General D’Armee 2 Review

Review of the Napoleonics rules General D’Armee 2 published by Too Fat Lardies
correction to the battle report: my team, the French, did win by one point as we had broken three Austrian brigades but the Austrians held two villages by the end, making it a 3 to 2 final score.

[@chriscraft2444]

I think a lot of people struggle with the one charge per brigade (with supports). I think people have played too many games that allow complete control and coordination with units. But remember, this is 1800’s, using communications from that era with cannons and musket fire makes it very difficult to get simultaneous charges.
The armies didn’t fight that distinctly, the variation is in the minor bonuses the troop types get. The big difference was in quality, which drives what the troops can do. Recruits tend to stay in Column, Lights have added skirmish ability, Veterans/Elites can move and change formation. At the end of the day, a soldier with a Musket is very similar across all armies.
I do agree this isn’t for the beginner Nappy player, but as a 30+ years of gaming Nappies these rules come the closets I have found to game the period feel.

[@basement1908]

I'm glad you got to play your first game of Napoleonics. To be honest with you, GDA2 is much more stream-lined compared to the original rules. Some of the Napoleonic Flavor within the rules come from the different troop types, quality levels, national characteristics, and the different leadership abilities of the different nations. Have a fantastic week my friend 👍

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

GdA is not a rule system for complete beginners or for the faint-hearted, but once you have a little knowledge of the Napoleonic period and a few games behind you there’s probably no better system out there at present.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

yes, I agree. The presentation of the rules is a bit complicated but the actual gameplay systems make sense. I may pick up the rules and start a pair of 15mm armies to play it myself

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

@@Corvinuswargaming1444 - Looks a bit complicated because it is indeed fairly complicated!
The rules cater for just about every eventuality you can imagine and many you can’t. Don’t think I’ve ever found a system that copes so well with the weird and sometimes absurd situations that can happen in a wargame.

[@SgtOddballz]

Very nice figures there! I have not tried that game before, still in learning of Black Powder. Sounds interesting, and great review :).

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

@@SgtOddballz yes, the host had a lot of nice Napoleonic figures and a huge table. Black Powder is good for a basic set of rules but lacks period distinctiveness

[@charleslatora5750]

Coincidence? 4 vids below/after your vid, Storm of Steel wargaming has a vid on the second volume of these rules.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

It seems like a coincidence, I don’t follow his videos 😅

[@tolemykus4805]

Seems like it would take too many hours to play out. At least, for me. Anymore, 2 hours tops and then I need to physically make myself move in other directions. :) It does seem like fun, though.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

I think you could play this with fewer brigades in a shorter amount of time. The game we played just had an exceptional amount of figures and a massive table

[@samb2052]

@@Corvinuswargaming1444I’d agree, using 15mm on a 6’x4’ table, we can play 4-5 Brigades per side in about 3 hours. 3 Brigades is about minimum due to the ADC generation and orders process and would play in around 2 hours. I find it gives a fairly fast moving game which focuses on command rather than minor tactics.
By the way, it’s only infantry brigades that only charge with one battalion, with the others supporting; cavalry brigades all go together.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

@@samb2052 Thanks for the rules clarification, for my club I think we missed some details like that. I hope I can play some GDA 2 again, it’s definitely warmed me a up a lot to Napoleonics compared to Black Powder from Warlord

[@samb2052]

@@Corvinuswargaming1444 yeah, no comparison with BP. It rewards a bit of thought and planning. Timing movement is important, but crucially you can influence that by using your ADCs unlike BP which I find a bit too random.

[@Corvinuswargaming1444]

@@samb2052 BP and Pike and Shotte are too much a "just pushing miniatures around" system, without a lot of scenario rules to give it some historical grounding it just feels too generic

[@charleslatora5750]

Evening sir.

[@charleslatora5750]

👍👍