Command, Control and Communications Napoleonics Rules

Command, Control and Communications is a set of free wargames rules for the Napoleonic period.

Eagles At Quatre Bras

Eagles At Quatre Bras is a set of free wargames rules for brigade level Napoleonic games on a division level. Author Norm Smith writes:

They are solitaire friendly, can be played through in a single session and are set at the lower end of the complexity spectrum. Emphasis is on giving a good game rather than simulation.

Using a 4’ x 3’ table with 4” hexes, gives a grid of around 12 hexes wide by 9 deep, which typically accommodates something like the Battle of Quatre Bras with around 4 divisions per side.Units are representing brigades and divisional artillery, with a hex limited to holding no more than 1 unit and any accompanying leader.

Scale and basing of the figures do not really matter as it is simply the formation in the hex that is considered, with the player showing line, column and square formations for infantry and line for cavalry and artillery. A suggestion is 2 or 4 bases for infantry and cavalry and 2 bases for artillery.Giving a ground scale has been deliberately avoided as this allows for some disfunction, such as light infantry being able to fire two hexes and also leaves the player with some flexibility when designing battlefields, to get bigger battles into this small area or to go to a lower level such as units representing regiments. Basically if it looks and feels right, then go with it.

The system uses standard six sided and ten sided dice (the 0 on a D10 is read as ten), plus a pack of standard playing cards.

To Glory We Steer Fighting Sail Rules

To Glory We Steer is a well-done set of rules for the age of fighting sail:

From the period where the mighty multi-oared Galleys had almost faded from memory other than a coastal raider, to the days where black funnelled Ships of the line belched out sparks and smoke, there existed two hundred years of an Age of Sail. …

This set of rules takes from many contemporary accounts of battle, to gain a whiff of the sea air in themechanics, Hopefully threading through it enough realism without baffling a Landsman who knows little of the Age of Sail.

As you give your crew orders to “Man the Halyards” or unleash a perfectly timed broadside, I hope that some of this may come across and that those who know their foretops from their gaff sails might gain some pleasure from commanding. This said, many compromises have been made in the way of a playable game that is challenging and involving for players.

You are not pushing a model and rolling dice. You are a Master and Commander in the Heat of Battle!

Warhammer Napoleonics

Warhammer Napoleonics is a set of stat lines and modifications for using the basic Warhammer Rules for the Napoleonic period.

Captains Bold Frigate Rules

Captains Bold is a free print-and-play game for the age of sail. It focuses on duels between frigates.