Republic to Empire

My first adventures in Napoleonic wargaming, some 30 years ago, were with the Empire III rule set. The games were long and complex and took a while for my casual opponents to get used to.

Returning back to the era, I wanted to find a new "modern" set of rules. There was a free set of rules "March of the Eagles" in the Victrix 28mm plastics box written by Barry Hilton. I liked the mechanics and flow of the game, but it only covered infantry actions. Apparently there was a "full version" around somewhere.

Looking around the net I found it "Republic to Empire"by Barry Hilton. I ordered it and had a go. After an initial steep learning curve I find them a very enjoyable, smooth set of rules to play with. I started playing in 28mm but found it translates well to the 10mm scale buy converting all the movement lengths from inches to cms.

Highlights

• good order system, allowing the use of exploitation moves that are real game changers
• realistic treatment of artillery and the real estate it takes on the table
• good morale system
• fast play when you get used to the steps
• 1:20 man scale allowing bigger looking units
• inspiring pictures of miniatures though out the book
• excellent demonstration walkthrough at the end of the book

Things not so good

• not many diagrams of game mechanics
• no index
• no army lists (but accept the rationale about why not)
• no scenarios with the rules (although this may change with a suppliment)
• hard for solo play

Republic to Empire is available through the League of Augsburg site