A sneak peek of General d’Armee 2

I discuss the upcoming release of General d’Armee 2 with Carlo Pagano from The Napoleonic Wargame Society, and who is also one of the lead test-players of these very interesting Napoleonic Divisional Level Wargame rules written by David CR Brown and released by Reisswitz Press and Too Fat Lardies. You can find Carlo’s blog here withpyjamasthro...

[@samb2052]

Great discussion, look forward to seeing the rules in action on the channel. I’ll be buying the rules soonest and keeping my fingers crossed for a ’Pickett’s Charge’ update.

[@warpaintjj]

Excellent discussion, really enjoyed your passion & enthusiasm for these revisions. Like you I wasn’t sure GdA could be improved upon but DCR & Chris have done it. We Marauders have played GdA2 & feel the exact same! Best wishes, Jeremy & the Marauders

[@ColonelHoganStalag13]

I have the 1st edition and never got to play it. I'm hoping you can all do a good walk through or battle report when it is released. Good info here.

[@baliusd]

Love the Statement "The first mistake was being a British Player attacking anyone" spot on, they are strongest on defense due to tactics. I agree with the assessment of why they did so well was "Not to get shot up" before contact. I've always had a problem with the way most rules portray the British as machine guns.

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

As I stated in the scenario the British must attack (Vitoria 1813) but that doesn’t negate the fact that the objective / target of that attack needs to be softened up and the attackers need to attack with speed. Carlo and I will soon do a video on tactical advice for playing Napoleonic Wargames

[@baliusd]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV Agreed, I think previous rules have given the British players a false sense of invincibility.

[@leonleese4919]

Roughly quoting Wellington & Blucher . Wellington said “your infantry isn’t too exposed on the forward slope.” Blucher replied “My soldiers like to see the enemy!”.

[@leonleese4919]

How many moves per hour? ie. Red army starts then Blue army moves that 1 full move. It’s important for pick up games.

[@leonleese4919]

Can they accommodate Competition games?

[@rct75001]

Scott, I really enjoyed the hour with you and Carlo. Was great to hear his voice again. I listened while painting 8 battalions of my 6mm Russian Guard infantry so it was a fitting situation. The changes to the rules sound very good and the excitement both of you had for them came through strongly. Here's hoping they are released in PDF as well as hard copy as I wouldn't want to be waiting for the post to get from UK to Sydney after having heard so much good about them. May visit at Cancon depending on plans. Thanks for the continued work on the channel. Richard

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

I’m sure they will be produced in PDF format. Every other set has gone that way so I see no reason to change

[@anthonychambers2397]

Excellent chat

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

Thank you

[@leonleese4919]

Thanks for the chat on GdA great video

[@lexiwilson9501]

A little off-topic but I wonder if Pickett's Charge could be mainstreamed a similar way (I can't see a second version on the horizon).

[@nickjennings8757]

Hi Scott. Good video. Like you and Carlo we’ve been fortunate to help with some of the playtesting of GDA2. Mr Brown rules for Naps and WW2 have always been good, but these are something else. Like you we loved GdA and we were worried about any tweaking with, but GDA2 is simply brilliant,it has an elegant simplicity with just enough chrome to make every game brilliant.

[@collin4592]

I really understand your skepticism towards revisions, I mean shoot can you think of a sequel movie that is better than the first when the first was a masterpiece? General d'Armee is already such a good ruleset, but this video has persuaded me to buy GDA 2 just as how you inspired me to get Never Mind the Billhooks.

[@get_the_lead_out]

Empire Strikes Back was just as good as Star Wars. But for the most part I agree with you about sequels. Having done some of the proofreading on the GdA2 rules I can say with certainty that they are an improvement.

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

Sharp Practice 2 was a significant improvement. There are plenty of clunky mechanisms in GdA1 that could do with streamlining - the number of skirmish bases able to fire being my pet peeve. (Can never remember if four bases gives you three dice or four.)

[@levsharus5899]

Excellent talk, thank you. You did not clarify how C&C Tasking works. Would be nice to know this. Another thing that worries me much is the tendency of simplification of rules (any historical wargames) which does not mean their improvement really.

