Below is a first attempt at an unofficial points system for the Napoleonic game – Lasalle.
Lasalle contains a number of set army lists for the main armies. They provide a great introduction. But they only reflect a fraction of possible lists. Playing the same few army lists repeatedly against each other could get dull fairly quickly.
This points system below tries to address this.
Using this points system and the excellent (and now free) Nafziger army lists, players can construct any number of armies that are consistent in size with the army lists in the Lasalle book.
I would love to say that the points system above was based on careful consideration of the relative merits of units, simulations of performance and a large number of test games. Alas no. Instead it was a rather crude attempt to back-fit the army lists in the book. What points system could generate something so that the Core Lists were all about the same points, and the Support Lists were about the same points?
There is a vast number of ways to fit the data. The only constraint I had was to try to have sensible relative points (so all other things equal, a unit with better skirmishers say should be worth at least the same points as one with worse skirmishers) and to be “elegant” – use the fewest possible variables to explain the data.
Some things made sense. But many things did not. For example I had expected the Reserve Supports to be worth more than Organic Support so I could add a “Reserve Support” negative points cost to reflect that they only are on the table for a part of the game. However, on this points system Reserve Supports are generally worth about the same as Organic Support. They just generally offer troops you can’t otherwise get.
But I hope this provides a good starting point for those looking to construct alternative unofficial army lists for Lasalle.
Cam’s Lasalle Points System v1.0
Infantry
Base cost for infantry unit = 10
+1 if Guard
+2 if Valiant
-0.5 if Unpredictable
-2 if Shaky
-1 if Amateur
-2 if Irregular
-2 if SK0
-1.5 if SK1
+1.5 if SK3
+2 if Rifle
-1 if Linear Tactics
+1 Entrenchments
Multiply total by 1.3 if large
Cavalry
Base cost of cavalry unit = 9
+1 if Guard
+2 if Valiant
-0.5 if Unpredictable
-2 if Shaky
-1 if Amateur
-2 if Irregular
+2 if Lance
+2 if Shock
+0.5 if Pursuit
Multiply total by 1.5 if large
Artillery
Base cost of an Artillery unit = 8
+2 if Horse
+1 if Heavy
-1 if Light
-1 if 3 Guns
+2 if 5 Guns
-2 for Each Subcommander except if French, Polish, Italian, British, Brunswick, or Prussian (Liberation/Hundred Days).
+1 each SK base.
-10 if Send in the Guards.
A few examples:
An Austrian Conquest infantry unit (Rel/Exp/Sk1, Large, Linear Tactics) would be 10 -1.5 -1 *1.3 = 9.75pts
Old Guard Lancers (Val/Exp/Guard/Shock/Lance, large) would be 9 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 * 1.5 = 24pts
Prussian Landwehr (Unpredictable/Amateur/Sk1) would be 10 – 0.5 – 1 – 1.5 = 7pts
Any feedback is welcome on the Lasalle forum.
Author: Campbell (Cam) Millar – Auckland Wargaming Club.
UPDATE 30 October 2011: The latest version of these points is available at Wargaming.info.
