I was quite excited to see that Sam Mustafa’s Blucher is now out. Learned that via the latest North Star Military Figures Newsletter.
I haven’t heard any of Sam’s podcasts yet, though I saw that Foy mentioned them a while back (thank you for that, Tony). I confess I wasn’t tracking the card game part of Blucher - if you go to the North Star link above, you’ll see what I mean. The idea of playing the Hundred Days using just cards as a substitute for lack of figures or time is intriguing, and reminds me a little of GDW’s old System 7 Napoleonics system, of which, I suppose, GMT’s CCN is a modern heir.
(For you nostalgia fans).
For now I am probably just interested in the rule book, particularly for Sam’s Scharhorst campaign system as a battle generator, though since I have a copy of Paddy Griffith’s Napoleonic book on order, I shall look to that first for ideas. However, I shall be tracking the blogosphere for reviews of how both go together.
Meanwhile, that dratted MA thesis awaits.
A bientôt, mes braves.
http://j-m-miniatures.myshopify.com/collections/sam-mustafa-rules
ReplyDeleteyou favourite enabler is selling it too btw in Canada
Set one aside for me when you get one in ... along with some more trifle.
DeleteDone. But the trifle will have to wait until next Christmas.
DeleteI've joined the 'Honour' group ( a few weeks ago now) and heard the pod casts. Very interesting to hear the philosophy behind the game sets. I don't know whether I'll ever buy any of Sam Mustafa's rule sets - money will be a problem, and New Zealand is pretty remote. But the place is worth a look.
ReplyDeleteYou can get a good feel for them with the free "Lite" versions.
DeleteThe Scharnhorst system is excellent and with a bit of work could be converted to other sets. It gives some really interesting battles which you'd be hard-pressed to come up with as mere scenarios. One of the best games (of any system) I played last year was a French/Spanish battle generated by the Scharnhorst system, in which the inferior Spanish army outmaneuvered the French on the map and fought a day-long delaying action against increasing numbers of French troops to finally win the day*
ReplyDelete*We were one of the playtest groups so we played a fair bit of Blucher last year, although I confess that Napoleonics isn't my thing and I was only in it because I QA test computer software for a living :)
Thanks, KK, that's good to know. Can you play the miniatures rules without the cards? The difference between Blucher and Maurice/Longstreet, as far as I can see, is that the 100 Days cards are specific to that period and wouldn't allow, say Austerlitz or Marengo.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't played it without the cards, but you can, either using rosters to mark hits or having some kind of solution on the base. It's a bit like Volley and Bayonet in that one base is one unit, with the base footprint obviously being a standard-sized playing-card. So you can do the miniatures how you like. Our group is considering 6mm dioramas, but we'll see what actually happens.
DeleteThere's a small amount of useful information on each card, but it could all be recorded on the roster as well. The only time cards are useful is that units start the game hidden (cards face-down), and I can't see an obvious, easy, way of doing that with miniatures.
Thanks, that's most helpful.
DeleteWell, I've just taken the plunge. Buying it from a Canadian site didn't hurt so much when it came to $ conversion. I am really interested in the pregame system and in a Napoleonic game I can play on a club night.
ReplyDeleteWas that Canadian site J&M Miniatures, I hope?
ReplyDeleteYep.
DeleteGood man. James definitely owes me trifle now.
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