15mm Soldiers of Napoleon trial game.

 We recently bought a set of the 'Soldiers of Napoleon' rulebook and cards as part of our quest for a good set of Napoleonic rules for our club/group games. Today we set up a few brigades on each side and played through a few turns to see what we thought of the rules.  

The British rifles quickly capture the church... 

...and the French capture the farm. 

Ian's troops advance toward the farm. 

The French in the farm easily repulse the British infantry, destroying one of the line units. 

Nigel decides to advance his line. 

The British rocket launcher only managed 4 shots in the game. 

 Needing a '6' to hit they scored two hits! 

We only managed three turns as we struggled to get to grips with the rules. From the Victory points earned Nigel and his French were clear winners.

So, overall what did we think of the rules? 

There is a large amount of Napoleonic 'flavour' within the rules aided by the 'special events' on the cards that come with the rules and also in the way the rules are written. The army lists also encourage a correct period atmosphere. However, the rules have so many 'layers' that in a first game it is slow work getting through each turn with much referring to the rulebook. However, now that we have played the game once we all feel that there is a great set of rules contained with the book. A careful re-read of the rules should allow for a faster moving, much better second game.