RPGs about the time of the Napoleonic Wars?

[Derren]

As I am currently reading the Temeraire series (oh the wait for the last 3 books will be painful) I got interested in this time periode.

Are there any RPGs set in this time (18 and early 19th century)? I guess a Wild West RPG could be retooled, still is there anything covering the events in Europe during that time, the exploration of Africa or the journeys to China?

 

[jonesy]

In Harms Way hits pretty close:

Review of In Harms Way - RPGnet

Flying Mice LLC In Harm's Way Page

 

[Derren]

It looks fitting, especially the naval focus. I just hope that other areas are not neglected for it.
I am a bit worried that it is based on a space opera rulesset, but I will check it out. I just hope a player playing 3 characters is optional.

 

[Bluenose]

There's a GURPS supplement, Age of Napoleon. I suspect you could do something with En Garde, since even if it is set in 17th century Paris a lot of the concepts would work perfectly well in the Napoleonic era.

 

[crazy_cat]

You could try 'Beat to Quarters' and 'Duty and Honour' both by Omnihedron Games - the first as I've listed them models Hornblower and similar naval adventures, the second (which was actually released first) models Sharpe and similar adventuring in the army during the Napoleonic wars.

 

[Ariosto]

The RPG component of Privateers and Gentlemen disappointed me back in the day, but I suppose might be worth another look. I am afraid I don't remember details. I recall the miniatures rules being quite nice, though.

I am pretty sure I once saw a GURPS Napoleonic Wars. The rules set is certainly up to it, as it is to anything historical (and a good bit that's utterly fantastic). Even if one is not a fan of the rules set, a GURPS setting book would probably be at least as handy a start as any of the brief and broad historical survey works for the general public on the subject.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
European exploration and colonization of the interior of Africa, and the intrusion of foreigners into China, really kicked in later than "the time of the Napoleonic Wars" (1799-1815).

European exploration of Africa, previously quite limited, indeed began in earnest around the end of the 18th century, but the famous expeditions into the continent's vast central and southern interior came in the middle of the 19th (1850s and 1860s).

The "scramble for Africa" is generally reckoned as getting underway in the 1880s and going perhaps (depending on who is reckoning) up to the First World War.

China's interior was for a long time generally barred to foreigners, who were as a rule permitted to travel but a few miles inland from Canton and Macao. Opium smuggled from British India penetrated widely, though.

The Qing Dynasty lost two Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860) against Britain, leading to treaties that, among other concessions, opened up the mainland to missionaries and other adventurers. China continued to get basically dismembered by both European and Japanese imperialism, as well as riven by internal conflicts, right into the 20th century.

In these fields, the main interest might lie in the reign of Britain's Queen Victoria (1837-1901) -- what we call the Victorian era. Another Napoleon (Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, styled Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I) was for a portion of that time (1848-1870) first president of France and then emperor, and he did wage a number of wars.

There were many significant changes over the course of the 19th century, quite a few having to do with the Industrial Revolution. For instance, the age of "wooden ships and iron men" rapidly waned with the rise of steam-powered ironclads in the 1860s. (During the 1870s, there was even a renewed interest in the ancient tactic of ramming!)

 

[Derren]

In these fields, the main interest might lie in the reign of Britain's Queen Victoria (1837-1901) -- what we call the Victorian era. Another Napoleon (Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, styled Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I) was for a portion of that time (1848-1870) first president of France and then emperor, and he did wage a number of wars.

Thats a bit too late for my taste. I like Africa completely unkown except for some few setlements on the cost and China still being respected/feared and rather alien to the western powers (so its reputation not marred yet by the lost war).

 

[Psion]

You could try 'Beat to Quarters' and 'Duty and Honour' both by Omnihedron Games - the first as I've listed them models Hornblower and similar naval adventures, the second (which was actually released first) models Sharpe and similar adventuring in the army during the Napoleonic wars.

It's really not my thing, but I've been hearing some crazy good praise about these games on the RPGhaven podcast:

episode 3 – introducing co-host Ryan and Boulet on Rêve du Dragon | The RPG Haven Podcast
episode 8 – an interview with Beat to Quarters creator Neil Gow | The RPG Haven Podcast

 

[Ariosto]

Thats a bit too late for my taste. I like Africa completely unkown except for some few setlements on the cost and China still being respected/feared and rather alien to the western powers (so its reputation not marred yet by the lost war).

It was just a bit confusing to see a request for a game dealing with "the exploration of Africa or the journeys to China" that in the period 1799-1815 did not amount to much. The most notable effort, I think, was the scientific expedition that accompanied Napoleon's campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798-1801).

So, you are going down a path little trodden in general -- which is only the less likely to have been treated at all in the rather repetitious field of RPGs.

 

[Ariosto]

Flintlock weapons were the mainstay of European armies roughly from 1660 to 1840. All but the first few years of the "Golden Age of Piracy" (broadly, from the 1650s to the 1720s) fall within this period.

Plug bayonets came into use around the start of that same period, and it seems a simple matter to account for ring or socket models (which do not prevent firing) -- or even to treat the weapon, in the absence of specific bayonet rules, roughly as a spear or dagger as appropriate.

So, one might look into games focused on the popular view of piracy. Seventh Sea is one that has been popular. There are also at least two games involving the American Revolution -- the supernaturally focused Colonial Gothic from Rogue Games and Sons of Liberty from Kallisti Press -- but SOL in particular seems a bit more specialized.

The reign of Louis XIII -- during which The Three Musketeers is set -- was from 1610 to 1643. The Musketeers, more famous in fiction as swordsmen, would I think have been issued matchlock namesakes for battle. Again, it does not seem to me too tough, in the typical RPG environment, to make appropriate adjustments.

Flashing Blades, from Fantasy Games Unlimited, covers (with supplements concerning piracy and the New World) a lot of material -- from fighting to social climbing -- that I think could easily be moved forward to the Napoleonic Wars.

Horses and men did not change radically during that time, and ships perhaps not so much as to matter greatly in most RPG contexts. Mobile artillery for armies saw notable improvements, such as the Gribeauval system introduced in 1765 and revised in 1803.

I am not acquainted with the latest editions, but as I recall the original GURPS High-Tech and GURPS Swashbucklers covered the essentials quite well.

Depending on the extent to which you are really looking for a Napoleonic wargame (of which I have my favorites), a Victorian-era production such as Space:1889 or Castle Falkenstein or Forgotten Futures might also be easy to adapt.

Many non-European forces continued to use outmoded firearms, as well as a spectrum of ancient weapons. European cavalry continued to carry swords, and lancers -- which had come back into fashion in the Napoleonic Wars -- continued in service.

The details that are probably most important are historical and societal. There are at least a couple of popular works titled The Age of Napoleon, one by Will and Ariel Durant and another by J. Christopher Herold.