playing but you can then evolve once you understand what you are actually doing.

I'm not overly concerned about rules being complicated, i can pick and choose what aspect of the rules we use (I never used the magic aspect of Warmaster when I used to play that with my friends) but I like the idea of a rule system that allows me to go deeper, should I want too. This will be a project for the front room carpet battlefield affair, (no sacrilege meant) lol.

Pre or post 1812... I'll be honest here I don't know which. I'm not too sure if it's going to be an issue for me, just want to get painting and pewing with my son, but if we like the game and want to take it further, we need start thinking about that. Time to dig out the DVD of Waterloo and get my lad to sit down and watch it, lol.

Again, I'd like to say thank you all for your knowledgable advice, I have a little more research to do, but the 6mm little blighters will be on order soon, just need to figure out which.

Any questions I have, I will shout them out to you chaps, I'm a firm believer that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

All the best

Keeno


PM Keeno
Standard User
Posts: 7
Hi from a newbie.
Keeno
21st Jul 2016 10:19:08

Well I've taken the leap into 6mm...order placed for 1812-1815 British V's French battle starter set tonight. Thank you all for your advice, I chose this set because it gives us everything we need to actually start playing in one box. 

Once we get to grips with the game, we will add more specific units to fight historical battles, plus I saw earlier the hougomont buildings from Leven (I think) that would be my first What if Scenario...not even got the figures yet and I'm aleady planning scenarios.

Hmmm...those brunswickers look sweet, lol. Maybe at a later date...

Best wishes 

Keeno


PM Glenn Pearce
Standard User
Posts: 404
Hi from a newbie.
Glenn Pearce
22nd Jul 2016 02:17:51

Hello Keeno!

Glad to hear that you have managed to sharpen your focus and have got the ball in motion. If I was starting today I think thats exactly what I would have done as well.

Leven has some great stuff, but they are not alone in the building market place. One of my favourites is Total Battle Miniatures. They have an entire line dedicated to the Waterloo period.

Planning is critical to your success and enjoyment. The better your plans are the more fun you and your son will have. It takes up a lot of time and covers everything from figures, buildings, terrain, table size, rules, scenarios etc. I easily spend about a week on every scenario I design from research to table layout. 

Yes indeed those Brunswickers are just fantastic. I painted all of them and even used them again for some of the other minor German states. WARNING, once you have painted some Baccus figures your ability to resist future purchases is hoplesly forever lost!

Best regards,

Glenn


1
 

LATEST FORUM POSTS

6mm basing sand issue by Darren redstar
27th Mar 2024

New nomads by peter
27th Mar 2024

Desert nomads where are they? by peter
27th Mar 2024

Desert nomads where are they? by diadochi
27th Mar 2024

Glue by David Kay
26th Mar 2024

UPCOMING SHOWS

Salute (Excel Centre, London)
13th Apr 2024

LATEST RELEASES

MPWSS - Matched Pair - War of the Spanish SuccessionMPWSS
Matched Pair - War of the Spanish Succession

MPSAM - Matched Pair - Age of War SamuraiMPSAM
Matched Pair - Age of War Samurai

MPEMA - Matched Pair - Saxons vs NormansMPEMA
Matched Pair - Saxons vs Normans

MPEMA - Matched Pair - Saxons vs NormansMPEMA
Matched Pair - Saxons vs Normans

MPECW - Matched Pair - English Civil WarMPECW
Matched Pair - English Civil War