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| Site Name: Élan Wargame Rules
Forum |
| Site Contact: Philip Jones |
| Nationality: Australian |
| Languages: English |
| Site URL: Click Here |
| E-mail: phillipaj@ozemail.com.au |
| Brief: A sprawling forum dedicated
to the Élan Napoleonic wargame system - moderated
by the game's creator, Phillip Jones. |
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Élan Wargame
Rules Forum
The Forum: The Élan Wargame Rules Forum was established
for players to enable them to share information, make new friends
and access resources such as rules questions/answers, amendments,
event news, useful weblinks to references and suppliers. There are
Élan players all over the world including the USA, UK, Netherlands,
Hungary, Luxembourg, Canada, NZ and Australia. The forum also features
occassional articles on tactics and tips as along with news about
upcoming events, interesting websites or gaming developments.
The Game: Élan is a tactical-level Napoleonic wargame
designed for 15-25mm miniatures for games at the Brigade to Corps
scale. Developed by Phillip A. Jones, these rules are the result of
over four years development and rigorous play testing.
Élan is now being played in several countries including the
UK, Hungary, Canada, Australia and the US.
Future releases planned are "Marsch" for C18th warfare from
Frederick the Great to French Revolutionary wars (including the wars
in North America) and "Glory" for the American Civil War
using the same basic mechanics. The rules are emailed to players as
an Adobe PDF file following payment via Paypal and sample play charts
and army lists an be provided on request.
Élan is a flowing game that accurately reflects historical
tactics. Players are placed "on the table" and granted wide
latitude to control their units (within historical parameters). The
rules sequence features both simultaneous and alternate actions, resulting
in an intuitive and balanced game. The game will appeal to players
who enjoy tactical nuance and is easy to learn for the novice and
grows with experience in subtlety and tactical complexity.
Individual units are the battalion and regiment and players can do
sub-unit actions such as company and squadron actions.
Players can use any existing basing system - with provision to remove
individual or pairs of figures for casualties. The default scale is
1:50, but players can use any ratio such as 1:33 or 1:60 without difficulty.
Élan is written in a clear, concise style. The rules are well
indexed, logically laid out and easy to comprehend. The rules are
over 60 pages and include play charts, counter sheets and templates.
In addition, included in the rules are extensive unit ratings for
over twenty nations and there are over 40 Army lists available which
are available on request following purchase. The author is always
available to consult on rules queries and the forum provides more
resources and support for players.
The turns in Élan are divided into five Phases. Each Turn the
player with initiative for that turn acts first in each Phase, with
all the actions and reactions for each Phase are completed before
moving onto the next one with some actions being done simultaneously
such as shooting and melee.
· Initiative Phase You start with determining
which side acts first each Turn based on the quality of your Staff,
the number of intact Brigades and Divisions you have and a little
bit of luck! This can swing back and forth during a game.
· Grand Tactical Movement Phase This allows players
to conduct sweeping advances with their troops, and bring on reserves
as well as attempting to turn the enemy flank with a flank march.
This allows forces to come to grips quickly.
· Morale Phase This is the first Phase in which you can launch
charges and respond to enemy attacks.
· Fire Phase Both sides fire small arms and artillery simultaneously
and units test their morale in response to casualties. You can draw
enemy fire to make them vulnerable to Opportunity charges in the
next Phase.
· Tactical Movement Phase Units move, change formation
and can launch Opportunity Charges. Troops who didn't fire earlier
can defend themselves from their attackers.
· Close Assault Phase Units fight in melee and combats
are determined based on tactical factors, leadership and some luck!
The scope of the victory determines the extent of the casualties,
movement of units involved and their morale.
Buying the Game: The game is available only directly from the
author, Phillip Jones for €15. Payment is via secure transaction
using Paypal.
NB: Since this page was created, Phillip A Jones - the creator of Élan - has been forced to close his website. However, a final version of the rules called Élan Deluxe has been published and is now available to download for free.
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