I think I've found my Napoleonic niche

[SlickWilhelm]

Hey guys,

I've been buying and trying various Napoleonic wargames in the past few years as my interest in the period grows. So far, I've tried Napoleon in Italy, CoG, CoG:EE and Ageod's Napoleon's Campaigns. I've had some trouble getting into those games and really exploiting all they have to offer. Then I purchased John Tiller's BGN series from Matrix. I think I've found my niche.

I'm having a huge amount of fun playing as the Russians at the Battle of Shevardino and the Fleches' in NiR. I just overran three units of French skirmishers with a unit of Uhlans, and it was VERY satisfying.

Methinks I'm into the tactical more than the operational or strategic when it comes to Napoleonics.

Time to start downloading some scenarios from the Napoleonic Archives! [&o]

Btw, how active is the PBEM community for the JT series? Once I feel confident about regularly beating up on the AI, I'm going to want to be humbled by a live human.

[rhondabrwn]

That's why Tiller ACW and Napoleonic titles are my long time favorites. They do have a tactical flavor, but really are operational level games. The games are easy to learn so that the mechanics quickly become second nature to you. All of the games (including his HPS Campaign series) are pretty similar so if you learn how to play one of them, you can quickly jump into another in the series. Some decry this as a "cookie cutter" approach, but it actually allows the exploration of a wide variety of battles and campaigns that bring their own unique challenges within a solid framework of game mechanics. The result is that I can keep a dozen different games going on constantly and come back to them when I please without having a total disconnect of "how do I do this again?". I collect simulations and have a large variety on my various hard drives, but the Tiller games are the ones that get played over and over again. The others I play around with briefly and lose interest because I do not have the time to spend weeks trying to learn how to play them well.

I do mostly play the HPS Campaign ACW series in campaign mode because I love having the combination of regimental level tactics and corps level operational decisions coupled with huge maps that introduce a strategic level to the games. You do get used to the poor graphics in the HPS games compared to the BG series eventually and there are some mods out there to improve things.

Anyway, you might want to try HPS Campaign Waterloo. I like that more than Borodino which is a battle that I never really cared for that much in either HPS or BG games. My all time favorite battle to game is Gettysburg... no doubt about that.

I've played a couple of PBEM games and these games are excellent for that. In fact, I usually play myself using the PBEM option rather than hotseat. It lets me make a move and then leave it for awhile until I come back and take up the other side without a perfect memory of the enemy dispositions. Not perfect, but it works.

I know there is a pretty active HPS community out there to find opponents, but not sure about Matrix BG. I'm on a computer without the benefit of my bookmarks or I could give you some links, but I'm in the middle of another Summer rebuild project on my two main machines and am on a MacBook at the moment.

[Andy Moss]

There's an Opponent Finder at the top of this page. I've just picked up an opponent from there.

Indeed there are active communities for PBEM games using both the BG and HPS game engines.

I prefer HPS these days, graphics not as good but gameplay is better. Indeed I prefer Waterloo Campaign and Jena Campaign....the Russian Campaign least of all.

PBEM is still the best option. Playing yourself or the AI gets a bit predictable. It's really a question of finding an opponent you can get on with really.

[berto]

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm
Time to start downloading some scenarios from the Napoleonic Archives! [&o]

There are some great scenarios there, and tons of them. As soon as I manage to get the BGS games working in Linux Wine, I'm going to download and install the entire collection.

[rahamy]

Find opponents here - http://www.hist-sdc.com/hps/opponents.htm
 
I've been a Tiller game since 1997 and I love the games...have no intention of letting them go for many of the same reasons Rhonda lists. I used to keep 20+ PBEM games going at any given time...now I keep far fewer, but I know I can pick up a game at any time.
 
Lots in the on-line world to support both the BG & HPS releases, so dig around, you'll be happy with what you find I believe.

[rahamy]

Oh, and I keep far fewer because I have 4 kids & 2 jobs as opposed to being single...so a radical impact on my "free" time. [:D]

[1NWCG]

Consider joining both of the Clubs I mention in my post here:
 
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1984667

[berto]

ORIGINAL: berto
As soon as I manage to get the BGS games working in Linux Wine...

There are some annoying graphical glitches, but it does indeed work. More later...