I've read with interest some of the discussions - especially those related to map or unit mods - of the HPS/Tiller Napoleonic games.

For some older titles, like Eckmuhl or the Russian campaign, I've downloaded some of the uniform mods that appeared on Glenn Saunders' websites, but these really are more attuned to the Panzer Campaign and other series.  I do not see on his pages either uniform mods or 2D counter mods for many of the later releases.  I too find some of the HPS/Tiller maps more distracting, especially in the 3D mode, than they are helpful.

As a Napoleonic miniatures player, I prefer playing in 3D except when I need an overview of the situation that I can only get in 2D.  For the Napoleonic period, I prefer 2D icons that represent the formation that units are currently in rather than NATO symbols, but I don't seem to be able to locate those mods for the entire series of HPS/Tiller Napoleonic releases.  So Question 1 is, is there a central website where I can find these for the entire series of games?  If so, I haven't been able to locate it through Google searches.

Question 2 involves 3D mods.  One of my disappointments as a miniatures player is that the formations of my 15mm little toy soldiers does not look like the formations looked historically.  This is particularly the case for infantry in column where, because of the size of the figures, the depth of the column is far greater in proportion to the frontage than was the case historically.  The HPS/Tiller 3D representations look more like my little toy soldiers than like the historical formations.

I seem to recall that someone developed one or more mods that reduced the size of the individual figures, but used more of them so that a Napoleonic battalion in column in the 3D mode looked much more like the historical formation than a tabletop one.  Problem is, I don't remember if the mod(s) I'm thinking of were for the HPS/Tiller series, or the Matrix/Talonsoft version of the Tiller games, or for another game entirely, such as Matrix's Horse and Musket.  Can anybody enlighten me about whether such mods exist and where I may find them?

And on another, but related topic -- if I'm correct, Tiller's Jena, Waterloo and Austerlitz games (and maybe others) have never received a patch that allows them to be played without the CD in the drive.  Has an ETA or schedule ever been announced for when these may be patched to permit CD-free play?  That's the one thing that keeps them off my hard drive at this point.

Thanks

Originally Posted By rothm (15 MAY 2012 12:53pm)

I've read with interest some of the discussions - especially those related to map or unit mods - of the HPS/Tiller Napoleonic games.

 

For some older titles, like Eckmuhl or the Russian campaign, I've downloaded some of the uniform mods that appeared on Glenn Saunders' websites, but these really are more attuned to the Panzer Campaign and other series.  I do not see on his pages either uniform mods or 2D counter mods for many of the later releases.  I too find some of the HPS/Tiller maps more distracting, especially in the 3D mode, than they are helpful.

 

As a Napoleonic miniatures player, I prefer playing in 3D except when I need an overview of the situation that I can only get in 2D.  For the Napoleonic period, I prefer 2D icons that represent the formation that units are currently in rather than NATO symbols, but I don't seem to be able to locate those mods for the entire series of HPS/Tiller Napoleonic releases.  So Question 1 is, is there a central website where I can find these for the entire series of games?  If so, I haven't been able to locate it through Google searches.

 

Question 2 involves 3D mods.  One of my disappointments as a miniatures player is that the formations of my 15mm little toy soldiers does not look like the formations looked historically.  This is particularly the case for infantry in column where, because of the size of the figures, the depth of the column is far greater in proportion to the frontage than was the case historically.  The HPS/Tiller 3D representations look more like my little toy soldiers than like the historical formations.

 

I seem to recall that someone developed one or more mods that reduced the size of the individual figures, but used more of them so that a Napoleonic battalion in column in the 3D mode looked much more like the historical formation than a tabletop one.  Problem is, I don't remember if the mod(s) I'm thinking of were for the HPS/Tiller series, or the Matrix/Talonsoft version of the Tiller games, or for another game entirely, such as Matrix's Horse and Musket.  Can anybody enlighten me about whether such mods exist and where I may find them?

 

And on another, but related topic -- if I'm correct, Tiller's Jena, Waterloo and Austerlitz games (and maybe others) have never received a patch that allows them to be played without the CD in the drive.  Has an ETA or schedule ever been announced for when these may be patched to permit CD-free play?  That's the one thing that keeps them off my hard drive at this point.

 

Thanks

Lots of questions here. I'll try to answer as many as I can.

Schedules and ETA's are never officially announced, probably with good reason.  Patches for all of his games are being worked on, no idea when the games you mention will be patched, but if I had to guess I'd say before next Christmas.  I doubt that anyone who actually knows would be allowed to comment on this.

You need to find the Ezjax site that has his Napoleonic mods.  It only tends to be open for a few days at the begining of the month, so find it and keep an eye on it, and any time you visit and downloads are possible, download everything in site.

I used to have mods for Waterloo, Eckmuhl, and Wagram posted on the SDC site, but SDC decided that they didn't want to host them any more.  I haven't gotten around to finding a new host, but when I produced my mod for Campaign Leipzig I put it in the downloads section at Gamesquad forum.  It's in nine pieces, and it was even more of a pain for me to post than for anyone else to download.  But I'll mention some of the things it does, since the Waterloo, Eckmuhl, and Wagram mods are very similar (and may eventually return to the net, but not right now because I'm in the middle of a move that is causing some major computer issues).

The 3D parts of my Napoleonic mods (except for Leipzig), are lightly modified Ezjax.  The figures are small, well done, and as close to being in scale as you would really want.  I changed a few flags on the Waterloo mod, but that's about it.  I left his terrain alone in Waterloo, Eckmuhl, and Wagram, but modified the terrain elevations and the color of the trees in Leipzig.

