Hello,

There is lot of thread about Napoleonic GdD and few, may be none, about MD'E... 

Does anybody play this last one?

Why do you choose Napoleonic GdD?

Thanks for answering ????

• I'm also interested in MdE and I've been looking for posts about it; I remember years ago, there were; I must have written sth too. The whole topic doesn't seem to go beyond 8 years ago.

   

Sure, I play MdE. TBF it has been a couple of years, but I have done lots of games over the last decade or so, e.g. Waterloo.

I think that there are a couple of reasons why it doesn't get mentioned so much.

1 - Sam Mustafa has released a couple of very popular rulesets over the years which cover quite similar territory (Grande Armee & Bucher). Age of Eagles seemed to be quite popular for a while too and I know that Volley & Bayonet & Napoleon's Battles have always had adherents: the latter was *huge* back in the day. There are other options around too (HFG, DBN, Portable Wargame, Snappy Nappy).

2 - For games of that type, Polemos Marechal de l'Empire is quite "figure heavy", even in 6mm, proposing a brigade of about 2000 soldiers represented by 50 figures. 1:40 for big battles is still quite a lot.  It is a lot less figure heavy than something like Age of Eagles, but more figure heavy than some others. It proposes a double-basing system to use Polemos GdD units for MdE, but that makes a typical battle the equivalent of 60-80 infantry bases per side, which is a fair investment of time and money. 

3 - Over time, I think we see that slightly contrary to what was said at the time, GdD was a more revolutionary set for Napoleonics than MdE: having battalions in a Corps-level game that you weren't allowed to micro-manage into column, line and square?!? Heresy!!  Whereas this has been more accepted for games with brigades as the base unit (not always c.f. Napoleon's Battles).  Since Polemos was released, FOG:Napoleon and Et Sans Resultat have been released which I believe use the same logic as in GdD but in very different ways. Prior to Polemos, for Napoleonics, I think only Paddy Griffith (in a frankly unplayable Army-level game) and Charlie Wessencraft (in a frankly genius Corps/Army-level game) had used this approach.

MdE is actually a smoother and easier and faster game to get your head around than GdD; GdD has a lot of potential interactions between bases and terrain and morale states at different parts of the turn, whereas once you get your head around the combat sequence in MdE it is dead easy.  I think this is why Glenn Pearce (author of Ruse de Guerre) has really converted MdE back into a game with a battalion (or company, or regiment) as the base unit rather than building on GdD. There is much more to it than that of course, but RdG evolved from 'regimental MdE'.

For what it's worth, I much prefer MDE to GDD as a game.  It makes you think, and sometimes think very hard!

My club played MdE and GdD and loved them both. They were ahead of their time and still are to some degree. The majority of gamers seem to be attracked to the more glossy, more advertized and more traditional style of rules refered to by some as playing rock/paper/scissors. Systems that rely on cards, victory points, myths and other fads that seem (to me) to be low on Napoleonic content beyond their catchy names. So it seems the only people who were/are attracted to MdE and GdD are those who have a good grasp of actual Napoleonic Warfare and want to exploit it and those willing to learn new things. Napoleonic Warfare is a very complicated subject that takes some time to come to terms with.  

MdE and GdD are also designed for people looking for different levels of game play. If you only want to play a game with a Corp vs Corp or lower then GdD is your game. If you want to play full blown big Napoleonic battles then MdE should be your weapon of choice.

Without MdE and GdD, RdG could never have been written. It covers the wars in North America from 1754 to 1815. Which includes the War of 1812, so although there is no mention of European Napoleonics in the rule book the transition is seemless. The rules change skirmish modifiers in MdE and GdD to actual skirmish/light infantry bases. This puts an entirely different spin on the game and gives players more options and challenges. It also allows you to play any level of game you want. Small skirmishes to Borodino. There is also a sliding scale that lets you increase the size of your battle as the size of your collection grows. It's main focus is of course The French and Indian War, the American War of Indepence and the War of 1812. So plenty of room for a gamer to expand his interests without having to change rules. 

As far as I see it you have three different rule sets each catering to different people looking for different things. Once you find the one that works for you your off on a road to nothing but exciting games.  

Thanks very much for answers!

very interesting! ????