The Portable Napoleonic Wargame

The Portable Napoleonic Wargame contains rules for battles at three levels: Brigade, Division and Corps. There is a shared set of mechanisms with adjustments to fit the level of command, such as command and unit formations. An example battle report is provided for each level of game which helps to understand how the rules work in practice.

Basing is standardised on all units having 2 bases whether infantry, cavalry or artillery, commander figures are based as separate individuals. This allows a simple method of showing formation and aids playability. As the Portable Wargame uses a gridded playing area the actual dimensions of the figure bases need to be aligned with the size of the squares or hexagons. As a unit in line will have its bases side by side the hexagons or squares need to be wide enough to accommodate this. As an example if a base width of 50mm is used a square grid would need to be at least 100mm across.

The playing area is recommended to be a minimum of 8 x 8 squares or 8 x 9 hexes. For my ACW figures that I will be using to test the rules on 25mm square bases I will need to have a minimum of 50mm squares and with the standard 8x8 grid of squares will need at least a 400mm area. This is actually pretty small as in imperial measurements it would be a 16inch square area. As I will have other sets of figures that I wish to use with the other sets of the portable wargame based to different widths and depths I will have to produce a few gridded areas on different sizes for this and my other projects.

A standard IGOUGO mechanism is used but it has a variation primarily for solo play using cards to limit the number of units activated. The number of cards available is adjusted for the general's quality. The turn sequence has a separate phase for artillery at the start of the turn with simultaneous firing. The rest of the turn has movement, small arms fire and melee.

Morale is abstracted with individual units having a strength point and once a side has half the total SP it becomes exhausted and unable to take offensive actions. Strength points are reduced by combat results with a unit eliminated at zero. Combat uses a D6 roll with modifiers and melee has both units rolling to see if they damage the enemy with a fall back result allowing the attacker to pursue.

In the brigade level game each side will have a commander, around 3-4 infantry regiments, an artillery battery, cavalry unit and possibly a rifle unit. The division level game will have 2-3 infantry brigades, each of 3-4 regiments and at the division level artillery and cavalry. There will be commanders for each brigade.

The corps level game has a C in  C and divisional commanders with each corps having 2-3 infantry divisions, a cavalry brigade, and artillery. The small number of units required and the table size meant that a battle is playable in around 1 hour.

There are suggestions on using the rules for other 19th century conflicts including the American Civil are and I will soon post my thoughts on using the Portable Napoleonic Wargame for the ACW,

I recommend this set as a development of the portable wargame into a specific period, making adaptations that reflect both the historical content and the ability to simulate different levels of game.