Quarrie to General de Brigade Conversion Kit

[Ken]

https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com/2018/10/quarrie-to-general-de-brigade.html

Evening,

Something I have been threatening for a while, my rules for adding in National Characteristics to General de Brigade.

Now I know that National Characteristics aren’t everyones cup of tea and I am quite happy that they are a throwback to the nostalgia of my early gaming days in the 1980s rather than having a basis in hard historical fact, but I like them.

So this is my Conversion Kit, it isn’t a stand alone set of rules, you need GdeB as well, a good knowledge of Quarrie would be a benefit.

If you are of a certain age and fancy some NCs back in your life this could be for you.

Comments and playtests most welcome.

Regards Ken
The Yarkshire Gamer

Http://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

[Norm S]

Nice piece of work.

[Steve Johnson]

Very interesting and comprehensive piece of work. I like the national characteristics in Honours of War and think they work very well, so am not adverse to these.

[Ian Marsh]

Kills the Prussian army, just like Quarrie did, and makes it unplayable. I honestly have to ask why resurrect the worst traits of  1970s wargaming? Quarrie’s rules drove me away from Napoleonics because everyone believed those national characteristics had to be accurate. GdeB is complex and slow enough as it is without bogging it down with extra factors and different movement rates for everything.

Ian
Fighting 15s
www.fighting15s.com

[Ken]

Hi Ian, thanks for the input.

I take it you didn’t bother to read the intro then. I outlined why and that it was based on nostalgia rather than historical accuracy and if you didn’t like NC the post wasnt for you. So why spend the time coming on here to have a go at me and my light hearted bit of nostalgia.

For the record I don’t think GdeB is too complicated at all, it’s fairly straight forward, if you read the post adding in NC actually removes a greater number of factors than it aďds. I think they were the best parts of 70s gaming, I am not a fan of bucket o’dice rules or the one set of rules for the whole of warfare aka BP, so why not enjoy what I enjoy ?

How exactly does it kill off the Prussian Army ? Very little difference between them and the French.

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Http://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

[Mike]

Ken wrote:

So why spend the time coming on here to have a go at me and my light hearted bit of nostalgia.

I have no dog in this fight but to be fair.

Ken wrote:

Comments and playtests most welcome.

[Mike]

Ken wrote:

Now I know that National Characteristics aren’t everyones cup of tea and I am quite happy that they are a throwback to the nostalgia of my early gaming days in the 1980s rather than having a basis in hard historical fact, but I like them.

Then good on you.

*insert baby meme*

[Not Connard Sage]

Mike wrote:

Ken wrote:

Now I know that National Characteristics aren’t everyones cup of tea and I am quite happy that they are a throwback to the nostalgia of my early gaming days in the 1980s rather than having a basis in hard historical fact, but I like them.

Then good on you. *insert baby meme*

This one? 🙂

 

 

 

 

Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

[Deleted User]

I rather hope a National Characteristics topic here isn’t going to become fraught. I do like to discuss Napoleonics without the fire & fury you get on other forums……

It is an interesting topic. Personally, I’ve moved away from the concept several years ago. I write this for no other reason except to put my stance on view.

In some ways (personal opinion) I think they have merit eg I like the narrative flavour potentially offered by national characteristics. They are also a way of combating the “samey” nature of all Napoleonic armies you can get in some rule sets. I do think they can, however, exaggerate or distort much of the historical record. They are also difficult to get right. Perhaps impossible, because they are a broad brush. For example,  not every Italian unit in WW2 was poorly led and motivated. The Ariete division in North Africa puts that notion to bed.

I applaud Ken on the work he put into NC in his Gd’B extension. Nostalgia seems to me to be an unanswerable reason for adding them.

donald

 

BTW the game looks great!

 

[Ken]

Hi guys,

I really didn’t want it to get fraught either, I had tried to explain in the initial post that it was about how to use NC and not a debate for or against them.

My comments or playtest request was in relation to using the factors in a game and how they work rather than an attempt to open a debate about if you should use them at all. I didn’t want the anti NC brigade to hijack a thread for us NC users.

I felt that Ian had simply reacted to what he thought my post said without reading it. The factors don’t “Kill the Prussians” there is little difference to the combat factors between comparable troop types, Grenadiers are the same, Prussian Guard are the same as French Middle Guards, I could go on. I was annoyed by his dismissive stance, a fair amount of work went into this, apologies.

The NC tables, as they were with Quarrie are a guide, you can change factors up or down based on performance or personal preference. That’s were the debate lies.

Viva La National Characteristics, Viva La Difference !

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Http://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

[Deleted User]

Ken wrote:

rather than an attempt to open a debate about if you should use them at all. I didn’t want the anti NC brigade to hijack a thread for us NC users.

 

Apologies, Ken. My reading comprehension isn’t what it should be.

regards, donald

[Ken]

No problems Donald, always open to a reasonable debate. It’s a good point regarding the Italian troops in the desert (another YG favourite), there are two ways to look at how I have done the NC tables, they can be either be used religiously as they are printed (which is not my intention) or they can be used as a guide on which to start, subsequently adding new stats for Veteran Line Battalions etc.

There are so many different ways to try and reflect troop performance and you are correct in saying that Command and Control had a massive effect, along with tactics, NC is one way of attempting to recreate that.

Many Thanks

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Http://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.co.uk

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