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

There isn’t so much a ‘simplification’ of version 1 as there is simply a streamlining. As for CinC taskings: essentially the CinC has a limited number (based on his competency) of ‘command’ tokens he can spend on influencing the battle directly as opposed to delegating tasks to subordinate Brigade Commanders. It’s usually 2. He does this by spending the token and joining the Brigade in question as he would if allocating an ADC tasking

[@levsharus5899]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV but does that CinC token work the same as an AdC does - just a re-roll of activation order?

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

@@levsharus5899 no. Depending on what the CinC is trying to achieve there’s a list of command options he can chose from. I can’t say too much as the rules aren’t published yet. Suffice to say the CinC now has more direct input into the action

[@levsharus5899]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV ok, thank you for your answers. Looking forward to your battle reports of the second edition on your channel after the release.

[@leonleese4919]

I enjoyed the chat! It looks as though it’s been really polished up. I would like to know, what is the smallest game that can be played? As I’m going to need a french army and possibly a Russian army. Not to fight historical battles but a game that can be played in two and a half hours including placing scenery . I can’t think of a Brit v. French battle that was a divisional strength apart from in Italy. I liked the post 1808 set up that apart from 1813/14 which is where it came into its own. The Brigade was sound but Landwehr Lancers were poor quality from what I can gather and were only used for chasing skirmishers away. I could start from scratch and use Bacchus 6mm or epic warlord but the range is limited although the moulding looks great.

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

I recently played a 2000 point per side game that resulted in 4 Brigades on each side. About 12 battalion of infantry, two batteries of artillery and 2 Cavalry Regiments on each side. 3 brigades could generate a good game so 6-9 battalions, a Battery or two of Artillery and 1 or 2 Cavalry regiments.

[@JDub-en6ix]

Great Video!

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

Thanks!

[@ratelmike8825]

Good afternoon Scott. Hope you all doing well down under. Tracked your channel down after watching the Too Fat Lardies videos specifically on General D' Armee2. Im massivley into Napoleonics myslef and the Lardies rules. Started in Sharp Practice. recently got into Chain of command and looking to play more of that this year once Ive got all the miniatures sorted and painted. Currently enjoying Black Powder from Warlord Games thanks to the inspiring youtube channel Napoleonic Wargamer, Tim Richardson. Love the game and building my 28mm British Army, Peninsular war, at a furious pace for an event in June. Last couple of years I got into the game Batielle Empire which I realy enjoyed. That I built 18mm AB Miniatures British army again Peninsular War. I was wondering if I could use this army for General D'Armee 2 as i really enjoy the Lardy rules. I havent played the original 1st Edition. For Batielle the basing was 3cm x 1cm with three miniatures on. 4 of these bases would make a standard battalion, 6 would make a alarge battalion. Artillery with crew was on its own base as normal. Calvary was on a 3cm x 3cm with two Calvary miniatures per base. Two bases making a Squadron. All commnaders and army commanders were on separate bases. So could I use this format for General D'Armee 2. I have quite a large collection already so adding bases to battalions i not a problem. Making more command bases for ADC's again not an issue as well as more bases for Calvary also not a problem. Will this work or do i need to look at a whole new army. If this works Ill be ordering the rulebook and tokens pretty damn quickly. Im guessing that my 28mm Black Powder army will also work for General D'Armee2? look forward to hear from you and enjoying your content on this ruleset. Great to listen to two fellow warriors as well.

[@leonleese4919]

CoC is more cerebral than most rules because you have very similar problems to a lieutenant running a platoon.

[@stevemanifold9524]

I was wondering whether GdA2 would be suitable for 2 mm ?

