Continuing the theme of Neil Thomas's rules, I had a go at the Napoleonic set from his book, "Napoleonic Wargaming", using my Fescennia Napoleonic "imagi-nation" armies - Erymanthia in blue and Nemea in red. I tweaked the rules to start with after a read-through so that they would fit with my unit sizes and bases, as well as some points about being slightly more realistic, and then proceeded to play a game. I used Scenario One from his "One-Hour Wargames" book, but added two units per side as I was using a 4 x 3 table, not a 3 x 3. Also I added a bit of extra scenery just for the look of the thing, but nothing which would affect the scenario itself.

The two sides ready, Erymanthia nearest the camera, Nemea in the distance.

Erymanthian lancers.

Three Erymanthian musketeer regiments. These are in Column of March.

Erymanthian artillery.

Another Erymanthian musketeer regiment, plus a fusilier regiment (light infantry)

and a dragoon regiment.

A Nemean heavy dragoon regiment.

Three Nemean infantry regiments.

Off we go! Blue or red solid arrows show direction of advance; dotted arrows will show direction of retreat. The objectives of both sides are just to defeat the other.

Lancers and heavy dragoons facing off.

Nemea's symbol is the red griffin.

Nemean artillery opening fire.

A Nemean grenadier regiment nearest the camera, with a fusilier regiment (light infantry)

deploying for action.

The lancers were beaten off by the heavy dragoons.

The Nemean regiment on the left has gone into Attack Column (my version - 6 figures wide and 4 ranks deep, which is more like the Column of Divisions from which it would have been formed).

The Nemean general and his ADC. Rather than having the general attached to one unit, as in the rules, I had him as a separate figure able to influence any unit.

The Erymanthian general and his ADC.

Not much happening in the middle yet, but lots in the distance.

Light infantry form both sides skirmishing as close order infantry and cavalry move up.

The lancers and heavy dragoons have another round of close combat.

Column against line on the Erymanthian left wing.

Worried about the Nemean heavy dragoons, this Erymanthian musketeer regiment has gone into square.

Lots have happened, with the lancers soundly beaten by the heavy dragoons, while in the centre the Erymanthian musketeers have gone onto the defensive and formed lines; in the distance, the Nemeans are pressing forward.

Column versus line in the centre of the battlefield.

The Nemeans are repulsed with effective flanking fire.

The Nemean infantry on their left and centre are pushing forward as their right wing's advance stalls.

Time to get out of square!

Ouch! The Nemean fusiliers are caught by Erymanthian dragoons and soundly thrashed. Light infantry do not fight back in these rules and cavalry have a big advantage over them in close combat.

The Nemean heavy dragoons charge the Erymanthian right wing musketeer regiment in line.

Hand-to-hand fighting in the centre of the battlefield.

Having dealt with the Nemean fusiliers, the Erymanthian dragoons prepare to charge the Nemean grenadier regiment.

The Erymanthians are falling back on their right and centre, but holding out on their left wing.

The Erymanthian dragoons charge home. The defence are always allowed to shoot before the attackers close in under these rules.

Things going wrong for the Erymanthians, with their right wing collapsing.

And now their centre pulls back. I called the game in favour of the Nemeans after ten turns, mainly because the table was needed soon for dinner!

I enjoyed the rules, they gave a fast game and were very much in the style of many, many years ago, with not a lot of morale testing, fighting by groups (bases in the actual rules, but I did it by groups of four infantry or three cavalry figures), and quite bloody results! I did not use the rules' victory conditions of destroying 75% of an opponent's army, which I think is a bit unrealistic! I also added some amendments as the game went along. There is no command & control stuff, which I like; let the gamer move all and sundry - after all, I want to be moving my figures/units, not waiting for them to be allowed to - and make his own mistakes, such as letting light infantry get caught by cavalry in the open! I plan to do another game soon and try out the rules with the amendments and maybe a few others, based on further thought, but not enough to get away from Mr. Thomas' principles.

Oh, and the Sun King game was Mollwitz 1741, well done if you guessed it.