Thursday, February 3, 2011

Republic to Empire


My first adventures in Napoleonic wargaming, some 30 years ago, were with the Empire III rule set. The games were long and complex and took a while for my casual opponents to get used to.

Returning back to the era, I wanted to find a new "modern" set of rules. There was a free set of rules "March of the Eagles" in the Victrix 28mm plastics box written by Barry Hilton. I liked the mechanics and flow of the game, but it only covered infantry actions. Apparently there was a "full version" around somewhere.

Looking around the net I found it "Republic to Empire"by Barry Hilton. I ordered it and had a go. After an initial steep learning curve I find them a very enjoyable, smooth set of rules to play with. I started playing in 28mm but found it translates well to the 10mm scale buy converting all the movement lengths from inches to cms.

Highlights
  • good order system, allowing the use of exploitation moves that are real game changers
  • realistic treatment of artillery and the real estate it takes on the table
  • good morale system
  • fast play when you get used to the steps
  • 1:20 man scale allowing bigger looking units
  • inspiring pictures of miniatures though out the book
  • excellent demonstration walkthrough at the end of the book
Things not so good
  • not many diagrams of game mechanics
  • no index
  • no army lists (but accept the rationale about why not)
  • no scenarios with the rules (although this may change with a suppliment)
  • hard for solo play

Republic to Empire is available through the League of Augsburg site

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