Saturday 7 November 2015

A Review, of sorts.

     I tend to read most reviews of all things concerning Wargaming, just to get some idea of whats actually going on and how good these items are. Inevitably the reviewer can only give a personal opinion, sometimes wrapped up in technical speak, but still just their personal opinion.
 Most reviews in this day and age are fairly non committal, with the odd very good or very bad rating if the reviewer feels that strongly about something, but this is a rarity.
  Compare this with the no nonsense reviews from the late Donald Featherstone who always called a spade a spade [ and by that I mean a digging implement] and to a lesser extent by Terry Wise and Stuart Asquith who were pretty forthright in what they reviewed.
 Of course these wargamers came from a time [ ie my time ] when the truth was more important than the upset the reviewer may cause the person whose item/book/rules were being reviewed. However I tended to take more notice of their opinions, whether good or bad, purely because they were very honest, and wanted the best for the hobby.
 So where am I going with this meandering spiel.
 Well I fought my fifth Napoleonic battle using the new Blucher rules, the other night against John, and I came away from the game with a closely fought draw. This encounter was a French versus an English scenario.
 What struck me after the game was the following, I felt the game provided a very good representation of the tactical strengths of both nations, without making the British too strong, as I have witnessed in other rules over the years.
 I threw away a chance of winning, by making some tactical errors, and poor command decisions and not because of poor dice throws, and dubious rules.
 Thirdly and for me most importantly, I absolutely enjoyed the whole experience, as it was exciting, fun and if you weren't on top of what was going on you knew you would lose the game, so tension was maintained throughout the whole night.
 This has been my experience for every one of the five games we have fought. For me that is pretty impressive for a set of rules I am still getting to grips with.
 So getting back to the initial point, whilst this cannot be classed as a review of a wargaming product,  because really it is only my opinion, I really feel that Sam Mustafa has created a brilliant and fun set of wargaming rules, and if any wargamers are looking to either take up a new period, or is still looking for a set of decent Napoleonic wargaming rules, then look no further, because these certainly are the real deal.

            The basing gathers pace. A new corps of Austrians for my Blucher 6mm armies.


7 comments:

  1. A wargaming friend in Belgium suggested I might like these same rules when we met last August. Sounds like they might provide a great game based on your comments here. And yes, I too miss those more honest reviews of Feathrstone, Wise, and Asquith from way back when. We need more of that now. In all aspects of life.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stokes,
      I think you will be pleasantly surprised by them.
      Sam Mustafa certainly put a great deal of thought into the rules, and it shows.

      Delete
  2. Robbie,
    If I hadn't already bought the rules then I would do so based on your comments.
    Honest reviewing for war gaming products seems to be on the wane - I still see some pretty decent book reviews but I prefer tomlisten to others gamers comments and discussions on products now.
    Good job we don't do a review column for magazines - doubt we would last long!
    Graham

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graham,
      You have to really think about the game, because if you dont prioritise which units need to move/fight first then you will end up in all sorts of trouble when you are told that you can no longer move any more units. .

      Delete
  3. I have played a dozen or more games with Blucher now including one with 5 army corps per side and two players. We have made a couple of house rules , very minor but very much in the style of the basic set. The games have ranged from 2 hours to 7 hours but in each case we reached a result. I really like this rule set. They are also extremely well supported on the Honour forums.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert,
      I follow your blog, and use it as an inspiration to complete my rebasing project.

      Delete
  4. The way you John and Neil have taken to them I am looking forward to a game sometime.

    ReplyDelete

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.
Austria 1809.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian Hussars
Hinchliffe figures

Austrian Grenzer

Austrian Grenzer
Austrian Grenzer

Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2013
Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2012

Smoggycon 2012
Smoggycon 2012

Smoogycon 2009

Smoogycon 2009
My French getting another beating