The 2D parts of my Napoleonic mods use unit symbols that try to make the 2D map look like what you would see if you opened a history book.  They're pretty different from the plain vanilla symbols, and, in my opinion, look much simpler and cleaner.  You can find them in the Leipzig mod at Gamesquad, and they'll work in all of the games.  The 2D terrain in the older versions of Eckmuhl, Wagram, and Waterloo is nothing special, but you should check out what happens in my Leipzig, because a lot of the terrain was influenced by my Panzer Campaigns mods (which you can get at Task Force Echo Four).  Off the top of my head, the main event is the grass texture with elevations, but the roads and trees are different as well.

One of the distinguishing features of my Napoleonic mods is that I try to give every national army a separate identity.  So if you click on a Saxon or Bavarian unit and look at the image in the unit box, you'll know that it isn't French.  I do this by mounting large national or regimental flags behind the images of the units, and use a simple background (usually a faded map) for the rest of the box.  If you do happen to check out my units, make sure you take a look at my solution for the unknown leader image -- it's essentially a nineteenth century silhouette portrait.

My earlier Napoleonic mods use a lot of 19th century art.  I didn't have time to do this in the Leipzig mod, but if Waterloo, Eckmuhl, and Wagram ever make a comeback, you'll get to see an alternative to wargame commercial art.

If and when I solve the time and hosting problem for Napoleonics, I also have mods for Austerlitz and Iena about three quarters of the way done.

Ezjax site is currently here:

http://ezjax2.com/HPSMod/index.html

Thanks, both of you.  I guess I hit it lucky because I was able to download all that I saw on Ezjax's site the first time around.

Philippe,

Will you be doing similar mods for the Campaign 1814?

Rothm,

I am also a big time Napoleonics miniatures player, even got my own commercially published rules, yet. Talk to me!

Originally Posted By ColBill (16 MAY 2012 10:24am)

 

Philippe,

 

Will you be doing similar mods for the Campaign 1814?

 

 

The short answer is yes.

I've just gone through a very painful and excessively rapid move and I have a lot of issues that I have to sort out first.  At the top of the list is getting a my girlfriend's appartment set up for a semi-wireless network so that my computer can have an internet connection.  I also need to figure out why I can't get any sound to come out through my speakers.  If you've seen what I've done with some of my Panzer Campaigns mods you'll understand why this problem is particularly heartbreaking for me.

It may take me a few weeks to organize a mod for Campaign 1814, after which I'll put it up at Gamesquad as a temporary measure.

In the meantime, if you are in a hurry to see what 85% of my 1814 mod looks like, the good news is that if you have the Campaign Leipzig mod you're almost there.

I haven't been able to download the game yet but I know a lot about what's actually in there.

1814 and Leipzig share the same units bitmap file.  There are probably differences between the official 1814 and the official Leipzig versions of this file, but the version in my Leipzig mod is probably very, very close to what comes with 1814.  There were some changes to the official 1814 version at the last minute that I never got a chance to collate with my mod, but even if they weren't already in there, the Leipzig mod has a units file that is already very, very close to what you'll need.

So you can take the info folder for the Leipzig mod and use it (it will probably change a bit when the real mod comes out).  Don't use my version of the Leipzig leaders just yet (this may have changed), do use my anonymous leader files, the units bitmap, and do use the info boxes (with national colors that match the unit symbols that I use).

As far as terrain goes, use the fall version of my terrain (the one with the smattering of brown trees).  The fall version of my terrain is the last un-numbered part of my mod at Gamesquad.  You really don't want to be looking at green leafy trees during the campagne de France.

When I get around to producing the mod I'll try to come up with a set of trees that have very little foliage on them (which is what you'd see at the end of winter) and I'll see if I can do something about making the terrain look muddier.  That shouldn't be too hard for the 2D textures because I'm basing those off of my Panzer Campaigns mods and I've got more grass variations than I know what to do with.   

So for now if you just copy the relevant portions of my Leipzig mod into Campaign 1814, you'll get a mod that uses mid autumn colors, which may not be right but is less wrong than mid-summer.

Remember that my Leipzig mod uses the 3D figures that came with the game, so you won't need to copy these.  When I crank out the mod in a few weeks the only change I'm likely to make to the 3D figures is to reduce the saturation of the cavalry (and perhaps deprive one of the cossack units of its lance pennons, but I'll have to reread an e-mail exchange on that point).

If you attempt this on your own and get confused or need help, my e-mail address is at the bottom of the readme file in the mod. 

Here are two sneak previews of the 1814 mod in progress.  I'm not going to hazard a time estimate, but I suspect my initial estimate of several weeks away was probably too conservative. 

I've just posted an abbreviated version of what will eventually be my Campaign 1814 mod in the downloads section at Gamesquads Forums.

It currently comes in eight parts, but will get larger when I finish tinkering with and testing a few minor parts that might have slowed down the release by a couple of weeks.

The current version doesn't include snow terrain.  You won't see much snow in this game, but my mod will eventually include Ezjax's 3D snow terrain as well as my own 2D snow terrain (which isn't finished).

The other thing I've left out is most of the incidental art.  I've replaced the victory screens but haven't had a chance to test the new candidates in game.

The mod does, however, include a desktop icon drawn from Meissonier's iconic painting. 

Let me know if you need an explanation on how to use it.

Here is a link to another thread with screenshots of the 1814 mod:

http://www.wargamer.com/forums/posts.asp?t=583371&pg=1#617450

Thanks. I was finally able to download a copy of the game last night, as the Online Store is now back up and operational.

Oh, and BTW, leave the saturation of tghe cavalry alone. As a miniature player I can tell you we like LOTS of pretty figures in our game units