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

It is

[@stevemanifold9524]

Thank you@@CheckYourLeaderTV

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Are the rules any good for solo playing ? I wont be able to do much travel

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

I’ve played them solo several times. No problems at all. It’s worth noting pretty much any rule system can be adapted for solo play and GdA is no exception

[@leonleese4919]

I like competition games, ( I know, Richard doesn’t ) however this means using a 6ft X 4ft table or an 8ft X 4ft table. With 15mm figures 8ft long is better this means with the number of points allowed you get a brigade of infantry, brigade of cavalry and a battery of artillery. On a figure ratio of 1 figure = 20 men. You could scale it to brigade level so this would mean you get a division instead of a brigade. If you have more points per figure the various nations can have minor advantages or disadvantages to keep the player happy without spoiling the working of the game. Unfortunately I can’t get to games anymore as my wife can’t be left for any length of time so chats and you tube games keep me sane. I hope you are going to play a game with balanced Armies so I can see how other player play to win 😉

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

I’m travelling to Canberra in 3 days to play in the GdAV2 event. After that I’ll probably play and video a GdAv2 game though it’ll probably be a Waterloo scenario though a ‘points based brawl’ isn’t out of the question

[@leonleese4919]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV Great! Be good to see. A competition is a great way to promote the use of a rule set as it means a player can get a game anywhere in the world, but I’ll settle for 25 miles. The main thing is to get the army periods right, so that you don’t have 1805 French fighting an 1815 French army. But you could have an 1813 French army fighting any Allied Army from that period. I suppose for competitions an army from any of the nations including Spain and set the army lists so that the points values give each army a chance and possibly go for 28mm figures for the spectacle alone but although 15mm was the most popular I haven’t played a Napoleonic game against a “Live opponent” for quite a while. I know who to contact in the UK and he will k ow several European clubs and gamers who can organise this in Europe . If DBMM can attract a hall full of gamers I’m sure Napoleonic rules can at least equal that. The HUTT Club in New Zealand play a lot of competitions . However it’s getting the lists right so that no one can moan about it on FB I have a list for an old set of rules that worked well. As an aside have you ever seen the rules played with 6mm figures and if so, what effect did it have on the game , assuming a base of infantry would be 8 figures in 2 ranks. (it could still be counted as 4 figures)

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

@@leonleese4919 scale and basing is largely irrelevant in GdA as long as the basing is flexible enough to simulate Line, Column, Square and the ability to show a skirmish screen.

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

Not sure if it's a YT problem or a problem my end but I can barely hear Carlo?

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

When I play back and watch on YT I can hear Carlo but I’ll admit it’s not ideal. Unfortunately the sound quality isn’t great so I’m not too sure what more I can add. Sorry

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV No probs, played through the TV with the soundbar it's better. Great overview though. Really looking forward to the rules. I've gone through loads over the years. Valmy to Waterloo, Empire 5, Shako, Volley and Bayonet, General de Brigade and even Black Powder plus several others I can't even remember. We have been using Black Powder of late as a few guys use it for other periods but it's REALLY bland and requires a ton of work to essentially re-write them yourself with all the supplements etc. Here on in though I plan to stick to my guns, for Naps, GDA2 or pass LOL.

[@reddsaxxmike2865]

Let's hope they don't streamline this to much.

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

I don’t think that’s the case. I’m very impressed with this version

[@leonleese4919]

Be careful if she challenges you to ‘O’ Group

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

Who?

[@leonleese4919]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV The Major who probably runs the Battalion

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

@@leonleese4919 oh, my wife. Yes, well she commands a Company so I’m all good 😁. And I have far more experience 😏👍

[@leonleese4919]

@@CheckYourLeaderTV you mentioned your wife or daughter was getting a promotion ( I forget as my memory seems to be failing but I remember long term but if I’m talking and am distracted I loos e the thread of what I was going to say) . It’s annoying to people I talk to. I forget that the conversation I’m replying to in January 2024 was posted around November 2023. I’ve never had a an internet chat with someone who knows what he’s talking about..

[@leonleese4919]

👍 that always helps..

[@liberalhyena9760]

I feel compelled to put in a word for the poor flies you so heartlessly massacred. I appreciate that they are a great nuisance but have you perchance considered that the reason they swarmed inside was because they were so enthralled by the discussion and the insights into Napoleonic tactics that they thought you were actually playing and wanted to get a closer look, expecting grand entertainment, only to be obliterated by chemical weapons? It’s not quite as funny when you look at it like that, is it?

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

I know our flies well,… they aren’t that interested in Napoleonic History 😁

[@liberalhyena9760]

Understandable. I suppose they prefer less complicated periods like ACW.

[@CheckYourLeaderTV]

@@liberalhyena9760 could be,…

[@petermellors6456]

Fantastic